Beefed Up

With the city's current oversaturation of high-end hamburgers, we questioned the moxie behind the recent addition of a burger to the menu at Bark, Park Slope's new haute hot dog establishment.

But chef-owner Brandon Gillis and partner Joshua Sharkey (previously of Franny's and Café Gray, respectively) have perfected a patty that has laid our doubts to rest.

The two are big on ingredient pedigree, so they begin the Bark burger ($6.25) by grinding their own custom blend of beef short rib and top round from Colorado-based Meyer Natural Angus, then add Heritage Foods pork jowl for extra richness (sorry, Mr. LaFrieda).

Chefs then cook the quarter-pound patties to an ideal juicy pinkness, shirking spatulas for a giant paint scraper to hold onto that perfectly charred crust when flipping.

And the attention to detail doesn't stop at meat: Bark's signature pickle-garlic mayonnaise sauce incorporates house-made dill pickles and red pepper relish, and young Grafton cheddar tops the cheeseburger ($7.25). And the bun? Good ol' Pepperidge Farm sesame, lightly toasted.

In this temple of dogs, it's the burger that's king.

Bark, 474 Bergen St. (between Fifth and Flatbush aves), Brooklyn; 718-789-1939 or barkhotdogs.com