A Food-lover's Guide to London

Just had a ‘delicious’ long weekend in London. I'd forgotten how much I missed London and how much fun and excitement one can cram into a few days in one of the most exciting and innovative food cities in the world.

The Thursday evening flight from Cork Airport. (Am I biased or is it the friendliest little airport in the world?) brought us into London in time to have dinner at Quo Vadis on Dean Street, I love Jeremy Lee's food and there's no deafening music in the dining room. Right next door is Barrafina, another of my favourite restaurants and is a must if you don't mind queuing.

I love to wander through a Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings. You could and should visit Borough Market particularly if you haven't been before. But I headed for Maltby Street Market under the railway arches and made my way through the little passages to Spa Terminus to find some of the very best ingredients in London - Neal's Yard Dairy and Mons for best artisan cheese, exceptional salami and cured meats @HamandCheese, fruit and veg @Natoora, honey, jams, beers, fantastic bread and pastries @DustyKnuckle pop-up. Pick up a custard doughnut @StJohn’s Bakery and coffee @Monmouth. Both 40 Maltby St. Wine Bar and Flor are still not doing dine-in but you can pick up a picnic or takeout.

Then into a cab over to Brawn in Shoreditch, located at the end of Columbia Rd for a superb (and I don't use that word lightly) lunch. Wesley, the maître d' of 7 years is from Cork so we got a warm Cork welcome.

Oren in Dalston is one of the names on all 'foodies' top recommendations at present, a wide Mediterranean menu and ear-splitting music but many delicious middle-eastern influences. Put Dishoom on your list too. We went to the Derry Street location in Kensington, an art deco mecca. There are many, many good things on the menu but don't miss the iconic Bacon Naan, reminiscent of the Iranian cafés in Mumbai, street food at its irresistible best. 

We had lunch at Café Cecilia, Max Rocha’s hopping new restaurant in Hackney, just across the road from Regent's Canal. It and Fallow on 2 St. James's Market where we had dinner are the hottest tickets in town and it certainly didn't disappoint. I particularly loved the calcots with romesco and the deep-fried bread and butter pudding. Haven't even mentioned the shops but this is a food blog! Fortnum and Mason is just opposite the Royal Academy of Art so worth wandering into - just saying!

If you are in Kensington High St, check out Sally Clarke’s lovely restaurant and food shop... and on and on it goes...Café Deco is definitely on the list for my next trip, brilliant reports.

Hot Spots on The New York Food Scene

I spent a week in New York over the St Patrick's Day festival. Even though the primary reason was to do events and interviews to promote Ireland and my latest book, Darina Allen, Simply Delicious: The Classic Collection, (quite a mouthful!), so it was also a brilliant opportunity to check out the New York and Brooklyn food scene. 

I am regularly asked to share my New York list so here are some of my favourite spots and new finds...

Brooklyn, just over the bridge from Manhattan has many tempting options, one could spend ones entire week checking out different exciting spots. I love Roman’s, Marlow & Sons, The Diner, Hometown Bar B Que and I also hear good things about Ugly Baby but we chose Chez Ma Tante (at 90, Calyer Street) this time, and had a super delicious Sunday brunch, in fact so good that I wished I’d been able to get back for dinner. We particularly loved the oysters with parsley oil and yuyu... 

As well as a 3-inch high kale quiche with a bitter leaf salad, chips with aioli, stracciatella with toasted almonds, raisins, preserved lemons and marjoram with sourdough toast.

Image: https://www.instagram.com/chez_ma_tante/

But the stand out dish was their craggy meltingly rich corn pancakes with maple butter. There are pancakes and there are pancakes but these were by far the best I ever tasted, sweet, salty, crisp and buttery on the outside, soft melting and irresistibly gritty inside. Definitely one of the highlights of the week with pure Vermont maple butter melting over the top.

Image: https://www.instagram.com/chez_ma_tante/

A tiny, Japanese panelled restaurant called Hall is another little gem in the Flatiron. The juicy washu (not wagyu) beef burger served deliciously pink on a brioche bun was particularly delectable and only $5.99.

Image: Superiority Burger Cookbook, Grub Street Press

You also need to know about Superiority Burger, a tiny cult café on 430 East 9^th Street, in the East Village. It’s a veggie burger spot and to quote the forthright chef owner Brooks Headley “occasionally vegan by accident”! In this kitchen the produce is superb, don’t miss the must-get Superiority burger. Different specialities every day including homemade gelato and sorbet. There’s very little seating and often a queue but worth it. Unquestionably one of the best restaurants in lower Manhattan and surprisingly cheap for the quality.

I Sodi and Via Carota in the West Village are two of my enduring favourites. I love the simple rustic but always edgy food that much loved chefs, Rita Sodi and Jody Williams offer. Their version of cacio e pepe, the creamy peppery Roman pasta dish, is the best in New York and here’s the spot to also enjoy  a homey plate of braised tripe. No reservations at Via Carota, it’s open till midnight so is particularly worth remembering for late night dining.

King on King’s Street is wowing New Yorkers with their seasonal Italian menu - homestyle cooking with a daily changing menu. The light is particularly wonderful at lunch time in the chic but cosy dining room with the bonus of beautiful art on the walls.

Image: https://www.lamerceriecafe.com/

La Mercerie Café at the Roman and Williams Guild at 53 Howard Street in Soho and a luxury design store, super chic, expensive but worth checking out.

I also returned to both Café Altro Paradiso and Cervo’s, another favourite with lots of small plates, great salads and cocktails. I particularly loved the tortilla with butter beans and chorizo.

Image: https://www.instagram.com/dailyprov/

Daily Provisions on East 19^th is my all-time favourite breakfast or brunch spot, certainly the very best house-cured bacon and egg sandwich in New York. They serve it in a brioche bun, both the texture and flavour are totally delicious. Don’t miss the gougère filled with mushrooms or spinach scrambled eggs. The lively little Parisian style café, Buvette, on 42 Grove Street is also top of my 

list. Super coffee, viennoiserie and little plates

Image: https://www.instagram.com/maialino_nyc/

 And finally for now, there’s Maialino for many good things but if you haven’t already had their cacio et pepe scrambled eggs with sourdough toast put it on your bucket list.

This time I sat at the counter and had a few little snacks, loved the grilled organic chicken hearts on rosemary skewers and the white bean puree with sage pesto, espelette pepper and carta musica.

There’s lots more but all of the above are favourites of mine that I couldn't resist sharing with you…

A Food Lover's Weekend in Paris

The Paris restaurant scene has sprung back into life. 

That may sound like a bizarre observation considering its reputation as the gastronomic capital of the world. 

However, throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s, Paris sat haughtily on its laurels, ignoring the food revolution that was taking place from Sydney to LA. 

The Michelin-starred establishments continued to hike up their prices, serving predictable food with lots of foams, gels and ‘skid marks’ on the plates, plus liquid pearls, powders, swirls and fronds unaware or unphased by the change in millennial eating habits and taste.

Then Daniel Rose opened Spring in 2006 (now closed) and Greg Marchand followed in 2009 with Frenchie on Rue-de-Nel -  a breath of fresh air, simple fresh contemporary food made with superb ingredients. The media and customers flocked eager for change and the revolution was born and so it continues.

As criticism grows about the astronomical prices and poor value for money offered by many of the Michelin starred restaurants, a whole plethora of tiny restaurants, bistros, cafés and coffee bars have sprung up all over the city, serving small plates and sharing platters of simple delicious food. I squashed into as many as possible over a busy weekend in Paris recently – most don’t take reservations so you’ll need to be prepared to queue but all of the following are worth the wait.

Here are my top picks:

Image: https://parisbymouth.com/la-buvette-camille-fourmont-bar-paris-75011-travis-montague/

La Buvette on Rue Saint-Maur, not to be confused with another of my favourites, Buvette in Manhattan. This tiny restaurant chalks up the menus on a mirror on the wall – close to the tiny open kitchen. I loved the huge meltingly tender white haricot beans with cedre zest and extra virgin olive oil and a few flakes of sea salt. This was followed by a tiny burrata rolled in mandarin dust and a super coarse terrine with pickled pears and some sourdough bread. I still had room for the pickled egg with black sesame and bonita flakes. I love this kind of food, edgy and delicious but possible to recreate at home.

Image: https://www.instagram.com/commealisbonne/

Sometimes you only need to be famous for just one thing… In the case of tiny Comme à Lisbonne on Rue du Roi de Sicile in Le Marais it’s their Portuguese custard tart. There will be a queue all along the sidewalk. They bake just 24 tarts at a time…they are snapped up like the proverbial hotcakes. If you are lucky there may be space along a tiny shelf in the shop to enjoy with a cup of espresso with your little treat.

Fed up and disheartened by ‘no shows’, many of the chicest places no longer take bookings. There was an hour and a half wait for Clamato, a seafood restaurant on Rue de Charonne. So we had a little plate of some saucisson and a couple of glasses of natural wine  from their superb list at Septime, a tiny wine bar across the road.

Eventually we gave up on Clamato and had dinner at Semilla, a much talked about and now super busy restaurant serving modern French food.

Veal sweetbreads with salsify confit was the stand out dish rather better than some of the more bizarre combinations like sea urchins with coffee mousse.

Watch Parisians shop, there are numerous markets around Paris, check out the nearest Farmers Markets to where you are staying by searching for Farmers Markets on Google Maps. On Sunday, the organic market on Rue Raspail is worth an amble, although quality didn’t seem as good as hitherto.

Image: https://www.instagram.com/tenbelles/

There are many coffee bars serving superb brews. Try Télescope on 5 Rue Villedo but it’s closed on Sunday. Farine & O on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoin  and Ten Belles on Rue de la Grange aux Belles are also worth a detour. As is Boot Café, a hole in the wall on Rue du Pont aux Choux.

Image: https://www.instagram.com/mokonutsbakery

Mokonuts, on Rue Saint-Bernard is a definite favourite, can’t wait to go back for breakfast, brunch or dinner. It’s a tiny café run by Moko Hirayama and Omar Koreitem. Loved the labneh on toast with olives and the flatbread with sumac and melted scarmosa on top. They also make what is perhaps the best chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie I have ever eaten, plus superb coffee.

E Dehillerin on Rue Coquillière is like Hamleys or Smyths Toys for cook and chefs. Every time I visit, I feel like a kid in a candy shop surrounded by tempting cookware and gadgets in this ‘no frills’ store which has remained pretty much the same  since it first opened in 1820, narrow aisles, wooden shelves and  metal  canisters full of superb quality utensils. Just around the corner on Rue Montmartre, you’ll find M.O.R.A., another iconic cook and bakeware store, that also sells a huge range of cake decorations and baubles for pastry chefs  Both shops are geared towards culinary professionals but also welcome keen cooks.

Image: https://www.instagram.com/yanncouvreur/

Paris is full of exciting patisserie; swing by Yann Couvreur Pâtisserie, Courou in the Marais and La Pâtisserie du Meurice par Cédric Grolet on Rue de Castiglione

L’As du Fallafel on Rue des Roses is justly famous for its falafel.

Sunday brunch was at Racines, a bistro in the charming Passage des Panoramas Arcade

A whole series of little plates of real food from the chalk board, the least ‘cheffie’ but elegantly earthy comfort food. Loved his winter tomato salad with extra virgin olive oil or the pan grilled scallops on mashed potato and dill. No swirls, pearls, powder or fronds here, just real food and a superb natural wine list.

Breizh Café on Rue Vieille du Temple, is another good spot for breakfast or lunch….

A long weekend is nowhere long enough and I haven’t even mentioned chocolatiers, cheese shops or cocktail bars...

Honey & Co.

We’ve christened Itamar and Sarit from Honey & Co., the Honeys, because they are just that.

We had them here at Ballymaloe Cookery School a couple of  weekends ago (after their extremely popular session at this year's Litfest).

It’s a bountiful time in the farm and in the gardens. Itamar and Sarit were so excited by the quality of the beautiful fresh produce. We had lots of fresh peas, courgettes and their flowers, broad beans and the first tiny cucumbers. A joy to eat and cook with.

They taught two classes and charmed the audience with their easy manner and utterly delicious food. They cooked many of the favourite Middle Eastern dishes from Honey & Co., their tiny restaurant in Warren Street in Fitzrovia. It seats just 24 people and snugly at that but serves about 150 who come for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 8.00am-10.30pm.

Sarit Packer has been cooking and baking since she was five, trained at Butlers Wharf and at the Orrery under Chris Galvin, where she learned, amongst other things, to make pâte de fruits, which up to then was her sole ambition in life. In her spare time she sleeps. Itamar Srulovich born and raised in Jerusalem. Cooking since the  age of five and leaving a great mess  in the kitchen ever since, he trained on the job in various places in Tel-Aviv. He prefers eating to cooking, and sleeping to both, he is very happily married to Sarit.

Sarit tells us that “what we’re about is homemade flavours” and it just struck me that so many of the restaurants that people love nowadays in particular in London and New York are about homemade flavours. Theirs of course are Middle Eastern and there are some dishes that they simply can’t take off the menu including falafel and their cherry pistachio cake. The Observer Food magazine awarded Honey & Co. "Best Newcomer of the Year" in 2013.

They have just celebrated their third anniversary so Pam baked them a gorgeous three tier cake embellished with roses, raspberries and spun sugar.

Somehow in the midst of it all they wrote their first cookbook - Honey & Co.: Food From the Middle East which was published by Salt Yard Book Co in 2014 to huge acclaim. Both Sunday Times and Fortnum and Mason awarded Honey & Co. Cookbook of the Year 2015 and just last month they won the UK Food Writers Guild, First Cookbook Award.

Their second cookbook launched just last week - Honey & Co.: The Baking Book.

Hudson Valley

During my visit to New York I travelled up by train from Penn station to the Hudson Valley. The train runs along by the river bank with a back drop of the sheer wooded cliffs of the Palisades on the other side. I've done this trip once before on my way to Rhinecliff but today it's even more beautiful, the trees are just bursting into leaf, white blossoms of the wild pear and an occasional purple pink crab apple, tangles of old man's beard...

We've passed through Yonkers, Croton Harmon, Poughkeepsie, Rhinecliff and next its Hudson. The train is really comfy and clean with lots of leg room and the bonus of a gracious attendant who tells you where to get off, helps you with your bag... and even puts a little footstool down to help you get out.

I was heading to Hudson to meet Mona Talbott who worked alongside Alice Waters at Chez Panisse for many years. She was the founding Executive Chef of the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome, revolutionising the food in the American Academy including establishing a vegetable garden. 

Image: talbottandaring.com

Talbott moved back to the US and has recently established a new shop and take-out Talbott and Arding with her partner Kate Arding, a world authority on cheese, who honed her skills at the Neal's Yard Dairy.

Warren St is lined with antique shops and small boutiques selling beautiful things, Talbott and Arding in their midst is a little gem, with an array of local farmstead cheeses in perfect condition and a selection of good things to take out, a few tempting sandwiches on really good bread, seasonal tarts with ramps and cheese, a couple of gorgeous cakes and just a few irresistible cookies and scones. Perfect for a picnic! How lucky are the people of Hudson to have this in the area - with everything of such superb quality.

Don't miss Alan Gray's Seville orange scotch marmalade, one of the best things I've tasted for years. 

Image: Annie Schlechter 

And a picnic it was. They brought beautiful beef and horseradish sandwiches, egg sandwiches with pea shoots and radishes on a lovely salty foccaia.  It was totally delicious. Gingernut biscuits that I'd kill for the recipe - must ask Mona - they're the best I've ever tasted. We headed for Ironwood Farm where Lauren, Jenny and Aliyah have an organic farm growing fresh sprouts and pea shoots.

Image: ironwoodfarmny - Instagram

These three young women are part of a really interesting growing grassroots movement in the US - small but significant  - of young, well-educated, Green Horn, agrarians moving back to the land and starting to grow or farm. 

Sadly I wasn't able to spend as long there as I'd have liked to on the farm,  I had to rush back to Kennedy airport to catch the plane back to Ireland, but not before I bought the most delicious selection of treats for my picnic on the way home - smoked salmon rillettes with horseradish in a little glass jars, paprika cheese, hard boiled egg with chilli and fennel sea salt, wrapped in a twist of tissue, coconut cookies, a slice of lemon and olive oil cake - can imagine, when I spread all this out on my airline tray I was the envy of all around me.

My Hot New York Tables

I was in New York again last week. First as a guest speaker at the 2015 Meet the Culinary Entrepreneurs program at ICE in New York (Institute of Culinary Education). Then two days later at the Glucksman Ireland House, speaking about the role of Ballymaloe in the Irish food renaissance.

It was a great opportunity to see the ICE and meet the students there and see Glucksman Ireland House and the wonderful work the Foundation are doing.

For the Glucksman talk two and a half times the amount they were expecting showed up so they had to move to bigger room. People were delighted to hear that the image of Ireland as the land of corned beef and cabbage, colcannon and champ - delicious as they are - in no way reflects the Irish food scene as it is now.

This trip gave me the opportunity to check out what's happening on the New York food scene, and even though it was only a couple of weeks since my last visit, I made some great new discoveries.

El Rey Coffee Bar and Luncheonette in Stanton Street in Nolita is doing really interesting contemporary American food using superb ingredients. Head Chef Gerardo Gonzalez is really one to watch - friendly, talented and still refreshingly ego-less at this time. 

Image: El Rey website

He does lots of small plates where vegetables take centre stage. The chargrilled radicchio with housemade ricotta, hazelnut, lemon and aleppo honey that I had was truly delicious. As was the flat bread with avocado, pickled onion and chimichurri. Put this on your New York list... but you'll need to get there fast, because New York magazine has just written a super positive piece about him. They also do great pop up curry nights on the weekend - so be sure to check them out.

The hot new opening whilst I was over was the Dominique Ansel Kitchen on 7th Avenue South. Ansel is a hugely talented pastry chef with very little ego, which is rather rare in New York. He shot to fame a couple of years ago when he created the cronut (see my post on it here) in his tiny premises in Spring Street (where they're still queuing round the corner). 

I went along on the day he opened his long anticipated new place and joined his many fans, plus several television crews that were documenting his first day. I was number thirty two in line so I gave up, despite the tempting oohs and ahs from the others sitting around me enjoying his creations like this sticky toffee pudding served like a Christmas cracker!

I also checked out Russ and Daughters - a fifth generation Jewish deli which now has their own cafe serving lox and bagels, pickled herrings, chopped liver, potato latkes, caviar...

I tried a couple of fermented drinks - the beetroot and plum one was thirst quenching and delicious, as well as the halvah ice cream with a salted caramel sauce for which they are famous. 

I met Josh, the fifth generation owner, who told me he's longing to come to Ireland - we're hoping he'll come to LitFest next year.

Another great place is Mission Chinese Food (171 E Broadway). If you haven't already discovered it, then this is definitely another hot spot to add to your list. As long as you don't mind queuing. It opens at 5.30. Like many other restaurants now they don't take bookings - so just resign yourself to standing in line and enjoy the experience - I guarantee it'll be worth it!

And then there's Ristorante Rafele (7th Ave S near Christopher Street), a little Italian gem that Madhur Jaffrey and her husband Sanford introduced me to.

I would never have found it on my own, it's the sort of restaurant you would walk by without a second glance. But it's my very best new discovery - thanks Madhur!

The other place I went to amazingly for the first time is an amazing ingredient shop, Kalustyans on Lexington Avenue, which has floor to ceiling shelves packed with ethnic ingredients from around the world. I bought barberries, Ceylon cinnamon, piment d'esplette and the best Telicherri peppercorns. 

Established since 1944, there were three generations working the shop floor that day - here I am with two! 

Another find was Breads Bakery. They had superb coffee, delicious little sandwiches and gorgeous breads, pastries and chewy, chunky breadsticks with gouda and green olives. I loved the cheese straw split in half filled with cream cheese, cherry tomato, coriander and avocado. 

Don't miss their speciality - chocolate babka - a Polish sweet bread swirled with chocolate and hazelnut that is truly irresistible. They're located just off Union Square and are well worth a visit.

No Phones Please... We're Eating

Look around you in any restaurant you go to. How many phones do you see?

It seems now that many diners seem to find it impossible to be parted from their smart phones during lunch and dinner. It's not just taking photos of the food (of which I'm certainly guilty) but tweeting, texting, Instagramming...

Image: LinkedIn.com

In desperation a growing  number of pubs are tempting clients with free pints in exchange for confiscating their iPhones for a couple of hours in an effort to bring back the craic and redeem the art of conversation.

Apparently some cool, hip getaways are advertising internet-free hotels and restaurants as a bonus and unique selling point for tormented execs and super cool techies!

On a slightly different note, a friend who attended a photography conference in the UK recently just managed to get last minute accommodation in what he described as a lousy hotel with lousy food. But to top it all, each table in the dining room had its own TV and earphones - how sad and scary is that?

Where will it all end?

Culinary Adventures in Cape Town

Yet again, The New York Times voted Cape Town as its top holiday destination in 2014.

And really, what’s not to love about Cape Town? It’s just one long sleep away, a mere two hours time change so virtually no jet lag and a guaranteed instant hit of winter sunshine.

Much has changed since my last trip a decade ago.Cape Town exudes confidence, it’s a brilliant cultural stew-pot, businesses seem to just spring up all over the place, hip urban coffee shops, farmers markets, roadside shacks, super cool cafés, restaurants,  pop-up concerts where the music can be anything from bongo drumming, French folk singing, classical to hip-hop.

On my earlier trips to South Africa, imported products and ingredients were greatly sought after but now virtually every shop and restaurant proudly touts the fact that the produce or products are produced in South Africa. The sea and farms around Cape Town produce some fine quality fruit, vegetables, meat, and beautiful fresh fish which is often cooked within hours of coming off the boats.

Many Cape Town eateries are casual affairs but it also has its share of stellar chefs and two of its top restaurants The Test Kitchen in Cape Town and The Tasting Room in Franschhoek are on the world’s Top 100 Restaurant List. Over the festive season it was really tough to get a table in many of the most talked about places but I had a particularly memorable lunch at The Pot Luck Club, the more casual and edgier roof-top sister restaurant of Luke Dale-Roberts’ The Test Kitchen. Chef Wesley Randles and his gang of passionate young chefs turn out an irresistible range of pan African and Asian sharing plates.

Out in Franschhoek where I spent a few days to attend a family wedding. I greatly enjoyed staying at LeQuartier Français on the main street. Breakfast was one of the best I have eaten anywhere. Freshly squeezed and I mean freshly squeezed juices - orange, beetroot, grapefruit…  Beautiful fresh ripe fruit, crunchy granolas classic and gluten free, thick unctuous buffalo milk and Greek yoghurts, home-made jams and croissants and house cured bacon.

 Here the less formal, Living Room serves delicious tapas all day long. I particularly loved the prawn popcorn in a crisp tempura batter with aioli and the duck and lentil crumble.

The Old Biscuit Mill in the Woodstock is not to be missed. What used to be a rundown area home to fishermen and factory workers is now a collection of little shops run by creative young artisans, furniture makers, artists and craftspeople. The Neighbourhood’s Saturday Market is an insight into the vibrant artisan food scene with local farmers, bakers, cheese-makers, charcutiers with over one hundred traders selling their handmade and home grown produce.

Out in Kalk Bay we had brunch at the Olympia Café for old times sake. There was a queue as ever for the plates of simple food, chippos, scrambled egg, frittata, omelettes, bacon… served on chipped formica tables. I ordered coconut hotcakes with passion fruit and strawberries and soaked up the hippie vibe.

Melissa’s The Food Shop in Cape Town is an interesting deli and café with an intriguing system. You can choose a selection of lunch dishes from her table and then have the plate weighed to arrive at the price,  it seemed to work brilliantly. 

And finally, Silwood Kitchen, South Africa’s first cookery school established by the feisty Lesley Faull, celebrates their 50^th year with the publication of ‘A Year at Silwood’ published by Quivertree Publications.

What's Hot in New York?

So what’s happening on the New York Food scene? Food seems to be an obsession with virtually everyone. Everyone seems to chat endlessly about where they’ve eaten and the new big thing.

Here's a really good place to add to your New York list.

Via Carota is the newest venture of Jody Williams of Buvette and Rita Sodi of I Sodi, both firm favourites of mine, all within a few blocks of each other around Grove Street. It serves simple Italian and French food, gorgeous ingredients and pretty dishes.

With all the snow and blizzard confusion we just managed to have a couple of small plates and a few salads in the long glass-fronted restaurant. I was longing to stay for dinner to taste the fried rabbit with rosemary and garlic toast.

Instead we had their bunless burger made of hand-chopped New York strip steak simply seasoned with salt and pepper, rosemary and garlic, seared on a hot flat top griddle. It comes on the plate without the distraction of a bun or fries, it may just be New York’s best burger in a town where they certainly know how to make a burger.