You Had Me At “Butter”

Welcome, officially, to the second to last day of the 2011 year.  Where has all the time gone?  I’m thoroughly set to enjoy these next two days as we have all sorts of plans from a sushi party to a family New Year’s Eve bash to Christmas #2, if you can believe it.  But while I sit munching on my peanut butter toast this morning, I want to recap for you last night’s awesome culinary adventure.

Jack and I set out to meet my old sophomore/junior year college roommate for dinner since we were both in the area (she goes to school out of state, two hours away).  I chose a new place that just opened on the 20th called BRU.  It specializes in burgers and based on the menu I was getting really excited at the prospect of trying it all.  We arrived and were seated in the bar area.  The whole place had low lighting and beautiful wood tables.  The whole place felt like casual elegance but I didn’t feel underdress in jeans and a long sleeve race T-shirt.

Our waitress came over and took our drink orders as well as recommended a few appetizers to start but we ended up going with a different dish to start with: chili cheese fries.

These were incredible.  The fries were the perfect crunchy texture and the chili was totally unique.  There was something different about it, maybe a cinnamon or bittersweet chocolate flavor, but man did I want a bowl of it just to eat with a spoon!  There was some sort of cheese on it that had a bit of a kick which complimented the sweeter-side chili.

While we were chomping down on our plate of fries I perused the wine selection and decided to try the Veramonte Pinot Noir.  It was nice and smooth without that typical dry, acidic finish of red wines.  I really like it and ordered a glass for dinner.

For dinner we all got burgers because let’s be honest, what else are you going to order at a “burger bar”??  In their defense there are salads and other types of sandwiches on the menu but  like I said, burgers are where it’s at.  Anyways, I started my perusal of the burger section and I made it all of three lines and I was done.

When I announced my choice to Jack and Molly at the table, they promptly asked me the obvious question: “What is taleggio cheese?”  I honestly didn’t know and hadn’t considered it really so I said I would ask and when our server arrived again I did.  She started to describe it as “a cheese that has a buttery flavor, a bit like mozz…” and I stopped her.  “Oh, you can stop, you had me at butter!”

Wow

That is pretty much the only word for this burger.  The flavors were incredible, the bun toasted, the cheese everything so flavorful!  Another plus: I asked for it to be cooked medium and it was spot on.

Seriously, the cooking of the burger really makes or breaks it.  The whole thing tastes so much more amazing if the meat is tender and juicy.  Basically, this burger was a great experience.  On the side I got onion rings where were totally made in the kitchen from scratch instead of out of a bag.  I appreciate this a bunch.  They were delicious with just the right golden brown batter to onion ratio.  They came with housemade ketchup too which was yummy as well.

The other two at my table ordered the following both with fries:

Both of them were stellar as well.  I’m fairly sure Molly had a moment with her burger…  After dinner we were offered dessert and who were we to refuse??  We chose the chocolate option from the menu of two and not five minutes later this cup of wonderful landed on our table with one spoon.  We promptly asked for two more.

Yum.  The raspberry was nice and pleasantly gritty followed by the smooth, semi-sweet chocolate mousse.  It was a lovely way to end the whole dinner.  I would totally recommend this place and I wouldn’t mind being a regular here.  Loved it!

Now I’m off to work out before starting the rest of my day.  Yesterday I came home from the airport and did 5 miles on the treadmill.  I hadn’t run since before vacation started so I was more than happy to sweat again.  I admit I did okay with not exercising on vacation.  Usually I’m nervous as all get out about it, anxious that I’m not burning calories and staying fit so I think I was reassured that I didn’t lose anything in terms of distance and fitness when I stepped back on the treadmill.  See Jill, you didn’t exercise every day and nothing bad happened… Reassurance, indeed.

Questions: What is your favorite burger?
Most adventurous burger?