Top chef and butcher unveil new creations
‘WE’RE NOT SAYING IT’S BEST BURGER IN CITY – BUT IT’S IN TOP ONE’
ONE’S an award-winning butcher, the other is a Masterchef: Professionals champion. Put them together and what have you got? A top quality burger that packs a flavoursome punch.
Covid-19 has delayed plans by 2018 winner Laurence Henry to open his own restaurant in Nottingham so in the meantime he has teamed up with the Sherwood butcher, Johnny Pusztai, to launch the Snobby Burger.
The premium takeaway, available from next week, will come as a box meal with fries and a choice of burgers – including one with a unique twist honouring Johnny’s Hungarian roots.
Laurence, who employs all the kitchen secrets he learned at twomichelin-starred Restaurant Sat Bains, passed the time last year operating pop-ups and a home delivery service, Quarantine Kitchen.
The butcher makes the burgers and sausages from “top quality” meat, hung in the shop’s Himalayan salt fridge which draws out the moisture to make it more tasty.
Laurence is doing the rest, working in the kitchen at the rear of the shop in Mansfield Road. Rather than grilling the meat, he cooks it over hot coals in a Josper oven.
The high heat and fast cooking method produces a juicy, tender burger.
Every element has been carefully thought through and tried and tested countless times to perfect it.
The signature Snobby Burger is made from chuck beef, herbs and spices, to a recipe which won Johnny gold at Britain’s Best Burger competition eight years ago.
A secret recipe unami glaze adds an extra unctuous meaty flavour. A tuille of extra mature cheddar cheese sold in the shop, smoky mayo, sweet caramelised red onion, sweet and sour pickle, and crunchy lettuce inside a brioche bun made by Nottingham’s Baz the Baker, brings layer upon layer of flavour in every bite.
Also on the menu is a cheeseburger, the Juicy Lucy, with gooey melt-in-the-middle cheese and the Majestic Burger, which comes with the addition of braised beef on top and barbecue sauce.
The Magyar Imperial burger pays homage to Johnny’s Hungarian dad, whose recipe book he turned to for his homemade langos, a deep fried bread. Inside is a Kolbas pork burger, served with sauerkraut, pickles, and smoked sour cream.
The Snobby Dog, made with a Cumberland sausage, is not your average hot dog. A range of sides includes chicken wings, dirty fries and onion cups.
Vegetarian and vegan burgers will also be on sale in the exciting new addition to Nottingham’s food and drink scene.
Laurence said: “It’s great to be doing something again. I’m really excited to do something so different with the provenance of the ingredients and cooking with the Josper.
“We are keeping the menu simple to begin with, doing three or four really well. We are hoping to keep this going as a brand even after the pandemic. It is brilliant to be doing it with my buddy Johnny P.”
Johnny, whose shop is called the Snobby Butcher, said: “It has gone mental already. We’ve had to people to stop ringing the shop.
“Laurence is a good friend and we’ve done a few charity functions together. We have made it fairly simple with a small menu but there’s quality.
“We both think outside the box so it will be good.
“There is a trail of flavour. I want you to bite into it and 20 minutes later you’re still thinking about what was in it.
“In the words of Brian Clough, we’re not saying this is the best burger in Nottingham but it’s in the top one.”
Once up and running weekly specials will be introduced – possibly tell with less commonly used cuts of meat such as pig’s head – and a Sunday lunch burger is in the pipeline.
Johnny added: “It’s from farm to butcher to the magic of Lozza’s hands.”
Prices will range from £12.50 to £14.50.
The website snobbybutcher.co.uk is set to go live over the weekend ready for the first day of business on Wednesday.
Burgers must be preordered for either collection from the shop or home delivery within a five-mile radius.
Operating hours will be Wednesday to Friday, 4pm to 10pm, and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 10pm.