Lauren Shockey

Baby burgers

"No, no," she said. "Bohemian, the secret Japanese bar and restaurant located next to Japan Premium Beef at 57 Great Jones Street."

A secret cocktail lair right near the Village Voice offices? How was it that I had never heard of this spot before? Clearly we had to go right away.

When you crave a hamburger, you usually go upscale or down. On the downscale side, you may walk into Five Guys, a diner, or even Burger King or Wendy's. Upscale, find yourself at maybe Minetta Tavern (where you can actually get a seat at lunch), 5 Napkin, or even Brasserie Ruhlmann. But there are midrange options, too.

We're used to burgers being made of ground beef, or other ground meat. And it's usually raw, unprocessed meat we're talking about, even if the cuts are exotic (such as Shake Shack's brisket and short rib, or DB Bistro's foie gras burger). But what if you used meat that had already been ground, flavored, and even partly cooked?

The Upper East Side's year-old Kaia Wine Bar specializes in the vittles and fermented grape products of South Africa, and there's some pretty damn interesting stuff on both sides of the ledger.

As we mentioned last Friday, Tortaria opened today on University Place. The place is devoted to making the Mexican sandwiches called tortas, to be washed down with an extensive tequila list, neat and as mixed drinks. There are eight torta selections, mainly priced at $7.81, plus tax. And of these, one turns out to be a hamburger.

The pastrami -- sometimes called "smoked meat" on the menu -- is a thing of beauty at newcomer Bowery Diner. When a thick plank of it crawls into the bun where a hamburger is already happening, fireworks ensue.

Sometimes you have to have a hamburger. The fries don't even have to be that great. In NYC, the burger is probably the most ubiquitous meal available -- ahead of pizza, falafel, salad-bar salads, sushi, and a dozen others you can find anywhere in the city. The number of styles and sizes of burgers currently available is bewildering. Consequently, Fork in the Road here inburgerates a new feature: Burgers at Random. Our first is an upscale one at Brasserie Ruhlmann in Rockefeller Center.