Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.
The Elmwood Burger
Ah, Elmwood burger. You are a special burger, indeed. The kind of burger I treat myself with when I’ve been a good boy. Or if I’ve had a bad day. The kind of burger I get when my girlfriend is busy and then when she asks what I ate, I tell her I just had vegetables. Then I text owner Chris Kelling and tell him if he rats me out, I will end him.
To describe it simply, I’d say it’s the half-Korean cousin of classic "Western burger.” You know, onion rings, bacon, BBQ sauce. But not really that stuff. The onion rings have been replaced with crispy fried shallots—if you haven’t done so already, I highly recommend you go to any of the international groceries and buy a container of them and put them on everything you cook. Instead of your typical, cloyingly sweet BBQ sauce, they make a slightly fiery Korean BBQ sauce. I asked chef/owner Adam Altnether to describe it: “It’s a three day process of cooking a beef jus that ends with the addition of apple cider vinegar, Korean soy sauce, and gochujang. Now please leave the kitchen, we’re in the middle of service.” The sauce, as you can tell from the photo above, is much thinner than Sweet Baby Ray’s, so yes, this is a slightly messy burger. If you’re eating with other people, it’s almost certainly a knife-and-fork burger. If you’re dining alone, go wild.
The final toppings are iceberg lettuce and American cheese. Altnether, always innovating, flips the burger so the cheese goes on the bottom. This allows the sauce to really permeate the burger and not just run off. Genius, this boy is.
The real star of the show is Chris Kelling’s suit collection—wait, no. The star of the show is obviously the patty. You can’t make a special burger with garbage meat. The 35-day dry aged beef comes from Flannery Farms’ Holstein cattle, typically used for dairy. Adam tells me, “Holsteins tend to have less exterior fat and much more intramuscular fat.” I wish I was more like a Holstein.
Vying for the title of Burger King, Adam has chosen to flame broil the burgers in their wildly hot Josper grill/oven. The finished product is a slightly smoky, kinda spicy, classic-but-not burger. I recommend you grab a seat at the bar and dig in while drinking a cocktail from Dave Greteman. Oh, and you have to order a side of the super crispy potatoes with harissa.
Elmwood Burger
korean bbq sauce, bacon, fried shallots, american cheese, pickles
Animal Style Nachos
St. Louis is getting a Shake Shack! Woohoo! To celebrate, I decided to make ShackBurger nachos—but then I happened to see a Facebook post talking about an In N Out double-double, Animal Style, and I changed my mind. If you're somehow unaware, In N Out and Shake Shack are the two coastal fast-food burger chains that people love because they treat their staff well, they don't buy disgusting meat and produce, and their food is mighty tasty. Here in the Midwest, we've got their fat, trashy cousin, Five Guys.
The main differences that I could discern from an Animal Style burger and a ShackBurger is the mustard-coated burger patty and addition of caramelized onions. Besides that, they're both just meat, bun, lettuce, tomato, "secret sauce". I know that the idea of cooking a burger patty that's been smeared with yellow mustard sounds gross, but it's vital for an accurate taste of In N Out. Even their own website says it: "a mustard cooked beef patty." So don't argue with me.
I have to say, I was quite impressed with the end result. It tastes almost exactly like a I remember an Animal Style burger tasting. I guarantee your friends and family will like you more if you make this for them.
Animal Style Nachos
Animal Style Nachos
Yield: 4-6 | Prep: 25 hour | Cook: 5 Min | Total: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
CHEESE SAUCE
(ADAPTED FROM SERIOUS EATS)
8 oz American cheese
1 T corn starch
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t paprika
HAMBURGER
4-6 hamburger patties
yellow mustard
oil
salt
pepper
CARAMELIZED ONIONS
3-5 onions, diced
1 T butter
water
SECRET SAUCE
1/2 C mayo
2 T ketchup
1 T yellow mustard
1 T pickle relish
pinch of cayenne
pickle juice
TOPPINGS
1 c tomato, diced
1 c pickles, diced
1 head of romaine, shaved
METHOD
Secret Sauce
(Make Ahead)
Combine mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, and cayenne in a bowl. Add enough pickle juice (or water) to thin it out enough for easy nacho application. Set aside.
Caramelized Onions
(Make Ahead)
Melt butter in a larger, hot pan. Add onions. Cook until fond forms on the bottom of the pan. Add some water. Continue this for 15 minutes or so until the onions have really melted down into a spectacular onion jam.
Toppings
Dice tomatoes and pickles, set aside. Cut romain into thin slices, set aside.
Putting It All Together
Burgers
Heat a pan or grill. Season both sides of the burger and place in the hot pan. On the side facing upwards, apply a schmear of yellow mustard (I know this is odd, but it’s what In N Out does). After 3 minutes, flip the burgers. Cook mustard-side down another 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and chop into bite sized pieces.
Nachos
Cover all the plates you’re going to use with chips. Put the burger pieces over the chips.
Put the shredded cheeses and cornstarch in a small pot and mix. Add the evaporated milk and cook on low, stirring with a whisk continuously. Once the cheese sauce has melted, dip a chip in and make sure that the taste of the cornstarch has cooked out. If it’s all good, add the paprika and turmeric (this is just for color).
Pour the cheese sauce over the burger and chips, then top with tomatoes, pickles, caramelized onions, secret sauce, and romaine.
Dave and Tony's
With my newfound freedom, I now have the time to go all over St. Louis at lunch time - with that, I'll be posting some shorter lunch pieces. To kick things off, I visited Dave & Tony's Premium Burger Joint in Creve Coeur. As the name implies, burgers are their thing: you can either pick one of their pre-designed burgers, or fill out a sheet at the counter for a custom one. The range of options is hefty. You could craft a healthy salad with grilled chicken and a garden's worth of veggies, or you could get a extra large steakburger on a pretzel bun with cheese, onion rings, a fried egg, bacon, french fries, and steak butter. I keep meaning to ask them what the most ultimate (read: fattening) burger someone has ordered is - I bet I'd be impressed, but also disgusted.
The restaurant is family friendly, so it's got something for everyone: soups, hot dogs, chicken fingers, nachos. And since you may be stuck bringing your demon kids with you, take advantage of the beer and wine they have.
I typically get the Asian Salad wrap with grilled chicken, a healthier choice that allows me to go eat The Peacemaker's po'boys. It's mixed greens, sprouts, red onion, carrots, avocado, crispy wontons, and a sesame soy dressing. Get the dressing on the side if you don't enjoy a soggy wrap.
Their burgers are damn good for $6.99, especially considering they make pretty much everything in-house. This monstrosity below was the daily special, the Brewhouse Burger. A juicy medium burger topped with crispy onion, smokey bacon, jalapenos, stout mustard, and a cheddar spread, all on a pretzel roll. Eating that meant at least one less day in my life, I think, but it was worth it.
Asian Salad Wrap at Dave & Tony's
Burger at Dave & Tony's
Dave & Tony's is a solid option for a quick meal that won't break the bank, nor leave you disappointed. The business crowd crushes the restaurant during weekday lunches, but week nights and weekends are typically a good choice for a meal with the whole family.