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G ale Gand made her name at the four-star restaurant Tru and is one of the nation's most celebrated pa st r y chefs. Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith parlayed a victory in t he Next Food Network Star compet it ion into a booming business at Hearty. Now this culinary power trio has gone casual, joining forces to open the creative burger-and-soda concept SpritzBurger. How did your collaboration come about? Gale Gand: We have parallel lives: We write books, we do television, we have kids, and we're trying to balance all that. [We met doing culinary events and hit it off,] then Dan and I started cook- ing together. We'd all go away for the weekend to their Michigan house and cook the whole time. Dan Smith: A couple of years ago I started say- ing, "Hey, we should do a restaurant together." Steve McDonagh: Hearty had a great run, but after four years people want something different. We thought this would be a way to get what [Dan and Gale] wanted creatively and spruce up what we were doing in the neighborhood already. Why burgers? SM : Ever y ot her t ime ou r reg ula rs ca me in, they'd come for burgers. We started asking them why, and they would say, "We need someplace in the neighborhood that's a Tuesday or Wednes- day kind of place." GG: T here a re fa m ilies w it h young k ids who need to be fed on a Thursday. If you stand here at five o'clock and you unlock the door, that's who comes in. Then by 6:15 they're home and we get the next wave of people. SM: But we aren't a kids' restaurant. We're in a gay neighborhood, too, and there's a sophistica- tion to our clientele that we need to address. Here you get a true cocktail with thought and history, and you stay for a [well-executed] dessert. What are some of your favorites on the menu? GG: My favorite appetizer is the chicken livers with roasted garlic balls. DS: Me, too. I had a double order of it last night. SM: I'm really liking the pub burger. We don't do anything to the meat—we just add salt and pepper. It's grass-fed New Zealand beef, so it's excellent. What's coming up for summer? SM: I'm excited about the Spritz sodas. I want to feat u re Aperol—t hat 's going to be ou r sum- mer drink. GG: We have pear cider, and cider is one of my new favor ite t h ings. I a lso have my root beer on t ap, wh ich I've been making for decades now. Gale, how are you approaching the desserts? GG: How I approach most things, which is "What came before it and what may diners need afterward to uplift them?" That's the job of the pastry chef. DS: My favorite is the lemon meringue pie. It's pretty on the plate, and the idea of freezing the lemon curd is brilliant. GG: These are casual desserts; I'm not asking you to eat smoked chocolate. It's more fun-feeding. W hat ha s t he response been since you switched the Hearty space over to Spritz? DS: I tease Gale all the time at five o'clock: "This is the day no one is going to come in." But all our Hearty regulars are still our regulars, plus there's all the other people who are coming in now, too. So it's been overwhelmingly positive. 3819 N. Broadway, 773-868-9866; spritzburger.com MA photography by Jess Dawson " Here you get a true cocktail and stay for dessert." —Steve McDonagh three's Company Hearty Boys Steve McDonagh and Dan SMith team witH star pastry cHef gale ganD to Build a Better Burger joint. by j.p. anderson pair this mouthwatering blue cheese burger with an artisanal root beer at spritzburger, from steve Mcdonagh, Gale Gand, and dan smith (below). 86 miChiganavemag.Com sound bites