In many ways, you have to understand, my whole aspiration is to be a hulking, male, overloquacious Jewish version of Rachael Ray. I mean, that’s basically impossible, since everybody likes her, and I inspire vast swaths of indifference and even overt hostility, even within my own readership. But still. You have to model yourself on somebody. One way in which I am pulling the old Single White Female routine with Rachael is the creation of a major hamburger event, after the model of the Rachael Burger Bash at SOBE. It’s called the First Feedbag Burger Summit, and it will be held in Summit, New Jersey on the 26th.

The Summit is modeled closely on the Rachael Burger Bash. But there are key differences. For one thing, the chefs are all from New York, representing 20 of the top burgers in the world capital of hamburgers. More importantly, I’ve refined the way the contest part of the event works. Rather than the judges going around, trying every burger, and shmoozing with the chefs who produced them, I’ve opted for a blind tasting. The judges will stay put, seeing only styrofoam containers with number codes on them. They’ll be grading for taste, appearance, and overall edibility, and they won’t be comparing apples to oranges, either. A simple 3 oz. burger with American cheese on a plain bun won’t have to contend with some barroom behemoth, or a gourmet burger packed with kim chee and foie gras. No, there are four separate categories: slider, classic, gourmet, and specialty burger. The highest scores across the board will be awarded Grand Champion, and a prize that I still haven’t figured out. Perhaps a celebratory Feedbag video?

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But, you may wonder, who will the judges be? It’s a cross-section of burger experts, chefs, and….you. Yes, I want one of Rachael Ray.com reader to come out to the festival as my guest and be a judge. But you have to give me a good reason. Write in to me at my Citysearch blog, The Feedbag, at editor@the-feedbag.com, or leave your reason and contact info in the comments here. Whoever gives the best answer will help to award the laurels to at my own little wannabe burger bash, and will have a lot of fun doing so.

Josh Ozersky is the national restaurant editor for Citysearch, and newly-converted zealot for Team Rachael. He writes Citysearch’s New York food blog, The Feedbag, but will be writing every week here on topics that aren’t all tied up with the comings and goings of the New York restaurant world, his usual sphere of authority. Along with meat, that is — he’s also the author of The Hamburger: A History, coming to you soon in paperback.

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