We can officially state it now, since the best and most part of the year has gone by: 2012 is the year of the burger. Milan has literally seen an invasion of either burger-themed additions to pre-existing menus, and the opening of brand new restaurants that take their pride and primary business in serving delicious meat, stuck between two buns of bread, with all sorts of dressings in between.
An invasion of such magnitude did happened only once before, and to be clear we’re talking about the year 2001 and the serial opening of sushi bars all around town. But we must differentiate. If the majority of sushi places in Milan don’t really take bother in serving a series of alternative dishes other than the classic sushi and sashimi stuff, the hamburger trend is incredibly varied and curated down to the smallest detail.
In an imaginary burger tour of the city, we should start with a super fast, yet delicious, Australia-inspired sandwich at newly-opened Burger Wave, ideal for a quick stop before clubbing-hour. Then, we’d move just around the corner and go and meet all of the city’s fashionistas over at Tizzy’s Bar and Grill. But for sure we’d end up trying to get a table at the-burger-bar-to-be, Al Mercato, where young chefs Beniamino and Eugenio are delighting the palats of the luckiest customers in Milan.
Beniamino and Eugenio were recently interviewed about this trend, especially since they are among the ones that started it all. They are very opinionated about it, and truly hope that the trend won’t follow the steps taken by both sushi and chinese places years ago. This is because they truly believe in one thing above all: quality. Of both service, and products. They do cook some good old burgers, but they do it Italian-style: using only local distributors and organic products. This is the key to their success, and also the reason why Milan is loving this burgermania after all.
Check out the extreme quality of one of Al Mercato’s burgers