Meat as Sculpture

Introducing the Maillol burger

Comments (0) By Jonathan Gold Thursday, Aug 19 2010

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PHOTO BY ANNE FISHBEIN

The Natural

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Burger Kitchen

8048 W. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Category: Restaurant > American

Region: Melrose/ Beverly/ Fairfax

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Are there gimmicky burgers on the menu? You bet. Fifty dollars will get you that Black Label burger topped with lobster and truffle oil, and $75 will get you the "From Siberia With Love" burger, slathered in caviar. Owner Saffron swears that wealthy Russians come in and order the Siberia burger all the time, although they tend to be upset that it is garnished with farmed Osetra caviar instead of the illegal wild beluga.

Burger Kitchen is among the most controversial restaurants in Los Angeles. It opened perhaps a few weeks before it was ready, and it earned some of the nastiest comments I have ever read on Yelp. Beef aged 40 days is obviously a rare commodity, and not everybody is going to like it. The guys who rhapsodize about char coefficients and burger/bun ratios may not be convinced. And although the Black Label blend wholesales for more than prime steak, $26 is a lot to pay for a hamburger. But the Natural is an extreme burger for extreme times, a burger less to be eaten than to be conquered. If you are committed enough to spend this kind of money on a hamburger, the tidy Third Street storefront may be the only logical place to go.

BURGER KITCHEN: 8048 W. Third St., L.A. (323) 944-0503. Open daily, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. AE, D, MC, V. Beer and wine. Valet parking. Takeout. Hamburgers mostly $9-$13; the Natural $26; meat pies $10; salads $6-$11.