The Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn is not an easy venue to get to but the trek from Manhattan was so worth it. The Burger Bash is one of the festival’s BEST EVENTS !! The warehouse was transformed inside and out into a homage to all things red meat. The talented and innovative chefs aimed to please New Yorkers with the best burgers to date.

The scene at the Burger Bash – high energy with great food, great beer and great music from one of the best cover bands in the city. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: (1) Rachel Ray and her husband making their rounds visiting the chefs and tasting their burgers. (2) Bobby Flay and Katie Lee discuss what made a good burger while being filmed for the Food Network. (3) Giada De Laurentiis visits Bobby Flay at his booth and chatted for a bit. (4) Giada De Laurenttis posed with a fan.

People’s Choice Winner: Bobby’s Burger Place

After years of perfecting his burgers, Bobby Flay finally won the coveted People’s Choice Buger award from Blue Moon. I’ve been following his burger journey since the beginning when he first unveiled his crunch burger at the festival in 2008. For this year’s festival his winning recipe – Burger with crunchy blue corn tortilla chips, creamy cheese and pickled jalapenos.

My Favorite:

Good Stuff Eatery’s innovative burger by Spike Mendelsohn. It’s a take on a Vietnamese bahn mi with pickled carrots and daikon, Thai Basil, cilantro and sriracha mayo. And, Chef Spike made me laugh with his crown as he is this year’s defending winner. Plus, his Spike girls were the best campaign I’ve seen.

My Runner-Up choices:

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: (1) Morton’s The Steakhouse Mini Cheese Burgers made of prime ground beef, aged cheddar, lettuce, tomato, pickled onion. On the side, Morton’s mixed Greens Field Salad. (2) The Greenhouse Tavern’s Whiskey Farms Lamb Burger made of Dry aged American Lamb burger with epoisse cheese and pickled shallots served with crispy ratatouille chips. (3) The Dutch’s Chipotle Bacon Cheeseburger with Secret Sauce. An all beef burger with chipotles, glazed bacon cheddar cheese and tomato on toasted bun and serverd with a side of Maple Stout Float.