Father's Office vs. Spotted Pig

People who visit NYC go to Spotted Pig for the burger. The meat is char-grilled and the brioche bun is griddled, with checkerboard marks to prove it. Between bun and burger rests an ample serving of blue cheese – which some swear is key. Cozied up to the patty is a mountain of shoestring fries laced with crisply fried rosemary leaves and slivers of garlic.

(Pic from Serious Eats)

Now, people who visit La - with proper counsel - go to Father’s Office. While at Spotted Pig, the waits are usually 2-3 hours long to eat; Father’s Office has a different policy. Sure, it might take just as long to actually grab a seat, but there’s no rule here that says you can’t eat standing up. Since tables are first come, first served, diners are instructed to order both food and drink from the bar. Burgers are served in a basket and if you don’t mind holding your burger basket, you can walk in, order, eat, and take off.

Sounds pretty easy, huh? Well, it is, but how is the actual meat? Well, for starters, it’s a blend of dry-aged ribeye and chuck. There’s a Gruyere-blue mixture melted onto the burger. The Father tops it with bacon fat-caramelized onions and then, in true California cuisine fashion, piles the patty with arugula. It’s all contained in a sort of hoagie-like bun, of which I was extremely skeptical. Fries are ordered separately, but both burger and basket of fries are plenty to share.

(Pic from PowerCooking.net)

So, so, so… how is it actually? I think it’s amazing. I think it far exceeds the Pig. It makes the Pig burger taste DRY and, gasp, bland! The Pig burger is meat on a bun. It’s practically grey. Father’s burger is deep red meat with rich green arugula. And I never liked the shoestring fries at Spotted Pig. They’re too wispy. You’re basically eating strands of oil. The Father’s Office fries are hefty. And, you can order sweet potato fries if it suits you. The Pig burger needs ketchup. Those at Father won’t even allow for ketchup. It’s one of those snotty edicts that would have annoyed me in the past but you’ve got to trust (before your first bite and then you’ll believe thereafter) that this burger needs no ketchup.

When comparing burgers, there’s always that out-clause that you’re comparing two different beasts – like comparing Spotted Pig to Shake Shack. But in this case, I think the burgers are in the same gifted-track at private school… and dad just does it better.