SHACK IT UP!
Bite into summer and learn to cook up a juicy Shake Shack burger in the comfort of your own kitchen
IT all started with a humble hot-dog cart.
In 2001, restaurateur Danny Meyer placed an “I Taxi” hot-dog cart in Madison Square Park as part of a Public Art Fund project with Thai artist Navin Rawanchaikul. The idea was a fully functioning frankfurter stand that would operate alongside sculptures of taxis on stilts, with murals painted on the undercarriage. The concept got Meyer, who was known for higher-brow restaurants, such as Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern, thinking about bringing the “enlightened hospitality” he was known for to more casual pursuits.
The cart sat in the park for three years, serving Chicago-style dogs and losing money. In 2004, Meyer convinced the city of New York, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Madison Square Park Conservancy to let him build a permanent
kiosk in the park, and opened the first Shake Shack. Soon, New Yorkers were lining up for hours for Meyer’s fresh, gourmet take on fast-food burgers and frozen custard.
“It was a watershed year for restaurants in New York City. Legendary French restaurants were closing fast, but the food world wasn’t going backward on quality; we wanted to go forward without pomp or frills,” writes Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti and culinary director Mark Rosati in the new book “Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories” (Clarkson Potter; out now). “Our world was ripe for a place like Shake Shack.”
There are now 129 Shake Shacks around the globe, from Tokyo to Istanbul, and there are still lines at many New York City locations.
But thanks to the new book, you can learn to make a ShackBurger at home. (See recipes below.) It’s all about the little things, Rosati tells The Post.
Consistency is key. Rosati says: “We do not want to mess with [the ShackBurger].”