Blood Shed: The 5th Annual Hamptons Burger Bloodbath Goes Posh At Gilt City Hamptons

Go HERE for more photos by Chelsea Burcz and tag yourself and your friends!

This year's Burger Bloodbath was most definitely the most luxurious; the competition and location were knocked up a notch compared to previous years, with chefs like 2010 defending champ Mo Koyfman, back again with Jim McDuffee from Joseph Leonard, Michael White, Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, Zach Chadorow, Cobi Levy, Preston Madison and the Team from Peels, Jesse Gerstein and Marc Vidal and with judges consisting of Pat LaFrieda, Kate Krader, Lee Schrager, Marc Murphy and Mark Pastore.

Ticket holders (which could actually be purchased to the exclusive event at a hefty $125 a pop off of Gilt for the first time, it is usually an invite-only event) and guests enjoyed unlimited burgers with all meat provided by LaFrieda Meats, plus unlimited booze - key staples to any summertime grilling session. But, wait, what is the Burger Bloodbath anyways besides a crowd of foodies and chefs trying to one-up each other while pretending it's just all in good fun? Well, nothing actually. It's not too much different than your group of dads grilling and having fun, except that there's a trophy if that counts for something, and a chance to participate in the NYC Food & Wine Festival Burger Bash...

I can just feel all the vegetarians reconsidering their herbivore ways while looking at last year's winning burger. [Photo via]

However, the Burger Bloodbath is not to be taken lightly for those involved, so to give you a better idea of what the event actually is, we have a breakdown:

The Rules

While you may think cooking a burger is pretty basic stuff, the Burger Bloodbath makes sure to have their stipulations spelled out, including a few interesting rules that we, as burger commoners, may not think twice about...

'Ingredients' will be defined as anything presented on the plate for judging, including non-edible decoration and accouterments.

You will have two hours to prep, cook and present 5 burgers for judging; you will then be expected to cook 50 burgers for the general public, who will weigh-in via popular vote. ALL PREP OTHER THAN INGREDIENT PROCUREMENT MUST TAKE PLACE IN THESE TWO HOURS.

You will be judged on the burger that is presented IN THE BUN. Condiments will not be taken into account if they are burgerside.

That sounds like it leaves some room for things to get weird.

The Venue

The venue of this extravaganza has changed over the years, and has been held mostly in the backyards of friends and foodies. This year, however, the team took it to the next level by hosting it at the Gilt City Hamptons House (which has already had some controversy surrounding it). The event seemed to get some criticism from foodies of years past, mostly that this "higher end" version of what they were normally used to was a bit too snobby. The event was originally planned to take place at Montauk's Crow's Nest (which some may agree would've been a more appropriate venue), but moved to Gilt City shortly before the event.

Gilt City Hamptons this year versus last year...

Let's just say the crowd was more 'Hamptons chic' than what these burger foodies are used to...

The Results

So who was crowned the Burger Bloodbath champ? It was a close call, with results based off of a 100 point scale:

1. KOYFMAN (86/100) 2. GERSTEIN (85/100) 3. CHODOROW (84/100)

Mo Koyfman, winner, AGAIN -- for the third freakin' time! According to Leventhal it was the closest contest that's ever been seen...

Would you eat this guy's meat?

Twitterific Tweets

What would the Burger Bloodbath be without a Twitter round-up of opinions?

Ben Leventhal, @benleventhal tweeted:

In an unprecedented move, the judges have requested a REEXAMINATION of Gerstein, Koyfman and Chodorow burgers. #2011BurgerBloodbath

Lockhart Steele, @Lock tweeted:

Wylie Dufrsene burger bonkers. One of best I've ever had. Yet @mokoyfman repeated as champ! Overall vibe douchey this yr. @kkearney

At last, the two great burger makers of their generation, @Chefbianco and @mokoyfman, square off side by side. #bb2011 http://t.co/J2xL4O

Chef and judge Marc Murphy, @chefmarcmurphy tweeted:

Judging burgers at Hamptons Burger Bloodbath! fb.me/DLQPq1w0

Mo Koyfman, @mokoyfman tweeted:

Obligatory winner and 3 time champion tweet. What a great day. #2011BurgerBloodbath

David Lauren noshing on a burger...

Ben Leventhal announcing the winners...

Team Peels!

Guests enjoying burgers and Chef Marc Vidal (my personal favorite)...

Remember what I said about things getting weird? Well...

The very serious judges' table...