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Get to know a Chef: Shant Mardirosian, Burger's Priest
It's safe to say Burger's Priest owner Shant Mardirosian has converted an impressive wave of burger fanatics. His no-fuss, Californian style patty brings customers in droves, topping multiple best-of lists this past year and even having a hymnal dedicated to its name. Here, he easily responds to recent criticism about his new uptown spot, but remains mum on the status of the much anticipated third location.
Did you always want to be a chef?
Well, that's based on the assumption that I am a chef - I'm not. I'm a waiter that knows how to make a hamburger.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
Policeman.
What was your first restaurant job?
My first restaurant job was at Planet Hollywood.
Why do you like burgers so much?
I don't know if I necessarily like them so much; I just felt like it was something that could be improved upon in the city. And it's something that is just simple and I like it, so I just made it.
What do you like on your burger?
Lettuce, onion and pickle.
What do you like to eat when you're not eating burgers?
I like to eat the Bigoli pasta at Buca.
What's something that should never be on a burger?
Relish.
Aside from you, who makes the best burger in the city?
I would say Mark McEwan at Bymark. Just because it follows really simple principles of really good beef, loosely packed and lightly seasoned.
Joanne Kates called your new location an "unholy disappointment" yet you have line-ups out the door. Do restaurant critics matter anymore?
No, I don't think they do. We broke records at both stores regardless. On the day that we came out we broke records at both stores, so that shows.
When and where are you launching location #3?
I don't know, I honestly don't. I'm not lying, I'm trying my hardest to get this one running as soon as I can, but I'm having some problems. But once I get this one going then it could be six months, it could be a year. And it will probably go downtown.
Would you prefer to franchise or keep Burger's Priest company owned?
Company owned.
RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS
Most underrated ingredient? Pickles
Best culinary tool? Spatula
David Chang or Daniel Boulud? I don't know who any of those people are.
McDonalds or Burger King? McDonalds
Favourite Toronto restaurant? Buca
What would people be surprised to find in your fridge? Nothing. My fridge is empty.
What's one dish you can't live without? Spaghetti
What's one food trend that needs to end? Shawarma
View all our chef profiles via our Toronto Chefs Pinterest board.
Photos by Natta Summerky
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keep up the good work boys
2 low priests hold the fries
I need to stop myself before I start typing a dissertation about rational thought, memetic propagation, anf evolution...
Burgers are okay, if you like the style try Holy Chuck - Yonge/St. Clair - amazing shakes too.... But I find both Holy Chuck and Burger Priest pricey considering what they are, just burgers!
My partner loves the burgers. Her main complaint about most burgers in this city is a perceived overreliance upon seasoning for flavour. I find the Priest pricey, though yummy. My taste is questionable, though; my favourite burgers were from greasy spoons that no longer exist...
As for the burgers, I find them sooooo delicious. Juicy...maybe even a bit too juicy and messy. Worth the line-up, as long as you go during off-peak hours....still a wait, but just not as long.
Yes - I am taking a burger review there.
At least his first statement is that he's not a chef. One redeeming quality.
But seriously - need to know about the God related stuff.
We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.
We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure, except by his mercy.
We believe that salvation is by God alone as he sovereignly chooses those he will save. We believe his choice is based solely on his grace, not on any human individual merit or on his foreknowledge of our faith.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through his perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in him alone for salvation.
We believe that God is gracious and faithful to his people, not simply as individuals, but as families in successive generations, according to his covenant promises.
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow him.
We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to take his people to their eternal home.
We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Bummer.
I really like burgers, but the effort of going to a super popular place, waits, prices, etc. and I might as well go through the effort of grinding my own and cooking them myself. Burgers are just one of those things that I really don't see the point of paying money for.
Holy Chuck is essentially the same, its not that food at either place is bad, its just that its hyped up as something incredible and ends up pretty small for its price point.
You've enslaved yourself to a fictional character.
My partner's going to be disappointed. Magical thinking is one thing - condemning people for inherent traits is just cruelty and hatred under a facade of fake morality. I know that's something she doesn't tolerate under any circumstances either
"Is the whole religion/church/gospel thing a little tongue-in-cheek? I require this information. I enjoy a good burger, but what I don't enjoy is giving my business to outright idiots."
"This religion mixed with burgers is annoying."
"Wow - proselytyzing on BP website a big turnoff for me."
The above quotes are about "The Gospel" tab that's on the BP web site. If you don't like it then don't click on it. I don't think it's 'proselytyzing'. In-N-Out burger does it as well. They put Bible quotes on their stuff. Does that make the food any different? I find that people who say Christians are intolerant are just as intolerant as those they despise. Get over it. Stick to the merits of the burger not religion.
If you want to talk about religion go to another website. Search on google. There are lots of them.
First of all, unlike many other restauranteurs in this city, this dude seems not to be a pretentious douche-bag. He doesn't even consider himself a chef, for crying out loud.
Second, for all the haters there are more lovers. Exhibit A: The line-ups.
Third, who gives a shit if they are religious. No one is forcing you to eat there, further, I assume you won't be harassed to convert as you wait. If they're Christians, who cares. God, the sense of entitlement that comes through in some of these comments is absurd.
Opening a restaurant in this city ain't easy, especially given the high percentage of total asses who live here and apparently comment on BlogTO's posts.
Give the guy a break.
That being said I do think his burgers are good, above average for sure. But nowhere near "best" and certainly overpriced and overrated.
And he has no idea who David Chang or Daniel Boulud are? I wonder if he's a poser/hipster who couldn't think quickly enough to claim that "he was a fan of David Chang before anyone else knew who he was".
Anyways, the burgers are damn good. Eat up!
Anyhoo, sexual/religious politics aside, i'm sure they're good burgers but I can't stand overpriced chuck.
2) The burgers are good but not worth a special trip. I'll stick with the Golden Star - tastier, better fries, cheaper, lots of parking, quick service, lots of tables.
I guess when I think about it I'm just thankful people like this decide to contribute cheeseburgers to our society as opposed to something more important.
So honestly - I hope BP just enough success to keep churning out the cheeseburgers and nothing more.
That is actually the basic definition of homophobia - the judgement that homosexuality is 'wrong' and the resulting discrimination against a group of people based on sexual orientation, which is inborn in them. Prejudice does not need to be blatantly hateful to be negative.
By the way, once the Burger Priest chose to endorse the "we're all sinners, there's only one right path, homosexuality is wrong, etc." message right on their website, they are opening the discussion beyond "the merits of the burger" as you put it.
I figure with so many people hating this place, eventually it wont take so long to try it
I think a lot of Catholics get a bad name. I went to a Catholic elementary school and a private, all-boys Catholic high school. I also grew up in a home where my parents taught me that you are who you are. You're gay? Cool. Who gives a shit?
There's a lot about Catholicism that I hold dear, but I hate the idea that the religion is homophobic. What Catholicism condemns is sex before marriage, in general. THAT's the biggest issue, whether it's gay or straight.
But guess what? Most Catholics, myself included, have premarital sex. Does that make me a bad Catholic? Maybe, but I still view myself as one.
I have gay friends and family and I love them all. Their lifestyle doesn't at all conflict with my beliefs any more than my own lifestyle does. I'm not perfect and I don't expect anybody else to be, but I still practice my faith.
Call me a hypocrite (and maybe I am), but my interpretation of Catholicism includes everybody.
You would get the impression that Torontonians don't like anyone that is different than them. I'm literally blown away that by being a Christian can draw this much criticism. Christianity does not say that homosexuality is ok, either does Islam, let's all start boycotting everyone establishment owned by a muslim. Is that alright?
You replace Christianity with any other faith and these comments are cut ten fold. Let's all have a city where we only go to shops that are owned by people just like us. We can all have fun in our segregated little worlds where our first words into a store are asking what their belief structure is so we can decide to spend money there or not.
I'm just surprised that more people don't read these comments and are not shocked at the amount of religious intolerance, all the while slamming something for being intolerant.
I'd agree with this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCdCVto2MN8&;feature=related
Did he 'force' you to click "the Gospel" link on his website? Did he 'force' you to read it? I don't think so. It's there for people to read or not to read. I do believe you have that choice.
You may not like that I have these concerns, but that's your problem. We make all kinds of choices as consumers about what products we consume - for many of us, his proselytizing on his menu sent up red flags. Someone above posted statements of belief from his church and frankly, I find it disturbing. So I have to ask if I am willing to spend money in a place where some of that revenue might go to fund things I find disagreeable. I decided it was objectionable enough that I choose to spend my burger money elsewhere.
Again - None of this would be an issue if he had simply kept his faith to himself. That said, he has every right to put up whatever he wants on his website. And as a consumer I have every right to factor whatever information he posts into my decision as to whether or not I wish to be his customer.
Do you buy gas? That creates environmental damage. Do you buy clothes? It could be from a sweatshop. Do you eat meat? It could be from a farm that doesn't treat its animals right. So where do you draw the line? If you choose to live your life living in that way its your life and I respect that. It's not the way I would live. If someone chooses to believe in something and puts that on their business so be it. Why should that bother you so much? Is it because its something YOU don't agree with? That's life. There will be people in this world where we will not agree with. Can you live with them? For sure. But you already judge him because he puts a statement of belief on his website. He didn't force you to think about it. You brought that upon yourself. You have a choice to think about it or not. What you are saying borders on the absurd.
As I stated he has every right to put religious material on his sight. You are right - that's life. But why are you so troubled that I don't wish to help subsidize his religious life? I also disagree with your premise that he didn't "force"me "to think about it." He did. I wouldn't have known about his religious beliefs, nor would I have asked, if he had not taken the time to publicize them. Once he made his beliefs part of his restaurant page, he made potential customers consider that when deciding upon visiting his establishment. Many wont be bothered at all and will happily eat at BP. Others are bothered and will make a different choice.
I wouldn't expect you to shop in a store that promoted something you found objectionable - why not extend that courtesy to me?
BTW what's so questionable about his beliefs? How is what he believes in unethical?
Anyway, we are not likely to agree on this. I've made my case, do with it what you like.
I will continue to live life to the fullest and not be restricted by prejudice and discrimination.
You literally are stating that beliefs that aren't your own are unethical, since the things that you agree with are ethical, than the things you don't must be otherwise. If you don't see how close-minded and prejudiced that is.
Also, every single time you make a purchase part of that money goes to something you disagree with. You will never be able to stop this, and unless you ask everyone that you buy from what they believe in and what they will spend your money on, you are not informed, unless it's easier for you to remain ignorant of what certain establishments owners believe in order for it to be more convenient for you.
Bullshit, such confused, deciding what you believe in as you type bullshit.
Why are you so concerned over whether 1 person decides to visit a Burger restaurant?
Mark Bee doesn't agree with the owner's belief. He is fully within his right to not go there because of that.
I'm not concerned whether one person decides where to eat. It's more the "Wow - proselytizing on BP website a big turnoff for me." quotes from above and people choosing to not frequent a restaurant not because he has a faith, but because they know he has a faith. That's an important difference.
I have never avoided going to an establishment because the owners were gay, or muslim, or any other belief than mine. It never occurred to me to prejudice myself because they believed something different then me. I guess it just makes life easier for some to think of all Christians as Rick Santorums, while criticizing those that would characterize muslims as all being terrorists.
Also, if you're not picking up on the not so subtle message through the thread that it's okay to believe in something as long as you don't "really, really" believe in it, than I'd be surprised. Ie. You can be a Christian, but you can't really believe in creation, or you can me a Muslim, but you can't really believe that there is only one God, that is your own.
Maybe it's just the insanity talking, I'm not sure.
I don't shop at places that I think practice a form of any religion I find objectionable.
You are literally defining prejudice. I don't know anymore, if you can write what you can and still not it, you'll never get it.
Publicly slandering the guy because his beliefs are public is completely unethical. He has the freedom to express them publicly, a freedom which we can see precisely because you can disagree with him and he can still keep operating.
But as soon as you start going after him like this, it's just hate. You're trying to shut him down, and effectively telling us that he is free to say and do what he wants, but ONLY so long as he doesn't contradict things you approve of.
Who elected you King of Canada, and told you could impose your views on him? Who's the real intolerant one?