New York City – Five restaurants have received top honors in the James Beard Foundation’s 2017 “Blended Burger Project™,” which challenged chefs to make their burgers more delicious, nutritious and sustainable by blending chopped mushrooms with meat.
From Memorial Day through July 31, 414 restaurants* in 45 states menued their own take on the blended burger in the third annual competition, encouraging patrons to vote online for their favorite. More than 400,000 consumer votes were cast, and the five restaurants that earned the most will be cooking their burgers at the historic James Beard House in New York City in early 2018.
“The Blended Burger Project is a phenomenal opportunity for chefs to make their dishes more plant forward and for patrons to discover how their favorite foods can be made healthier and more sustainably, simply by substituting 25-50 percent of the burger’s protein with mushrooms,” said Kristopher Moon, vice president, James Beard Foundation. “Chains, diners, white table cloth bistros, upscale eateries in the heart of cities, the suburbs and small towns developed thoughtful and creative blended burgers. We congratulate and appreciate all those who took part.”
Throughout the challenge, customers were encouraged to vote for their favorite burgers at jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject. The five winning restaurants are:
- Bareburger, New York City – The Porchetta Burger is a 50/50 mushroom and wild boar blend, topped with a black-garlic aioli, broccoli rabe, oven-roasted tomatoes, and aged provolone cheese on a ciabatta bun.
- The Bistro at Topsail, Surf City, N.C.– The Goomba Burger, comprised of local grass-fed Mills Family Farm beef blended with confit oyster and portobella mushrooms, topped with havarti, shiitake, bacon lemongrass aioli, heirloom tomato, baby arugula on a house baked bun.
- Cedar’s Café, Melbourne, Fla. – Brevard’s Taste of Summer Burger features blended mushrooms and lamb on an apricot and liquid smoke glazed bun, sour cherry mustard, basil, brie cheese, and an herb lemon caper walnut relish.
- Houston Yacht Club, La Porte, Texas – The Greeklish Burger consists of a beef chuck, cremini mushroom, and caper patty on a brioche bun and basil aioli with feta melted over the patty, topped with a mini greek salad and paprika oil.
- VINTAGE Kitchen, Norfolk, Va. – The Backyard Burger includes a grass-fed beef blended with confit oyster mushrooms, aged double cheddar and cracklin', charred ramp mayo, bacon rust, cab franc molasses, crispy hayman potato straws, coffee salt, demi-pain perdu, and brown butter mornay cooked in a cast iron skillet.
A randomly selected consumer voter also won a trip to New York to join in the Blended Burger Project winners’ reception at the James Beard House.
For ideas and inspiration for making The Blend at home, visit www.Blenditarian.com.
About the James Beard Foundation (JBF)
Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors chefs and other leaders making America's food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, the late James Beard was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful, and delicious food. Today JBF continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for students of culinary arts and food policy, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader convening. The Foundation also maintains the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org. Get food news, recipes, and more at the James Beard Foundation’s blog, or subscribe to the free digital newsletter Beard Bites. Follow @beardfoundation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Watch the James Beard House Kitchen Cam, James Beard Awards, and more on the Foundation’sLivestream channel. Find more JBF-related video on the Foundation’s YouTube channels.
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(*Includes 381 individual restaurants in addition to all participating Bareburgers
Source: James Beard Foundation (JBF)