01 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in Eating Out Tags: American Graffiti, blue cheese, burgers, diner, Elvis Presley, hamburgers, Johnny Rockets, Lotería Grill, Santa Monica, Third Street Promenade
Sometimes the thing you need the most is the thing you want the least. Or to put it in culinary terms, sometimes you think you’re in a caviar mood, but it’s popcorn shrimp that soothes your soul.
Flynn at Johnny Rockets
So was it yesterday, as I drove along Santa Monica Boulevard with three hungry kids clamoring in the back seat. It was Sunday, past lunch time, and some decisions had to be made. More
16 Sep 2011 14 Comments
in Observations, Video, World's Best Sandwiches Tags: Bob's Big Boy, Bolognese, burger, burgers, Hawaii, Laurel Tavern, loco moco, McDonalds, Toni's Soul Burger, Wine Guerrilla
Following are some of the additional reflections, aborted videos, also-rans and other tidbits that didn’t make it into my main burger odyssey posts. But which I thought worth sharing either as humorous asides or worthwhile nuggets of wisdom. You decide.
BBQ Soul burger, levitating
Best Burger I Never Tried
In the face of burger trends and zeitgeists, I admire those who hew to their own path. Toni’s Soul Burger, a stand in a part of Inglewood not on any of my itineraries, got a full-page spread in the L.A. Times Food section awhile back. Sort of the opposite of the upscale gourmet burger. So I thought it worth a trek south and set out one fine Monday around lunchtime. More
13 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Observations, Video, World's Best Sandwiches Tags: burgers, grass fed beef, hamburger, José Andrés, padron peppers, Picasso, recipes, Skinny Girls, umami, Umami Burger
So here I am back in the Skinny Girls kitchen — my “burger lab.” Eating so many different burgers, thinking and writing about burgers, got me wondering what I’d learned in my odyssey — besides where to go for a good burger, which I mostly already knew. How would what I had discovered, exposited on, praised the virtues of or extolled upon the deficiencies of ultimately affect my own approach to burger making? Had there been an “aha” moment?
The Skinny Girl Burger
Curiously, the two biggest takeaways came from thinking about Umami Burger, which was one of my least favorite of the places I wrote about (less because of their burgers than my reflexive aversion to anything trendy). More
08 Sep 2011 5 Comments
in Eating Out, Observations, World's Best Sandwiches Tags: burgers, hamburger, Hole in the Wall, Howard's Famous Bacon & Avocado Burger, Laurel Tavern, los angeles, Tommy's, umami, Umami Burger
I kept on, cautioned by friends and urged by disbelievers. There would be time for salads later — roasted fall mushrooms and winter vegetables were just around the corner. For now, there were burgers to taste.
Howard's Famous Bacon & Avocado Burgers
The latest trend here in Los Angeles — and lord knows we love our trends — is Umami Burger. More
02 Sep 2011 7 Comments
in Eating Out, Observations, World's Best Sandwiches Tags: burger, burgers, Double Double, Fatburger, Father's Office, In & Out Burger, Kauai, los angeles, McDonalds, Ono Char-burger, Sang Yoon, White Castle
The hamburger as we know it was born in Southern California, where in another time guys in hot rods would pull up to drive ins where girls named Betty and Fran would saunter up on rollerskates and take their orders for a cheeseburger and milkshake, while kids on the East Coast were still eating hoagies.
A dear and too-soon departed friend, Dann, hailed from Louisville (“Louvull,” as he called it), Kentucky. He was a fan of White Castle. It reminded him of home. He used to buy them frozen in a Santa Monica grocery store. “Not so much because they taste good,” he would say, “but because they’re comforting.” More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 