The Secret Smash Society returns March 5th to cook its mouth wateringly-good smash burgers.
And you’d better get there early because the event, held this time at High Cotton Brewing Company, usually is, well, a smash.
Their last public event was in September at Wiseacre Brewing Company. “We sold out in two-and-a-half hours,” says Harrison Downing, who makes up the team alongside Schuyler O’Brien and Cole Jeanes.
And, he says, “That was the most burgers we did. Close to 300.”
“People were lining up an hour before we opened,” O’Brien adds.
But, Downing adds, “The line moves fast because the burgers are cooked fast.”
They own all their equipment, so setting up and packing down is a snap. “If we wanted to do one tomorrow we could probably make it happen. There’s not much planning. We’ve got it down to a science.”
Burger lovers don’t get a lot of notice about their events. “That’s kind of why we play on the ‘secret’ thing,” Downing says, adding, “We don’t post much on social media until it’s about to get going.”
They don’t like to hold the events too often. But, O’Brien says, “It’s not like we’re just sitting around making people suffer. We have so much other shit going on. When it works, it works, and we make it happen. That’s as regular as we can get it for us.”
O’Brien is City Silo Table + Pantry’s food and beverage director, Downing is chef/sandwich artist at Greys Fine Cheese, and Jeanes is chef/owner of Kinfolk restaurant, consultant and private chef with Jeanes Hospitality, a partner with Josh Conley in the Etowah Hunt Club dinner series, and a partner with Kyle Taylor, James Lancaster, and Tyler Porter of Bloodhound Provisions.
“I love doing it because I get to cook with Schuyler and Harrison,” Jeanes says. “We don’t get to cook often at all.”
And, he says, “When we are together I don’t have to ask them to do something. They already know the next step I need to take. If I’m busy, they know what to do. It’s like a dance, basically. If you’re dancing with a partner who doesn’t know how to dance it’s very cluttered and messy, but if you’re dancing with someone who is good, it’s very smooth.”
Using a burger press, they smash together two three-ounce patties until they’re completely flat. The burgers cook quickly. The fat goes back into the meat because it doesn’t have time to render out.
“Patty Daddys” is The Secret Smash Society’s nickname. All three chefs are new fathers. Hudson Downing is four months old, Finley O’Brien is one year old, and Luca Jeanes is 16 months old.
Their last Secret Smash Society event, a private one, was pretty hectic, Downing says. “My wife went into labor that day.”
They had to switch all their equipment, which was in Downing’s truck, to O’Brien’s Pathfinder. “I had to trade vehicles and head to the hospital.”
Downing’s new baby is one reason they haven’t held a Secret Smash Society event in a while. “We wanted to give Harry time to take in fatherhood and all,” O’Brien says, adding, “We gave him paternity leave.”
The Secret Smash Society can do other things besides make smash burgers. They were among the chefs who had to create a dish out of a piece of pig at the Hill Country Boucherie and Blues Picnic last September in Como, Mississippi. The event was held at Home Place Pastures, which is where The Secret Smash Society chefs get the beef for their smash burgers. The pig part, whether it’s the cheek, tongue, or something else, is determined by a drawing. “They literally draw your name out of a hat,” O’Brien says.
The Secret Smash Society chefs had to make something out of a pig heart. So, they came up with a Japanese-style yakitori skewer.
And, out of 17 or so chefs, O’Brien says, “We took first place.”
The Secret Smash Society will cook burgers from 2 p.m. until sell out, March 5th, at High Cotton Brewing Company at 598 Monroe.
