Jeff Lamberti gleefully dumped roasted jalapeños, red peppers and onions into a bowl of ground beef as he made his favorite burger on Prime 16’s menu. Known as “The Firehouse,” this burger is guaranteed to give you a little internal heat this winter.
For the last two of the six years that Prime 16 Tap House + Burgers has been serving gourmet burgers and Connecticut-made brews on Temple Street, Executive Chef Lamberti has been at the helm in the kitchen. And boy is he having fun.
“I’m just making hamburgers and making people happy,” Lamberti said.
As its name indicates, Prime 16 specializes in burgers and brews. But the restaurant’s atmosphere is classy enough for an intimate dining experience, but has a relaxed vibe that Lamberti described as “fancy, but not bougie.” Its menu boasts more than 10 house specialty burgers, and even a build your own burger option.
He made The Firehouse Tuesday morning. “That’s my baby,” he said.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Though customers can order burgers made out of veggies, lamb, bison or turkey, most Prime 16 burgers start with a mixture of ground chuck steak, shortrib and brisket. “We get this every day from a grindhouse in Hartford,” Lamberti said. And what happened next is what takes it up a notch.
To make The Firehouse, Lamberti added the mixture of roasted jalapeños, roasted red peppers and onions to the beef mixture, and then his own blend of spices. And that’s it. No eggs, no breadcrumbs. Just meat, veggies and spices.
Lamberti dived into mixing the meat old school — the same way he and his Italian grandmother might have done when he was a three-year-old helping her make meatballs, but with one exception. He wore gloves, which kept the meat from getting all over his hands and kept everything sanitary. When all the ingredients were well incorporated, he grabbed a handful of the mixture, “about the size of a softball,” he said, and hand-formed it into a roughly eight-ounce patty. The patty went on a hot flat top creating an instant sizzle, but he said those trying to duplicate his efforts at home could cook the patty on a grill.
Lamberti doesn’t just grill the burger; he steams it. He prefers his own burger medium rare, but cooked it to medium well —about four minutes on each side — for me Tuesday morning. When the patty was almost done, he added a little more heat with a slice of pepper jack cheese, which he doused with a little plain tap water. He covered the patty with a top to steam-melt the cheese until it achieved an almost fondue-like state. Served on a brioche bun with romaine lettuce, pickles and tomatoes, it’s a behemoth of a meal, especially when served with Cajun tater tots and Sriracha mayonnaise on the side.
All salad dressings, wing sauces, mustard and even some pickles are made in house. Lamberti, who has spent most of his time in fine dining, is also responsible for the dessert menu which currently features an apple crisp made from his mother’s recipe. “The only condiments we buy are ketchup and mayonnaise,” Lamberti said.
Prime 16 General Manager Larry Townsend (at left in photo) is the man with the plan when it comes to the Tap House side of the restaurant. “We try to support as many local brewers as possible,” he said. “We have an overall commitment to maintaining a well curated list of diverse selections that aren’t just the flavor of the month, or just a lot of what I like.”
Townsend recommends pairing The Firehouse with the New England Brewing Co. Sea Hag IPA, which he said “really pairs great with spicy foods.”
Beer is not only for drinking. Townsend said they look for opportunities to incorporate it in food, “where appropriate.” The Truffled Porcini, another Lamberti favorite, which he said “is really good,” features porcini and crimini mushrooms blended into the patty, as well as whole grain IPA mustard.
Townsend said he tries to rotate the beer selection so that customers can try something new and try local beers with different food pairings. In fact, on Dec. 12 the Black Hog Brewing Co. will debut a black IPA at Prime 16.
“We hope above all else that people have a good time and that we’ve met their expectations with the food, beverages and service,” Townsend said. “We can’t please everybody, but we do try to do our best. We are serious about what we do, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
