Official White House photograph by Pete Souza.
We all know the man the Obama Foodorama blog dubbed the "commander in beef" is a fan of burgers. While he didn't accompany his wife on her controversy-stirring visit to Shake Shack, there's been no shortage of Washington-area photo ops featuring POTUS digging into juicy patties.
Here's a look back at some of the local beefwiches our President has enjoyed.
By Jessica Voelker
If you can't commit to a burger a day during National Burger Month, the least you could do is commit to one a week. Here's how to do so inexpensively, and while enjoying one of summer's fundamental pleasures: the backyard barbecue.
Every Wednesday during the warm months, the whimsically appointed Hotel Helix holds a little patio party called Backyard Bash. From 5 to 7, a wood-fire-grilled burger--beef, chicken, black-eyed pea, or turkey--plus chips and fixings from a free toppings bar can be yours for $7. (Fine print: Fancy toppings such as Brie, avocado, and bacon jam are $1 extra. Super-fancy toppings include brisket chili and crab dip and cost as much as $4).
Beers are cheap, too. DC Brau lagers are $3 during the Wednesday special, and regular happy hour prices--available from 5 to 7 daily--are also in effect throughout the bash. That means $2 PBR cans, $3 Yuengling and Miller Light drafts, $4 house cocktails, $5 "traditional" Cosmopolitans, and $6 select wines.
Should it rain--and if you go this week, it very well may--the party is moved indoors and the burgers are cooked in the kitchen instead.
Pulled duck, bacon, and cheddar top the Meat Lovers burger at new Columbia Heights bar the Pinch. Photograph by Jessica Voelker.
The way Dan Maceda tells it, he and business partners Carlos Eyster and Ashley Brudowsky were restaurant-industry vets who were tired of working for other people and full of ideas for a neighborhood bar and restaurant. They found a space--the skinny slice of corner real estate that formerly belonged to El Salvadoreno--and teamed up with chef Stephanie Sharkey, last seen at 18th Amendment on Capitol Hill. Maceda says he and his partners immediately started firing ideas at Sharkey, who converted said ideas into the collection of starters, salads, sides, burgers, and sandwiches staffers have been serving since the no-frills bar's May 4 opening.
Poutine, or hamburger? Mintwood Place's Hangover Special means never having to choose again. Photograph by Erik Uecke.
Welcome back to Hangover Hamburger Friday, where throughout May, we'll find you the beefiest remedies for your post-boozing blues.
No one dreams of descending into the quivery cloud of malaise that is a terrible hangover, but it's almost worth it when it means digging into chef Cedric Maupillier's Hangover Special, the most attention-grabbing item on the new brunch menu at Mintwood Place.
This isn't the kind of dish you can order with a clear head--or conscience. Inspired by a mishmash of tasty leftovers from the dinner menu, Maupillier wood-grills a dry-aged beef patty, then tops it with smoky bacon, ranch dressing, cheese-cloaked fries, and a fried egg. The burger/poutine love child clocks in at about two pounds--roughly the weight of a newborn dwarf goat--and is best taken down with a house Bloody Mary while piecing together the events of the night before.
"It's everything I love, and everything that's bad for me," admits Maupillier.
Related:
See the other entries in our monthlong A Burger a Day in May series.
By Mary Yarrison
The Prime Steak burger at Bourbon Steak commands a lot of attention, and for good reason--it's outrageously delicious. But if you haven't tried the turkey burger--topped with a generous heap of guacamole, along with pepper jack cheese and harissa aïoli--you are seriously missing out. It's juicy, packed with flavor, and just way better than any turkey 'wich has a right to be.
How does executive chef Adam Sobel create a patty with such winning juiciness and flavor? " We sauté dried apricots with onions and sage and then grind the mixture in with the turkey." Another tip: "Just don't overcook it. You know it's perfectly cooked when a meat thermometer reads around 155 degrees. Then if you let the burger rest, it'll be perfectly juicy." He suggests topping the patty with avocado or guac, just like they do at Bourbon Steak. "I don't know what it is about it, but it just works." The restaurant uses a whole wheat bun, but Sobel says, "Personally, I'm a sesame fan."
Related:
See the other entries in our monthlong A Burger a Day in May series.
When traditionally fancy 2941 closed its doors in January, the idea was reinvent itself as a more versatile dining destination--one you'd go to for daily lunch or happy hour as well as for special occasions. As Ann Limpert described in her recent review, the menu and the décor are very much changed. But classically trained and very French chef Bertrand Chemel told Best Bites blog back in January: "I don't change my style."
There may be no better edible symbol for this high-mid marriage than the Daffy Burger, which features a patty made of ground duck breast and leg and foie gras that is topped with more foie gras--this time cured and sliced--and served with agrodolce, a marmalade of onions braised with vinegar, sugar, and peppers. Think of it as the sandwich soul of the new 2941. "We wanted to attract and scream out to everyone that 2941 didn't really, really change overnight," said Chemel in a recent phone interview. "We were doing sandwiches and stuff like that for lunch, but people were considering us too much of a fine-dining place--only for special occasions--and we wanted to attract a variety of people. [The Daffy Burger] is good for that."
By Mary Yarrison
Rumors of a Good Stuff Eatery opening in Crystal City have been swirling around for ages, but this week, it's finally happening. The popular burger spot's suburban debut is officially tomorrow, but they opened for dinner last night and will do the same tonight because, well, hordes of people came.
We stopped by the new location and sat down with chef Spike Mendelsohn's sister Micheline (same last name), and learned that the Mendelsohn team (mom and dad work there, too) expansion means that both locations will begin offering new things.
Local chainlet Chef Geoff's boasts "the best happy hour in Washington, DC," and it makes a good case for that claim with beefy burgers that start at $5.95. Toppings on the discounted 'wiches vary some from location to location, but they're all thick and juicy and they taste great with beers from brewers like Vermont's Long Trail and the great Goose Island in Chicago--also discounted during happy hour.
Vegetarians are not forgotten--a black bean burger with pepper jack and cherry pepper relish is one of the best meatless burgers in town. A salmon BLT ($8.95) is another favorite. All come with a choice of french fries, chips, or salad.
Along with the menus, deal times vary at the three locations of Chef Geoff's. At the Tyson's Corner and New Mexico Ave., NW restaurants, happy hour is offered all day Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday through Saturday from 3 to 7 PM. Downtown, happy hour goes all day Saturday through Tuesday at the bar, and from 3 to 7 PM Wednesday through Friday.
Dorothy Moon's burger is as tasty as it is messy. Photograph by Melissa Romero.
Welcome to Hangover Hamburger Friday, in which, throughout May, we'll share the meatiest, greasiest, booze-soakingest belly bombs we can get our shaky little hands on.
First up: a triple stack of street meat from Dorothy Moon's Gourmet Burgers. The DC-based Dorothy truck sounds innocent enough, but that's before you get to ordering three fresh beef patties on a sesame seed bun, decked out with unlimited toppings such as mushrooms, smoky bacon, cheddar, Sriracha sauce, and a fried egg. There's no brioche-based Richard-ification of the burger here: This sandwich is an unqualified mess, and we mean this in the best way possible. Those with a little more self-restraint--and a little less booze-induced malaise--can opt for one or two patties ($6 and $8 respectively, or $10 for three).
Typically Dorothy Moon orbits around areas like Farragut Square, L'Enfant, and Union Station. She'll be doling out beefy deliciousness at the Curbside Cookoff tomorrow alongside 45 of her closest friends.
By Jessica Voelker
At Good Stuff Eatery, chef Spike Mendelsohn (Top Chef alum, Acid Reflux meds shill) famously serves burgers named for Barack and Michelle Obama. The edible homage to POTUS--as heartburn-inducing as a gridlocked Congress--is a beef patty topped with applewood bacon, onion marmalade, Roquefort cheese, and horseradish mayo. Reflecting her ever-controversial aversion to childhood obesity, Mrs. Obama's sandwich is a free-range turkey burger with caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, ruby tomato, and lettuce on a whole wheat bun with "Southlawn herb garden mayo."
But as Washingtonians know well, a change in the White House leads to countless other little changes throughout the town. If Mitt Romney manages to grab the presidency, he'll be needing a Good Stuff burger too, right? We asked chef Spike what would be on it. "The Romney Burger would be fried cod, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, Creole mayo, and roasted red peppers," Mendelsohn revealed to us in an e-mail yesterday. The burger is "an ode to Massachusetts, and specifically Cape Cod. The roasted peppers and Creole mayo compliment the cod--a nod to the great seafood from Massachusetts."
