Hamptons Burger Bloodbash, 2011

I hate to sound like a curmudgeon but I missed the Burgerbash of years before.  The event was homegrown and over the years grew but it was always fun because it was more like a bunch of friends and extended friends getting together for a fun afternoon with a little competition thrown in on the side.  This year was a sponsored event that actually sold tickets and was housed at a perfectly groomed pool side home.  I felt a little bit like I was part of a photo shoot for a magazine.  Just not my thing.  Put it this way, there are valet parking by a bunch of kids in uniforms.  This is not my Hamptons. If the tickets helped cover costs, I am sure there is another way. 

The chefs this year were some old favorites and some new entries.  Mo Koyfman, back again with Jim McDuffee from Joseph Leonard ( and one of our favorite chefs in the Wilson household ), Michael White who certainly seemed to be enjoying himself, Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, Zach Chadorow, Cobi Levy, Preston Madison and the Team from Peels, Jesse Gerstein and Marc Vidal.  Many of the judges made a return including the charming Kate Krader from Food and Wine magazine, Marc Murphy, Lee Schrager and one of my faves, Mark Pastore from Pat LaFrieda. 

The grills fired up at 3pm and not a soul was allowed in until that time.  The people at the gate with their walkie talkies took that pretty damn seriously.  Considering Lockhart Steele who had been involved with this event from the get-go and a true leader in the food community was in the car behind me and wasn't allowed in either until 3pm was not a good start for any of us.  Well, particularly me. 

Josh and Emily came with me.  We had an entire house of guests so we couldn't stay through the entire event.  Truth is that after we had tasted a few burgers, none of us even cared if we stayed to try the others.  It just wasn't the Burgerbash we had come to love. 

This was Mo and Jim's burger which is always a classic.

Here was the special sauce in Michael Whites burger.

Wylie Defresne made a classic cheeseburger and I do believe he made the cheese himself.

Here is Lock indulging himself on the Defresne burger.

Unfortunately we didn't taste the rest, we went home.  I heard Mo and Jim were the winners, 3 different years of bringing home the award.  Nice one.