{"id":208739,"date":"2026-04-24T20:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/208739\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T20:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:07:07","slug":"nyc-chefs-are-giving-mcdonalds-classics-a-high-end-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/208739\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Chefs are Giving McDonald\u2019s Classics a High-end Makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

The so-called New York Happy Meal<\/a> may have been the cool combo of 2025, but this year’s McDonald’s inspiration goes beyond a martini and fries at the bar.<\/p>\n

High-end chefs around the city are reinterpreting McDonald’s dishes with a gourmet spin, inspired by the low-brow, everyday fast food (if you can call it food), and elevating familiar dishes with impressive technique and quality ingredients. The ever-famous Filet-o-Fish, McNuggets, Shamrock Shake, McGriddle and more are now being served in never-before-seen iterations.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring R&D at Boro Brine, I wanted there to be a dish on the menu with a nostalgic feeling that guests can relate to,\u201d says Mark Nobello, executive chef at Boro Brine<\/a> in Williamsburg. \u201cThe familiarity of a McDonald’s classic breaks the ice and gets guests engaged and eager to see what the hype behind our signature sandwich is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted something that tasted familiar to guests and yet still felt luxurious,\u201d says.<\/p>\n

Nobello\u2019s version of the Filet-O-Fish (his favorite McDonald\u2019s order), leans into his background and training in Korean cuisine and is made with premium ingredients. The tartare sauce is made with kimchi instead of pickles, mild Comte subs in for the typical slab of American cheese, and breaded skate echoes the flavor of pollock, but with more refinement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted something that tasted familiar to guests and yet still felt luxurious,\u201d says Mark Nobello, executive chef at Boro Brine in Williamsburg.<\/p>\n

Another dish on Boro Brine\u2019s menu, the lobster pot pie, takes inspiration from KFC, where Nobello\u2019s mom is a fan of the chicken pot pie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDiners are really hungry for nostalgic and comforting flavors,\u201d Nobello says.\u201d Gourmet spins on these fast food classics allow guests to re-experience familiar flavors that are elevated and executed beyond memory and recollection.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For those who may have indulged in martinis at Boro Brine, two elevated fast casual spots have McDonald\u2019s breakfast dupes on their menus for the next morning. All day cafe Oh Boy<\/a> serves a McGriddle riff called The Griddy.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe grew up on McGriddles. Hungover mornings, road trips, all of that. It always felt like this chaotic, kind of genius idea that just needed a little tune-up,\u201d says Oh Boy\u2019s owner Brendon Beck. \u201cThe McGriddle is the memory. The Griddy is what you wish it actually tasted like. Same sweet-salty, messy, indulgent vibe, but we\u2019re using real ingredients, better technique, and just paying more attention to the balance. It still feels fun and a little chaotic, but it actually lands the way your childhood brain remembers it, not how it really was.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nearby at Edith\u2019s Sandwich Counter<\/a>, diners are enjoying the McEdith, a version of the egg McMuffin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re different from the fast food version mainly because we have much higher quality ingredients,\u201d says Edith\u2019s owner Elyssa Heller. \u201cWe really tried to honor these McDonald\u2019s menu items and keep the flavors and components of the dishes as similar as possible.\u201d She aims to emulate McDonald\u2019s ethos of fun and convenience, comfort and consistency, while being a special treat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

In more ritzy zip codes, McDonald’s is appearing in international iterations, far beyond the caviar-dressed nuggets at Flatiron\u2019s Coqodaq.<\/p>\n

At l’abeille \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9<\/a> in Tribeca, executive chef Mitsunobu Nagae recently shifted from an elegant Filet-O-Fish dish to a Teriyaki Burger inspired by a menu item only available in Japan, one of Nagae\u2019s favorite childhood foods.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that if I recreated this burger topped with a sweet and savory soy-based sauce and mayonnaise using high-quality ingredients and made the sauce from scratch, it would undoubtedly be even more delicious,\u201d Nagae said. \u201cI know that diners love nostalgic dishes with a twist, plus so many New Yorkers these days want to be transported to Japan, which led to this creation.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

Nagae\u2019s signature burger sauce is made with grated aromatics and apples, then drizzled on a Wagyu patty, \u201ca premium protein synonymous with Japan that you won\u2019t find at McDonald’s,\u201d says Nagae. A sprinkle of sansho pepper on top adds a zesty accent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoy trying a dish while hearing the chef\u2019s story behind it. McDonald\u2019s is something everyone knows, but people get curious when they hear that a uniquely Japanese burger inspired it,\u201d Nagae says. \u201cIt\u2019s also fun because there\u2019s a contrast between a casual burger and an upscale setting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The so-called New York Happy Meal may have been the cool combo of 2025, but this year’s McDonald’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2590,9,11,10,2591,821],"class_list":{"0":"post-208739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-categories-restaurants","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-news","12":"tag-news-eating","13":"tag-restaurants"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}