2010 Hamptons Burger Bloodbath

Yesterday was the fourth annual Hampton's Burger Bloodbath.  Always a great event.  Yesterday might have been my favorite of the four.  Beautiful day.  Nice crowd.  Everything seemed to go smoothly.  The hardest part is personally scoring a burger to eat after the judges have announced the winner.  When some of the chef's choose to use a skillet or frying pan over their coals, it makes it tough to cook up 50 burgers at once.  But that is part of the fun and after all, chef's choice.

There were games.  Can't remember the name of the game but a golf balls are attached to both ends of a rope.  You hurl the rope towards the stand and get points for where the ball lands.  Keeps you entertained.

The grills are set up and every chef is on their own.

Guests mulling in the yard, having a drink and watching the festivities.

Cobi Levy and Andew Pressler went for an Asian twist on their burger.  Pickled ramps, crispy Japanese cucumbers, a hint of cilantro, ginger and asian spices.  Very nice.  Keep an eye out for Cobi's next restaurant, Niko, opening in Soho this fall.

Joe and Mike Tremblay of Bay Burger went with a classic with many twists.  A slice of yellow tomato, crispy bacon, blue cheese, and a zippy ketchup.

Larry Kramer and Dan Hartwick from Whitmans.  A recently opened American restaurant located at 406 E. 9th Street.  They made their juicy lucy.  Beef short rib blend stuffed with pimento cheese, caramelized onions, tomatoes, lettuce, spicy pickles and a mayo sauce.

Mo Koyfman and his sidekick this year, Sophie McNally with the classic.  Lettuce, tomatoes, crunchy bread and butter pickles, ketchup, mayo and the burger on a potato bun.  He has been the longest running chef in the event and was the winner of the first Burger Bash.  

Patrick Connolly and Carlos Suarez from Bobo with the summer corn burger.  A relish of fresh corn on top of the burger.  

The judges took the event very seriously.  We had Kate Krader of Food and Wine who definitely knows her burgers. Anyone who loves food should follow Kate on twitter.  Pat of Pat LaFrieda who provided all the meat for the event.  Each chef had Pat provide their own special mix.  Lee Schrager of all Food and Wine festivals and the last judge was Josh Capon, last year's winner, from Lure Fishbar on Prince and Mercer.

Mo attempts to explain the nuances of his burger to the judges as Ben Leventhal of Feast ( who puts the festival on ) watched. 

And the winner was.....drum roll please....Mo Koyfman with the classic burger that he has brought back year after year. The fans gathered around his table waiting for their own burger.

Personally, I really liked the Juicy Lucy. 

Fred loved the Bay Burger because he loves blue cheese.

Although at the end of the day, regardless of loving one burger one day and a different one the next, it is all about the classic.  It always works, it is always good and you can't go wrong.  Congratulations to Mo.  A very nice showing by all.

The night ended back at the Crow's Nest for a Curbed after party.  The sun set was magnificent.  People were letting off white air balloons filled with fire.  They are for making a wish.  Really pretty watching them launch individually into the dark sky. 


A very long day.  One of my favorites of the summer.  Next year, maybe Josh and I will enter ourselves in the competition and see how we do.  I am sure Josh would love to!