Dukedom – Craigie on Main

I’m exposing myself in public.  No, not in the creepy way that some crazies do on the T.

I cited my slight obsessive behavior in my previous post. Well, you can put a strike through the word slight.

I am writing about Craigie on Main. Again.

It’s not really my fault. Mr. E came home from Los Angeles on Friday and he requested to go to Craigie to qualify our luck for a pair of bar seats. I checked in on Yelp as soon as I ordered my Pretty Things Baby Tree and was surprised with this beaut.

Obsessed. Tony Maws, I promise I’m not stalking your life.

This Yelp reward was the first of many positives for me that night. The second was the delightfully short wait to grab two seats at the end of the bar. I was told it was going to be a long one, which is exactly what I expected with no reservation on a Friday at 6:45. However, after only 20 or so minutes, I was ushered to two seats at the end of the bar. It was as if the heavens opened up and the warm, glittering beams shone down on those two seats.

I introduced myself to my bartender, Jared, and motioned a hello to Ted, who I believe is also the Bar Manager. Ted is the dapper gentlemen with the sweetest ‘stache. Most ladies may disagree with me, but you don’t turn down a drink from a man with a good and proper mustache.

The next words out of Jared’s mouth set my heart ablaze — “we have a few burgers left tonight.” It’s estimated that Chef Maws turns out only 20 burgers a night due to his meat supplier’s quantity restrictions. It’s an off the menu dish that is word of mouth at the bar only. If there’s one thing I took away from business school, it’s a good understanding of supply and demand. If this meat supplier from Hardwick is going to limit the supply on grass-fed beef, then eff yeah, there is going to be sky high demand for a celebrated chef’s 6 month concocted burger that’s spearheading a secret society.

So the next question is obviously did I get the burger? And my answer – do birds fly?

Amuse Bouche – Crispy Fried Pig Ear & Local Beets dressed in a Miso Mustard Vinaigrette || Burger Accoutrements – House Made Ketchup, Red Wine Pickles, and Slaw

This burger is beefy. Ingredient list includes the likes of brisket, flap steak, short rib, suet and marrow. Then it’s hit with some dry miso to give it that extra punch. If that wasn’t enough, Maws cooks this bad boy with a C-vap (controlled vapor) oven. This cooking method literally surrounds food with the moisture in the form of vapor, which aids in stabilizing the amount of moisture in the food — or in laymen’s terms, if the goal is to keep the burger juicy, then mission accomplished. It’s given a quick char and served, in my case, under a stack of bacon.

The meal could not have been more perfect to bask in my Yelp Royalness. But I was wrong! Jared whipped together the neatest mocktail. It was very heavy on the citrus, which I really love. Refreshing drinks are best. Then, it had a tickle of heat from this Thai chili syrup. The heat was so slight, that you kept sipping trying to figure out what it was. Before Mr. E and I made our exit, we requested the recipe for this drink so we could have it again.

If you’re thinking that’s not being dedicated, then I’ll fill you in on a little secret. I came back here with Mr. E Sunday morning for brunch. Come at me, bro.

As it turns midnight now, I’ll have to save that post for another day.

Signing off —
Duchess of COM