What’s better than a burger? How about one that sources its ground beef right next door.
The meat at Cozy Royale is all prepped by the restaurant’s neighboring sister butcher shop, The Meat Hook. For owner and founder Brent Young, there’s no question why burgers have maintained their status symbol as an American classic for so long. “Burgers are iconic because they’re accessible,” he says. “Everyone has their memory of burgers that they had growing up, they have memories of the most expensive burger they’ve had, the most indulgent burger that they’ve had.”
The standard tavern burger at Cozy Royale is blended the morning before service, an approximate 70:30 grind of lean meat to fat. It’s topped with American cheese, fancy sauce, pickles, and onion and served with a side of fries — a classic burger, through and through.
The dry-aged burger is a bit more complex, not just with the deep, umami flavors coming from the aged meat, but the toppings as well. “This burger is over a month in the process of making,” explains Greg Bardwell, the head butcher at Meat Hook. “That will give it its scarcity; it’s also just super special and rich.”
The burger begins with the trimmings of a dry-aged sirloin which are taken and transformed into two two-and-a-half ounce patties. The patties are smashed to let the excess of fat render out and concentrate the beefy flavor. The burger is then topped with raclette, arugula, bacon jam, calabrian chili aioli, and some pickled red onions to cut through the richness. The result is a burger that has a bit of everything: pepperiness from the arugula, smoky sweet notes from the bacon jam, added funk from the raclette. “The [dry-aged] burger is like the complete opposite end of the spectrum from our tavern burger,” Young says. “It is meant to just be a punch in the jaw of flavor.” Only ten dry-aged burgers are served a day.
Whichever burger you prefer, the one thing to expect at Cozy Royale is high-quality beef and an attention to detail when it comes to the meat. “People love burgers,” Young says, “and if you do a great one, people are really going to come out.”
Watch the latest episode of Icons: Burgers to learn more about how second-generation pizzaiolo Salvatore Carlino carries on his family legacy.
