Omnivore Atlanta

I had my fifth hamburger meal in a row tonight and I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed. The flavors, with a few exceptions, all kind of run together in my memory. But that’s cool, because I’m educating my palate, right? Check out this interview with Richard Blais of Flip on BurgerBusiness.com. I especially liked this question and answer:

By offering so many nontraditional burgers, do you see yourself educating the tastebuds of burger lovers?

Looking at the future, I like to think I’m going to have a lot of restaurants that aren’t burgercentric, so I look at Flip as a sort of training ground for a lot of palates. Sort of disguised under this iconic All-American ingredient, the burger, it is a way to get young people to experience lamb or something else they’ve never had before. But they’re much more receptive to it because it’s a burger.

If I have two teens out on a Friday night date and they decide to order the lamb burger, I’m building clientele for the future. And they’re building their palates.

I don’t feel like what we do is that creative. We just try to look at things a little differently.

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THE DAILY GRIND: The Apache burger at Grindhouse Killer Burgers

The adult renaissance of the hamburger isn’t difficult to explain. Nothing (besides maybe pizza) comes close to fulfilling an aging population’s insatiable appetite for nostalgia. And God knows baby boomers are nothing if not nostalgic.

Then, too, there’s the recession. (I’m referring to the little depression that we keep reading is over.) Hamburgers are typically inexpensive, which is why McDonald’s is prospering in a wretched economy. Still, it’s a bit mysterious that if you scan the average menu of a full-service restaurant, the burger will usually cost less than dishes that have cheaper ingredients and require less time to prepare. I suppose the burger has simply retained its rep as cheap, no matter the quality of the contents.

The latest in the absolute epidemic of burger joints to open here is Grindhouse Killer Burgers (209 Edgewood Ave., 404-522-3444) at Sweet Auburn Curb Market.

Continue reading “Grazing: First Look: Grindhouse Killer Burgers and Wonderful World of Burgers”

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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ON THE FLIP SIDE: A selection of Blais' burgers

Pity Richard Blais. The brilliant runner-up in Bravo’s “Top Chef: Chicago” has a local history of jumping from one restaurant kitchen to the next.

Critics – by which I mean average foodies – grouse repeatedly about Blais’ peripatetic ways. They want him to stick to one kitchen for a few years, pushing out the same menu night after night, refining his skills, holding his nose to the grindstone, learning to be miserable, laboring under owners who wave market receipts in his face and scream, “Less liquid nitrogen! I beg you! It’s eating up our profits!”

My guess is that Blais would stick around a restaurant that (a) gave him enough freedom to experiment fully and (b) attracted the kind of business his work deserves. In the meantime, who can blame him for enjoying himself by following his bliss? Go, Richard.

His title at Flip (1587 Howell Mill Rd., 404-352-3547) is “creative director.” He has designed a menu for owner Barry Mills that features wacky and mainly delicious takes on the classic American burger. I’ve visited the restaurant twice and found Blais cooking both visits. While I’m all for this concept, I think it would be ridiculous for Blais to devote his talents exclusively to this undertaking, no matter how much foodies think he should chain himself to one stove. (more…)

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Haute vs. Budget

By Lindsey Zuckerman

In years past, burgers weren’t served at fancy restaurants and toppings didn’t get much more exciting than cheese, bacon or chili. But today, you can find burgers at all price points with a huge array of possible ingredients and toppings. Of course these haute cuisine burgers come at a price, so you better save up for a $16 wagyu beef burger at Shaun’s or a $150 double truffle burger at DB Bistro Moderne in NY.

So, is there cause for burgers to cost more than $8? The Wall Street Journal doesn’t think so. It called the Ghetto Burger at Ann’s Snack Bar the best burger in America, and there is nothing fancy about it. Ann’s is an old school hole-in-the- wall that serves up big, sloppy burgers. For less than half the price of a fancy-pants Kobe beef burger, Ann will serve up two-giant patties topped with bacon, American cheese, and chili. It’s a delicious mess.

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