Order the Burger de Masion and take in that burgundy pool of port jus against the iconic white plate.
Rob Feenie knows a thing or two about burgers.
For longtime Vancouver diners, the connection between Feenie and the burger goes back decades.
Back in the days of Lumière, he operated the more casual Feenie’s next door, giving diners two sides of his cooking: fine dining at one, and something more casual at the other.
The burger wasn’t necessarily supposed to become one of Feenie’s defining dishes, but it did. Feenie’s became a weekend destination, with the burger finding an enthusiastic audience during brunch.
Feenie chuckles when recalling just how unexpectedly it took off. When he first put the burger on the menu, he had no idea it would become one of the biggest things he did.
The burger followed him. When Feenie joined Cactus Club Cafe, he worked with then-owner Richard Jaffray on another version, which became the Feenie Burger.
More than two decades later, Feenie’s name is back at Time Out Market Vancouver at Oakridge Park, bringing that part of his career full circle.
The fanciest Feenie burger
Vancouver knows the Feenie Burger. But I wanted to know more about the other one. At Le Crocodile (100-909 Burrard St.), that means the Burger de Maison.
When it arrives at the table, the first thing you notice isn’t even the burger. It’s the plate.
Nearly filled to the rim with port jus, it’s a deep burgundy colour with a beautiful sheen across the surface. The Burger de Maison sits right in the middle, its soft brioche already beginning to soak up the sauce.
Alongside it comes a steak knife, fork and an additional warm napkin. Le Crocodile clearly knows what you’re about to get into.
“I learned this in France,” Feenie tells me as we talked about the jus.
Early in his career, Feenie travelled to France for stages, including time in Alsace with chef Émile Jung at Au Crocodile and Antoine Westermann at Le Buerehiesel, both Michelin three-star restaurants at the time.
The jus begins with classic French technique: red wine, shallots and demi-glace, with port bringing sweetness and depth. It’s an approach Feenie carried into his cooking at Lumière and continues to use at Le Crocodile.
Start like a champ. Use your hands
Faced with the assignment ahead, I started like a champ and picked the burger up with my hands. For the first few bites, that’s absolutely the way to do it. The soft brioche keeps soaking up the port jus, becoming richer and messier with every bite.
It is glorious. It is messy. It’s also very fun.
As with any burger worth its salt, there’s the question of temperature. When I’m asked how I’d like mine cooked, my answer is simple: however the chef suggests.
Cut into it and you see why. The beef is beautifully cooked, with a blush of pink through the centre.
The foundation is a blend of Wagyu and chuck, ground specifically for Le Crocodile by Two Rivers Meats.
“Fat is so important in our burger. It is where the flavour is.” Feenie says, explaining one of the most important decisions behind the blend.
Gruyère brings a welcome sharpness. Feenie traces his love for that style of cheese back to living in Sweden in the early 1980s, where he developed a taste for sharper varieties. His original Feenie’s burger used cheddar, but for the Burger de Maison, he wanted something with that distinctive bite.
The mushrooms are caramelized with garlic and thyme before being finished in that same port jus, soaking it up until they become almost sticky.
And then there’s the foie gras. Feenie traces the inspiration back to eating chef Daniel Boulud’s famous foie gras burger in New York. The experience stayed with him, and here, seared Canadian foie gras adds another layer to an already unapologetically decadent burger.
Take away the bun and you’re left with a fine dining dish
With all that richness, the burger needs acidity. Locally made Hobb’s mustard pickles bring a sweet, mustard-forward bite, while the mayonnaise and relish are made in-house.
With the warm napkin now thoroughly stained, I eventually did the sensible thing and reached for the steak knife and fork that had been waiting beside the plate.
Take away the bun and what you’re left with could easily be a composed fine-dining steak dish: beautifully cooked beef, foie gras, Gruyère and caramelized mushrooms surrounded by that deeply flavoured port jus.
How much does one of these buger masterpieces put you back? The base cost is $34, but upgrades of foie gras and jus bring the grand total to $50.
What makes the Burger de Maison memorable isn’t simply the list of luxurious ingredients. It’s the thought and technique behind them, and how everything comes together on the plate.
Feenie’s at Time Out Market also offers the Le Croc, a more casual interpretation of the Burger de Maison.
But for the full Burger de Maison experience, I’d head to Le Crocodile. Settle in, take in the room at one of Vancouver’s longstanding culinary institutions and stay a while.
Order the Burger de Maison and take in that glossy burgundy pool of port jus against the iconic white plate, with its golden crocodile on the rim. Pick it up with your hands and have some fun with it.
Just keep the steak knife, fork and warm napkin close by.
Christian Alvarez is the founder of Vancouver Chefs and the ICON Dinner Series, platforms that bring together celebrated chefs for immersive, culture driven dining experiences. A graduate of the Northwest Culinary Academy in Vancouver, he blends culinary training with a passion for storytelling, photography and community building. Through curated collaborations, he explores the intersection of food, film, music and art, creating intimate events that celebrate both craft and creativity. When he is not curating dinners, he runs the Vancouver seawall, spends long hours on the road as an avid cyclist, and explores the world through its food and culture.
Dining and Cooking