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Burgers, Mussels, Scampi and More: Chef Mike Muscarella Shares His Favorite Thing to Make in the Kitchen

Chef Mike Muscarella's Mussels

Our new series asking chefs to tell us their favorite thing to cook has posed a different question—what’s better: the process of creating or creating something for others to enjoy?

When I spoke with my brother, who is also known as Chef Mike Muscarella from The Fix Burger Bar, he agreed with Chris Rovezzi’s sentiment from the first Chef’s favorite article.

“Chris hit on something I think a lot of chef’s feel,” Mike said. “Chefs are hosts. We want to prepare food people enjoy and make sure everyone is having a good time. But, when we get home, cooking isn’t always something we feel like doing.”

You can see Mike's creative license alive and well while at The Fix, including The Dog Father which includes cheddar, beef chili, slaw, diced white onion, all beef hot dog, mustard pickles, on a brioche bun.
You can see Mike’s creative license alive and well while at The Fix, including The Dog Father which includes cheddar, beef chili, slaw, diced white onion, all beef hot dog, mustard pickles, on a brioche bun.

From the commoners’ perspective, I think we envy what a chef can do. We non-chefs wish we came home from a hard day’s work with the arsenal of a chef’s brain.

As far as being in a restaurant kitchen, Mike is proud of all of the burgers he has created on the menu at The Fix (like The Dog Father, pictured left), which is moving from their Shrewsbury Street location to the Northwards building in early July. But, he acknowledged that there’s a difference between the time you spend experimenting with recipes and when the restaurant is packed.

“When you have more time, it’s more fun. I like cooking on a holiday partly because I picture 30-feet of homemade gnocchi in Nana’s kitchen on Christmas with chicken cutlets, a ham, and a turkey on the side in case we’re still hungry—all of which she seemed to prepare effortlessly throughout the day,” he said.

“I also like the idea of making the same things year after year—like brining my turkey,” says Chef Muscarella.

After hearing that, I had to interject. I told Mike that if I had to guess his favorite thing to cook, I would have said shrimp scampi. I assumed the significant other’s favorite dish would top the list.

“I do really enjoy making shrimp scampi because of how much Lindsay likes it,” he said. “But if I had to pick a favorite thing to cook, the closest dish I can think of is mussels because it has a lot of all of the ingredients I like: too much garlic, too much white wine, chili flakes, and shellfish.”

While we may not have figured out ubiquitously if chefs like seeing people enjoy their food more than cooking food, I have two consolations. Mike vowed to post more burger photos on Instagram as @burgerchefdad.

And, he gave us his favorite mussels recipe so we can go home with a chef’s brain tonight.

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The Future Fix On Grove Street

Niche Hospitality President, Michael Covino, giving Mass Foodies a tour of the new Fix set to open on Grove Street in Worcester, MA

No longer are burgers confined to the restricted stigmas of fast-food and summer cook-outs. While chefs around the nation have been paying careful attention to burger service, Worcester, too, has been paying close attention since The Fix Burger Bar opened in 2014. The long wait to sit at this small eatery proves that burgers in Central Massachusetts isn’t a fad, and Michael Muscarella’s serious dedication to the craft and the evolution of the sandwich allows it to take another step forward in Central Massachusetts.

Michael Covino, President of Niche Hospitality Group, has embarked on a move and expansion of the popular Fix brand, which will alleviate some of the problems that the original Shrewsbury Street location has: turning away customers night after night due to their maxed capacity.

“The Fix was instantly successful on Shrewsbury Street. I mean, we are the only full-service burger bar in Worcester and success has given us a new challenge: space,” says Covino. “A year into The Fix, we realized it was time to make the change and we were contacted by a broker who led us to the old Northworks, and here we are.”

The timing was impeccable.

Covino, toured Mass Foodies through the newly leased property on 106 Grove Street, giving Mass Foodies the behind the scenes tour on what is in store for The Fix. Covino breathed life into his vision, taking notes on new ideas about The Fix and the future of the brand, while showcasing all that is perfection in a construction site. The ability to foresee the new expansion isn’t about restaurant experience, isn’t about passion and for Covino, passion has led him to new heights in the past.

With a new space comes a highly anticipated level of change – and not just change on the menu but change in the culture assimilated with devouring a nice half pound burger and fries on a work day.

Among the added seating areas, expansive industrial look, open kitchen and a variety of function rooms, The Fix is adding a visual tap system designed to creatively flow beer from a central location to the tap and, of course, is hopeful to supply local craft beers to its patrons.

“We aren’t going to just stop at a great burger menu and beer. With our new location, completely surrounded by businesses, we want to add value to our lunches by expanding our function meal to include dishes beyond the burgers but we are also going to introduce the cold brew coffee tap and a few ‘mid day’ treats for those looking to come in a break away from,” says Covino. The nitro coffee is a brand new technology only seen in larger cities like New York and has seen success when first introduced at Sweet and Lock 50, and for The Fix, it’s going to help take their menu to a new level of kick-ass.

A quick peek at the progress of the new The Fix set to open on Grove Street in July!

Posted by Mass Foodies on Wednesday, May 25, 2016