On today’s episode of the Eater Upsell, Momofuku chef and founder David Chang, a fan of Koreatown in Los Angeles, says that the patty melt at Cassell’s Hamburgers would make it worthy of the World’s 50 Best restaurants. It seems like a bit of a hyperbole until Chang starts talking about what makes the patty melt so great:
It's the fucking best. I cannot. I want to put patty melts on the menu at the restaurants, but I don't want the people at Cassell's to be like, "Well, you just stole our shit." Because I only want to do homage to what they've done. It's just one of the best goddamn things you could eat anywhere.
...they have this different way they cook the cheese. They have this special griddle. I highly recommend it. Every time I go to a diner — and people don't realize how often I eat at diners — I always get the patty melt and I'm always disappointed because it's not a Cassell's patty melt. It makes me sad.
The question came as a response to what Chang would order at a diner as soon as he walked in. Patty melt, on rye, was the answer. He then went on to tell hosts Helen Rosner and Greg Morabito that he actually voted for Cassell’s Hamburgers on the World’s 50 Best.
With that kind of acclaim, perhaps the World’s 50 Best will finally recognize that Los Angeles has plenty of restaurants would be worthy of inclusion on the list. Even a humble hamburger spot in Koreatown.
It’s a nice endorsement of Christian Page, whose new-school rendition of the classic burger spot has garnered solid reviews since opening inside the Hotel Normandie.