The Fashionable Burger

This, my friends, was the (loaded) cheeseburger I enjoyed at RL, the Ralph Lauren restaurant in Chicago. I did not take the photo as nothing would have persuaded me to be so gauche in such a beautiful place. And the light wasn't this good.

For $17, fries included, (tack on another $4 for bacon and cheese) I enjoyed one of the best burgers ever in the serene elegance of Ralph Lauren magic. Who else could conjure this gracious version of Downtown Abbey?

Ralph Lauren in my kind of town, Chicago

Service was impeccable. No one cast us a hairy eye for ordering burgers. The people watching was superb. I hated to leave. Fortunately the store was then closed.

Midnight at Ralph's in Paris

The Paris restaurant ups the fantasy even more. It's housed in a former 17th century chateau on the Boulevard St. Germain. There the hamburger comes with cole slaw and a silver bowl of caramel corn with the coffee service.

Caramel corn with your coffee

I haven't made it to the New York restaurant yet, dubbed the Polo Bar and adjacent to the Polo store on East 55 Street. I understand it's a hard reservation to come by.

I'm not a Ralph Lauren gal. His clothes are not my style, though I often wish they were. He's one of the Good Guys, deserves every wonderful thing he has, and I wish him all the best. One of these days I'd love to tell him, too. Preferably over a cheeseburger.

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