I found myself going to the old-school luncheons in New York City. It’s just a burger that I can’t get behind or enjoy anymore. If one more chef gives me a dry-aged beef burger with Gruyère cheese and truffles on a brioche bun, I’m going to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.Ĭhoke me now. I asked myself “What do you want to do?” and decided I wanted to sell burgers. That’s the beauty of Black Tap is that we are a timeless business model that we just modernized. It’s really innovative! I think more cookbooks should take a fun but timeless approach like that.

“If one more chef gives me a dry-aged beef burger with Gruyère cheese and truffles on a brioche bun, I’m going to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.” I gave it to her and said, “This is the kind of book I want to do.” She came in the next day and said, “Okay, we’re going to do Craft Burgers and Crazy Shakes by Black Tap and we’re going to make it a flip book.” The whole idea was to be able to put it on the stands next to each other so it’s like a “double the space” kind of a deal.

She asked me what I wanted to write about, and I said “It’s quite obvious, craft burgers and crazy shakes.” I made a hardbound sample book, which I use for my branding.

What I first found interesting about your cookbook was the format - one way and then the other way. Recently, I met up with Isidori and talked about this and plenty of other juicy burger-centric topics at Black Tap Midtown, just a few short blocks from my apartment, where I’ve set off the smoke alarm dozens of times in an attempt to cook a patty with the perfect cast-iron crust. Flip it over and attack the desserts section while its back is turned.

Hold it like a normal book and devour page after page of loaded, delicious-looking burgers hot off the flat-top. His recent cookbook, Craft Burgers and Crazy Shakes from Black Tap, a compilation of the best-loved Black Tap burgers and desserts, is a colorful and innovative course in keeping it delicious, classic and fun. Joe Isidori, chef/owner of of NYC’s Black Tap Burgers & Beer is a burger-purist’s burger man: the New York native likes his burger all-American, his shakes blended properly and his fries included in the price of a burger.

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