After scoring a huge profile in Edible Manhattan and a major article in last week's Times, Pat LaFrieda gets some more publicity with today's big New York feature on the meat purveyor and how it has changed the world of New York hamburgers forever. The trick with LaFrieda, as all his chef clients know, is that he creates proprietary blends for each restaurant. That means it's great for the restaurant, but "it’s also a boon for burger fetishists, ensuring that no two creations at the city’s premier hamburger palaces taste the same." Click through to read the whole feature, which includes a visit to LaFrieda's meat source Creekstone Farms and a bit on Mark Pastore, their marketing man. Or just have a look at these tidbits:
· LaFrieda won't work with Peter Luger: They have "no loyalty. They’re rainy-day customers. We don’t work that way."
· On Old Homestead after they ask to try blends from other restos: "Here’s a restaurant that’s been around since the 1800s, right?...And now they’re gonna ask me for two of my proprietary blends. Impossible..."
· April Bloomfield is his "most demanding" chef client (he came up with 25 blends before she chose one)
· The Magician of Meat [NYM]