New Year Feasting I: Louis' Lunch

This is apparently my first post in over three months. Instead of writing about sandwiches and everything else that makes America the greatest country (consider waistlines as a metric) in the world, I've been buried deep in physics literature. As it turns out, I completed a thesis in theoretical condensed matter physics and will be defending my dissertation this May. The interested reader can check out my publications for further details about my closet passion for non-equilibrium dynamics in interacting quantum many-body systems.

Actually, don't do that. If you're one of the ~10 people reading this, then I'd rather make a poor attempt at keeping your attention without distraction.

With that obligatory attempt at pretending this is a legitimate use of my time, let's proceed to examine what I've been eating. An impending sense of doom has been setting in recently: by summer's end I probably won't be living in New York. A reasonable person would start getting affairs in order and securing a job by all means necessary. That kind of thinking stresses me out, so I've been assembling a bucket list of places in which I need to dine by June. Peter Luger is already scheduled completed, and I'm certainly going to revisit Katz's Deli at least once. In this spirit, let me now discuss some eateries between NY and Boston I had the pleasure of visiting with Megan for during the New Year's weekend.

Our journey began here, in New Haven, CT. At this point, either Megan or my brother would chime in to remind me that the journey actually began when we opened my car doors in the parking garage. Still, anyone who has driven this stretch of I-95 between The Bronx and New Haven will back me up by agreeing that there's absolutely nothing of interest between the city and Yale. We left New York around 9:30am in hopes of reaching Louis' Lunch around by opening time of 12pm. The traffic was so sparse that we were parked within several blocks of the joint by 11am. As it turns out, one should arrive early at this place.

Louis' Lunch is the eatery that invented the hamburger. Tucked away on the edge of Yale University campus, it's not the kind of place you just stumble upon by pulling off the highway in search of a quick bite. In addition to high incomes and insane motorists, Connecticut boasts an abundance of interesting hamburger stands. Anyone who recognizes this place from a Travel Channel or Food Network show will also recall Ted's Restaurant, located just minutes north of New Haven, as the joint famous for its steamed hamburgers and closely guarded cheese secrets. Until this blog really takes off, I'm going to focus on the more touristy meccas with more conventional ways of cooking tasty burgers: those broilers are the originals, which have been in service since almost 25 years before my grandfather was born.

The building hosts a sign that reads, "established 1895." That's legitimate. Venture into suburban North Carolina, and one finds all kinds of similar signs dating back to 2002, or maybe the wonder years of 1992. Old Navy claims to be an old-timer, dating back to 1991. The fabled Mitch's Tavern in Raleigh, NC looks like an ancient relic with its roots going all the way back to years before my birth. Let me repeat: 1895. I'm spoiled because I live in New York where there are bars old enough to have hosted Abraham Lincoln, but I still recognize a true relic when I see one. This place is for real.

Megan and I arrived early enough that she could secure seating for us while I waited in line when they opened the doors. This place has character. The most complex burger they serve is a "cheeseburger" with tomatoes and onions... on white bread toast. Putting ketchup on these patties is an unforgivable sin. This isn't mentioned explicitly, because anyone who has the devotion to find and get into this place already knows the proper rules of etiquette. As a friendly reminder, a sign hanging in the background reminds you that, "This is not Burger King. You don't get it your way. You take it my way or you don't get the damn thing." You get the idea.

Being puritanically minded in terms of condiments and meat, I opted for two absolutely plain hamburgers. With such a fuss about ketchup ruining the experience of their burgers, I had no qualms about sampling them in the purest way possible. Megan went for the all-out variety with cheese spread, tomatoes and onions. All I can say is that anyone expecting an exquisitely crafted Kobe burger or something surprising will be genuinely disappointed. Is it good? Absolutely! But let us not forget that this place hasn't changed much since 1895, when food was more of a necessity than an enjoyable experience. They claim to cook these medium-rare unless otherwise specified. The centers of my burgers were slightly beyond medium with the edges quite well done. Those outer regions brought about memories of the cube steak I was fed when either my mom was too exhausted to cook something real (or perhaps, when I was an especially irritating child). Having said that, it's a slab of meat between two pieces of toast without any remorse or self-doubt. I do enjoy that, and I quite savored eating both of them. It's like eating a US history book, but slightly tastier --enough to make it worth the $5 charge on each burger. Think of wanting seeing the Statue of Liberty up close... experience of a lifetime the first time. Beyond that, you're just a tourist... desperately in need of a new routine.