A burger with a 97-year-old family recipe just won South Beach’s Burger Bash
No need to push, elbow and jostle among the hordes eager to try some of the best burgers in the country at the annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash.
The two best burgers Friday night conveniently were right next to each other.
Weston’s Kewpee, a family-owned burger shop from Lansing, Mich., won the Judges’ Choice with a 97-year-old family recipe for their Olive Burger.
And in the station next door, a familiar face: Butter, celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschell’s New York City restaurant, won the People’s Choice with the same burger that won the Judges’ Choice two years ago, the Two Mike’s Burger.
It was a big night for a local, too. Florida International University hospitality management grad student Ashley Hutchinson created a Mexican street corn burger, the Elote Motive, to win a $10,000 scholarship from Red Robin. The burger chain served her creation at Burger Bash.
“I’m still in awe of being invited down here,” said Kewpee owner Autumn Weston, whose great grandmother, Gladys Bowlin, bought the restaurant in 1923, and it has remained in their family since.
Weston’s grandmother created an olive sauce recipe that the restaurant still uses. It was enough to win the $2,500 prize from judges, chef Geoffrey Zakarian, Food Network’s Jet Tila, Nico Norena of the food website Succulent Bite, NBC 6’s Roxanne Vargas, Rosanna and Elaina Scotto and Goldbelly delivery app founder Joe Ariel.
“Seeing my family’s hard work pay off, that’s the greatest feeling,” Weston said.
To win over the People, Butter just had to continue doing what it does best. Chefs Michael Jenkins and Michael Castellon nailed their blackened all-beef burger with cheddar cheese for the $5,000 check.
“We both have similar tastes,” Jenkins said.
“And we know what the other likes,” Castellon, added.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 12:43 AM.
