Bring it on, Burger Love
OpenEats, Broadway 45, and FiveEleven West will take your order
Burger Love is here, and Prince County is spreading the love. The month-long, Island-wide campaign has become a celebration of eating and supporting local foods since it started in 2011. It takes place throughout April, and this year it offers 84 unique burgers across P.E.I. Only one will be chosen the best.
Two of the 11 new restaurants competing this year are looking forward to the exciting month ahead.
Alex Clark, owner of OpenEats in Summerside, offers the Pickled & Cured burger, inspired by winter on P.E.I. when local produce isn’t fresh and preserved foods are the option. “[We] wanted to represent what P.E.I. is,” Clark said. The burger’s cured and smoked patty sits between two house-made buns, and is coated in an umami sauce to create juiciness.
Topped with a pickled brussels sprout and filled with horseradish, gouda cheese, raw onion, retro mayo and tomato chow, the burger is able to pack a lot in and still fit in two hands.
Clark thinks Burger Love will be great for business, because last April they didn’t have many customers due to the 73 Burger Love options elsewhere. “That is what April has become – a month of burgers. Either do it or close,” he said.
Clark’s team worked very hard on the burger, so he of course thinks it’s the best.
“[But] I’ll let the public decide. I’m a bit biased.” Duncan Smith is the chef at Broadway 45 in Kensington, another new restaurant to Burger Love. He think’s his burger, the Meat Me on Broadway, may have the most unique cuts of meat.
“It’s not just about the ground beef,” Smith said. “We wanted to use as many different kinds of
beef as possible.” Cuts include a four-ounce patty, a two-ounce beef tenderloin medallion, two ounces of brazed beef, and a grounded brisket, all done in green pepper sauce. It also contains gouda cheese, grilled onions, grainy mustard, and mayo.
Although it’ll be busy, Burger Love should bring plenty of new customers from around the Island through their doors, Smith said.
“I’m looking forward to starting it, then three weeks into April I’ll be looking forward to May.”
Veteran Burger Love restaurants are also ready for the busy times ahead.
Emily McKeown, chef and co-owner of FiveEleven West in Summerside, says their style is making a burger that’s not too over the top.
“I’m not just throwing ingredients on for the sake of it,” she said. “A simpler creation is a better creation.”
The All.In.Burger features local meat and cheddar cheese, smoky hot sauce, and some pickled veggies to give it tang.
Their popular candy bacon from last year’s burger also makes a return. McKeown’s goal this year was to make a burger feasible for them and their customers. It can be an expensive month, but their burger will balance taste and value, she said.
“It’ll appeal to anyone who doesn’t want anything too cockamamie. It’s a straight-up burger,” she said.
To check out all 84 Island burgers, go online to www.peiburgerlove.ca. Western P.E.I. restaurants participating in Burger Love Summerside
– Breakwater at the Silver Fox, – Brothers Two
– Gentleman Jim’s
– Granville St. Diner
– Local 311
– OpenEats
– Pizza Delight
– St. Eleanors Dairy Bar
– The Loyalist Country Inn Kensington – Family & Friends, – Broadway 45
– Frosty Treat
– Island Stone Pub
Kinkora
– O’Shea’s Pub & Eatery Slemon Park
– Anson’s
Tyne Valley
– The Landing Oyster House & Pub
Mill River
– Mill River Experience.