Shit That's Awesome: The Craft Burger

In honor of Tom Collichio's (somewhat) upset victory last evening for the country's top culinary honor I thought I would wax a little poetic about his signature restaurant's awesome burger. Now, he did win the Beard for the New York Craft, but come on, how different could it be? It's not like LA's New York imitation pizza tastes any different than the original does it? Okay, so maybe the New York and LA Craft outposts may differ a little, but that doesn't mean the burger isn't still awesome and award worthy.

It all starts with the bun. The Craft bun is near perfection. Like a freaking dessert, the brioche glistens with butter light. It also holds the burger perfectly, which is an oft overlooked structural characteristic of gourmet burgers. It's not too fancy inside, either. The cheese is Tillamook. What else, right? The burger patty itself consists of a mix of a few different cuts of beef. The combination of this mix, the cheese and bun make the burger worth the $18 price tag. Yes, $18. Yes, it's worth it.

Like every great burger the Craft burger took me to another place, a more comfortable place, a place of peace, love and understanding; albeit only for a few minutes. But, I'll take it. I'm not sure if the burger won Collichio the James Beard Award, but I sure as hell know it won the Southland Glutton Award.