Burgers: a tool of culinary education?
Monday, November 16th, 2009I 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.
CRAFTBAR: If justifying the cost of dining at the upper level of this two-story New York transplant is downright ridiculous in your book, the restaurant on the lower level has prices that are relatively cheaper for dishes that — for the most part — are just as exceptional. Chef Adam Evans finely minces a mix of grass-fed/grain-fed Harris Ranch tenderloin and sirloin before seasoning it with chives, Dijon mustard, minced shallot, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and a drop of Worcestershire sauce. The three-ounce portion is served in a tiny, round Staub cast-iron pot, topped with a sunshine yellow raw quail egg and a mound of deep golden gaufrette potatoes fried in peanut oil and seasoned with an in-house BBQ seasoning mix. 3376 Peachtree Road. 404-995-7580. www.craftrestaurant.com.
