The Bermuda Triangle of Burgers
The West Village, it can be said, has an embarrassment of riches. Some of these riches are just embarrassing — such as Marc Jacobs boutiques popping up on every corner as if through the work of especially prodigiously over-copulating metrosexual rabbits. But then there is the abundance of some truly exceptional burgers (despite some recent kerfuffle over the vaunted Corner Bistro burger. Still, few can argue (successfully with a mouth full of bacon and cheese, anyway) that the Corner has not earned it’s place in the pantheon of chopped sirloin. Danny Meyer and Keith McNally be damned.)
There is, in the West Village, this one small special area centered roughly on Abingdon Square, which is the Bermuda Triangle of Burgers. It is the sort of place where a man on a burger binge can get lost and never be heard from again. So, yes, there’s the Corner, and then just a few blocks away, is the Spotted Pig, home to one of the grandest, tallest Roquefort-dripping patties in the land, served with a heaping pile of crisp matchstick fries dotted with rosemary — April Bloomfield’s crowning achievement. And now, completing this holy trinity is Paris Commune with its PC Burger. The PC Burger is a weighty thing, as different from the SP Burger as that feast is from the quick satisfaction of the CB. The PC Burger comes topped with caramelized onion on a juicy and thoroughly thick patty, with just a hint of char on the edges and a soft center that makes your mind think tartare. It was introduced only a couple of months ago, but seems to really be hitting its stride. And there’s a bonus: Before 7 p.m. any night, the price includes a beer.
If Braeburn decides to join the fray we may really be in trouble.
