Cheeseburger Gauntlet Day 2 – Farm Burger
Hey every one, for day two of this culinary odyssey we venture to Farm Burger over in Decatur.
The burger at farm burger may be about as healthy a burger as you can get in someways. From the website:
“Our burgers are made from 100% grassfed beef that is dry-aged for two weeks and ground daily. Our cows are raised on the sweet grasses of the southeast, and never fed antibiotics, hormones, or grain.”
I don’t know all the science behind that but the result is one tasty burger. I’m accompanied on this trip by Stefan who is in for all seven days. Joining in as a special guest star is two fisted journalist Valerie. Valerie is also providing the picture of the day’s burger. The environment at Farm Burger is very communal. There is limited seating so patrons are asked to share tables. There’s a constant buzzing about the place. You can laugh loudly and no one will care. People show up fresh from both meetings and workouts and don’t seem out of place.
The burger at Farm Burger is a bit of a do it yourself burger. You pick your meat and toppings when you order, you go and find a seat then your food arrives at your table. The toppings are split in to three categories; free (lettuce, tomato, the basics), $1 toppings ( fried egg, caramelized onions, better cheese) and $2 toppings (brisket chili, gruyere, oxtail marmalade). There is one $3 topping, roasted bone marrow. But for the sake of consistancy and fairness I’ve decided to keep the burgers as similar as possible. The only toppings I’ll be eating this week with one exception are mustard, onion, and cheddar cheese. I figure I should keep some consistency where I can. Now on to the glorious burger.
Farm Burger
Looks amazing doesn’t it. The burger here is a lot less formal than the previous burger. The buns aren’t house made, but they are very good and they are buttered and cooked on the griddle briefly. It’s a single 8 ounce griddled patty as opposed to a double. The cheese is white cheddar. The caramelized red onions are sweet and have just the right amount of grill taste. One of the advantages to the ordering style at Farm Burger is that its obvious the chefs have done the right amount of engineering homework to ensure that 99% of your toppings stay on the bun. No matter how much you order, within reason, they know how much to put on the bun to get you the flavor, but give you a structurally sound burger. I think I only lost two onions off my cheeseburger, and they still found their way into my mouth via the fries. The other cool thing is that the ingredients are all local to the degree possible. I doubt anything we ate was from more than 200 miles away from the restaurant.
The burger at farm burger is tasty without being salty or fatty. That results in a little less juice and “crust” on the burger, but it makes up for it with the fact that its a perfectly cooked medium burger. You can really taste the meat. As a complete burger it stands well on its own, as it should since this is strictly a burger place. I think the best way to describe it is that it’s the burger we all wished we made at home. We’d like to be the envy of our neighbors at every cook out by making this burger perfectly every time. You don’t have the emotional reaction to it the same way you do at Holeman & Finch, but after its done you’re completely satisfied. You don’t feel cheated at all. And because the burger is so clean you don’t feel heavy afterwards. You feel suitably filled but no need for a nap.
My final grade for Farm Burger is an A-. I only detract points due to the fact that not as much of the burger is house made. A house made bun and condiments are the only thing holding this burger back from a full “A” rating.
