What Does A Burger Crafted By Chef Behind World’s Best Restaurant Taste Like?

It may be years before you get a chance to eat at chef Mauro Colagreco’s modern French three-Michelin-starred fine-diner Mirazur in France. It was voted #1 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards 2019 (you know, when we were free to roam the globe — the 2020 awards was postponed ’cos of the pandemic), but you can now get a taste of his much-loved burgers right here along Amoy Street. The Singapore outpost of his casual hamburger chain Carne, the first outside of Colagreco’s native Argentina, opens its doors on 25 February.

With its black-and-white tiled walls, bustling open kitchen and wood-panelled floors, Carne looks like any other stylish burger restaurant in town. Yet aside from Colagreco’s pedigree, Carne is set apart by the fact that it is the first burger chain in the world that is a Certified B Corporation, which means it is committed to social, environmental and economic sustainability. Put simply, it means that wherever in the world Carne opens, it will do its best to support small local suppliers that produce good-quality ingredients in a sustainable way.

Carne was brought to Singapore by Il Lido Group founder Beppe De Vito (left in pic, with the Carne chefs) who first discussed a virtual pop-up with Colagreco during the Circuit Breaker in April last year. “We talked about doing an online pop-up and the possibility of a physical restaurant,” recalls De Vito, who is behind popular Italian restaurants like the Michelin-starred Braci, Art and Amo. “But as time went on, we realised that the only people slower than the Italians are the Argentines,” De Vito laughs. Since the pop-up never materialised, the pair decided that they would launch Carne in Singapore instead. “It’s a franchise business and something we can potentially grow across Asia,” says De Vito.

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The 80-seater is set across the 2,900 sq ft ground floor of a traditional shophouse. Like all its outposts in Argentina, this one is tricked out in monochromatic industrial chic fashion. The space is anchored in black and white tiles and chairs, and steel wire shelves holding merch like T-shirts and ketchup. Ten percent from the sale of these products go to Project Belanja!, a programme by non-profit organisation Food from the Heart which runs in partnership with hawker stall owners to provide freshly-cooked meals to the needy.

When diners enter, they can pick up a pager and grab a table where they can access the menu by scanning a QR code before ordering and paying through their mobile phones. If you’re old-school, there are two human-manned cashier counters where you can queue and place your orders too. When your food is ready, your pager will buzz and you collect it from the service counter.

When Colagreco established Carne in 2015, he sought to redefine the concept of luxury by applying fine dining principles to the humble hamburger. To that end, every ingredient used in the food at Carne is meticulously sourced so that they respect the pillars of sustainable gastronomy. “Here in Singapore, the whole idea is about being sustainable and helping local farmers and small businesses,” said De Vito. “Every franchise gets a recipe for the buns, patties and milk shakes, and we find the suppliers to make those things for us.”

The buns, therefore, are made by local bakery Bread Yard. Salad leaves and lettuce are grown for the Singapore outlet by Sustenir and Zen Xin, while the ketchup is made by local sauce company Yong Chuan. They’ve even found fresh milk from a farm in Johor Bahru.

Since Carne’s principals cannot travel to Singapore to oversee its opening and train its staff, training is done in that quintessential pandemic way: via video. “We make live videos of everything we do with Gopro cameras and send them to headquarters in Buenos Aires,” explains De Vito. “It’s a lot of work on both sides, but it works. Plus we have our Il Lido group executive chef Daniele Sperindio, our group operations and beverage manager Riccardo Nardone, and senior staff from our restaurants who have a lot of experience all stationed here for the time being, so we are confident that things will run well.

That being said, there are plans for Mauro to come to Singapore this June, if there are no travel bans.

Each burger comprises sturdy yet squishy brioche buns flecked with black and white sesame seeds. The 160g patties are made from grass-fed beef from a family-run beef producer in Argentina. The ones we sample are all boldly seasoned, with their own distinct robust flavour inherent to grass-fed beef. All are cooked to a lovely juicy medium doneness and laced with smoke from the grill. Besides the list of seven burgers, there are a couple of breakfast items like yoghurt with granola and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich on the menu. Of those seven burgers, two are exclusive to Singapore.

Ironically, one of them is this beef and chimichurri burger. Chimichurri (like an Arentinine pesto) may be an exotic condiment here, but it is so quotidian in Argentina that it hasn’t made it on Carne’s original menu. “For Singapore, it’s like a nod to Carne’s Argentine roots,” explains De Vito. Along with the well-seared thick and tender beef patty (they don’t smash their patties here), these buttery buns clasp a melty layer of tasty Murcian cheese (a fatty goat’s milk cheese from the Murcia region of southeast Spain); a layer of chimichurri made from coriander, vinegar and olive oil; some pickled red onions, and local arugula. The result is a distinctly savoury burger edged with sharp herbaceous-ness.

Simple, as the old trope goes, is best. This stock-standard number, layered with local oak lettuce, a slice of organic tomato and some organic red onion hits the spot for us. We like the piquant, Thousand Island-esque house sauce made from ketchup, mayo, mustard and rosemary oil that gives the burger a juicy lift of flavour.

This Complete Burger is essentially the Classic Burger jacked up with crispy smoked bacon (hormone-free, of course), cheddar, a fried egg and pickled organic cucumber. In other words, all the “Extras” that are listed on the menu. Everything comes together to form a succulent, flavour-packed sandwich that is by turns salty, tangy, juicy and rich.

This isn’t your standard Mushroom n Swiss. Instead, think of it as a burger lubricated with the freshness of juicy champignon mushrooms, sweet roasted onions and chopped tomatoes. We like the fresh succulence that the veggies add to this burger.

We’re not usually huge veg eaters, but we’d totally order this veggie burger again in a heartbeat. The turmeric-dyed buns (you can’t really taste the turmeric though) are stuffed with a grilled portobello mushroom, a delightful slice of haloumi cheese that is neither squeaky nor overly salty (it’s almost like a tasty slice of grilled mozzarella) and a tangy tomato tapenade. This burger is brightly flavoured and very easy to eat.

Say hello to some of the best fries in town. They’re so good, they take two days to make. First, these Aussie potatoes are washed, peeled and sliced before they are steamed and left to cool. Then they are fried at low-temperature and left to cool again, before they are deep-fried upon order. The result is thick-cut fries with beautifully crisp exteriors that give way to light, creamy insides. For its price, you get a 250g portion which will feed one person quite amply.

This simple toasted sandwich has a nice milky texture from its rich brioche and the tasty creaminess of Colby cheese. An easy-to-eat option in the mornings.

A wholesome bowl of mildly sweet granola that’s lighter than the usual version because it is made mainly of seeds (rather than oats). The Aussie yoghurt they use here has a nice mellow tang.

Yes, there is unmistakable quality in Carne’s burgers, but we didn’t expect dessert to bowl us over like this. The fine-dining pedigree really shows here in the addictively smooth, light orange gelato that sits atop delicious morsels of chocolate cake that’s like a cross between ganache and a brownie. Twirls of candied orange peel, slivers of toasted almonds and little segments of orange pulp all conspire to make this our favourite fast food dessert by far.

That JB fresh milk makes some pretty good milkshakes. They are creamy but light and aren’t overly rich. We had no problem slurping this up despite having eaten lots of burgers. While it has the potential to be overly sweet (concentrated condensed milk! Caramel! Praline!), it is really balanced with the flavour of a good hokey-pokey (honeycomb) ice cream.

Where there’s an Argentine, there’s mate (say “ma-teh”), that quintessential Argentine tea made from the dried leaves of the guampa gourd. Argentines literally drink it all day long. Here, mate is made into lightly sweetened iced tea that’s much lighter than the traditional stuff. This drink tastes kinda like a more delicate iced lemon green tea.

Add $10 to any burger and you’ll get a bag of fries and a bottle of mineral water or a cup of soft drink. As part of its opening special, Carne will offer discounted burgers on the first four days: from 25 February to 28 February, 11am onwards. The Complete Burger (pictured, usual price $28) will go for just $10 each for the first 50 customers per day. And for every burger purchased at the regular a la carte price during the same period, there will be a complimentary upgrade to a full combo set that includes fries and a soft drink. Both valid for dine-in and takeaway.

The fact that these aren’t your average fast food burgers are reflected in their prices. While more expensive than the likes of Shake Shack, they are slightly larger. The quality of the ingredients also make a big difference to these burgers and are reminiscent of those from a good upscale restaurant. There is a lot of care and precision that goes into each one, which reflects its pedigree (a burger created by the folks behind the world’s best restaurant, people!). They are definitely good, with an elegance that’s quite unlike the sloppier, down-and-dirty yummy heartiness of say a Meatsmith cheeseburger. And while the burgers are Carne’s main draw, don’t ignore those superb fries and chocolate cake, possibly our favourite items on the menu.

Carne is at 88 Amoy St S069907. Open daily 8am till 11pm. Last orders at 10.45pm. https://www.carneburgers.sg/

Photos: Kelvin Chia

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