The burger: Welcome to the Duluth Road Trip version of Burger Friday. I recently spent a few hours in the Minnesota half of the Twin Ports – a noon-hour layover on an Apostle Islands-St. Paul trek – and once we crossed the Blatnik Bridge (the Bong Bridge, my favorite infrastructure name, ever, was out of commission) we made a beeline for the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace for a quick sandwich stop at my Canal Park culinary go-to, Northern Waters Smokehaus.

Wouldn't you know it? The line was out the door – as always. Fidgety with hunger, we turned to the right and opted for a table inside the Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar.

Although momentarily disappointed -- goodbye bison pastrami! – but we were not disappointed.

That's because chef Tony Beran – who counts J.D. Fratzke of the Strip Club and Jack Riebel (during his Dakota Restaurant & Jazz Club days) as mentors – turns out a top-notch burger.

It's anchored by a patty with a sterling grass-fed beef pedigree, hailing from Thousand Hills Cattle Co. The kitchen takes it to a deep, almost crispy exterior char, grilling it until there are just trace elements of pink in the patty's center.

Beran's formula blends brisket, chuck and tri-tip sirloin, and the combination tastes as good as that sounds. For added richness, he freezes butter, runs it through an electric shredder and folds it into that richly beefy mix. "I remember reading that Erick Harcey [chef/co-owner of Victory 44, home to one of the Twin Cities' blue ribbon-worthiest burgers] was throwing butter into his burgers," said Beran.

Smart call. Each patty starts as a hand-formed ball, and it's fried in a hot cast-iron pan. "We shmush them to order – it's like the Smashburger idea, only better – using a large spatula and giving it a single press," said Beran. Seasonings? Just salt and pepper.

From there, Beran sticks to the tried-and-true: wonderfully crunchy (and welcomingly acidic) cucumber pickle chips, crisp chopped lettuce and red onion, a juicy tomato slice and a swipe of mayo fortified with fish sauce, sweet onions and ketchup.

As for the cheese, it's a doozy, a teasingly salty and appealingly melty slab of white Cheddar with a fascinating background story.

"We go through one of those molecular processes," said Beran. Here's how it works: After nudging a mix of beer, vinegar and sodium citrate – an emulsifier – to a boil, Beran whisks in white Cheddar. The fondue-style results are cooled into a sliceable (and flavor-boosted) format that melts with reliable grace, not unlike a good-old piece of individually-wrapped Kraft American.

The bun hails from the Red Mug Bake Shop in Superior, Wis., a favorite stop of mine in the Twin Ports. It was billed as a challah bun, and while I wasn't feeling the traditional egginess, it was a fine bun all the same: soft, golden, lightly toasted, lovely.

In short, a burger anyone would hope to encounter on a road trip. A quick glance around the dining room confirmed my hypothesis; a hefty percentage of my fellow diners were also in relishing burgers.

"Duluth is a burger-loving town," said Beran with a laugh, which probably explains some of the high sales figures. But I have to think that Beran's prowess is a primary reason behind those big numbers.

Price: $15.

Fries: Included. They're great: Thick-ish, deeply golden, admirably crisp and generously seasoned.

Address book: 394 S. Lake Av., Duluth, 218-722-2355. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 am. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Talk to me: Do you have a favorite burger? Share the details at rick.nelson@startribune.com.

Recipe bonus round: The restaurant's new-ish cookbook (those thinking of grabbing one for a souvenir might reasonably be taken aback by the stratospheric $34.95 price tag) contains nearly four dozen appealing recipes, including what to me reads as this quintessential Duluth formula.

LAKE SUPERIOR FISH CAKES

Serves 4.

Note: Adapted from "Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar Cookbook" (Heirloom Industry, 2013). "Substitute whitefish with herring, walleye, perch, sunfish or our favorite, Victus Farm tilapia from Silver Bay, Minn.," writes Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar chef Tony Beran. "Most white flaky fish will work well." For julienned carrot and radish, cut vegetables then place them into an ice bath for at least 2 hours prior to serving ("to achieve a curl," writes Beran). When ready to serve, remove vegetables from water by hand and place them on a paper towel to remove excess water.

1 lb. whitefish, skinned and deboned

½ yellow onion, minced

½ jalapeno, minced

1 stalk celery, minced

Zest from 1 lemon

1 tbsp. fish sauce

1 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. salt

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and carefully add whitefish. Cook for about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat, strain fish from water using a fine colander and allow fish to cool.

In a large bowl, toss cooled fish with onion, jalapeno, celery, lemon zest, fish sauce, bread crumbs, eggs, pepper and salt.

Using your hands, form mixture into 8 2-ounce patties (roughly 1/4 cup portions).

Fill a heavy skillet or fryer with enough vegetable or canola oil to cover the cakes (only up to half the height of the pan) and bring the oil to 375 degrees. Fry cakes until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, remove cakes from oil and transfer to a paper towel-covered plate.

To serve, 1/4 cup Tomatillo Yogurt (see Recipe, below) across each of four plates. Place 2 cakes on top of each plate. In a medium bowl, toss pickled beets (see Recipe, below), julienned carrot and julienned Daikon radish (see Note) and sprinkle over cakes.

TOMATILLO YOGURT

Makes 1 cup.

2 1/2 tomatillos, thinly sliced

3/4 tsp. salt

1 c. plain yogurt

1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp. honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss tomatillos with salt then arrange in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer tomatillos to a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse until well-blended. Line a medium bowl with a paper towel, transfer pureed tomatillos to bowl, then squeeze out excess liquid. Place tomatillos back in food processor, add yogurt, soy sauce and honey and pulse until well-combined.

PICKLED BEETS

Makes about 1 cup.

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1/4 c. water

1 star anise pod

1/4 cinnamon stick

1 tbsp. plus 1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 large red beet, peeled and julienned

Directions

In a medium pot over medium-high heat, combine balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, water, star anise, cinnamon stick, sugar and salt and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Remove from heat and bring to room temperature. Place beets in a glass jar and strain mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into the jar. Allow beets to sit, uncovered, for 24 hours, and use as desired. Store in a tightly sealed jar for 3 to 4 weeks.