What do you do when you are catching up with a mate you haven't seen in ten years? Well, you head for a burger of course!
I was in London for work and caught up with one of my favourite bosses from days gone by, Johnzo. Apart from being awesome catching up, Johnzo took me along to that time honoured tradition in London of afterwork drinks down at the local pub. That we were at Canary Wharf meant that we had to tackle a pub in shiny new building, but strangely once through the front door, it was largely still an old style pub.
Anyway, I'm not gonna talk about the pub, this is after all a food blog first and foremost. While we were at the pub, Johnzo had been banging on about this burger place around the corner that we had to visit. Not for the burgers, but for a side that he rated as the best in town. Me? I was happy to get along for a burger, as after visiting a slew of two Michelin starred restaurants (The Square, Hibiscus, Marcus), I was looking for something much more casual.
It was a short walk from the pub to our destination, a burger chain called Byron. I'd initially thought it might have been named after Byron Bay in Australia, but no, owner Tom Byng had been inspired after a four year stint in America, where he 'ate enough burgers to sink the Titanic'. Wanting to bring back that authentic US of A style burger to the 'old country', Tom had the craving for the classic and simple stylings from his favourite spot in the US, Silver Top in Providence, Rhode Island.
