R2L is serving up some of the city’s most inspired and delicious sandwiches from their perch high above the city in Liberty Two – a location that happens to overlook South Philadelphia.  The symbolism is not lost on the menu, as Chef/Owner Daniel Stern has created food that “walks the fine line between traditional and modern, where the old school things that people grew up on also grow up.”  Old school sandwiches like cheese-steaks, burgers, lobster rolls and the Reuben are transformed by Stern into unbelievably decadent, yet unpretentious finger-foods.

We started with cocktail Reubens.  Stern had to get this one perfect, as he is a believer that there ”probably hasn’t been a better sandwich invented.” House-brined corned beef, fresh-made sauerkraut, Gruyere cheese and a stone ground mustard are wrapped in a pocket of homemade rye dough, grilled and baked.  The crunchy, tangy and savory delight is served on a plate dressed with celery-root ketchup based thousand island dressing and stone ground Dijon. “Eat it with your hands” – the Chef insists.  Our complaint was that we didn’t have 700 of these little treasures lined up to knock down.

The venison cheesesteaks draw inspirations both from South Philly and Stern’s days as executive chef of Le Bec Fin.  The cheesesteak has grown into a seriously sophisticated sandwich here, as venison loin, sauteed wild-mushrooms and carmelized onions with a reduced venison jus is served inside an Amoroso roll, cut bite-sized to force you to savor the richness of this masterpiece.  The Amoroso roll and Fontina fondue “whiz” that the morsels rest upon both ground us in this dish’s roots, while the old-world preparation of the venison brings the flavors sky-high.

The lobster roll, inspired by the chef’s visits to the coast, is lip-curlingly delicious and has us inventing adjectives. Tail, claw and knuckle-meat is dressed with a smooth and light, yet rich home-made lavender mayonnaise. The finely diced blanched celery balances well texturally with the hunks of lobster, and the home-made potato roll brings a very homey property to the sweet and savory sandwich.

The Chef has imparted his decadent signature on the classic cheeseburger, and to do so spent weeks experimenting to get his meat proportions perfect.  We love when a chef aims for “optimal fat and flavor content” when selecting what to grind – and this burger, with aged cheddar and smokey bacon, can’t help but make you giggle like a school girl.  Both the mind and taste buds are absolutely tickled by the unsweetened donut that it’s served on, as well as by the fermented mushroom-ketchup that the chef created after “researching the various forgotten ketchups that stopped being made when people started relying on the grocery store for their condiments.”  This burger is legit.  To paraphrase MC Hammer, this burger is R2L2Q.

R2L is open from Monday through Wednesday 5pm to 1am and until 1:30 Thursday through Saturday, serving food until 10 and 11 respectively, and offers a full menu fit for the exclusive and inviting cocktail-party ambiance that the decor and highrise view suggests.   While we came for the sandwiches, we wouldn’t mind spending an evening here, eating the finger food, sampling the well-crafted cocktails and moving on to the full menu.

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R2L
37th Floor of Two Liberty Place
50 S. 16th Street – Philadelphia, PA (Google Map)
(215) 564-5337

Less than a year after renovating Old City’s Philadelphia Fish & Co. into Q BBQ & Tequila, owners Kevin and Janet Meeker are at it again. The restaurant will change its name to Q BBQ Burgers & Tequila and the menu will now offer over a dozen gourmet burgers, hot dogs, and the option to build your own.

Meal Ticket’s Drew Lazor has a closer look at the revamped menu as well as juicy burger photos by Felicia D.

Q BBQ & Tequila’s new burger menu in pictures [Meal Ticket]

Just before Thanksgiving PYT’s Tommy Up announced plans to introduce a new specialty burger each week. The menu kicked off with a Thanksgiving burger made from ground turkey topped with stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. Following that, Up collaborated with neighboring restaurant El Camino Real to create a pastrami special burger topped with Texas smoked brisket and smeared with Thousand Island dressing. Yesterday, the Tijuana burger dropped with housemade guacamole, chipotle mayo and tortilla strips.

Check out Fries With That Shake, where self-proclaimed burger baroness Jess has full ongoing coverage of the PYT burger of the week.

PYT
1050 N. Hancock Street – Philadelphia, PA 19123 (Google Map)

It is fitting that on a street as rich with history as Philadelphia’s Camac Street that Terra’s Chef Eric Paraskevas channels his own history in the form of a trio of miniature sandwiches.

The Cubano represents his background in Latin cuisine from his time at Lolita.  It features sliced house-roasted turkey, pulled pork carnitas in Chef’s own chipotles, and adobo seasoning with a pickle and cheese, on a buttery crisp toasted ciabatta.  The local beef burger, which speaks to his support of the local foods movement, is served simply with tangy cheddar on a brioche bun.  As a nod to Chef’s Greek heritage, a lamb burger is paired with fig aioli, and served on a Parker House dinner roll.

And now, bursting with World Series excitement, Chef Paraskevas has added a plate of mini Schmitters to the menu; though in our experience, when it comes to Schmitters, bigger is better.

Terra
243 S Camac St Philadelphia, PA 19107 (Google Map)

A burger is a blank canvas, a universe of options and interpretations, and we love the idea of putting the creativity in the hands of the customer.  With Village Whiskey, Chefs Jose Garces and Dave Conn are taking the build your own burger concept to a whole new level.  Toppings include the classic fried egg, crisp applewood bacon, artisanal cheeses, sweet caramelized cippolini onions, artichokes, even white truffles.  So you can try Chef Conn’s favorite combination: avocado, bacon and a fried egg, or create your own signature burger.

With only a few precious seats, and no shortage of burger and whiskey lovers willing to wait for them, it’s a pretty tight squeeze to get in the door. The restaurant offers the basic 8oz Village burger with thousand island dressing and a range of great toppings, each for just a couple dollars.  The all-natural Angus beef comes from Wolfe’s Neck Farm and is ground fresh daily at the new Garces Trading Company Commissary, where they also bake sesame seed buns exclusively for Village Whiskey.  Pastry Chef Ann Giles’ twice-proofed bread recipe yields an airy texture with a light sweetnes and mild buttery flavor.  The restaurant actually shares kitchen space with sister restaurant Tinto, which Chef Conn (who manages both kitchens) said presented a set of organizational adjustments, but they have found the workflow that keeps everything moving efficiently.

An expansive whiskey list is the headliner at Village Whiskey, but the burgers are the real stars of this show, led by the Whiskey King.  A hefty 10oz patty with award-winning Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue, crunchy bacon, maple glazed cippolini onions and a serving of foie gras, the Whiskey King will engage culinary thrill seekers and expense account eaters alike.  Less ambitious diners can get the same cheese, bacon and onions on a Village Burger.  The meat is tender and melts in your mouth, juicy and peppery.  Rogue offers the first blue cheese ever produced on the West Coast, smoked over hazelnut shells, with a tangy flavor and melts creamy over the burger.

A heaping portion of shaved white truffles on your burger, a far cry from the “fixins bar,” costs $30 for 5 grams (varies according to market price).  Chef Conn recommends skipping the Thousand Island when you order the truffles, and simply getting a fried egg on top of the burger to get the full taste of the truffles.  The cheese selection offers a range of flavors: Rogue Blue, a balanced aged cheddar from the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Vermont and creamy, lemony Haystack Mountain Chevre from Boulder Colorado.

Pickles are a big part of the experience at Village Whiskey.  A selection of pickled tomatoes, beets, carrots, artichokes and onions are the product of more than 8 vinegars and unique seasonings, plus the house pickled kerbies that accompany the burgers.  Besides the burgers and veggie burger, the menu includes the BBQ Pork Sammy, a braised and shredded pork butt with a sweet-heat BBQ sauce; and the Lobster roll, a 1lb lobster poached to order in butter and served on a brioche hot dog bun.

Aside from the Whiskey King, the most popular combination so far has been caramelized onions, egg and avocado. And some customers like bacon on their veggie burger.  The toppings list will evolve over time, and Chefs Garces and Conn are tinkering with some new menu additions, including pickled root vegetables this fall and maybe a South Philly inspired hot dog.  With such a robust pickling operation, we’d like to see some pickle options for the burger, or perhaps a Chicago style dog in the tradition of Chef Garces’ home town.  But in the meantime, there are plenty of burger combinations still to try.

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Village Whiskey
118 South 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 (Google Map)

It’s all burgers, all the time over at A Hamburger Today where fans of the blog religiously send in photographs from all over the world. To better educate their readers on the plethora of burger styles showcased on the blog, founder and editor-at-large Adam Kuban has compiled a reference sheet of epic proportions. The AHT Guide to Hamburger and Cheeseburger Styles runs through your every day burgers like the pub style, and fast food burger all the way up to extreme burgers (served on a donut), and megaburgers (185 lb Guinness World Records holder!).

Kuban also makes a point to highlight regional burger styles such as the steamed cheeseburgers in Connecticut and the cheesed stuffed burgers of Minneapolis (including a shout out to Good Dog in Philadelphia). We know you love burgers as much as we do, so we suggest you head over to AHT and get yourself educated. Then the next time you’re out for burgers, you’ll have a foolproof way to impress your date with all of this new found knowledge.

The AHT Guide to Hamburger and Cheeseburger Styles [A Hamburger Today]

Sure, canned salmon lacks a certain gourmet flair; but for just a few bucks, you can get wild-caught Alaska salmon, full of protein and healthy oils, and turn it into something flavorful and satisfying.  Add some fresh dill, lemon and Dijon mustard, and you can make fast, easy salmon burgers that hit the spot without doing too much damage to your checking account. Full recipe after the jump.

Ingredients
•  2 cans (7-1/2 oz. each) Alaska salmon
•  2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
•  1-1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
•  3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
•  1/2 cup chopped dill
•  3 egg whites
•  salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Drain salmon. Combine lemon juice and mustard. Blend salmon with bread crumbs, dill and lemon juice mixture. Mix in egg whites. Form mixture into 4 patties and pan fry or broil until golden brown and heated through. Squeeze fresh lemon to taste on top of the burgers as soon as they come off the heat. Serve each burger on an Arnold Sandwich Thin with lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce.

For extra flavor, render some diced bacon or pancetta; add to mixture.

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board has created a new marketing campaign called The Cheese & Burger Society: an organization promoting Wisconsin Cheese as “the Grand Poo-bah of every cheeseburger grilled at a backyard barbecue or flame-broiled at a roadside diner.”  The website provides mouth-watering photos of 30 different burgers, each with a little story and recipe narrated by actor Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld’s Puddy).  Each burger also features an info sheet on the various cheeses, including pairing suggestions with beer, wine and liquor.

The burger toppings range from the traditional to the over-the-top.  Some of the featured burgers include the Boss, with Wisconsin asiago, arugula, prosciutto, red onions, olive tapenade, tomato and basil on a rosemary ciabatta; the Southern Belle, with Wisconsin gruyere, BBQ sauce, pickles, onions and cole slaw on grilled sourdough; the Brooklyn, a burger that thinks it’s a Reuben; and the Sheboygan, that pairs a burger with bratwurst and sauerkraut.

You can even enter for a chance to win a stainless steel grill or Wisconsin cheese basket.  Check em out on Facebook and let us know which burgers look the best for your Labor Day BBQ.

On the web: Cheese & Burger Society

Imagine the antithesis to a dimly lit, packed-to-the-walls dive bar. What do you see? A large open space, with sunlight pouring in, and plenty of room to breathe, right? Thus, the story of Swift Half, David Garry and Heather Gleason’s follow up to the wildly successful, and now Center City staple, Good Dog. Located in The Piazza in Northern Liberties, Swift Half not only differs from its elder in space, and ambiance, but also the dining experience. Think pub food with an emphasis on slow cooked, rich, and inviting flavors.

Upon the initial announcement of Swift Half’s opening, the first thing on everyone’s mind was the burger. Will it be the same as the infamous Roquefort-stuffed creation at Good Dog, blissfully worshiped by Craig LaBan? Or will chefs Jessica O’Donnell and Jeff Kozlowski lock themselves in deep meditation and create something even more epic? The answer is simple really, no really, that’s the answer; the two chefs went with simplicity. The Swift Half Burger is the same eight ounce patty of seasoned ground sirloin used at Good Dog, draped in a sheet of perfectly sauteed sweet, and tangy onions. Don’t be disappointed when you realize there are no hidden treasures deep within the meat, instead the burger can be topped with any of the fine offerings from the cheese plate. Keeping it traditional, we opted for the Keen’s aged cheddar and applewood smoked bacon, and the results were brilliant.

The muffaletta was a long time Good Dog favorite that has now been transplanted to Swift Half’s menu. O’Donnell’s take on the classic New Orleans sandwich ditches the Sicilian bread for slices of sourdough olive loaf, specially made for her by Wild Flour Bakery. A succulent ratatouille of eggplant, artichokes, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes and seasoned with rosemary and thyme smothers spicy molinari friuli salami and an intense, dry aged cremosa provolone. With the option to remove the meat or cheese, the bulky ratatouille with its overwhelming flavors makes this sandwich a great choice for vegetarians.

There’s no question why the steak sandwich has moved from the daily specials to a full residency on the main menu. Tender, slices of pink and juicy NY Strip are topped with an aioli with a garlic kick, crisp arugala and beautifully ripened plum tomatoes. The zest from pickled onions help to balance the sweetness from the aioli and the pepper flavor from the steak. Served on a crispy, onion ciabatta, this was our favorite of the bunch. Imagine a fine steak meal in one hand, a pint of a hoppy local craft beer in the other.

The sandwiches at Swift Half, succeed quite well in carrying out the vision of thoughtful pub food. We’re glad to see they are, as other restaurants in Philadelphia, embracing Twitter for draft updates and menu specials. Be sure to follow them: @swifthalfpub.

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Swift Half Pub
1001 N 2nd Street – Philadelphia, PA 19123 (Google Map)

Ask Tommy Up for the real meaning behind the initials in P.Y.T., his new burger joint at The Piazza, and you won’t get a straight answer. Most will immediately make a connection to the song by the late King of Pop, but Up won’t admit where it’s from, sarcastically offering suggestions like: Pad Your Tummy and Pick Your Toppings. Still, after one look of the sleek space and its pale wood bar, retro green vinyl stools. and crowd of tenants from the apartments that surround, you’ll realize that it all feels pretty and young. Since becoming Philadelphia’s most well known party promoter in recent years through his company PaperStreet, opening a lounge was a logical next step for Up. It was his love for California style burgers that led him to develop the space as not just a bar and dance floor, but a full fledged restaurant.

During his most recent tenure throwing parties at the upstairs lounge of Time Restaurant, Up became friendly with Chef Josh McCullough. After casually pitching the idea of P.Y.T., they started working on a menu of a variety of sandwiches and desserts. The pair did research by eating some of the best burgers in America, citing New York, Miami, and Los Angeles as especially inspiring. Eventually Up and McCullough settled on a menu composed of a variety of sandwiches, hand cut fries, beer battered onion rings, lobster fishsticks, and milkshakes – both virgin and alcoholic.

The namesake P.Y.T. Burger is a five ounce proprietary Ashley Foods patty topped with bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions, kettle chips and a house made garlic mayo on a Martin’s potato roll. Even with the overwhelming crowd, McCullough’s kitchen staff was sending out expertly cooked burgers; ours, ordered medium, was the perfect combination of a crispy exterior and juicy, pink middle. Chef McCullough attributes this killer grill job to a very hot griddle and a well-trained staff that’s been instructed to treat the burgers as they would a steak – by probing each one for exact temperature.

Burgers are also offered with more patties: the Royale With Cheese topped with two is for the Jules Winnfield in you and for those with an even large appetite, The Big Mic offers a towering three. One can also customize their burger to taste, with a variety of cheeses including goat, blue and Boursin toppings like a fried egg, jalapeños, avocado and more. The TLC Burger, does indeed taste like chicken, because it is: lean chicken breasts are ground and formed into a patty. The consistency gives that perfect burger bite, with a peppery seasoning and unmistakably grilled chicken taste.

Vegetarian offerings are aptly named “Bogus Burgers” but are delicious none the less. The Calibunga Burger is a patty formed from white beans, basil, tomatoes and garlic held together by garlic bread crumbs. The refreshing departure from the typical black bean burger and fresh flavors impressed us. For those shy to meat and not necessarily focused on health concerns will love the Shroom Burger. Shredded cheddar cheese is sandwiched between two Portobello mushrooms which are beer battered then fried and topped with special sauce. Never before have we encountered a mushroom burger that was such an artery clogger, but damn was it good.

For the kid in you, the menu offers the P.Y.T. Dog, a Hebrew National jumbo beef frank topped with homemade chili, diced onions and blanketed in cheddar cheese. There’s also no fooling around with the Pretty Serious Grilled Cheese, a smathering of Boursin, mushrooms and tomatoes that can be ordered with or without bacon. We can’t say we tried the Peanut Butter Jelly Time but there’s no going wrong with a grilled PB&J with bananas. An ice cream sandwich is still being toyed around with, but we did get to sample the current incarnation of vanilla ice cream dotted with chocolate chips, sandwiched between chocolate peanut butter cookies from Brown Betty Desserts and sprinkled with ground coffee beans.

This past weekend, P.Y.T. launched to much fanfare, with hordes of people coming out to taste free burgers offered by Tommy Up on Twitter. It’s a realization of what he does best, bring the people to the party. Now that he can feed, intoxicate and entertain his guests, Up is going to find himself with a new problem: getting them to leave when it’s closing time.

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P.Y.T.
1050 N Hancock Street Philadelphia, PA 19123 (Google Map)