Burger Dreams & Rock N’ Roll Themes Can Be Found In Asbury Park

Last weekend I made my way to Asbury Park to see my friend Kimmee Masi, the owner of Confections Of A Rockstar on Cookman Avenue. Kimmee and her talented crew have been baking sweet treats and custom cakes in Asbury Park for the last 12 years. You may have seen Confections Of A Rockstar on Food Network’s “3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay” back in 2012. I didn’t go just to see Kimmee, I went intending to meet the guys who started a new business making burgers in Kimmee's commercial kitchen. At the beginning of August. Little Andy’s Burgers, the new pop-up burger joint took up available space in the kitchen of Confections Of A Rockstar. I saw this place pop up on my Instagram feed and wondered how it all started, and more importantly how these juicy-looking gems tasted. Enter Mike Solomon, a Jackson, New Jersey native now living in Asbury Park. By day, Mike works in marketing & entertainment for Technics. Remember them? If you’re a Boomer or a Gen Xer, you probably owned at least one technique turntable when you were a kid. The name Little Andy’s Burgers was born out of a few family-related names. Mike’s grandfather was nicknamed, “Little Andy” by a former employer, Mike’s brother’s name is Andy, and Mike’s mom is Andrea.  Mike told me the burger dream started in his apartment when he invited his friends over to watch a fight on TV. Mike didn’t order a few pizzas for the boys; Mike cooked a bunch of his signature smash burgers, and the boys went wild. After several gatherings at Mike’s place, Mike’s friends encouraged him to think about selling these burgers to the public. Food dreams always start with several hearty lip-smacking yums. While living on the West Coast, Mike fell in love with the food at In-N-Out Burger, an incredibly popular regional chain of fast-food restaurants. They sell a variety of smash-style burgers cooked on a flat-top grill along with fries and shakes. If you ever head out to Arizona, California, Colorado Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, or Utah and you come across an In-N-Out Burger location, order off their “Not So Secret Menu.” Animal Style is my jam. Mike loves In-N-Out so much, that he got a tattoo of the palm trees that adorn In-N-Out’s cups and other paper goods.  Mike’s friend and business partner Dan Nimrod, a Manalapan native currently living in Asbury is a big part of Little Andy’s Burger dream. Dan is known as “The guy behind the guy.”  Mike invited Dan to get in on the action, so now Dan wears an apron instead of whatever he wore when he was employed as a warehouse logistics professional in the corporate world. With help in the kitchen from Toms River native Anthony Galetto, a bartender and band manager, these boys are hoping that this new venture does well enough so they can open their own brick-and-mortar burger place someday. What About The Burgers? Do you think I’d leave after my extensive chat with the fellas without eating the food? No chance! The late Anthony Bourdain said, "A hamburger is perfection wrapped up in a bun."  Perfection was the theme of the day for me. Mike & Dan keep it simple.  Currently, there are a couple of burger choices on the menu, the classic smash style burger, a secret beef blend cooked on a very hot flat top until an outer crust forms and is topped with cheese, very thin mandoline sliced white onions, pickles, a secret sauce blend on a Martin’s Potato Roll. The second option is called “Vaya Con Dios”, an homage to In-N Out Burger’s Animal Style burger. It’s a smash-style burger, topped with cheese, thinly sliced white onions, banana peppers, Mexican chorizo sausage, and the secret burger sauce on a Martin’s Potato Roll. https://www.instagram.com/p/C-QZR3ivxir/?img_index=1 Little Andy’s offers tasty crinkle-cut fries with your choice of ketchup or their secret burger sauce. They also offer Vaya Con Dios fries, crinkle-cut fries with the same stuff that tops the Vaya Con Dios burger. If you’re looking to eat fewer carbs, Little Andy’s offers “The Andy Salad” – Two burger patties topped with your choice of the above-mentioned accouterments sans the potato roll. I chose to sink my teeth into the Vaya Con Dios Burger and an order of regular crinkle-cut fries. Every bite was pure bliss! With each luscious bite, I was mentally attempting to figure out every component, every spice, and every secret something that went into making this heavenly burger. If I were a betting woman, I’d throw down money that the burger wasn’t a magical blend of cuts. I’d swear on a stack of Bibles that the burger was made with 80/20 ground chuck. It was incredibly juicy and super flavorful. I detected some salt, maybe a little pepper, and a hint of something I was unable to identify. I’m thinking perhaps that Mike and Dan used Adobo to flavor the meat.  There was chorizo on my burger so I can’t say for sure what that little extra something was. I can say for sure that this burger is a winner. The fries were crispy and perfectly salted. Also See: 10 Best Nail Salons In Toms River For dessert, I had to choose a mini cupcake from Kimmee’s collection of confections, so I went with the SUGARRUSH Mini Cupcake, a chocolate cupcake stuffed with Reese’s Peanut butter filling, fudge, and topped with creamy peanut butter frosting, chocolate drizzle and a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup. You can order your very own Little Andy’s Burgers meal via Little Andy’s website by clicking HERE, order on the Toast app, or stop into Confections of a Rockstar Bakery at 550 Cookman Ave #104, Asbury Park, NJ 07712 For now, Little Andy’s is just a weekend thing unless it takes off like a rocket. Little Andy’s Burgers are available on: Saturday & Sunday from Noon to 7 pm or until they sell out. Vay Con Dios, Fellow burger lovers. See you at Little Andy's Burgers. On a side note, If you see a 12-year-old at the counter greeting you with a big smile and a hearty hello, that would be Avery, a student at St. James Elementary School in Red Bank. Avery is part of a community volunteer program looking to accumulate 20 to 30 hours of community service. Thanks to Kimmee Massi for all that she does for the community and the folks who love sweets.