We’ll post comments and thoughts regarding all the latest news, events, and food-related musings here!
We’ll post comments and thoughts regarding all the latest news, events, and food-related musings here!
 | LJ a.k.a. Gorda on Latest News & Updates |
 | Chef Michael Pellegr… on Latest News & Updates |
 | JP Lacoste on Latest News & Updates |
 | Cat on Hello world! |
| Chef Michael Pellegr… on Latest News & Updates |
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Fully dressed and wrapped in parchment, is the way to go!!! Mike please go ahead and whip me up one, medium rare.
Fully dressed is the way to go! A burger should be delivered a finished product in which we believe to have the best flavor combination. If a guest does not like a particular ingredient and wishes to have it removed they can ask the server and we will gladly honor the request to provided them with the burger combination they believe to be the best. In my opinion the burger should go as fallow…
Top bun (challah)
House-Made Mayo
Bibb lettuce
Tomato
Red onion
House-Made Pickles
Brie
Kobe patty
Mayo
Bottom Bun (challah)
On the side: ketchup, mustered, house made jalapeños and fries.
That being said, I think we will test this burger next week and see what kind of feedback we receive. (As I am writing this I really want to eat this burger!) I am also a huge fan of burgers wrapped in parchment paper. I’m not sure why…maybe it does not get my hands as dirty? … Maybe the hot patty adds a slight steam characteristic that I find appealing? … Or maybe it’s that saying “a sandwich always taste better when some else makes it”? You eat with your eyes before you eat with your mouth. That being said when a burger is wrapped in parchment paper the ingredients are hidden and even though you know what you are going to eat when you take that bite there is a little surprise element. For now we will still serve our burgers open faced. When it comes to cheese I am torn in every direction. I like the brie. I also like smoked Gouda, gruyere, white cheddar, blue cheese… Heck I LOVE CHEESE! We will stick with brie for now.
We are changing the menu to offer the burger for $15.00 and let the customers choose which cheese they would like to put on top for $2.00. Right now we are still using the brie. However, I still feel like the flavor combo is a little too much on the palate. So they will be able to choose from brie, white cheddar, gruyere and blue cheese. It seems like the right thing to do and in my mind increases the perceived value of the dish. As per our last conversation; How do you feel about serving the burger fully dressed? Lettuce, tomato, house made pickle and red onion with pickled japs on the side?
Sounds great! I remember when we first started talking about the burger and a few up grades we could make. We have done a lot of experimenting in the pursuit for the ultimate burger! We are currently using Premium Proteins out of Kearney, MO for our ground Kobe. We have done several side by side taste tests against Strube, Heartbrand, Imperial and a couple others. However, our current product won each time. We have not tried blending our Kobe beef yet, as it delivers a strong beef flavor “as is”, but would love to try what you guys have going on at MWD-A. I like the move you made on the bun. We currently are using Slow Dough brioche, which is truly “rich mans brioche”. Bakers math- for 100% flour they are using 50% butter & 50% eggs; it’s the best brioche I have had. That being said it is truly rich and has a dominant flavor profile in the burger. We tried several of their buns and felt that their challah bun was the best fit, it is made from egg yolks as suppose to whole eggs and contains 8% more sugar then the brioche, making it just a tad sweet in a good way. The team here loved the challah bun but after some debating we made the decision to stay with our current product (brioche) for the fact that people truly love the burger the way it is and we receive tons of good feedback on it, with little to no negative feedback. The old… if it is not broken don’t fix it… won this time. Please keep me posted on the customer feedback you are receiving on your new burger. I look forward to getting down there and munching on that beast! Any cheese ideas?
In our ongoing quest to make the perfect burger we have made a few changes here in Austin that I want to share with you all. We have sourced meat from all around Texas including Yama in Mabank , Heartbrand in Yoakum and Strube Ranch in Pittsburg, all very delicious products! We have decided to go with Heartbrand Akaushi. We are blending a small amount of Niman Ranch premium ground beef in with the akaushi and pressing the patties in house. The blend has created a more dynamic flavor profile and superior texture. Also, we have changed the bun from brioche to a more standard yeast raised bread. Walton’s still bakes them daily and we have found that the flavor profile works much better with the rich flavor of the beef. I’ve always felt the bun is just a vehicle for everything in between and the brioche was dominating the flavor of the burger itself. This bun is perfect! Moist and just a little sweet, caramelized on the flat top with a buttery crunch… damn I’m getting hungry just talking about it.
That’s where we are at today and if you would like anymore info on it give me call.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the open forum discussions and shared best practises.
JP