If you’ve dreamed of culinary superstardom, fantasized about your creations being served to the masses and envisioned people clamoring for your recipes, then head to Square One Brewery and Distillery tomorrow night for your chance at the big time. Every Tuesday, the Lafayette Square pub hosts Build a Burger Night, where guests create their dream burgers from a list of 30 toppings. The custom burgers have proved so popular – and customers’ creations so creative – that Square One has decided to turn the weekly special into a weekly contest. Here’s how it works: Buy a beef burger for two bucks, (or a game or veggie burger for four) and then customize that patty with toppings that range from chili to Cotswold cheese, smoked tomatoes to sauerkraut, coconut mayo to Pale Ale mustard. The restaurant’s chef and its owner choose a winner, who scores a coupon for a free burger, a shout-out with a recipe on Square One’s Facebook page and serious bragging rights, since the winning creation gets a seven-day stint on the menu as Burger of the Week. Next stop, Top Chef.
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2009.