Grilled: Q Mex Chef Medina Griddles Cheddar and Mozzarella

In the lead up to the Beijinger's month-long Burger Cup (which kicked off May 16 with burger specials around town), we take a closer look at some of this year's participants. Today we're grilling Q Mex chef Marcus Medina, one of the many restaurateurs who will not only be slinging his new cheese-skirt burger at our May 28 Burger Festival, but also vying for the title of Burger Cup champion (voting for which begins on May 30).

A crisp, palate enchanting layer of cheese tops Q Mex's new burger. This combination of griddled cheddar and mozzarella is dubbed a cheese-skirt, and it sprawls several centimeters beyond the bun, offering an aesthetic and texture unlike any that Beijing's burger enthusiasts have seen.

Q Mex chef Marcus Medina has wanted to make his own version of this crunchy, flavorful topping ever since he first saw it made at a tiny diner in Sacramento. "It was a simple little place, and all they did was make these unique grilled cheese-skirt burgers, which they became very well known for," he says.

Medina with a cheese-skirt burger and Q Mex's signature "bulldog" drink

Medina had seen cheese prepared in such a fashion, but for a very different dish and in a very different locale. "In Mexico we have this awesome technique called queso fundido, which refers to melted cheese," says the chef, who is of Mexican descent and attended chef school in Mexico City. "We'll grill it and griddle it, then use it for tacos. So I decided to add the griddled element to what this Sacramento diner had done, to give the cheese-skirt a Mexican twist."

Below he tells us more about what makes this cheese-skirt burger special.

Brief us on your beef.
I met (famed chef) Danny Meyer before he opened Shake Shack. We were chatting at an event in New York at that time, and he told me, "The secret to a good burger is simple: it's all about the meat." So for our burgers, the most important element is trying to get the right cuts, the right blend of fat to lean beef, so that it's still juicy while not being too messy.

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The 2016 Burger Festival is scheduled on May 28 (Saturday). Make sure you block your calendars early to be able to get in on the burger action!