The Cult of the Jersey Diner Burger, with Padma Lakshmi | The Burger Show

there is a special pleasure though in getting a bag of burger and fries and then just sitting on the subway train and slowly opening it and having that smell washed into the whole car [Music] when I went to Jersey City to eat the famous sliders at white mana I knew I'd be taking a bite into burger history what I didn't know was how much I learned about this legendary block and its cast of characters from the man his owner Mario Casas for today's adventure I invited fellow burger lover Top Chef judge Padma Lakshmi to soak up some Jersey lore Mario I'm over here in Jersey City trying to learn about sliders and burgers we're in a boxing gym well this is my gym ringside gym it's right across the street from the white man and the white man original is from 1939 World's Fair at the fair was introduction to fast food you didn't have to take no more than three steps behind the counter to give the person that hamburger or soft drink the white man opened here in Jersey City 1946 it was one of my first jobs that's the kid I started gunking fries sweeping mopping I'm gonna go to law school the money I had saved to go to law school I went up by the diner you know I always loved boxing I bought the Dinah's 79 and then I opened up the ringside so this is probably here like 80 81 right and the gym was for free for the kids after school and it's still free now that they can come and train so not only would you like give them a place so I practice their craft you'd also feed them across the street they train I will give them a couple hamburgers you know a soda or juice a lot of people don't know but above this gym this is where we have Mike Tyson's pigeons Mike Tyson's pigeon is right above us homing pigeons that we race yeah Mike Mike used to come here cause it was very private nobody even knew that it was a gym here for many years you can't tell it's a highway Mike will always say it's not a street people can stop and Mike always said that if you had to pay a dollar to go to a gym it was never gonna fight it because you had no money Mike doesn't live in New Jersey lives in Nevada and every time he comes to New York he always comes here to look at the pigeons spend time with the pigeon takes care of ya he still takes care of all of his awesome so Mario after talking about all this boxing and Mike Tyson and training I can't wait to go across the street and do what I've been training for which is eating burgers I got my friend Padma coming along she's a Top Chef judge she loves bird she's gonna love you so let's go across the street check it out so Padma welcome to Jersey City thank you we are at the world-famous white mana it's a beautiful place I love how round it is it's perfect and I'm very excited to be close to the grill this is Mario over here the godfather of sliders well I've been here like for 40 years next year will be 40 years si style well thank you so the reason why we're here is you really want to know what is a signer what makes a great slider I'm gonna show you you're the man put so you know us please the meat starts here there's two burners underneath you get the onions you put a little bit of onions on each present put some pepper and you slap it down so it goes into the meat once you leave it here for a little bit you'll flip them over and put the bun on wax paper over the top so this team gets the top of the bun once they're cooking here a little bit just slide them over to the middle of the grill there's no burners here so it stays here for a little bit until the customer comes in then you slide it over to this section you put the cheese on it and you finalize the burger and give it to the customer when you're smashing them further after you flip them why are you putting one bun over both bugs that's well Bookman they can get this team and get a little warm and they can absorb some of the juice from the party because that's where they taste it yeah that's what I like about it they don't waste anything they're like they're like they're not like crispy toasty they're like more like steamy and military I also like that they're not super high like I know nowadays people think they're being generous or luxurious by giving you like this 4-inch burger but I think that the bun to burger ratio is very important and I like the thin patties nice and thin it's less than an ounce it's not about the size right it's about the method you can't wait for you to taste these it's like a one-man conveyor belt so there's no lettuce and tomato now we have lettuce and tomato for once but most of the people that it's three cheeseburgers a coke and fries that's a special that's not really whatever any time I can get more vegetables into my food I'm complete opposite yeah enjoy there's something that's okay the joy sir yes this is literally a snapshot of delicious the old school hasn't changed untouched well if it's not broken yes it's really good you know the meat the bun the cheese it's all one things anyone doesn't overpower the other it tastes homemade the onions really flavor through through the to the buns I think it's just by the way the technique of how they cook it and like when you see him put the little sheet of paper over all the burgers it's like a low convection situation going on with onion flavor there's something like theatrical about those sliders some of the best food in the world are like made right in front of your face woman who's like a sushi master just doling it out yeah I'm Jim Murray also known as Jimmy the juice because of an orange juice situation in the service I would come to the white matter since 1962 the spirit here is like a hometown spirit in Jersey City as I said true that door a lot of judges went to come through there a lot of actors that were in the area net you know a few mob people a lot of killers came through there let's put it that way I could say that not because most never gone I mean one of the reasons I love coming to places like this is that it really gives you the flavor for the area right to me this is more New Jersey than anything you see in Missouri or what people think of you know when they think of New Jersey I'm from California mm-hmm but a lot of my my family is actually from Jersey City and we would come here when we were younger than the stink of coming to a place like this was like it's different like being able to talk to the dude who's making your you're a sandwich you don't you don't get that in LA in LA it's like you go to in-and-out you just talk to the dude you get the money - with the big diaper pin and the driving is very pretty good is what I like about this burger is that there's nowhere to hide rudder this is definitely the thinnest paddy I've had right I think that the reason these burgers are really good is because they're smashed so tight and right into the grill they're like the perfect little package I've been coming here for at least the last two decades and watching this grill knowing that you're like Top Chef judge makes you want to go back there and cook some up you think let's see if you have the chops awesome I'm gonna be over here touching up my lipstick after all those burgers oh yeah please this one it comes in handy to have your own makeup line with Mack [Music] alright you guys are making my dream come true I've been wanting to do this ever since I was a kid so sprinkle the grated onions yeah so long pepper don't be scared because Michael is the bagel you're not gonna break Jim there you go timid it's a big guy he's you know that there's definitely a technique to this [Music] [Music] [Music] you could put the cheese on it as soon as it's cheese goes on it's ready yeah cheese a little bit what's the matter with you you know now you're putting those sliced cheese get your plates ready don't make me come back there thank god there's no people here did a good job see boom yes stressful stressful so plate these two last sliders but the moment of truth is did I pass the test thank you they go to sliders it's almost live in science gym sorry what do you think what do you think very funky yeah doing a job perfectly played ever Jesus melted the bun is nice and soft warm right did a good job I think you did a good job not bad for my first try not bad you're high I'm five if you're from New Jersey and you like burgers this is church in my lifetime I hope it stays as long as I live

Channel: First We Feast

Views: 1,093,382

Rating: 4.8904982 out of 5

Keywords: First we feast, fwf, firstwefeast, food, food porn, cook, cooking, chef, kitchen, recipe, cocktail, bartender, craft beer, complex, complex media, Cook (Profession)sean evans, jersey city, mario costa, white mana, padma lakshmi, top chef, top chef judge, boxing, white mana diner, alvin cailan, mike tyson, ringside spanish cuisine, white mana burger, the burger show, white mana slider, how to make sliders, how to make sliders burgers, rocky, sylvester stallone, new jersey

Id: VQm_Y7wEzGQ

Length: 9min 47sec (587 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 06 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/juiceboxjam8]

Totally agree with Padma about the bun to burger ratio and overall burger size. Some burgers are SO tall, I really wonder how people eat them without making a huge mess. I would destroy it before it reaches my mouth lol. These burgers look nice and compact and really tasty though. Love the retro look of that place.

[u/BudTummies]

North Jersey love! Never been to the Jersey City location but the one in Hackensack was our go-to burger spot in high school. Nothing better than having a couple of sliders and smelling like delicious burger grease for the rest of the day.

[u/nadalwannabe]

this show had so much potential but it's been uneven so far. i like alvin though and hope the inconsistency is mostly because he and the show are tryna find their footing

[u/[deleted]]

very annoying accent.

also, just a few years ago, padmai didn't eat beef. she was in spain, and she had a lot of apprehension to eat the paiello because it had beef.