BEFORE THERE ARE PLAYERS on the pitch and fans in the stands, there is the matter of the burger. Will it be smashed, or a tavern-style slab? Bread-wise, should we expect a potato roll straight out of the plastic or some kind of neo-bun made from shokupan or brioche? Will the ubiquitous butcher Pat LaFrieda make an appearance on the menu? And where does this burger stand on onions: raw, caramelized, or none at all? For now, we don’t know. But what we do know, what we can confirm and celebrate without apology or condition, is that when it is inaugurated in July next year, Etihad Park, the new home of New York City Football Club (NYCFC) and the first stadium built in the five boroughs specifically for the beautiful game, will not open without access to ground beef in the optimal 80:20 ratio of flesh to fat. Relax, everyone! There will be a burger.
And it won’t be just anyone flipping the patties on the grill in Willets Point, the headland of northern Queens on which Etihad Park will sit: Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson has been engaged to design the stadium’s founda…
