Omnivore Atlanta

BURGER CLUB: The Artery Annihilator is an 8-ounce Angus patty on two Krispy Kreme doughnuts

It arrived like any other hamburger of its type, crowding the plate, oozing melted cheddar cheese from which lengths of crispy bacon jutted. Above all, it glowed with the nostalgia of every American kid’s favorite meal. The economy has tanked, the plutocrats bid the lawmakers to let us eat cake, the teabaggers exhort us literally to vote against our own interests. The world has gone mad, but we’ve still got hamburgers.

Sort of. I took a closer look, as did those sitting at nearby tables in the bar of the new Burger Club (4300 Paces Ferry Road, Vinings, 678-888-9036). There was a barely discernible gasp. A woman’s hand flew to her chest. “Yeah,” I said, “it’s the ‘Artery Annihilator.’”

The 8-ounce Angus patty’s bun wasn’t a bun at all – it was two Krispy Kreme doughnuts. As my gaze took in the concoction, childhood nostalgia melted – like the sugar glaze on the doughnuts, the globes of fat in the burger, the crystallized fat in the bacon and the drooping fat of the cheese – into an adult’s vision of slow suicide. Why wasn’t it served with Lipitor and beta-blockers?

Continue Reading “First Look: Burger Club and FuzeBurger”

(Photo by James Camp)

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At a recent lunch, a friend was complaining that it’s hard to find a hamburger cooked rare in our city, despite the epidemic of new burger joints. According to the New York Times, there is very good reason for that. Today’s paper includes a lengthy story in which the writer, Michael Moss, traces Upton-Sinclair-like, the hamburger whose E. coli contamination left Stephanie Smith paralyzed:

Meat companies and grocers have been barred from selling ground beef tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 since 1994, after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants left four children dead. Yet tens of thousands of people are still sickened annually by this pathogen, federal health officials estimate, with hamburger being the biggest culprit. Ground beef has been blamed for 16 outbreaks in the last three years alone, including the one that left Ms. Smith paralyzed from the waist down. This summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states.

Read the entire article, with its account of slaughterhouses that refuse to sell meat to companies that insist on rigorous testing,  and you’ll never complain again about your hamburger being overcooked.

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It’s hard to believe how desperate media dimwits have become to attack President Obama. Having gone nuts over his mention of arugula during the election campaign, they are now apoplectic over his ordering a hamburger without ketchup, requesting spicy mustard instead. Dijon! You know, like that fancy-schmancy Grey Poupon.

Above, Sean Hannity, a man who probably uses ketchup for a sexual lubricant, discourses on the “scandal.” But Hannity was calm compared to Laura Ingraham, who ranted about the mustard in the context of a  bromance between the president and his vice-bro, Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Salon.com’s Alex Koppelman has a brief piece on the brouhaha and refers to a fascinating read in the New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell. It demonstrates that, given a choice, the great majority of people prefer Grey Poupon over America’s harsher yellow mustards.

UPDATE: Michelle gets into the act.

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Ever since David Cash wrote to tell me about the brisket burger at Fox Bros.-Bar-B-Q, I’ve been craving it. Last night, after 30 minutes of cardio at the gym, I rushed to the restaurant and ordered one, which I devoured at the bar along with some tater tots. I think this is called neutralizing the benefits of cardiovascular exercise.

The thing was incredible. I’m overly fond of brisket, but the jalapeño mayo, the bacon and the melted pimento cheese added to the usual irresistibility. It was a gigantic serving that put me in an altered state — similar to the way the Ghetto Burger at Ann’s Snack Bar makes me nearly comatose.

You gotta try it.

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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David Cash writes to inform me of the latest entry in the Burger Wars:

At Fox Bros. today I tried their rather heinous “burger” made of chopped brisket, jalapeno mayo, bacon, and pimento cheese.  It was delicious, in that kill-you way.  I think it’s worth checking out.

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MOO-CHOS FOR LESS: The $18 Rivieria burger

There’s no debating the burger trend sweeping the country. One could say the economy’s dive has stimulated our craving for nostalgic — and cheap — foods. Whatever the case, Americans are burger crazy and Atlanta chefs are cashing in.

Arnaud Berthelier, executive chef at the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton in Buckhead (3434 Peachtree Road, 404-237-2700. www.ritzcarlton.com), is one of the newest players on the burger scene. The Dining Room has long been a paragon of excellence, but who can actually afford the extravagance these days? Berthelier has debuted a special burger menu with optional beer pairings by sommelier Robert Evans and manager Claude Guillaume for the Lobby Lounge, available daily from 11 a.m. to midnight. So you can get a piece of the action for a relatively cheap price, considering the Dining Room’s tasting menu starts at $90 per person.

Burgers are served on buttery brioche buns and all — minus the sliced duck confit burger — are made with Strube Ranch American Kobe beef custom-ground to the chef’s specifications. Each burger, except for the Cadillac, comes with golden waffle-cut fries.

Prices start at $16 for the Classic, a monstrous hand-formed patty of juicy beef topped with gooey and earthy Vermont cheddar, crunchy slices of Applewood bacon, and mayo with a hint of sherry. The Rivieria ($18) is just as hearty as its mates, but lighter in impact thanks to the peppery arugula, tangy tomato confit, mozzarella and Parmesan. If you do decide to splurge, there’s the $65 Deluxe, made with seared foie gras, sliced truffle, aged Comté, bibb lettuce and merlot sauce.

The only downside to the burgers is their presentation. Each creation is placed in a narrow paper-lined poplar box that, while slick, makes the eating experience cumbersome. It can be difficult to extract the burger with all of its components intact, but the flavor is well worth the work.

(Photo by Jennifer Zyman)

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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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Amanda Conti of Ask.com is doing her best to ruin the reputation of hot dogs:

Hi, Cliff…..I’m working with the popular search engine Ask.com and wanted to reach out with something I thought you might want on your radar screen with the July 4th holiday approaching.

For some, the 4th of July is all about fireworks and going to the beach. Grilling fans know better. It’s all about grilling and chilling. So, Ask.com decided to get to the ‘meat’ of the matter and dug into our search banks to see which came out on top this year — the hamburger or hot dog.

And, according to Ask.com’s online searchers, the answer is clear: hamburgers outweigh hot dogs in popularity by 33 percent.

Not to forget about something sweet to finish off the holiday meal, we wanted to test the adage that there’s nothing more American than apple pie, and a look at recent recipe searches in the Ask.com search banks proves that it’s absolutely true. Apple most certainly reigns supreme, accounting for 42 percent of all recent pie-recipe searches. Other seasonal favorites that round out the top three are key lime and strawberry- rhubarb.

(Advertisement of food bribe from the Daily Zuck.)

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