Tag Archives: Brainfood

Brainfood Burger Battle: Best of the Best

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Mad Fox Brewery Co. Burger

Sunday’s Brainfood Burger Battle was a quintessential summer activity that left us smelling of mesquite and sleeping sitting up. Ten of the DC area’s top chefs got sweaty and smoky in the Poste courtyard to compete for bragging rights, and a good cause. It was so hot that the chefs had more wardrobe changes than a magician’s assistant, but they still managed to flip fantastic burgers. Click here for photos from the event available on the Best Thing on the Menu Facebook page.

While three official awards were given out, People’s Choice (Poste), Chef’s Choice (The Source) and Judge’s Choice (The Source), BTM had its own take on the carne contenders.

Best Meat Blend: The “110% Burger” by Poste’s Chef Dennis Marron

Poste's 110% Burger

This mathematically impossible sous vide burger was made out of brisket, chuck, short rib, beef cheek and bone marrow.

Best Lamb Burger: Firefly’s Chef Todd Wiss

Firefly's Lamb Burger

Lamb is encouraging burger lovers to think outside the beef. Until recently, you could only get a lamb burger at a Greek restaurant. Thank goodness for the newfound popularity and sweet, gamey flavor. The aioli on this bad boy was amazing.

Best Bun: Granville Moore’s Chef Teddy Folkman

Granville Moore's Beef Bulgogi Burger

Teddy used a pretzel bun to house his beef bulgogi burger.

Best Schmutz: Ripple’s Chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley

Ripple's Burger

Marjorie’s California-inspired burger game with two colorful dollops to dip your burger in: smoked egg yolk yellow and avocado green.

Best Outside the Bun: Iron Gate’s Chef Anthony Chittum

Iron Gate's Lamb Pita Burger

There’s only so much brioche one can eat. Kudos to Anthony for going with pita instead. We can’t wait for Iron Gate to open this August!

Best Overall: Our pick for best burger went to Mad Fox Brewery’s Chef Andrew Dixon.

Mad Fox Brewery Co. Burger

Andrew’s short rib burger was topped with crispy pork belly, beer cheese, relish, arugula, and a friend potato chip. It also came served on a pretzel roll.

Mad Fox Brewing Co. is located in Falls Church, VA. The best day to visit is Wednesday because they offer a uniquely concocted “Epic Burger” that continually changes. You can wash down your Epic Burger with another Wednesday special, the Crazy Cask. Mad Fox’s beer scientists go to work in creating a funky brew; a recent one involved Fresno chilies. The team at Mad Fox are fun, friendly and offer 10-12 of their own beers on tap. We can’t wait to make the trip.

All proceeds from the burger battle went to Brainfood, a non-profit youth development organization. The DC organization uses food as a tool to build life skills and promote healthy living. Local high school students participate in programs that include hands-on cooking classes, lectures, field trips and community service projects. Learn more at http://brain-food.org/.

Where can you get the best burger in DC? Post your favorites in the comments section.

Poste: Beef Cheek Bourguignon

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Poste's Beef Cheek Bourguignon

Dining at Chef Dennis Marron’s Poste is a bit like a perfect trip to the zoo. If you go to Poste for dinner and dine al fresco, you are privy to a table on the upper patio where you can, with reasonable peace and quiet, observe the lower deck post-work antics and human mating rituals. There is no doubt that Poste’s happy hour is popular, but for those that want a great meal and to watch from afar, book a dinner table.

Set in the 1841 General Post Office building, Poste joins a host of other delicious Kimpton restaurants we have profiled on Best Thing on the Menu such as Zentan and Urbana. Like the other two, there is tremendous attention to detail in the cuisine and the boisterous brasserie atmosphere keeps us coming back.

Though we’re sure to hear disagreements in the form of truffle frites, BTM has selected Beef Cheek Bourguignon as the Best Thing on the Menu. The 72-hour braised short ribs are served with bacon, carrots, baby turnips and Dijon whipped potatoes.

Chef Marron accomplishes the impossible in this dish. Beef Bourguignon is typically a heavy, hibernation indulgence designed to warm you up in the winter. But at Poste, their bourguignon is light enough to enjoy in the summer and you don’t leave weighed down or covered in stew stains. The texture of the beef is divine and the seasoning, perfection.

After such a great meal, we might pull for Chef Marron in the Brainfood Burger Battle tomorrow! Tickets still available.

Beef Cheek Bourguignon not your BTM? “Poste” your favorites in the comments section.