Hubert Keller Interview, Burger Bar, and questions
The December issue of St. Louis Magazine has an interview with Hubert Keller about SLeek, Burger Bar, and Keller in general.
They did however leave off my question, so if anyone gets the chance, here’s the one I desperately want an answer to: Why do you spell sleek “SLeeK”?
And for you, dear reader, is another question: Why do people feel the need to pretentiously spell the names of their restaurants with letters turned around, strangely capitalized, or replaced by numbers (F15teen)?
But I digress…here are two more Burger musings…
One, the website. You can navigate to the Burger Bar St. Louis web page via Keller’s Homepage and be promptly hit over the head by the techno music once inside. I guess this is supposed to wet my burger eating appetite, but I fail to see how it has anything to do with the look of Burger Bar with its faux diner counter and stools. If you know, please, enlighten me.
Two, the menu. There are a lot of meat choices for your burger chomping experience from the leanness of buffalo to the Omega 3 goodness of King Salmon–cheap enough that it has to be farm raised–to the Kobe (though American) that has captured the publics attention needlessly because it’s part of the $60 burger (though apparently half of that is the 1/3oz of black truffles priced out at $30).
So what I don’t get is: you can have Ridgefield Farm Beef “corn fed premium hereford beef;” you can have Black Angus Beef for another 50 cents that is “the very best grain fed beef”–grain meaning corn and soy I’m sure; or you can have the American Kobe (generally a cross between true Wagyu and Angus) which maybe got some barley or alfalfa in its longer lifespan than that of traditional cattle.
Why then, if you’re going to the trouble to offer three kinds of beef, would you not go ahead and make one of those offerings grass fed so that you can also tout the Omega 3 goodness of it as well?
If the answer would be that they wouldn’t sell enough of the grass fed beef to make it worthwhile, the obvious response, in the form of a question is: are they really going to be slamming through $60 burgers topped with truffles? I wouldn’t think so, not in St. Louis anyway.
In all fairness, I have to admit, they do look fairly tasty.
…and on Lumière Place in general… We went to Niche Sunday with my buddy Chuck, and it was the first time Ellie had seen Lumière lit up. She thought it was an eyesore, but I have to say, I kind of like it for some reason. I know it’s gaudy, but it kind of spices up the skyline when you’re crusing in from the North or South. Still, I can’t help but think they made a huge mistake with all the Vegas-like touches, because, at the end of the day, we’re still more of a buffet town than a SLeeK one.
14 Responses to “Hubert Keller Interview, Burger Bar, and questions”
I’m thinking that the SLeek is in reference to Saint Louis. Just guessing.
By Wineguy on Jan 2, 2008
Why the big K then too?
By bb on Jan 2, 2008
Visited Burger Bar. Won’t go back. I ordered a buffalo burger because there was no grass fed beef. I still don’t know why it was $16.
Both my burger and my friends burger (the Kobe) were not cooked to temperature. This is unacceptable for a place that uses meat molds and specializes in this cuisine. When I raised the issue with the server she said, “Yeah. That has been happening here.”
The space for SLeek looked good…
By Jeff on Jan 2, 2008
Hey Jeff, did you get a chance to see the beer list at the Burger Bar? They were claiming to have some aged beers on hand.
By Mike Sweeney on Jan 2, 2008
Re: SLeeK (and F15teen and ~scape and so on): Screwy typography is the new black. Or it’s all a plot to piss off newspaper copy editors and proofreaders. One of those two.
By Ian Froeb on Jan 2, 2008
ok…so I realize the “K” must then be Keller.
By bb on Jan 2, 2008
Didn’t look at the beer list. Lunch for two (two burgers, two orders fries and the truffle jus to dip) came to $50 (before tip). I was terrified of a $15 microbrew…
In retrospect, I would have had more fun gambling the money.
By Jeff on Jan 2, 2008
Visited Burger Bar Saturday Dec 29th. I will NEVER go back. The staff had to be the most poorly trained I have had to endure while dining out! I could only conclude this must be due to the arrogance of the “twins” they call “managers”. Lets not forget that it took a half hour to get the $18.55 over cooked Bison Burger shaped with a meat mold and served on a petite whole wheat(cold)bun. I will skip over the poor sides and UN-SLeeK drinks!!! My expectations were high for Burger Bar based on the investment, famed chef and the excellent interview in St Louis Magazine! Is service becoming a lost art???
By St Louis on Jan 2, 2008
Lumiere had a rush when it comes to opening….people who like to dine regurarly in restaurants should know that the first few weeks can be anything but great…..no need to be so harsh….lets face it who can cook a 8oz burger in less than 10 min?……Yes this is not Vegas, but why stay the same “buffet” city for the rest?……
By me on Jan 30, 2008
To “me” If you’re going to post a comment, man up and put your actual email address.
I agree that it’d be nice to see buffets go away, but then I also think it would be nice to see casinos go away.
Also, just because a casino offers up something other than a buffet doesn’t give that place a free pass. I’ve not been. I can’t comment, but countless people have been less than enthralled.
My personal non-Vegas point was about cost. Substituting $60 burgers for buffets won’t fly in this market. And yes, I realize there are other lower cost alternatives.
And I’m the one that said they looked “tasty” on the website, so if I find myself in the neighborhood I’ll try one, but I certainly wouldn’t make a trip just for it.
By bb on Jan 30, 2008
Sorry to hear about some of the negative experiences at the casino, I on the other hand had a great time while visiting from out of town. It`s nice to see that St. Louis is becoming a city with more entertainment & dining options in interesting locations. Being one of the original places where the burger was founded, seemed very cool that Burger Bar opened its second location there. My experience at the Burger Bar was phenomenal, my boss planned a last minute dinner for 20 people, to which the staff responded with great service overall. I will definitely go back when visiting St. Louis again!!
By Tom on Jan 31, 2008
visited BB many times so far-alone, with a few friends and with a big lunch-meeting group of 15..everything was great, the staff was so fast+friendly and a big thanks to the GM who personally made sure that everything was at it’s best, very nice atmosphere and the food was delicious….I can recommend the place…
By BB-visitor on Feb 16, 2008
I have to admit, it wasn’t what I expected. I’m not saying that it doesn’t have potential though. I get the feeling that we lost Hubert somewhere on the battlefield. He should be there for real, insisting on his own high standards. Do you hear me? If he was here, it would be better. However, one can’t predict politics. Unless you are the one in charge I guess…
I had the black jack burger I think it may have been called. It was over cooked completely, and not in any way deserving of the price. On the bright side, I did not get food poisoning that I am aware of. The meat was completely done. The restaurant had just opened that month and the staff was still as they said themselves literally, “working the kinks out of the system, and there were a lot of kinks” Nice staff, but in the middle of the afternoon, the place was empty pretty much. They had no non alcoholic beer in stock they said, so I had a soda. Strong presence of security, even undercover, whether they be double agents or not!! haha
Bottom line, I would not go back for the food I ordered, but would be willing to try something else. There is obviously something preventing them from the great reputation they have, however, I am completely unaware of what that could be.
By Cathy on May 7, 2008