The late celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain famously characterized the perfect burger with simplicity: processed American cheese, minimal toppings, a potato bun, and good-quality beef. The burger is now so ubiquitous and world-renowned that restaurants must champion a unique edge to stand out.
For two-Michelin-star chef Jordan Bailey, who launched London’s quality-focused burger restaurant, Heard last year, the simple burger concept shouldn’t jeopardize quality. A good burger warrants the same care, precision and quality ingredients as fine dining.
“Burgers sit at the intersection of comfort, nostalgia and indulgence. Almost everyone has some emotional connection to them,” says Bailey. “They’re also incredibly adaptable across cultures while remaining familiar. Few foods can be both mass-market and chef-driven at the same time.”
Chef Jordan Bailey
Today, Heard, with branches in Borough and Soho, elevates everyday comfort, serving simple burgers with Michelin-starred care and precision. Since opening last year, Heard has gained immense popularity for its classic smash burgers made with quality ingredients.
The history behind Heard
Perhaps it was growing up in Cornwall that nurtured Bailey’s philosophy, where food was always a huge part of life. It wasn’t luxury food, he says, but it was here that he became immersed in a world of ingredient-led cooking rooted in seasonality, produce and hard work. From there, he went on to work in various kitchens, but the biggest shift in Bailey’s career came when he joined 3-Michelin Starred Maaemo in Norway.
“That experience completely changed my understanding of precision, creativity and what hospitality could be,” says Bailey.
Later, with his wife, the sommelier Majken Bech-Bailey, the couple opened Aimsir in County Kildare, Ireland, receiving two Michelin stars within four months of opening.
“Achieving that level so fast was obviously an incredible moment, but what mattered most to me was building something with real identity and emotion behind it,” says Bailey. “At the same time, I’ve always loved casual food just as much as fine dining. But the real turning point came during the regional lockdowns in Ireland. We had only just reopened Aimsir when another lockdown was announced almost immediately afterwards.”
Overnight, they suddenly had fridges full of some of the best Irish produce in the country with nobody to serve it to, he recalls. Rather than let it go to waste, Bailey made the quick decision to turn those ingredients into fast-food-style dishes.
“We started serving things like burgers, lobster rolls and lamb kebabs from an Airstream trailer in the gardens on the property as a takeaway concept,” says Bailey. “Honestly, we expected it to just help us survive the moment, but the response was immediate and pretty unbelievable. Within five days, around 1,700 people came through over a single weekend.”
This experience inspired an idea. People were craving quality, excitement, and experience in casual food just as much as in fine dining.
“I started asking myself why the same level of sourcing, precision and detail couldn’t exist within a burger restaurant permanently,” said Bailey. “That became the foundation of Heard.”
Making food memorable
As a chef, Bailey’s philosophy has always been about “trying to remove the unnecessary and focus on what genuinely makes food memorable,” which, at first glance, might sound simpler than it is.
“I’m obsessed with product integrity, balance, texture and consistency. I want food to feel exciting and craveable, but still thoughtful underneath,” said Bailey. “I’ve never really believed there should be a divide between ‘fine dining’ and ‘casual dining’. To me, incredible food is incredible food. Whether it’s a tasting menu or a burger eaten standing up, the same care should exist behind it.”
Heard pairs its double-patty smash burgers, featuring aged British beef and garnished with English cheese and homemade pickles between a butter-toasted potato bun, with selected wines and craft beers, a concept developed by Bech-Bailey.
At the heart of what Bailey does is the aspiration to create food that people emotionally connect with: “Not food that feels intimidating or exclusive, but food people genuinely crave and remember.”
A Michelin-level mindset
This philosophy translated directly into Heard: “We wanted to take a Michelin-level mindset around sourcing, R&D and precision, then apply it to something universally loved. Everything is intentional, from the beef and buns through to the way the onions are sliced, and the sauces are balanced.”
Operationally, Bailey characterizes Heard as high energy and fast-paced, but incredibly detail-driven behind the scenes, priding the systems and processes as more like fine dining kitchens than traditional fast-food operations, through a culture of constantly testing, refining and aiming to improve consistency while still delivering something fun and approachable.
Heard’s double-patty smash burgers feature aged British beef and garnished with English cheese and homemade pickles between a butter-toasted potato bun
“What excites me most is creating a modern hospitality brand that people genuinely connect with emotionally. Not just a burger restaurant, but a place with personality, culture, creativity and experience behind it.”
Looking ahead, Bailey aspires to keep evolving Heard creatively, while maintaining quality at every stage:
“Growth is exciting, but protecting standards matters more,” says Bailey. “We want to push collaborations, experiences, drinks, desserts and hospitality further while still making people feel the same excitement when they bite into the burger for the first time. Ultimately, the goal is to build something globally respected that still feels personal, energetic and genuinely obsessed with quality.”
The chase for perfection
For World Burger Day (on May 28), we asked Bailey, as a burger connoisseur himself, where he has found the perfect burger. With shoutouts to Bleecker for “doing a few things exceptionally well, and The Plimsoll for creating one of the “most iconic” and “unapologetic” burgers in London, Bailey’s perfect burger is the signature HEARD burger, a double smash patty with jalapeño hot honey, Ogleshield cheese, white onion, HEARD sauce and pickles inside a soft potato bun.
“It hits everything I personally want from a burger. Richness from the beef and cheese, acidity from the pickles, sweetness and heat from the hot honey, sharpness from the onion, and that perfect soft-but-structured bun holding everything together,” said Bailey. “It’s messy in the right way, intense in flavor, but still balanced.”
“I think Anthony Bourdain was absolutely right about simplicity, though,” adds Bailey. “Burgers become worse when people overcomplicate them. Every ingredient needs a purpose.”
But at the heart of this very important question, Bailey prompts us to think differently and takes us back to his own philosophy of what makes food truly memorable.
“Have I experienced the perfect burger? Honestly, I don’t think perfection really exists in food because part of what makes food memorable is context, mood and emotion,” he says. “Sometimes the best burger in your life is eaten at 1am after a long shift. Sometimes it’s one eaten in a tiny roadside spot somewhere abroad. The chase for perfection is part of the fun.”
Lauren Hurrell
