The Gastronauts Eat the King of Burgers

August, 2011

Hey ‘Nauts

There’s been a long battle over the origins of America’s favorite sandwich. The mercantile Germans of Hamburg claim it as their own, though Mongol legend has it that hundreds of years before, the horsemen of Genghis Khan stashed raw, chopped beef under their saddles as they rode, raped and pillaged across the steppe. The Turks and Bulgarians say the same — minus the stinky saddles and rampaging hordes — proclaiming that their minced patties are the true progenitors. Even Connecticut has planted its flag, declaring that the humble hamburger sandwich was invented in New Haven as working man’s lunch sometime back at the turn of the last century. But now there’s another contender.

Apparently, according to our new friend, it was his great grandfather, Leonidas, who invented this lowly but exalted dish back in the foothills of the Pindus mountains in Greece. (Though, between us, the Greeks like to take credit for inventing everything good: democracy, philosophy, “mentoring” adolescent boys, etc.) Anyway, as the story goes, Leonidas was known far and wide for his burger, raising his own animals on his farm — and secretly, quietly, building a Noah’s ark of specially minced meats. But with the economic crisis in those parts, business started heading downhill. So now, the descendants of Leonidas have decamped to Brooklyn, and they’ve brought along his menagerie of exotic burger meats.

Trust us: what we’ve got in store for you is pretty damn special. We’re having a summer cookout, with kangaroo and alligator sliders (both animals native to Greece, we’re told) and one secret, mystery meat. Honestly, it’s so unique (and so polarizing) that we can’t tell you what it is in this invite, but trust us, on Tuesday, you’re going to feel the love tonight…

BURGERGURU

FOOD: Alligator, Kangaroo, Mystery Meat

RESTAURANT: BURGERGURU

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