THE STORY
Zephyr Burgers is the culmination of a near lifelong obsession with food and a decision in 2017 to quit our jobs and work for ourselves. Hitting the street food scene in London we made a name for ourselves with the epic crust on our burger patties. We had no professional cooking experience but I had been perfecting my steak cooking at home for years. For me it's all about good beef, some serious maillard reaction and a lovely medium rare pink on the inside. I took this same approach to cooking burgers; working with some of the top butchers in the game we developed blends of heavily aged beef that would crust up really nicely on the griddle. The idea was to create an everyday cheeseburger inspired by classic burger joints we'd eaten at in LA and mixed with the flavour profiles we'd experienced at the newer London burger spots. The approach was to leave the patties on the griddle for a bit longer and let that flavoursome crust buildup, we made all the toppings and sauces (and still do), hand rolled every patty and smashed them onto the griddle (we still do that too). No one was making burgers like this in London at the time and although the burger market was crowded we had a USP.
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Since then the crusty smash patty has taken Zephyr on a crazy journey from the streets of London, popping up at festivals, corporate events, roof tops, craft beer breweries and food markets and in 2018 and 2019 opening our own burger bars in Peckham Levels and Street Feast Model Market in Lewisham
In 2020 we moved to my home town of Plymouth, got the food truck and started slinging burgers from a back lane behind a local craft beer bar and we soon word got around and it was gangbusters!
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In 2022 we opened our first sit down restaurant with an idea of creating an inviting space for everyone and anyone; a place we could finally bring the vision for Zephyr alive! Serving a simple menu of cheeseburgers, sharing dishes and desserts with a selection of great beers, cocktails and even our own Zephyr wine! It's exactly what we wanted it to be: a burger restaurant like no other burger restaurant!
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Thanks for your support.
Peace, Love & Cheeseburgers
Oz & Sheena
THE RESTAURANT
Having proved the concept worked in a back lane, the next step naturally was to set our sights on a restaurant. Fortunately there was a ton of post covid finance available for businesses so we applied for all the options we could and when the right site came up we were ready to go. The goal was to create a welcoming casual dining space with a lively atmosphere in which to serve the food we are passionate about. Sheena had a very clear idea of how the decor would come together, drawing on inspo from places we've eaten and paying homage to the original Zephyr with lots of skate & surf references throughout. Undertaking most of the work ourselves the design developed organically as we went. None of it would have been possible however without Mike the Carpenter who built everything from the booth to the bar, the benches and the tables and helped turn the vision into a reality.
THE FOOD TRUCK
Currently in storage, watch this space.
Let us know where you'd like to see Patty pop up!
Drop us a message in the contact panel below.
THE BEEF
Our butcher Aubrey Allen sources sustainable grass fed beef selected only from British beef-suckler herds to a specific classification and purchased whole to retain consistency. This helps to place their product in the top 1% of beef in the world.
They mature in the time-honoured way, on the bone in five scientifically structured dry-ageing chambers where space, air flow and humidity are at optimum levels.
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Our burger blend is made of choice cuts that we've tested over time and selected for flavour and its "crustability". Its minced 3 times a week so we can always guarantee that the burger in your hand is as fresh as can be.
THE BEER
We stock our can fridge with a varied selection of IPA's and Sours from Verdant, Pressure Drop, DEYA and Left Handed Giant. But if youre in the mood for a nice cold pint of druaght lager we've got you covered on that too!
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