Chef-owner Hiroki Odo crafts high-quality patties made with 100% wagyu beef at NYC's Hall. Operating alongside his two-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant, Odo and his team infuse Japanese flavors in the classic American burger. The menu features standout options like the signature A5 wagyu burger and a luxurious foie gras burger topped with sansho-infused soy sauce and Kewpie mayonnaise.
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00:00In our menu, there's a Wagyu steak burger.
00:15It's a single hamburger with a5 Wagyu steak on top.
00:21Of course, using Wagyu steak increases the cost.
00:28But we're doing it at a very reasonable price.
00:32Everyone in Japan loves popular hamburgers,
00:37both children and adults.
00:41So we wanted to make a burger with a more Japanese texture in the U.S.
00:48We thought it would be nice to have a mix of Japanese and New York style.
00:58For our burger station in a hall, first thing to prep is our patties.
01:02So we have our different types of meat here.
01:05This is a Sakura Wagyu coming from Ohio.
01:07We're using chuck.
01:08And then we actually sourced this a5 Wagyu from our meat vendor.
01:17You can tell it's U.S. Wagyu.
01:18There's a lot of marbling inside.
01:20It's not going to be like Wagyu a5 where all you're seeing is white.
01:23But for a burger, I think that kind of richness is definitely important.
01:27Using this type of beef for a burger, it's not always the most cost efficient,
01:31but we're able to make the numbers work with our burgers.
01:34Hall itself is only open for dinner,
01:36but we actually serve the burgers at our other restaurants as well.
01:40So we need to make sure we have enough burgers to get through lunch service.
01:43This can probably get us about 50 burgers.
01:46You know, our patties aren't huge,
01:48but we have so many burgers where we use two patties.
01:51Goes by pretty quick.
01:53Our grind isn't too rough.
01:56It's much finer than your Japanese-style burger.
02:00But there is definitely still texture for the patty.
02:03The flavor is definitely where it's at.
02:22I think that's what's best for Wagyu.
02:27It's easy to eat, and you don't have to worry about the fat.
02:32You can have an a5 Wagyu steak.
02:34You can have two slices and you can be full, you don't want to eat any more.
02:38But with this type of Wagyu patty, we can control the fat.
02:41So it's just the right amount where you're getting that richness,
02:44that marbling, that flavor, but it's not overbearing.
02:48We just want to make sure it's about even each time.
02:50So the grind is all done.
02:51Next step is just making patties, seasoning very lightly,
02:53and then we're good to go.
02:54So we're going to give this a nice little mix,
02:57make sure the fat is spread evenly.
02:59And then our patties are 100 grams each.
03:02So this is 100 grams.
03:04This is one patty size.
03:05It's a pretty decent amount.
03:06And you can see the marbling on the meat as well.
03:08Very oily, but it's not going to be too overwhelming.
03:11When I was a kid, I used to go to a place called Mos Burger in Japan.
03:15I was very fond of it.
03:16But then going back a few years ago and then trying it,
03:20it has that nostalgia factor, but maybe not the quality factor, I think.
03:25Some people live and die by In-N-Out.
03:27It may not be the best burger, but it's like $6 for a combo, right?
03:31You can have a combo at Shake Shack for $15, $20.
03:35It's double the price.
03:36It should be double the quality, too.
03:42We're serving these burgers for, I think, $8, $9.
03:45Using US Wagyu, I don't think it's possible for a lot of restaurants to do that.
03:48But because we use so much beef, because we use so much Wagyu that we can,
03:52in turn, add to the patties, it gives us a little bit more flexibility with cost.
03:58After making the patties, next step is just seasoning.
04:00We use salt, pepper, keep things simple.
04:02We have that sansho soy, the mayonnaise, all the condiments.
04:06We let the natural flavors of the beef shine.
04:16American hamburgers are made with ketchup and mustard.
04:21The hamburgers we're making this time are made with sansho flavor,
04:26Japanese mayonnaise,
04:29and a little bit of soy sauce.
04:32The smell, taste, and flavor are all very unique.
04:36I think everyone will be surprised.
04:40So, we're going to start making our sauce for our burgers.
04:43It's kind of a secret sauce that we make, so there's sansho peppercorns,
04:46same family as prickly ash, Sichuan peppers.
04:48They're a little bit more mild, but very aromatic, citrusy.
04:53It's a perfect complement for the kind of fattiness, richness for the Wagyu.
04:57So, we're going to reduce these in sake, a little bit of soy sauce, tamari as well.
05:01Before we reduce it, we're going to grind them up a little bit.
05:04As we do kind of grind them, crush them together,
05:08you get this beautiful citrus aroma.
05:11It's not quite the same aroma as lemongrass,
05:14but it has a similar effect to what it can do to a dish.
05:18It's a perfect complement for the Wagyu.
05:20Sansho itself is used very commonly.
05:23You don't really see that many restaurants using Sichuan in Japan
05:27if it's not a Chinese restaurant, but sansho, you'll definitely see it,
05:31whether you're eating unagi inside a miso soup.
05:35You always want to let the meat shine in a burger,
05:38but when you have a sauce that can really complement something
05:42like the richness that you get from Wagyu,
05:44I think you definitely need to use it.
05:47And main reason we're grinding everything is it releases a lot of the aromas
05:52and also all that crunching you hear, even when you reduce it,
05:55you can still kind of get that crunch when you bite into it.
05:58So, when you crush it up, it's a much softer texture.
06:03And the next part, this sauce only contains a few ingredients.
06:06I have cooking sake for you here.
06:08We use four parts, and then this is regular koyukuchi,
06:12regular soy sauce, we're using Yamasa,
06:14mixed with a little bit of sugar and then also a splash of tamari,
06:18which is a richer, darker, thicker soy sauce
06:20that adds some more richness to the base of the sauce.
06:23We actually use this sauce at our Kaiseki restaurant next door as well.
06:28I'm just going to add the sansho to the soy sauce and sake.
06:33Give it a nice little mix.
06:36Then we're just going to let that reduce to about half of what it is right now,
06:41and then we'll get the perfect consistency for it.
06:44It'll probably take about an hour, more like three hours to reduce all the way.
06:52So, when Chef Odo opened this restaurant,
06:54it was always in his original idea to have a couple different concepts
06:58all in one kind of box.
07:01So, in the back, we have a chef's counter.
07:03It's a speakeasy style where the restaurant is hidden.
07:05We're serving a very classic style of Kaiseki cuisine.
07:08But in the front, we actually have an American-style craft cocktail bar
07:12and has one of the best burgers in the city, too, as well,
07:14which is something that's pretty fun, I think.
07:17All these wood panels, they're sourced from a church in Connecticut,
07:19but you can tell each piece is made by hand.
07:22It's kind of the same concept with food, you know, it's attention to detail.
07:26Instead of just having a machine make everything,
07:28we're making it with our hands and much more thought and care goes into it.
07:31A playlist that we have is curated by Yuichi Sakamoto.
07:35He passed away last year, but he's very dear to our hearts.
07:58We're based on a restaurant called Odo.
08:03I think the best thing about hamburgers is that
08:09you can have them in all kinds of places in New York.
08:14I don't know which one is the best,
08:18but I think all of them are delicious.
08:22That's what a hamburger is.
08:26I made the first hamburger in the hall five years ago.
08:30I think the culture of food is very important.
08:37Something always changes,
08:41but the essence, the most important thing, doesn't change.
08:44It's the deliciousness.
08:47I try not to change that.
08:50This bun is my recipe.
08:53It's soft and the texture is very important.
08:57I think a burger is not only a paté or a bun.
09:01I think the total balance is very important.
09:04Our buns are special because we use a lot of sauce and meat juice.
09:11I think that's what makes our buns special.
09:18This Sancho soy sauce has been on for about an hour and a half.
09:21Once it's reduced halfway more, it's good to go.
09:24Serve as is.
09:25We're going to go ahead and cook our signature burger.
09:28It's the most simple, two patties.
09:30I'm going to give it a quick season with salt and pepper.
09:33This is definitely the one we sell the most.
09:35Simple, you get a lot of Wagyu.
09:38Give it a light push.
09:40It's not a true smash burger.
09:43We're just kind of giving it a little push for the juices,
09:46then also to get a nice sear on it as well.
09:52A little toast.
09:54Crispy but very soft on the inside as well.
09:57I think everyone knows to make a good burger,
10:00you don't need good cheese.
10:01American cheese just works the best.
10:04Some people like to steam with water to melt the cheese.
10:07We just cover it.
10:0830 seconds and you're good to go.
10:14This is Japanese mayonnaise, Kewpie.
10:16Keep it simple.
10:17The patty is Japanese.
10:18The sauce is Japanese.
10:20And then top it off with that sansho sauce
10:22that we made earlier.
10:23You definitely get your hands dirty
10:24a little bit with this burger.
10:31Guests that come to HALL,
10:32they have an array of options to choose from.
10:34If they want something simple,
10:35they can just go with the signature burger.
10:37If you want decadent, rich, BF4 raw,
10:40you can get the A5 Wagyu steak grilled on top as well.
10:50It's a small space,
10:53but even in that small space,
10:55you get to eat delicious hamburgers
10:58and delicious cocktails.
11:00It's not just delicious,
11:02but you get to experience
11:05the service as well.
11:09For example,
11:10the materials, the music,
11:13the food, the service, and the cocktails.
11:15You get to experience all of that
11:19at a very affordable price
11:24within a limited time frame.
11:25I hope you can feel that.
11:28I think New York's burgers are truly iconic.