One of the best burgers in Monterey County is a contradiction—opulent and nuanced, yet also a rough hewn, swaggering beast. It also comes with a catch: You have to prepare it yourself.
The ground beef in question can be found at The Meatery, the Seaside butcher and deli that is home to standout chef Todd Fisher. And it is something to behold, even in its packaging, where gleaming white marbles of fat seem to outnumber the ribbons of beef.
“We like to think it’s 70-30,” Fisher says of the meat to fat ratio. “But I think it’s really 65-35.”
A rich and husky haze drifts through the kitchen after patties are placed on cast iron. Brought to medium rare or medium on cast iron, the resulting burger is bold and swarthy, with a dusky minerality carrying visions of churned butter, prairie grass, trodden earth and distant trails of smoke. And all of this clings to the palate.
Yet the ground meat is almost like an afterthought. Fisher uses scraps of meat leftover from hewing steaks to order—hunks of fat-riddled Wagyu, deep brown shards of dry-aged, pieces of leaner grass-fed in a combination he says varies “depending on the day of the week.”
One could justify referring to this as ground steak.
When he served as chef at Seventh & Dolores in Carmel, Fisher introduced a little bone marrow to his patties. But he has resisted the addition at The Meatery. The burger simply doesn’t need any help.
Pinning down the fat ratio is the only difficulty.
“My wife says it’s 70-30—70 percent fat,” Fisher says with a laugh.