Anthos
36 W. 52nd St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-582-6900
In this era of burger madness, the un-beef burger takes all sorts of bizarre and curious forms. A diligent burger-meister can dine on tofu burgers, salmon burgers, burgers made with tuna, burgers made with assorted vegetables, and burgers made with veal. But when we have the urge for a grandiose, non-beef burger, we head to Anthos, in midtown, for a taste of Michael Psilakis’s epic lamb burger. The great master of nouveau Aegean cooking mixes his lamb with crushed garlic, sweet pepper, and possibly even a little pork. He wraps it in caul fat, char-grills it to juicy perfection, and serves it on a freshly toasted brioche. The main condiment is a creamy feta-cheese sauce, which dribbles pleasingly down the chin when you take that first gargantuan bite. And hold the greasy fries, please. This noble, un-beef burger comes with a stack of crispy fingerling potatoes speckled with sea salt.