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The hamburger has come a long way.

Some historians trace its beginnings to Mongolia, when Genghis Khan’s men would ride with fistfuls of meat between their saddles and the backs of their horses. Tenderized during long journeys, these early burgers were eaten raw by famished soldiers on the move and pressed for time. In the last half of the 20th century, a refined version-cooked meat, a bun, a slice of cheese, lettuce, and ketchup-was still devoured in minutes as convenience food for busy people.

We lucky denizens of the 21st-century, however, are eating in an era when the burger has finally taken its rightful place in history. At long last, the hamburger is truly gourmet. And in Denver, perhaps no one understands this like Pete Pflum.

Growing up in New Jersey, Pflum worked every position imaginable in various restaurants, and out west he worked as Operations Manager for Dave Query’s Big F Restaurant Group (Jax, Lola, Centro) and was VP of Operations at Quizno’s for 11 years, so he’s bringing vast industry experience and an understanding of convenience food to his new endeavor, H Burger Lounge. In the heart of LoDo, H Burger-set to open in early February-is one of those right-place, right-time endeavors poised to turn a trend into an institution.

“It’s my favorite meal from childhood,” Pflum laughs when asked about the inspiration for H Burger. “But the burger has changed. It’s becoming accepted as a meal unto itself-especially when you’re using the best meat, baked goods, and fixings like we will be at H Burger.”

Partnering with the brain trust at Pearl Publishing Media, who had a hand in LoDo’s famed Jet Hotel, Pflum set out to deconstruct the burger and reinvent it, layer by layer-making each strata the best it can possibly be. In a wise, but unlikely turn of events, Pflum nabbed liquid nitrogen-wünderkind Chef Ian Kleinman-formerly of O’s Steak & Seafood in the Westminster Westin-to help craft a menu that not only celebrates all that burgers can be, but includes a few molecular-gastronomic touches.

The resident consulting chef says he was excited to sit down and figure out how to make the best burger and fries possible. “The menu is pretty basic as far as the techniques and ingredients go-it’s really about quality,” he says. “With the economy, fine dining is sort of in the background right now-people want to spend their money in new ways. The burger has really become a medium ripe for redefining in the past few years.”

According to Kleinman, customization is huge right now also, and his favorite take on the burger has become H’s signature: Angus beef, Hatch chiles, Cheddar, sweet and spicy bacon-kissed with red pepper and brown sugar-and red pepper-tomato jam. “I like it served medium rare on an egg bun,” he says.

The menu branches out to include fresh turkey, lamb, tuna, and veggie burgers, rotisserie chicken sandwiches, and something Kleinman calls the Thanksgiving Day Sandwich (turkey, cranberry cream cheese, apples, and bacon). But burgers are obviously job one, and here they will be fired on a 600-degree flat grill, which gets the meat crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle-something Kleinmann refers to as “another layer of love.”

For Pflum, each layer of love has been sourced to ensure that H Burger customers are getting their money’s worth. “I knew we needed all-natural beef that is safe and traceable and ground fresh daily. Nothing is going to be frozen.”

Well, almost nothing. It wouldn’t be a Kleinman menu without a little bit of frost, and H Burger will be offering nitrogen milkshakes and the world’s coldest beer. For the latter, a tempered glass is cooled with a few shots of liquid nitrogen, emptied, and filled with beer. “This gets the beer down to 31-degrees, which is as cold as alcohol can get before freezing. I’m a fan of cold beer, and this is as cold as comes,” Kleinman says.

“The great thing about H Burger is that your whole experience is totally customizable,” Pflum adds. “If you want to come in for a cheeseburger and a sub-zero beer, you can get out the door for under $12. If you want to spend some time with us, start with an appetizer, have a salad, a burger, a bottle of wine, and a dessert. It’s totally up to the customer.”

While just about any configuration of meat sounds better than something pulled from under a saddle, H Burger’s take on its namesake item seems born of the perfect intersection of history, vision, and ingredients-frankly, we can’t wait to wrap our hands around one.