It's another year, so it must be time for another Burger Battle. The people who run things in Fort Lauderdale never fail to wear out the welcome of any event; when something is a success they keep doing it over and over until it becomes so boring that it blends in with part of the scenery. Get Downtown is a good example; I haven't gone to the last 3; it's no different to me than another other Friday Happy hour in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The same people, same vendors giving away the same food, time after time.
The Burger Battle is run by the Riverwalk Trust, an organization mostly comprised of downtown big shots who disguise themselves as a charity to make people pay extra for events in the spirit of "giving". They buy trees and benches, but mostly they have parties and events for themselves and wield influence to push projects like the Wave Streetcar that will waste taxpayer money and benefit more than a few RT members.
The first Burger Battle was fun, mainly because it was something different. Last year they did pretty much the same thing and it sold out early enough so that I hadn't decided whether I was going, so I didn't. I could have gotten in but it wasn't really important; covering the first Burger Battle was fun, but the "results" left a bad taste in the mouths of many attendees. I couldn't even figure out why Georgi's Alibi was invited to participate much less why they won. The burger I got from them wasn't very good.
It was the only burger I got that didn't have cheese and it was small; one of the big issues with the Burger Battle is that the burgers the judges get aren't necessarily the same as the ones the attendees do.
But the big controversy occurred last year, because low and behold, Georgi's won again. Now when a place not really known for great burgers wins twice, you have a PR problem, even if it was just a massive coincidence. The idea that Georgi's beat Morton's and Capital Grill and Johnny V is ridiculous enough on the surface, but it just gives the Burger Battle that same wink and a nod that go along with all of the other bogus awards handed out by questionable media sources.
So last year I published an article outlining how a contest could be fixed with 2 planted judges; no matter how well organized the contest was. I questioned why there were so many contestants, and moreover, why there were so many judges. The more judges there are, the easier it is to fix a contest. I asked the judging liason to release the ballots; but I just got a song and dance for weeks until I stopped bothering to ask.
So this year I got an email offering me a VIP ticket to the event and a link to the event details, and I saw that this year, there are EVEN MORE contestants and EVEN MORE judges. They call it a "chef driven" panel, except there isn't anyone on there that I'd consider a very reputable chef; a couple of instructors, a guy who owns some concession stands at the airport and another guy who worked at Brio, Cheesecake Factory and the Davie Ale House, and of course, the chef from Georgi's; the center of the controversy. Not exactly a culinary hall of fame. Add to that a bevy of insiders/friends of sponsors, the editor of New Times, the Restaurant director of the Las Olas Company's Riverside Hotel. They're also trying to justify including the wife of Premiere Beverage's CEO and husband the Riverwalk Trust's executive committee vice chair by calling them "Foodies". And of course there is the Burger Beast; the only guy actually qualified to be a judge based on his body of work.
Usually when someone offers me something after they've done exactly the opposite of what I said was wrong last year, I view it with suspicion. So the first thing I asked was whether or not they would be making the judges ballots public. Just like they do in Boxing and the Olympics. No reputable contest has secret judging; if you want to be a judge you should be willing to make your scores public. If you are arrogant enough to think that your opinion is relevant, then you should be willing to tell people how you voted. These people are trying to be passed off as some sort of experts; so lets see if they like the same burgers that I do.
Lack of transparency leads to suspicion, but here's the bottom line. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to not publish the ballots. The only reason would be if you wanted to have some control over the results. If you don't publish the voting, then you have a contest where nobody is going to care about the result.
I asked 3 times, and each time there was some excuse not to answer. Finally I lost my patience, and asked where the resistance was coming from; since there wasn't any good reason NOT to publish the ballots, who was presenting the resistance; because that is your source of suspicion. This was the response:
Riverwalk Trust --- like many other organizations (for profit and not for profit) do not give out the details of the Judging. Two Panels/ Ten Judges --- Blind tasting --- raising money to support the downtown community --- supporting our local business partners --- giving some awards.
Pretty delusional, eh? No actual reasoning. Why even have judges? Why not just convene the executive committee and pick a winner this afternoon?
The problem with the burger battle and other "contests" is that everyone involved takes them too seriously. I wouldn't accept a recommendation from any of the judges individually, so why do I care what they think collectively? And what does "the winner" really get? It's not like anyone thinks that Georgi's has the best burger in Fort Lauderdale because they won a contest or two. And just look how many other best burgers there are in town:
Georgi's Alibi:
Le Tub:
Big City Dogs:
ROK:BRGR:
Beach Bunnies:
Gilbert's 17th St Grill:
Charm City Burger:
Stop:
Duffy's Sports Grill:
Beach Bunnies is my favorite. They just made it up. And who will join the list this year? The anticipation is driving me crazy.
