A YES Person Who Eats A Heap Load Of Burgers

When Will and I split up I made a decision that I can truly say has affected my life ever since. I wanted to become more of a ‘yes person’: guilty of spending far too much of my time well within my comfort zone I wanted to push the boundaries a bit, be a little more exciting. Even if I didn’t want to I would do things that at times before I might have thought ‘nah, I won’t bother’. As scary as this has been at some points – travelling to New York alone, surviving on even less sleep than usual, taking on projects that I might otherwise not have had time for – save a couple of brutal hangovers it’s mostly been a positive experience.

Which is how I found myself in Camden last Sunday having a screaming fun time for Jamie‘s birthday wearing Liberty print Vans that I never would have bought before. And back in London last night for the inaugural #NationalBurgerDay, again for the inimitable Ms Klingler. Would I have gone to these events before? Probably, but I would have played it safe. This this time I went with my toothbrush and a ‘who knows what might happen?’ attitude.

National Burger Day was entirely as it sounds. A whole day, dedicated to burgers. Can you even imagine? Brilliant. Originally coined by the fabulous Mr Hyde the concept spread like wildfire and was soon picked up by burger joints far and wide. But the main event was taking place at Dalston Yard in London in cahoots with Tweat Up and Street Feast.

I arrived nice and early at 5.30 to a beautiful looking yard and a busy Jamie. The sun was shining, the grills were heating up and the beer was local. The first burger I went for was from Slider Bar and was a small Short Rib Slider. Despite being slightly spicy (not my fave) the addition of Short Rib to this was perfect. Loved it, an excellent pre-burger.

The second burger was MEATLiquor’s classic Dead Hippie. A bit disappointing, it wasn’t salty enough for me, but then again I count salt as its own food group. YUM SALT. It was still pretty delicious though, all juicy and saucy.

This was the point in the evening I discovered that it really is impossible to simultaneously wear red lipstick, eat burgers and look ladylike. By the end of the evening I had three Mr Hyde stickers on me which purely served to cover up grease patches. FYI my toothbrush came in really useful, I totally got sesame seeds stuck in my teeth.

The absolute best burger of the evening was this incredible double quarter pounder (that also came in triple for the reeeeally hungry burger fans) from Bleecker Street. The beauty of this burger can’t be emphasised enough; it was truly beautiful. Mustardy, ketchupy, cheesy, beefy goodness. The best burger I’ve ever eaten. 

The other stand-out feature of the night for me was a little thing called a Pickleback. It’s a magical combination of a shot of Jameson whisky chased by a shot of pickle juice. It sounds vile but must have been good because I had, like, seven of the buggers. So incredibly moreish and well worth befriending the VIP barman for (not the hunk above unfortunately, but a sweet 23 year old who didn’t mind being called every name under the sun apart from his actual name by two tipsy ladies. I think he was called George. Maybe).

Here’s Jamie with the BURGER PINATA… can you tell she’s American? Never before had I seen a Pinata at an event before but I’m going to have one at every single party I organize in the future. Those things are FUN, which is why I assume I have five minutes of video footage on my phone of drunk burger eaters flailing wildly around with a big piece of wood.  Well worth the Health and Safety risk.

But I think the absolute highlight of my evening was a quote from a girl in the (festival-esque) toilets that ran out of loo paper quite early on:

“The toilet seat’s Robin Thicke, I’m Miley Cyrus and I’m twerking all over my career” 

Pure genius.