Scottish Produce on Menu at New Pop-Up Dining Experience

A top chef + a greasy spoon + some beer adds up to a new monthly guerrilla dining experience in Edinburgh called Burgher Burger, featuring produce from Scottish suppliers.

Aoife Behan, 36, knows a thing or two about dining. She runs the popular Edinburgh secret supper club My Home Supper Club. But when she went in search of the perfect burger experience in Scotland’s capital, she drew a blank.

"Nothing quite hit the mark," she said. "I was looking for a medium-rare burger made with top-quality meat. But I was also looking for a certain ambience. An environment where burgers are given the respect they deserve."

So Burgher Burger was born. Launching on Tuesday, 7 February 2012 at a greasy spoon in the Leith district of Edinburgh – best known for the Michelin-starred restaurants of Tom Kitchin and Martin Wishart – these monthly guerrilla dining events will take an established chef and challenge them to create and cook the ultimate three-course burger meal.

"After too many middle-of-the-road burgers, I started dreaming about my ultimate burger experience, who would cook it and the where it would happen," Aoife said. "I knew I wanted excitement and intrigue but most importantly a fantastic meal.

"I imagined my favourite chef cooking the best burger ever in a quirky environment with a buzzy atmosphere, with great music and interesting company. Once I started talking about it, I knew I had to do it."

And as any burger lover will know, the perfect drink to accompany this type of sandwich is a nice cold beer. Step in oak-aged beer maker Innis & Gunn, which is tasked with matching a beer to each course for each event.

Which brings us back to the burgers. There is much debate on which cuts of beef make the best burgers. But is beef really the best – can’t we use pork or lamb to create a juicy pattie?

Producer Sascha Grierson of award-winning Hugh Grierson Organic farm in Perthshire is providing the meat – as well as starting some healthy debates on the subject.

Sascha said: "We invited expert butcher Nathan Mills to the farm to show us his idea of the perfect burger. Having worked with Jamie Oliver and The Ginger Pig, he knows his stuff."

However, the chefs have their own ideas. For example, Nathan would never add salt to the uncooked pattie as he claims it draws out the moisture and flavour. Yet Scottish Chef of the Year 2011, Neil Forbes, is convinced that seasoning before and after cooking is the key to ensuring depth of flavour.

Forbes, of the city’s Cafe St Honoré, has the daunting task of feeding 42 hungry and expectant mouths at the first event, with more top chefs lined up for future months.

In order to offer a unique experience every time, and to build a sense of intrigue, the venues and chefs will change every month, and will not be revealed too far in advance.

This cloak-and-dagger approach has so far paid off. Aoife launched a Twitter and Facebook campaign in November with the first event sold out within eight minutes of the tickets going on sale.

First event details

• Venue: Now Rest, 10-12 Bonnington Road, Edinburgh
• Time: 7.30pm
• Cost: £30 per person
• Chef: Neil Forbes
• Menu: Seafood cocktail; Cheese and bacon beef burger, crinkle-cut chips, onion rings; Gooey brownie, vanilla ice-cream

More Scottish catering news