Squash them flat, pile them high: the rise and rise of the smash burger

A decade on from the last great wave of burger excitement, the smash burger marks a clear break with that era’s “dude food” excesses and towering, monster burgers. And it’s not just a British phenomenon. When the writer, film-maker and foremost historian of US burger culture George Motz opened his retro-modern diner Hamburger America in New York last November, he did so with a notably modest menu. Dispenser of what Bon Appétit magazine called “NYC’s most hyped burgers”, Hamburger America serves just two regular burgers: both smashed patties. Motz describes these as “primary-source burgers that go back to the dawn of the hamburger”.