District Burger

I visited District in Portland, Maine, back in March and reviewed it a couple months ago, but the last time I was in Maine I couldn't resist hitting it up again...a couple of times. I had heard how absolutely amazing their bacon cheeseburgers were supposed to be, and I needed to see for myself.

Just look at this burger. You know you want to eat it. The bun glistening with a smear of glowing oil, the bacon bursting forth beneath it, and all on top of a savory hunk of ground beef.

Beautiful. 

What makes a District burger so good? One glaringly obvious aspect of the District burger is its simplicity. Sometimes restaurants try so hard to reinvent the burger that they forget that sometimes the best burger is the basic one. The District just a burger--a bun, meat, cheese, bacon...I think there was some lettuce on there too. When you have quality ingredients, these basic components are all a burger really needs to be (although I can't really complain about the decadent Apocalypse Burger either). And the fries that accompanied it were crispy, salty, and a great companion for my tasty burger.

Another aspect that makes the District burger great is that when you order a specific doneness it is actually served to you that way. This virtue is rare these days. Most of the time if you want a burger done medium, let's say, you have to order it rare otherwise the chef will cook the juicy interior until it's done all the way through. No fun. At District, however, rare is rare, medium-rare is medium-rare, and so on. If you want your burger dripping with the lifeblood of the cow, then I'm sure they can serve it to you that way.

So go. Eat the burger. Enjoy.

Nosh (or Tasting the Apocalypse)

Portland, Maine, is filled with amazing restaurants serving up superb food, creative cocktails, and delicious microbrews. One such exceptional restaurant is Nosh, located at 551 Congress Street.

We hit up Nosh the other night for some drinks and eats. Since the rapture is upon us we decided to try the Apocalypse Now burger. This ridiculous burger consists of a pork and beef patty, American cheese, crispy pork belly, bacon, foie gras, house mayo, and cherry jam, served on a brioche bun. This burger may be the most over-the-top decadent and indulgent food I’ve ever eaten. We split it three ways and that was plenty satisfying—eating the whole thing would have probably been too much, although if you’re having a hard time sleeping it might be good to just devour one of these Apocalypse Now burgers. It’ll put you right to sleep, for sure. 

Because the burgers have pork in them they need to be cooked throughout, which sounds unfortunate but the burger really doesn’t suffer much. And while I might be wary of putting jam on a burger it worked out perfectly—it wasn’t intensely sweet or anything and it added a nice flavor. You really can’t go wrong with the Apocalypse Now burger. Seriously. When a piece of foie gras falls out of your burger while you’re eating it, you know you’re in the foodie capital of the world.  

As if the Apocalypse Now burger wasn’t enough, we also ordered the Pork Belly Poutine. The poutine was a combination of fries, gravy, melted cheddar cheese curds, and strips of pork belly. How absurd is that? Think about it—you’re sitting there eating your fries, enjoying yourself immensely, when all of a sudden you pop a fry in your mouth and realize it’s actually a piece of pork belly. How can you not be happy in that situation? The fries were nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and the gravy and cheese curds tasted phenomenal and didn't load down the fries too much.

In addition to the burger and fries we each had an oyster shooter. These shooters had an oyster swimming in vodka, clam juice, bloody mary sauce, and Sriracha, with a smoked salt and pepper rim. They had a really nice spiciness (how can you go wrong with Sriracha?), but it did overshadow the flavor of the oysters and was a bit overpriced.

For drinks I ordered a glass of Malbec, Sonya went for a Tempranillo, and Pat got Allagash Black. Allagash Brewery is located in Portland, Maine, and they make fantastic beer. The Allagash Black is a Belgium strong dark ale that is malty and chocolaty. I was perfectly satisfied with my Malbec, but after I had a taste of the Allagash I was a bit jeally—it was quite delicious.

Whether you are in the mood for tasting the apocalypse or just want some pork belly with your fries, Nosh is a great spot to hit up for on a night out. It’s one of the many must-eat-at restaurants in Portland that you’ve got to try if you’re in the area.

August

I recently met up with some friends to dine at August in the West Village. August is a nice little bistro-y restaurant located at 359 Bleecker Street that serves European fare. We started off with good conversation and delicious cups of coffee. I was impressed by the elective selection of music playing over the speakers at August—the music ranged from “The Sun King” by The Beatles, to Lou Reed, to that song that goes “I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a girl that looked good I would call her.” And to top it all off, the food that followed was incredible.

As soon as I saw “Grilled Lamb Belly with Tzatziki and Black Sesame” on the menu I knew exactly what I was ordering. Lamb belly? I never even knew that lamb belly was a thing, but I was pretty sure that I would love it. Apparently it’s the midsection of the lamb that is located just below the loin. It arrived in a cast-iron pan –a nice hunk of lamb belly encrusted in black sesame seeds and sitting pretty on a bed of tzatziki. The meat was incredibly flavorful and tender. It fell lovingly off the bone, and the warm meat juxtaposed nicely with the cool Greek yogurt tossed with cucumber and dill. The dish was also served with fresh dill and mint leaves. Absolutely heavenly. As my friend Phil described it, it was “dill-licious.” 

Annie ordered the tarte flambé—an alsatian onion and bacon tart with crème fraiche. It was another beautiful creation. The bacon was cut into thick pieces and it seemed like the onions had been caramelized. The tart was baked in a wood-fired oven, giving it a rustic and smoky quality, and the crème fraiche added a nice creaminess to the savory flavors.

Phil opted for the August burger, which had also tempted me when I perused the menu. The burger was topped with bacon, cheddar, and a fried egg, and it was served with smoky mayo and fries. There’s just something so sexy about a bright yellow, luscious egg yolk oozing sensually into the crevices of meat and bread. The meat was cooked to a nice medium-rare and the thick-cut bacon was perfectly crisp. It was definitely one of the best burgers I’ve ever tasted.

The smoky mayo was a high point of the meal. The mayo was smooth and creamy and each bite revealed subtle layers of smoky flavor. But where did the smoke come from? We asked our server and he told us that they smoke the oil first before adding it to the mayonnaise. However, he didn’t know what smoking the oil actually entailed. My guess was that they simply brought the oil to its smoking point, but when I did a quick search online about smoking points many websites claimed that bringing an oil to its smoking point makes the oil taste bad, and the mayo tasted amazing not bad. [Note: doing a Google search on “how to smoke oil” will return many results for how to smoke hash oil but very few relating to food] Despite not being able to figure out how the concoction was created, it was still the perfect condiment for dipping the crispy, salty fries in.

Lunch at August was a nice treat—what’s better than eating good food and catching up with friends? I would definitely head back to August again, and I know there dinner menu is even more extensive than their lunch options. I highly recommend August to anyone looking for a fine meal in the West Village.

The Itis

You know when you eat a really big meal and get sleepy afterward? Yeah, that’s the itis. It’s that incomparable sleepy, satisfied, satiated, full feeling that only gluttony can cause. The itis is usually caused by consuming large amounts of fatty or fried foods, like a plate of bacon or ribs, or a one-pound burger smothered in cheese, topped with grilled onions, five strips of bacon, and sandwiched between two donuts. It always amazes me when people don’t know about the itis, and I feel that the word should be spread far and wide—especially to foodie circles. The official term is postprandial somnolence, but itis just sounds so much better.

It’s not in the dictionary, and Microsoft Word keeps thinking it’s a misspelling and changes it to “it is,” but I won’t rest until it’s a common word in the English language.

Urban Dictionary offers a few definitions. Here are the top five:

“The drowsy sleepy feeling you get after eating a large meal. Usual meals like big Sunday dinners, Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.”

“A naturally occurring drowsy feeling that is created when a person, normally of the African-American race (although it may affect peoples of all creeds), eats a large amount of fried, salty, or fatty foods...this feeling usually causes one to sip some purple drank and take a nap.”

“Drowsy or sleepy effect linked to digesting large meals, usually high in fat or salt content. 

Note: The digestive system uses roughly 60% of your energy while you idle about daily, so after eating large meals the digestive system takes energy from other areas of the body, allowing it to work faster, and bringing about a sleepy effect.”

“The feeling which one experiences after eating a large meal. Usually characterized by sluggish, drowsy, tired, or lethargic feelings.”

“That drowsy feelin u get after a big ass meal. U usually dont want to do anything or have lost the energy to do so.”

One of my favorite itis memories took place when I was living in China for a summer. Sichuan cuisine causes itis like whoa, and after a particularly large and filling meal a Chinese friend leaned back in his seat and said he was tired.

“Is there a word in English,” he asked, “to describe feeling sleepy after you eat?”

“Yes!” I exclaimed, thrilled at the opportunity to spread some knowledge. “It’s called the itis.”

“Itis?” he asked, sinking further into his chair. “Ah, I have got…the itis.” He was clearly satisfied and I was happy to have introduced the word to China.

Now, I’m not the only one spreading the word. The Boondocks, a cartoon based off of Aaron McGruder’s comic strip that features two young black kids growing up in the suburbs, created a whole episode based off the itis back in 2006. And it was wonderful.

It had such an impact, in fact, that the only entry for “itis” in Wikipedia is just a summary of the Boondocks episode. I’ll let this scene from the show speak for itself:
 

How can you be a foodie and survive without this word in your vocabulary? So the next time you eat big meal and feel a bit sleepy afterwards, don’t fight it—just give in, be satisfied, and get some good itis-induced sleep…

Song of the Week: 80s Burger Rap

Dare * Risk * Dream

As I've mentioned before, I've been on a trend the last couple of years towards drinking wine rather than beer, but being in Portland it was hard to resist the plethora of microbrews. One of my favorite (actually, perhaps my most favorite) microbreweries is Rogue, and I just happened to be in the heart of Rogue country. I knew my trip to Portland wouldn't be complete without a few pints of tasty Rogue beer.

After spending three hours in Powell's Books, which is heaven to a bibliophilia like myself, and a little thrift-store shopping, I headed over to the Rogue Distillery and Public House in the Pearl District. It was a lovely day, and I managed to snag a table outside. As I glanced at the menu of various beers, as well as the food menu, I made the decision to ball out and get whatever I wanted regardless of the price. In fact, I didn't even look at the prices for anything. This was a theme I'd carried throughout my whole trip to Portland--my bank account suffered, but my soul and stomach were very satisfied. It was all worth it.

I began with a pint of Juniper Pale Ale. It was nice and light with uplifting and lingering flavors of Juniper. It is definitely one of my favorite Rouge ales, and to enjoy it at a real Rogue location was simply…awesome.


In addition to the Juniper Pale Ale I ordered the Spruce Gin Oyster Shooter appetizer. It was a shot of two northwestern oysters with a cocktail sauce made of Rogue Spruce Gin, tangerine, lemon, grains of paradise, horseradish, and coriander with fresh lemon. The oysters were soft, slippery, and buttery. The cocktail sauce was exquisite, and it all paired beautifully with the Juniper Pale Ale.


Next I opted for the Dry Hopped Saint Rogue Red, which I had never tried before. It was not overly hoppy but instead had just the right amount. It was a lovely light reddish-amber color. Delightful.



I wanted a burger. Bad. Wandering around Powell's on an empty stomach made me ridiculously hungry, but I knew if I got what was sure to the phenomenal half-pound Kobe burger on the menu I would be super sleepy with the itis, and it was still fairly early in the afternoon. I also wanted to leave as much room for beer as possible, so instead I went for the Kobe slider. It was so cute and tiny and was served on a teeny bun with wasabi mayonnaise.


When I bit into the slider I could literally taste the massages that the cows had received. It was tasty and certainly satisfied my burger craving. I also grabbed a plate of salty and crispy fries with ranch dipping sauce to snack on since I figured I'd be there for a while.

I sat. I wrote. I drank. I ate. I drank more. Next up was the Morimoto Soba Ale. This ale may be my absolute favorite Rogue ale, though it's just so hard to choose a fav. It was very light and refreshing and was perfect for a sunny, warm day (yes, Portland does have sunny days!).


As I sipped on my brews I heard the server at the next table over telling the customers they could become Rogue Nation Citizens. My curiosity was piqued. When my own server came over I asked her about it, and she told me I could get 10% off my pints if I became a citizen. There are other perks as well, such as a free beer and t-shirt on your birthday (Note to self: Go back to the West Coast and get to a Rogue pub on birthday). I was sold and filled out the paperwork. When she showed up with a camera I was surprised but simply grabbed my beer, posed, and smiled pretty for the camera. It's official. I actually have an ID card for Rogue. Score.


I had planned on getting one more pint, but my stomach was getting full, the sun was starting to set, and I had to get back to Southeast Portland. So naturally I grabbed a bottle of Somer Orange Honey Ale to go so I could drink it later. I also couldn't resist the Rogue Spruce Gin. I'm a gin girl. It's been my liquor of choice for a while, and the description sounded simply amazing. I hadn't known before that Rogue made spirits, but I'm so happy to have made the discovery. The fourteen ingredients in this gin included spruce, cucumber, angelica root, orange peel, coriander, lemon peel, ginger, orris root, grains of paradise, tangerine, juniper berries, champagne yeast, grain neutral spirit, and "free range" coastal water.

That night we made some of the most phenomenal gin and tonics I've ever had. Now if I can only find out where to buy Rogue Spruce Gin in northern New Jersey…


If you love good beer, do yourself a favor and check out Rogue. You can pick it up at most beer distributors, even if you're on the East Coast. The cost is a little higher than other varieties, but it's worth it…every time.

Dare * Risk * Dream!

Louis' Lunch

While doing some historical research at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, last month, we took one of our lunch breaks at a fabulous little spot called Louis’ Lunch. This burger joint has been around since it started out as a lunch wagon in 1895, and it holds the title of the oldest hamburger restaurant still in operation in the United States. The menu is simple—burgers, chips, and soda. The burgers are more like burger sandwiches on two slices of white bread rather than on a big, thick bun. Each burger is made to order, which accounts for the crowded atmosphere as hungry customers wait in lines that creep around the restaurant and out the door.

The Web site for Louis’ Lunch claims that their “burgers are made fresh daily; hand-rolled from a proprietary blend of five meat varieties and cooked to order in the original cast-iron grills dating back to 1898.” The Lassen family, who has owned and operated Louis’ Lunch for four generations, “hold firm on their desire not to offer any condiments. The Louis Lunch experience is about the taste and simplicity of a fresh burger grilled to perfection. Cheese, tomato, and onion are the only acceptable garnish.”

A cheeseburger with tomato and onion (known as the “Cheese Works”) was precisely what I ordered. The bread was nice and toasty, the meat was perfectly cooked, the onions were just right, and the tomato was a thin slice of delight. All these components were held together with gooey melted cheese. I enjoyed my Cheese Works immensely, all washed down with a ginger ale made from a soda company in East Haven called Foxon Park.

As we dined, a sign above us indicated that we should not expect to get things our way. Rather, we would get things their way, and we would like it:

Apparently the person I was with didn’t take the sign seriously enough and attempted to ask the cooks for ketchup. They told her it was a bring-your-own-ketchup place, which seemed to perturb her a bit. I, however, was very satisfied without any ketchup at all.

For a reasonably priced, delicious, and historic burger you should definitely check out Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut. And even when the line is out the door, it’s still worth the wait!

Johnny Rockets

There is something about 1950s and early 1960s nostalgia that is so hard resist in American culture. We would like to believe that life was somehow better back then—it was a simpler time where all of life’s problems could be solved by a trip to the local malt shop, the Beatles just wanted to hold your hand, suburbia was growing, and the peaceable kingdom of television was entering everyone’s homes, spreading the message of a "Leave it to Beaver" philosophy.

We know realistically that this era was not all jukeboxes, burgers, and milkshakes, but it is still nice to imagine it that way. Johnny Rockets is the perfect restaurant to do just that. Although the first Johnny Rockets opened in 1986, the restaurants are themed with a 1950s malt-shop vibe. They describe themselves as providing “food, fun, and friendliness reminiscent of feel-good Americana.”

I recently visited a Johnny Rockets for the first time. The décor was exactly the way that the 1950s are in my imagination. There are classic coca-cola posters on the wall, shiny chrome surfaces, smooth white walls, and even a mini juke box on every table. And the music was wonderful—Elvis was playing when we entered and the Supremes were playing on the way out. I periodically was distracted from my food because I was too busy singing along to classic oldies.

I was there with my boyfriend, and I really felt like Sandy in the movie Grease going on a date with Danny Zuko. I had the Original hamburger with cheddar cheese added—it came with lettuce, tomato, chopped onions, relish, pickles, mustard, and mayonnaise. Of course, I got fries to accompany the burger, and the waitress brought out ketchup and squirted it out in a smiley face shape into a little dish. My boyfriend got the Bacon Cheddar Single burger, which came topped with thick bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion slice, and special sauce. He also got fries, and we both ordered a root-beer float with big scoops of vanilla ice-cream.













It’s amazing how nostalgic we can be at times for eras that we never actually experienced, and even people who were alive in those periods can fabricate memories that highlight the good times and eliminate the bad. Johnny Rockets is emblematic of our imagined version of 1950s America. If you are looking for a classic burger and fries meal, then take a little escape into the past at Johnny Rockets. You can check out their Web site, view the menu, and find a location near you here: http://www.johnnyrockets.com/index2.php

Even though this song has nothing to do with food, let’s keep traveling down memory lane with a little summer lovin’…