If the thought of pink slime turns you off Memorial Day burgers, don’t
give up the tradition–just head to your local butcher.
Several meat shops and markets around Washington grind
top-quality hunks of meat daily, if not to order, ensuring pristine
patties. More in the mood to grind your own? Check out
tips
from Ray’s Hell-Burger owner
Michael Landrum, and then ask the butcher to recommend whole cuts. Call ahead, as several shops are closed on Mondays or will observe holiday
hours.
Chef
Robert Wiedmaier‘s gourmet market is a solid
stop for grab-and-go burger patties, a mix of dry-aged Angus beef and
veal seasoned with caramelized
onions, parsley, and spices. You can also call in customized
orders.
“Hamburger meat ground fresh four times a day!” is the
slogan at this decades-old Laurel market. The all-natural,
additive-free
USDA ground beef is a mix of chuck, round, and sirloin, giving a
solid balance of lean and fat. Not in the mood for patties?
New York strip and Delmonico steaks are on special.
You’ll have a tough choice between the freshly ground beef–roughly an 80/20 mix of chuck and prime steak trimmings–and Greg
Norman Wagyu beef from Australia at this Del Ray shop. Either way, try Aussie butcher
Steve Gatward‘s favorite preparation: a patty topped with cheese, egg, bacon, and pickled beets.
Some of the most creative butcher-shop burgers can be
found here, including “stuffed” beef burgers with bacon and cheddar
or jalapeño and Swiss, plus wild boar and bacon patties.
There’s also house-ground beef, grass-fed Wagyu, and a deluxe blend
of short ribs and brisket.
While not a butcher shop, this 14th Street market
brings in high-quality products from farms in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The
100 percent grass-fed Black Angus ground beef is dry-aged for
three weeks–tenderizing what could be tougher meat–and is available
in packages or patties.
Chef
Cathal Armstrong‘s new-ish Alexandria commissary includes a butcher counter, where you can pick up ground-to-order meat and patties made with
certified Angus beef from Roseda or Pine Ridge farms.
Chef-turned-butcher
Jamie Stachowski grinds meat to order at his newly opened shop in Georgetown, utilizing trimmings from prime cuts like tenderloin and local
chuck meat from Martin’s in Delaplane, Virginia. Request as little–or as much–fat as you want in the ground meat.
Locally raised, hormone-free, kosher-beef burgers
arrive in two varieties at this Spring Valley market: lean freshly
ground
sirloin and a fattier (i.e., juicier) mix with chuck. Looking
for something special? Go for “Wagshal’s special blend,” a
grind-to-order
mix of sirloin, short rib, and brisket.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
