written by Martin Reyes

On May 31^st, Memorial Day and the last day of the little-known “Burger Appreciation Month,” a small group of hungry gatherers met at St. Helena Wine Center with only one thing in common: a deep love of burgers. They were to become eight judges on a valuable mission; their course set by a simple man with a simple question. “Which restaurant makes the tastiest burger in St. Helena?” Together, they ate, wrote, debated and decided…. Together, they found the answers to life’s most meaningful question. This is their story.

At 5:00pm the judges convened. Within exactly half an hour, a steady progression of fresh burgers from eight different St. Helena restaurants arrived and filled the shop with dizzying aromas of beef, bun and cheese. Each restaurant showed up precisely 10 minutes apart with two burgers, giving ample time to slice, serve, and evaluate the entries. A quarter-slice from each burger was served hot and fresh in front of every judge, who blind-tasted and scored on several categories, including presentation, bun, meat seasoning, toppings, etc… The participating restaurants in alphabetic order were: AKA, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, Cook, Go Fish, Gott’s Roadside, Market, Martini House, and Silverado Brewing Company. Unfortunately, Press was closed and Farmstead was unable to participate.

The judges were not alone of course…. two indispensable assistants, locals Tracy Smith and Danica Sattui were on hand to slice, dice and set the course of the night. Additionally, the evening ran smooth and easy with the vinous presence of 2007 Chase Cellars Zinfandel and a new project by Martini House’s wine director Rob Renteria, 2005 Analog Napa Valley Red. The wines were served appropriately enough, in GoVino drinkware.

Around the table, the judges sat debating the finer points of burger artistry. The voices heard were: Organizer-judges Becky Tyner, founder of Small Lot Big Wines, St. Helena Wine Center’s wine buyer and host, Martin Reyes, three respected wine industry professionals including James Matuszewski, owner/founder of Access Wine Group and Localwino.com, Jeff Blaum, GM at Chase Cellars famous for his epic food & wine events, and Joseph Perulli, founder/genius of Govino drinkware, and a man who is everywhere and nowhere at once. Culinary guru-judges on-hand were French cooking school-trained Becky Spencer, creative force behind Urban Preserves, Corrie Beezley, a personal chef and proprietor of “The Farmer’s Market Pantry”, and Patrick Clark, Chef-Instructor at Culinary Institute of America.

By 6:40pm it became apparent that choosing a winner would be difficult. Every single burger had a strong support and every one deserved it. From the nostalgically-styled Gott’s classic, to the robustly-rich hit from Market, and the California-gourmet brilliance that was Cindy’s Backstreet’s very own. In the end, however, the highest-scoring burger came from Silverado Brewing Company, but due to a miscommunication, they brought their ultra-delicious lamb burger instead of beef. Nevertheless, a score is a score, and they received the highest one that day. When the dust settled however, it was none other than AKA Bistro, with an ambitious take on their own already-delicious entry, that dominated the mostly-beef lineup. In second place comes local favorite Martini House, with a no-nonsense Kobe-beef spartan that was almost too good for words. And to the surprise of six judges and probably over half this town, Go Fish (I know, right?) rang thru third highest with a delicious entry. Lastly, in an unusual twist, thought it did not score in the top three, Cook received the most “my favorite” votes. Goes to show that, just like wine, sometimes scores don’t always tell the whole story?

The assumption is there, but it’s worth mentioning that “St. Helena Burger Battle” could not have happened without the enthusiastic support and burger donations from these eight, stellar restaurants. The stakes may be low-key fun, but there was justifiable pride and clear talent in every single burger vetted that evening. Our town is replete with world-class chefs and culinary creativity; for that, everyone is grateful. And yet, the journey does not end there…. In June, the organizers will move the competition to Calistoga, followed up by a mid-valley turn in July, a central Napa sha-bang in August, and finally, a public competition pitting the highest scorers against each other where the public will be the final arbiter and the winner of Napa Valley Burger Battle is decided. Hungry yet?