The Lumberjack Blucy at Blue Door Pub

Last week, The Blue Door Pub (1811 Selby Avenue, St. Paul) announced a new limited-time burger, the Lumberjack, via Twitter. Owing either to their own sense of mystique or the 140-character limit, they chose not to divulge too many of the details, revealing only that it “[came] with maple syrup.” Unsurprisingly for a restaurant that features such Frankensteinian works as the Bangkok Blucy and Spam Bites, the rabbit hole goes much deeper than that.

As it turns out, the Lumberjack ($8) is a burger stuffed jucy lucy-style with smoked Gouda, thick-cut bacon, and cayenne pepper. The burger itself is finished off with a maple syrup glaze on the outside and served naked on a bun. Before you head out to try it, just know that no matter how delicately you put it, anyone who hears that you will be eating this will think that you are a filthy animal.

The Lumberjack’s audacious combination of flavors is a pitch-perfect tribute to the crazy cooking ideas one can get during late-night cases of the drunchies. Who hasn’t cobbled together some monstrosity out of the dregs of their fridge, only to fall asleep in their own filth seconds after eating it? This burger encapsulates that feeling of triumph, but without the part where you barf it up later.

Its only flaw is the floppy, undercooked bacon, though the liberal use of cayenne pepper makes up for that. The cooks use enough pepper to keep a smoothly sharp burn on your tongue for a few minutes. The filling is refreshingly spicy, an unexpected move for a St. Paul pub nestled among antiques shops. Its combination of spice, smoke, and sweetness will hit you like a brick, but you’ll be much happier for it. And, of course, it goes great with a pint.