Say cheese!
A California teen gets the credit for the cheeseburger. Thanks to him, burgers in Baton Rouge will be even tastier at Burger Week.
If Lionel Sternberger did nothing else with his life, history should forgive him.
As a teenager working at his father’s Pasadena hamburger stand in the mid-1920s, he burned a beef patty. Rather than sneak the mistake into the garbage, he concealed it beneath a slice of cheese. The cheeseburger was born.
A century later, chefs in Baton Rouge are still tinkering with Sternberger’s formula. During Burger Week, local restaurants will pile, melt and spread cheese on their way towards new versions of the sandwich.
First, the particulars. Burger Week runs from October 20th to 31st—five more days than a week. No complaints there.
The promotion is organized by Dig, which also recruits restaurants for its twice-yearly Restaurant Week. Such campaigns encourage customers to try new places to eat while providing restaurants with extra customers during otherwise slow times.
One burger to consider is from Overpass Merchant, which already has a version of the original Curbside truck burger on its daily menu. For Burger Week, Merchant will serve the Pub Burger: an 8-ounce patty topped with cheddar, dijonnaise and bacon jam, with a side of house-cut fries.
Before your first bite, take a quiet moment to thank Lionel Sternberger.
