This article is a companion piece to One Dish, our video series giving you a behind-the-scenes look at how NYC chefs create their best-known dishes, hosted by @consumingcouple on our Instagram page.
To those who know anything about chef Angie Mar, it should come as no surprise Vogue called her dish “the Birkin bag of burgers.”
New York City’s most glamorous chef has built her career on showing all the ways the culinary arts are more than just quality ingredients and technical skill. Mar brings mood, narrative and sensuality to her dining room with touches of velvet, thoughtfully curated paintings and the theatrics of tableside flambé.
Le B. Photo: Si & Lauren Willis
“Our restaurant has always been about where cuisine, art, literature and fashion meet,” says Mar. “A lot of other restaurants have followed our lead. But I don’t know if they’re actually living it. We’ve been living it for the last 12 years.”
Those years include her revival of the Beatrice Inn into one of Manhattan’s most celebrated fine-dining restaurants, Les Trois Chevaux, which closed in 2023; the publication of her cookbook, Butcher + Beast; and her latest expression of luxury dining, Le B., where Le Burger is so popular and beloved by foodies that Chef Mar has recently expanded her offering of the dish.
Read on to learn why Le Burger is one dish you can’t miss.
Photo: Si & Lauren Willis
What Makes This Dish Special
“I actually created the burger in 2013,” says Mar of the dry-aged item. “But really, that burger had been five years in the making in terms of testing and figuring out what meat I wanted.”
Le B. took over from Les Troix Chevaux in the former location of the storied Beatrice Inn. Unlike many burgers, which some restaurants feature as a way to repurpose meat scraps, Le Burger is designed with intention. “There’s a lot of restaurants that maybe have a whole butchering program, and then everything else gets put into the burger grind,” Mar says. “But the thing with burgers is that there’s nowhere to hide your sins, right? Unless it’s really done well, it doesn’t work.”
Photo: Si & Lauren Willis
How It’s Made at Le B.
Created from a blend that’s 90-percent dry-aged rib-eye and the rest a mix of short loin, brisket and chuck, Le Burger is a steak in burger form.
“Because it is pretty much like a steak, we cook it like a steak,” says Mar. “It takes a long time on the grill, and then we rest the meat.”
The toppings are just as important: caramelized onions and a melt of d’Affiinois cheese, a brie-like triple crème.
“Nothing has changed,” Mar says of the burger’s composition over the past 12 years.
Photo: Si & Lauren Willis
When to Go
Le Burger was known by food connoisseurs as one of the City’s most exclusive burgers, an off-menu item that could only be ordered at the bar and was often sold out at the very beginning of the evening.
“We used to do just nine burgers per evening,” says Mar. “But recently there have been so many guests who join us for Le Burger. And there are so many people, farms, butchers and artisans that go into making it.” Chef Mar and her team are now making Le Burger more widely available (still in limited quantities), by pre-order through reservations on Open Table.
The burger’s quality could hold up at any volume (“whether we were making nine or nine million,” she says). “I think the burger is very special. We are in the hospitality industry; I want everyone to leave happy.”
Photo: Si & Lauren Willis
What the Chef Wants You to Know
The full à la carte and tasting menus are available at the bar, but many guests order the burger to fit in between more elaborate dishes.
“Diners come in and have oysters Viennese, followed by the calf’s brain ravioli, and then have the burger as a mid-course, and then actually have the pork trotter as their main,” she says. “That’s just a lovely, beautiful, decadent meal.”
Get a Taste with the “Burger Mignon”
Want it all? There’s a secret workaround. “If you come in and you do the six- or nine-course tasting menu, we actually have very small burgers called the Burger Mignon,” Mar reveals. “It’s not the eight-ounce burger that you can get at the bar. It’s two and a half ounces, and we actually add that as an additional course.”
“It’s like having your cake and eating it too,” she says. “Why not have a tasting menu with a small burger? You can have it all.”
What to Pair It with
“Our restaurant was built for champagne, Burgundy and more so, martinis,” Mar says. “I love champagne. I would have the burger with champagne. It’s a very sophisticated burger. Why not have a sophisticated drink with it?”
For something stronger, she recommends the award-winning Bemelman at the Ritz, a caviar-infused cocktail made with three vodkas. Or opt for the Samkus, Le B.’s version of a Manhattan, made smoked oolong tea.
Photo: Si & Lauren Willis
Why Diners Love Le Burger
“Our diners love the fact that it is the epitome of a luxury burger in the City,” says Mar. “I don't think that there's any restaurant in New York that does burgers that are more [luxurious]. I mean, we're the only restaurant in the country who can say that our burger has a Master Class.” That Master Class just so happens to be nominated for a James Beard Award as part of their Greatest of all Time (GOAT) series.
