Ido visits NYC and Atlanta

Driving around NY in a cab on the way to dinner I saw this out the window. I like that someone else appreciates our gang sign.

Today I'm in Atlanta. I had heard of this place called Flip Burger, and was eager to head over (voted one of the top 10 burger spots in the country by several accounts) for a nibble. It was such a tease because I arrived just in time to sit in my car and take a conference call...waiting to go inside and starving because it was already 5pm and I hadn't had lunch. When I finally sat at the chef's bar I realized I didn't have much time before needing to meet a friend for dinner somewhere else they made reservations. It would have been wrong to order a burger. That said, I did order a couple of small sides: a) sweetbreads with foamed blue cheese (they put it in a carbonator and squirt it out fantastically); b) warm brussel sprout salad with bacon vinaigrette. Everything was delicious (though the brussel sprouts didn't compare to my favorites). I promised myself and the waitress I'd be back there this week, at least once. Check out pics of the menu attached. There's one entire side dedicated to grass-fed beef burgers. The second side are non-beef burgers (chorizo, blackened shrimp, tuna tartar, lamb, etc.). Everything looked very good. They have some unique things here. Nice touches like Coca-Cola Ketchup (since coke has a big presence in Atlanta). It was a nice pairing with the coke flavor clearly coming through the ketcup, but in a balanced way. Not lame. They even do a variety of Liququid Nitrogen milk-shakes!! Anyhow, my food was great and I am definitely going back to report later. More to come!

Mission Beach Cafe ~ 2011.04.26

Consistent it was not. But a great balance of toppings and textures (sweet onions, salty cheddar and sautéed mushrooms) hit the spot.

The rarest burger was absolutely fabulous -- juicy, nice char on the bun and great bun to burger ratio.

Ido's thoughts....

The picky side of me wants to pick this creation apart and critique every bit of this burger mainly because it had such great potential to be amazing. ...but ultimately fell short of complete amazingness. Rather than getting into such boring details I'll just mention the highlights:

This was easily one of the better-seasoned patties I've had in a while, made more perfect by the classic combination of sauteed mushrooms over a nice gouda...all savory elements intermingling nicely.

BBFF has been talking a lot about the "bun-to-meat" ratio: It's worth calling out that this was a pretty good pairing -- not just in terms of proportions, but in textures as well.

I'm going to overlook the fact that some buns at the table were clearly pre-grilled and not warm when they came out (the lack of consistency caught our attention). That said, it was a perfect type of bun to handle such a massive burger -- which brought on a BBFF-epiphany of sorts:

The massiveness of this burger in its entirety, made it impossible to eat the thing without being sloppy. A juicy pool of goodness can't help but drip out the bottom and sides. But that's just as it should be!! Unlike some foods that call for a more delicate touch, the sloppiness that comes with eating the Mission Beach Cafe burger reinforces the carnal experience of indulging in a beautiful piece of red meat. It was a very fun burger to eat.

Also noteworthy were the nice substitutions available for the sides. Our table started off with the Truffle--Parmesan fries, so come burger-time, brussel's sprouts were a nice alternative (though not my favorite take on sprouts).

Overall: Unassuming deliciousness packaged in a nice bun.

Zuni ~ 2010.03.30

Some of us were skeptical.

It seemed to have the ingredients for a dream burger (blue cheese added).

But it fell a little flat. The bread was far too think for the burger and lettuce seemed silly. The flavor and texture of the burger was good, not great.

And where were our fries!? We ended up ordering some as a side.

Hoping to add some flavor, one of us brought on the pepper.

Marlowe ~ 2011.02.17

We had high expectations...

Burger was juicy and nicely charbroiled.
Bacon was sizzled to perfection.
But rare was not so rare,
lettuce seemed superfluous,
and we missed onions!

Minimal effort on the fries and the horseradish mayo was missing some kick.

Spork ~ 2011.01.06

Though we fell in love with the mini-burger cookies that came with our bill...

It was hard to figure out how to eat the actual burger.

They call it "inside out." But what does that mean? For starters, a really (really) strange "burger-to-bun" ratio.

Our ad hoc rating matrix gives a more ambivalent view: we weren't sold on the bun experience.

Fish & Farm ~ 2010.11.30

Incredible bun!