Former Top Chef Contestant Blais to Open Flip Burger in D.C.
When I first heard, via this NBC Washington report, that former Top Chef contestant Richard Blais was going to open a burger joint in D.C., I immediately thought: God, it’s come to this. Chefs are following Spike Mendelsohn’s lead.
But then I looked further into Blais’ concept at Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta, the hamburger joint with the pretentious name and the cool concept. The operation combines Blais’ affection for molecular gastronomy with the foodstuff that Washingtonians seem to love more than even Wimpy does.
The molecular gastronomy side of Flip seems, for the most part, limited to the milkshake section of the menu (PDF), where the creamy drinks are flash frozen with liquid nitrogen and come in oddball flavors such as Krispy Kreme and (I kid you not) foie gras. Here’s what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Meridith Ford wrote in her (I kid you not) four-star review of Flip:
The milkshakes, all quick-frozen with “LN2” (liquid nitrogen), are brought to the table trailing a cloudlike fog. The most talked-about flavor is the creamy Krispy Kreme concoction (yes, it tastes exactly like drinking a KK doughnut, only very cold), but the best flavor is the groovy green pistachio laced with white truffles. Drink them with a meal, or order them for dessert.
Other than the shakes, the menu reads like an after-hours bet on who could create the funkiest burger ever. There are some creative patties here, from the Tartare burger (hanger steak with garlic, chili, capers, Worcestershire, pickled onion, frisée, smoked mayo, and a sous- vide egg yolk), the Korean (Wagyu beef and short rib with kimchi ketchup, pickled veggies, and crispy tempura onion), and the Ossobuco (veal patty with braised veal, gremolata mayo, braised ketchup, and crispy fried onions).
(A side question: Just what the hell is braised ketchup?)
Again from Ford with the AJC:
Beyond that, this jazzy joint is more fun than a barrel of burgers, which are beef, house-ground of short ribs, hangar steak and brisket. The mix makes them fattier — and juicier — than a burger made with leaner meat.
Smaller than average, but certainly larger than sliders, the size encourages ordering more than one — and so does the price (ranging from $6.50 to $11). Think of them as — dare I say it? — tapas burgers. Take a group of friends. Take your kids (there are always kids in this dining room). Take your wife. Your boss. Take a first date.
Then try as many of these little round marvels as you can wrap your chops around: a country-fried burger smeared with tangy pimento cheese and topped with house-made pickles dipped in house-made ketchup; a Japanese Kobe burger crowned with seared foie gras, truffle butter, bread-and-butter pickles, onion-and-red-wine jam and frisee; a “pate melt” of ground veal and pork sandwiched with Dijon and cornichons. What fun.
Could this place give Ray’s Hell Burgers a run for its money as the metro area’s most popular hamburger? Blais tells NBC Washington that he plans to open a Flip Burger Boutique in the Verizon Center area (aka Penn Quarter) next spring.
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Linked From: November 20th, 2009Truffle Butter Bread and Butter Pickles | Robert's New Site
3:00 am[...] Former Top Chef Contestant Blais to Open Flip Burger in D.C. … [...]
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Linked From: November 21st, 2009Former Top Chef Contestant Blais To Open Flip Burger in D.C. … | homemadechristmasgifts
8:41 am[...] … a Japanese Kobe burger crowned with seared foie gras, truffle butter , bread-and- butter pickles, onion-and-red-wine jam and frisee; a âpate meltâ of ground veal and pork sandwiched with Dijon and cornichons. What fun. …Continued [...]
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Linked From: December 2nd, 2009Case of the Mornings « San Francisco, For the Win
9:16 am[...] so jealous of DC right now: Richard Blais is opening a burger joint [...]
10:49 pm
$6.50 to $11 for a “smaller than average” burger isn’t all that exciting, even if the flavor combinations are far more creative than the other options that are out there. And I’m not about to spend $13-$22 for a hamburger dinner to try them “tapas” style.
That being said, I’m eager to see what Blais brings to the table…and it’ll be interesting to see how (if?) this affects Good Stuff.
9:32 am
So at Flip, 2 burgers (since one doesn’t seem to be enough) a side, and a shake is going to be at least $25.
At Hell burger, a burger, side, and root beer is $10.
While there’s enough room in town for both, Flip certainly can’t replace RHB at that price point.
11:28 am
Hell yeah. I’ve been to Flip Burger in Atlanta, and the food there is fantastic. And all three people in my party were perfectly satisfied with 1 burger, a side (we shared three), and a shake.
5:30 pm
i’ve been to flip twice in atlanta and a burger, a side and a split shake were more than enough for me — the second time i even skipped the side and still couldn’t finish my shake — meridith ford must have an amazingly large appetite — that said — the tuna burger was AMAZING and I loved it as an experience much more than good stuff (and i really like good stuff)
12:13 am
Do we REALLY need another burger place in DC? And on top of that, do we really need another overpriced done-up American food place in DC. I’ll tell you what I’d die for is a really solid restaurant serving something other than upscale bar food (ethnic or not) with entrees in the $10-12 range. Why is this something that is possible at other cities in the US, but somehow eludes DC?
1:29 am
Expensive novelty birthday party food for fat kids is just what this city needs more of and is a soft cradle for chefs to fall back into when they can’t make it in knife & fork food and have to appeal to the lowest common denominator: the hamburger.
2:50 am
How is a homeowner