My Top Five: Best Burgers

New York magazine recently came out with its annual list of best burgers. As I scanned their worthy selections, I couldn’t help thinking about my own favorites -- and how I’ve experienced most of them with the opposite sex.

In my experience, the pleasure of a perfect burger is doubled when it’s shared with someone special. Even the fast food variety is fun a deux. When I think of unforgettable burgers, these are the Top 5 that make the cut:

5 - Jackson Hole: Dashing British beau David and I enjoyed a meal at this cozy New York City staple back in 1999. Home of the seven ounce burger -- juicy and perfectly cooked -- Jackson Hole has been dishing it out since 1972.

4 - The Apple Pan: California-based beau Sparky introduced me to this legendary burger shack on L.A.’s Westside. Fully deserving of all the hype, Apple Pan takes ground beef preparation to a new level. Their burgers come wrapped in paper, served with crisp lettuce, dill pickles, sweet relish and a slice of Tillamook cheddar (no tomato is also part of the signature recipe here). The hickory burger is to die for.

Heaven In A Wrapper: The Apple Pan’s hickory burger has been delighting Angelenos for more than 60 years

3 - Steak ’N’ Shake: Illinois-born sweetheart Steve and I indulged our hearty appetites at this veteran Midwestern chain. Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Steak ‘N’ Shake is known for its steak burger, made with real cuts of steak, perfectly seared and enhanced with a choice of toppings including Frisco sauce and mustard relish.

2 - Burger Joint: Dog lover Shawn took me to this tiny, renowned eatery, tucked away in the lobby of NYC’s Parker Meridien hotel. It’s no accident that Burger Joint shows up repeatedly on food critic favorite lists. Their thick, tasty burger -- served on a fluffy bun with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles -- is about as good as it gets.

1 - Five Napkin Burger: Hunky cop (and big time foodie) Rich gets the credit for acquainting me with, for my taste, the best burger I’ve ever had. A relative newcomer to Gotham’s crowded restaurant scene, Five Napkin opened last year as a spinoff of a popular menu item at Upper West Side hotspot Nice Matin. Its namesake is beyond mouth-watering -- 10 ounces of fresh ground chuck topped with comte cheese, caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. Delish.

Rich thinks it’s the soft bun that makes 5NB’s signature burger so special. I think it’s the entire heavenly concoction, one that will leave you hungering for more.

Celebrating An SGITC Milestone

Next week, Single Gal In The City will hit the one year mark. This week, I’ll be celebrating the 365-day milestone with a festive happy hour at Haven, a fabulous new restaurant and lounge in Midtown NYC.

A duplex venue with what New York magazine describes as “the air of a cigar club,” Haven is decorated with such exotic accents as velvet wallpaper, Chinese swords and Balinese masks. Perfect for singles, the bar offers themed nights such as Jezebel Thursdays and sweet drink specials ($13 for a pitcher of the mixed drink of the day).

The SGITC Anniversary Party will take place on Tuesday June 23rd at 630pm. I’m looking forward to raising a glass to my first year of life in the blogosphere. If you’re in the neighborhood, feel free to stop by and join me.

Coming up...a first date with a lengthy preamble and a look at friends who exit when romance arrives.

To Pay Or Not To Pay

This week, I was quoted in an Associated Press story about dating and recession that was picked up by New York magazine. My observations sparked some intense conversation, which got me to thinking about the complicated question of who pays on a first date.

Money can be a thorny subject on a first date -- especially when it come to deciding who pays

As I told the AP, I’m a traditionalist in that I think a man should pick up the tab. I’ve always believed that being respected as a woman and treated like a lady are not mutually exclusive -- and I’ve dated enough to know there are many men who are of the same mindset.

“It would make me feel emasculated,” my old flame Steve told me, when I asked for his take on having a woman pay or going Dutch.

Friend and fellow writer Eddie says he was raised to believe a gentleman always treats a lady -- but admits that point of view has gotten him into trouble on occasion.

“I got hammered on dates when I asked for the bill and handed over my credit card,“ he says. “My gesture did not go over well because the dates presumed it meant that I didn't think they could pay their own way. But the old tradition was too ingrained in my soul for me to change. What I did do was a add a line that anticipated the challenge: ‘I have had such a great time with you. Would you mind if I picked up the tab?’ Issue resolved.”

Eddie went on to say that there’s merit to both sides of the argument and I couldn’t agree more. Plenty of men and women are happy to go 50/50 on a first date. And I’d venture to say an equal number of us believe modern-day mores can happily co-exist with the time-honored tradition of a man taking a woman out.

Neither approach is wrong. Recession or not, though, I think a first date should involve more than going for a walk (the suggestion that one guy proposed to a friend of mine). You don’t have to break the bank to come up with something fun -- you just have to exercise a little creativity.

And when it comes to romance, that’s a muscle we could all afford to flex more often.