when i get together with my friend john i know at the very least we will talk about food, more than likely we will be eating food, and without a doubt, we will be critiquing food. today we met at father’s office in culver city.
now, i have had the burger once before, and enjoyed it, but i didn’t put much thought into the details. knowing john and i have enjoyed a few burgers together, and discussed good and bad points of all, i figured he would be the perfect person to help bring my thoughts into a concise review. right off the bat, we are both not a fan of the basket presentation, but that did not weigh in on our feelings about the burger itself.
the bun: i thought the french bread roll was a good compliment to the burger. since there wasn’t any sort of crisp toppings like raw onion, lettuce or tomato, i liked the slight crunchiness of the roll. john favors an actual bun.
the toppings: caramelized onions, bacon, gruyére, maytag blue, and arugula. the bacon was somewhat non-existent, there was just a bit too much arugula piled on, and i liked the combination of the two cheeses, but the star of this burger was the caramelized onions. they were reduced down into a compote with a sweetness that almost reminded me of a bbq sauce.
the meat: i ordered mine medium and it came medium. it had good flavor and a good balance of browned on the outside, as well as, pink and juicy on the inside.
the price tag at $12 seems a bit steep, especially since you have to order fries separately. all in all, it was a good burger, and i would order it again, but i might try other things on the menu next time.
wild, fresh + tasty 
I’ve for years I’ve lived within walking distant of FO. I knew them when they were a dive bar — Budweiser and shots — then morphed into a micro brewery college-type joint where they allowed you to order dreadful pizzas from next door’s Luisa’s. Then — I don’t know, circa the late ’90s — former Michael’s head chef, Sang Yoon, bought the place. He spruced up the interior a bit, kept the micro brewery side of the biz, put in a lame cuivinet (sp?) that dispensed 6 poorly-selected, over-priced, wines. He promised me it was going to go more toward wine, but never followed through on his promise. He also began a bar menu. The burger became famous, nationally renowned in some magazines as the best west of the Rockies. When I first had it I thought it was great. For years he would not cook it to order — med. rare, period. Since then, he’s changed his tune and you can now get it well done — anathema to any chef. He uses decent quality meat, but it’s feedlot cattle — and that product is nasty in your system. His trick to an ostensibly sui generis burger has always been the carmelized onions and the Maytag blue cheese. When I got into cooking I started to experiment with the burger. I use either 100 percent pastured bison or cow that I get from the Famers’ Market. I’ll put cheese — usually goat — into the center of the burger and mold it so that it’s 1 1/2″ thick and perfect from end to end. If I’m feeling luxurious I’ll carmelize the onions and set them to rest. I’ll turn on my oven to 175 degrees, the lowest I can set it. In a pan on high heat I’ll use some olive or coconut oil and sear the burger for 3 mins. on one side, careful not to move it during that time. I’ll then remove the burger, take the pan off the heat, set it on the counter and wait until it cools down. Then I’ll add a generous amount of butter, wait until it melts — it shouldn’t burn — turn the heat down to med. low [sic], then return the burger, seared side up. In the butter I’ll add s&p and herbs de Provence (but you can substitute thyme or rosemary or whatever). For 10-12 mins. I’ll spoon the butter/herb/s&p mixture over the burger every couple minutes. (I find s&p sprinkled on meat before cooking turns the pepper bitter and obliterates the salt and scorches all the flavor out of the herbs.) Then I’ll finish it in the 175-oven for 10 mins. It’s perfect every time. La Brea Bakery makes a great roll for this burger — better than FO’s. My meat is better than Yoon’s. I control the ingredients. Total cost to me: about $6.50 per burger (no tax, no tip). FO couldn’t duplicate my methode de burger bec. they would go out of business. The FO burger is good, but in the end you can do better at home and, by controlling your ingredients, it’s not only a better burger, but healthier. I haven’t had the Umami burger, and there may not be a better burger in town if you want to go out, but when I go out I get sushi — that I can’t duplicate like the Japanese. The FO burger I can easily surpass.
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thank you! i also have a burger recipe that kills fo’s burger, but that will be in an upcoming post. i was trying to be a bit (perhaps too much) concise in my review, but you kinda nailed it. grass-fed is a must, and i can’t believe i used to (not so long ago) order my burgers well done (gasp!). i made my own buns the last time i made them at home, but will take your la brea bakery suggestion if in a crunch. fyi, i was not impressed with umami, but will give them another chance. try paul martin’s in el segundo. the service is crap, but the burger is stellar. also, if you are in nyc, check out the burger at the corner bistro (8th+jane).
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