Appetites: The Chicago burger that's shaking up Twin Cities dining
People will accept waits of over three hours just to get a taste of it.
This burger is styled with just the basics: a toasted bun, two patties and cheese — maybe some caramelized onions, sauce or pickles.
While it appears to be a no-frills sandwich, the award-winning burger at Chicago's Au Cheval has changed the Twin Cities dining scene.
Heavy Table editor James Norton traced the first local cluster of Au Cheval-like burgers to 2015. The first one may have been at Minneapolis' Borough and Parlour.
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Here's how the Heavy Table has described the Parlour burger:
"There is nothing hiding the refined bare essentials except the burger's deceptively simple appearance — the two patties are formed from ground sirloin, ribeye and brisket. There is no aioli, no sad, obligatory lettuce and tomato, no bacon (is the bacon thing still a thing?). It's a double cheeseburger."
That simplicity is the hallmark of Au Cheval's style of cheeseburger. In the Twin Cities, spots including Revival, Saint Dinette, Lyn65 and Hi Lo Diner have followed suit with similar offerings.
Norton joined All Things Considered host Tom Crann to talk about how the burger scene as we know it is transforming — for the better.
Use the audio player above to hear their chat.