-Since it's summertime, Tariq and I had a friendly competition
to see who could make the best burger.
That's right -- it is time for the first annual --
is it gonna be annual? --
"Tonight Show" Burger Off.
That's right. Now... [ Cheers and applause ]
Right now, we will find out, finally, once and for all,
who is the food master.
The rules are simple.
We each had to make a burger and pair it with a side and a drink.
Whoever makes the most delicious plate possible
is the winner and gets their name engraved on
"The Tonight Show" Burger Off Golden Hamburger.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Earlier, Tariq and I made our burgers,
and we recorded the whole thing.
Check it out.
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
-Hey, what's up? The champ is here.
I'm Tariq Trotter.
I'm here to win probably my third ring.
♪♪
I decided to go with a Kobe beef burger
on a homemade brioche bun with garlic-truffle fries.
I think Jimmy's gonna try and go high-low.
There's a place in New York City that serves a burger
that's like $1,000 or something.
There's gold leaf.
I think he's gonna do something like that.
-[ English accent ] I'm Jimmy Fallon
and I'm here to make some [bleep] burgers.
A champagne double-smashed mustard burger
with caviar fries.
♪♪
[ Normal voice ] It's a smash burger that's smashing.
We're going to use this ground beef right here.
This is chuck.
This is 70/30.
Look at this.
We'll put our meat into the bottom.
It shows the exact amount that you're going to want
to use for each patty.
"Jimmy, you're a genius!"
I already know that.
This is how I make a hamburger.
-Kobe beef is something that you do for a special occasion.
And this is a special occasion, in that it's an ass whupping.
-And you're gonna want to freshly plop it there
so that it cooks in its own juices.
That's a hot plop.
-I'm going to put these guys on the area
that I've already onioned up.
I think a mistake that some people make is that
they flatten their burgers out.
-You want to make sure the burger is smashed so thin.
You're gonna want it crispy on that bottom.
Look at that. Hello. What's your name?
Ronald Mc-[bleep]-Donald!
-A Kobe beef burger will probably, like,
have a vegan or a vegetarian, you know,
looking both ways and then taking a little bite,
take a little nib.
-Let's get the champagne poppin'.
[ Cork pops ] There you go.
In this recipe, you're gonna need some dry mustard,
1 cup of sugar, three eggs, and champagne vinegar.
And you're gonna end up with this amazing sauce.
A little champagne-mustard sauce.
Mm-hmm.
I'm just putting it out in the ether that I'm going to win.
I make my Loki horns. Then I go, "Come on.
I want the Golden Hamburger!
-What is it? Ham-- Golden Hamburger Bun?
Yeah. No, thanks.
Oh, yeah. Now we hear that sizzle, too.
These are homemade fries that I'm making
with Yukon gold potatoes,
using both garlic and truffle, as well as green onion.
Those are the fries.
I went and took, like, a crash course in making brioche bread,
and this is the end result.
-Look, I'm a down-to-earth guy.
Everyone's like, "Jimmy, you're a man of the people.
What do you eat with your burger?"
I'm like, "Caviar.
Pommes soufflé with caviar."
And look at this beautiful little crispness.
Are you watching this?
Come on.
Mmm!
-My drink of choice is going to be a mescal margarita
that I'm going to serve in a hickory-smoked glass.
Look, I know dope people, I do dope [bleep]
[ Cheers and applause ]
God damn!
-Then, of course, your ketchup.
Then you put it on your clean plate.
There you have it.
Champagne mustard double-smashed cheeseburger with caviar dreams!
-Kobe beef burger, garlic-truffle fries.
Jimmy, bow down.
-History could be made. This is very exciting.
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
[ Both laugh ]
To decide the winning plate, we have a special guest
serving as our master burger judge.
He's the author of "The Great American Burger Book,"
and "The New York Times" has called him
the foremost authority on hamburgers.
Please welcome the burger scholar himself, George Motz!
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
Yes!
George!
Thank you for being here, George.
I appreciate it.
How's your summer going? -It's been great.
It's all good. Warm.
-It's about to get better, George,
because it's time to try the burgers.
Whenever you're ready, please try
either burger number 1 or burger number 2.
It's up to you. -I'm gonna go in reverse order.
-Sure, reverse order. Start with number 2. Go for it.
-Oh, okay.
Okay, this is...
It's -- There's a drink that goes with this, right?
-Yeah.
-It's very smart to get me buzzed for judging.
I like that. -Yeah.
We're all ways thinking here.
-Okay, well, hang on a se...
[ Laughs ]
-Describe it. -Where do I go into this thing?
-Yeah, describe it. -I see hot peppers.
-Okay. -This is big.
Oh, it's got good -- It has great -- great heft.
-Ooh, heft! -Heft is good.
-You get points for heft, sure.
-I think I see some jalapeños in there, too.
I see ketchup on there, though. -Mm...
-Uh-oh. -Uh-oh.
-I'm gonna take a bite 'cause I have to,
but I'm not a big fan of ketchup on burgers.
Mmm!
That's a tasty burger. Wow!
-What you are tasting? -Yes.
I taste -- oh, jalapeños. Hot.
I taste ketchup, unfortunately. I'm not a big fan of ketchup.
-Yeah, sorry. Yeah. -Mmm! I'll get another bite.
-Yeah.
-Mmm! It's also on one of my favorite buns.
It's a potato roll. I like that. Mmm!
Wait. What's on the side here? Scallops?
What is that? Oh, no. It's caviar.
-You're trying to get me drunk,
and someone's trying to get me, obviously, caviar.
Oh, wow! That's actually kind of nice.
-Oh!
-Chaser.
-This is interesting. -Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ] Not a clear winner.
-It's very good.
-Not a clear loser either, yeah.
Okay, that was burger number 2. Here's burger number 1.
-Number 1. -No order.
-Ooh! Okay.
Okay.
There's a a drink -- Oh, I see -- Ah!
Look at this. That's a poolside cocktail.
Ooh! That's a margarita. I like a margarita.
That's a champagne, I think?
-Yeah. I think so.
-This is -- Not a big fan of the bun, tell you right now.
And more ketchup.
Bun's a little too big. Sorry. -Well, we tried, you know --
-It's kind of a -- It's like a throw pillow.
[ Laughter ]
And it actually won't fit in my mouth.
I have to squeeze it.
-You have to be human mouth, yeah.
-Oh, that's not -- Wow, that's a lot of bread.
Oh, okay.
Mm...I get it.
Is that spice?
It's some kind of a ketchup again.
Okay. Well...
You guys like ketchup.
Both of you like ketchup, obviously.
-Yeah.
-Mmm!
That's fantastic. [ Cheers and applause ]
-George, the moment of truth has come.
Please write down your choice for the winning burger --
okay? -- and put it into the official
"Tonight Show" Burger Off ballot box.
-Into the box.
Okay. You lock the box?
-It's locked there to make sure it's completely secure.
Please fasten the ballot straitjacket.
-The straitjacket. I got the straitjacket.
-We have...
[ Laughter ]
Make sure that the vote is in and secure.
-There you go.
-Now, the vote is securely locked in.
And, man, I just hope the kids are watching.
-Cool. Okay, who won?
[ Laughter, drumroll ]
Here we go. George, please -- Just open it.
It's not really locked. -It is locked.
-No. There you go. Alright. Let us know.
The winner is...
burger number 2!
-Number 2. -Yes! That's me!
[ Dinging ] ♪♪
Oh, my gosh.
What?! Oh, my gosh!
No, please. Are you kidding me? Oh, my gosh.
This man knows -- he knows what he's talking about.
Mwah! Oh, you guys, I love you!
[ Cheers and applause ] I love you! I love you!
Kids, I love you, kids! Got to bed.
-I want to say thanks to Liv Breads
in Millburn, New Jersey.
We couldn't have done this without you guys.
-Number one.
The number-one burger, right here!
-Bread Alone, my shop --
-My thanks to burger scholar George Motz.
Stick around.
We'll be right back with Emilia Clarke, everybody.
Oh, my goodness!
Thank you so much. I'm a sore winner.
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]