The Ritz Offers a Month of Gourmet Burgers

Let us all praise the humble disc of ground beef stuffed between two slices of bread this month of May 2009. May, you see, is National Hamburger Month. And after all, if you can have National Prune Breakfast Month (January) or National Pickled Peppers Month (October) or National Peanut Butter Lover's Month (November), you can goddamn well have 30 days devoted to celebrating the burger, of which we Americans are said to consume some 14 billion a year.

Exactly how this 30 days of burger beatification got started is about as clear as a vat of secret sauce, but the White Castle hamburger chain pops up a lot in Google searches. In any event, to celebrate all things burgerlicious, the Breeze restaurant at the Ritz Carlton Palm Beach is cooking up a different designer hamburger for every day of the month.

Earlier this week, for example, the Breeze offered the Octoberfest burger, spiked with coriander and orange zest, plus sauerkraut and spicy mustard and a side of salt-and-vinegar chips. This Friday is the South Florida fish burger, diddled with red onion, arugula, and Key lime aioli and a side of Terra chips. And if you really want to get Ritzy about it, check out the quatro formaggi burger with truffle fries set to roll Friday, May 22. Each burger costs $12 and comes with a specially chosen side. Chow down, then get ready to celebrate National Cholesterol Awareness Month (September).