Pincho's Otto Othman Shares How the SOBEWFF's Burger Bash Changed His Life

On Friday evening, Otto Othman and his Pincho partners Nedal Ahmad, Nizar Ahmad, and Adrian Sanchez will participate in the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's (SOBEWFF) Burger Bash.

For Othman and his team, the evening is a culmination of half a year's worth of planning and prepping for what he calls "the Oscars of burgers."

The Pincho partners spend months creating a burger that will, ultimately, be served at the Burger Bash. With competition from high-end restaurants that offer burgers with foie gras and Wagyu beef at the SOBEWFF event, Pincho chefs have to rely on flavor combinations in order to make the grade.

"Restaurants like Alex Guarnaschelli's Butter in New York City come in with burgers topped with bone marrow and caviar. We need to be creative with sauces and flavors, because we want to create a burger that we can sell for under ten bucks at the restaurant," Othman tells New Times.

The work has paid off: Othman says Burger Bash has been a game-changer for his restaurant.

In 2015, Pincho won the Peoples' Choice award at the Burger Bash. The winning creation, the "Croquetesa," was made of hamburger croquetas topped with cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, and pickles, and served on a bun.

Othman says that when Pincho was announced as the winner, he and his partners were overcome with emotion. "Nedal started crying. Tears were running down my eyes. It's not like winning any other event. Winning Burger Bash is the ultimate win for a burger brand."

It wasn't until the next day that the Pincho partners felt the real impact.

"There were lines out the door. We ran out of burgers and our website almost crashed," Othman says. "It's a big deal for small guys."

At the time, Pincho (then called Pincho Factory) operated only two locations — in Westchester and in Coral Gables.

"We had started franchising and we had over 600 franchise requests following Burger Bash," Othman shares. Of those 600, four led to actual deals.

Pincho won Peoples' Choice award again in 2019 for its "Pipo's Choice," a burger patty topped with smoked gouda, sweet plantain bits, bacon, potato sticks, and guava ketchup.

Once again, the Pincho team got emotional. "It's this crazy high! You just jump up and down and scream and want to celebrate with your friends," the Pincho partner says.

This year Othman hopes to bring back a third victory at Friday's Burger Bash with the "Tremendo" — a beef patty topped with fried queso blanco, spicy guava bacon jam, potato sticks, and "funky" sauce on a brioche bun.

He has prepared the staff at all nine Pincho locations. "We've trained 200 people how to execute this burger. If we win on Friday, the 'Tremendo' will be available at all Pincho locations on Saturday."

If the burger doesn't win, Miamians will have to wait until June to try the "Tremendo," which will be the featured burger of the month.

Othman has these words of encouragement to any restaurateur who's thinking of competing at a future Burger Bash.

"It's not just about the food. It's about the energy. We look forward to it. Our cooks volunteer to be a part of it. There's planning and it's stressful, but at the end of the evening, we have a few drinks, hang out, and think about the burger we want to serve next year."

Heineken Burger Bash hosted by Bobby Flay. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m. on Friday, May 21, at North Venue Beachside at the Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, 1 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach. Tickets cost $250 to $350 via sobewff.org/burger.