After 250,000 online votes from burger buffs nationwide (and a final call made by culinary experts), the James Beard Foundation has named the five winners of its Blended Burger Project — and one of them is based in St. Petersburg. Restaurant Associates’ Courtyard Cafe at Raymond James beat out more than 300 restaurants for this honor from the fourth annual summer-long competition, geniusly combining finely chopped fresh mushrooms with two meat proteins to pull off a flavorful-meets-sustainable patty.
What submission allowed Courtyard Cafe to join its fellow victors — Palm Bay’s Bearded Chef, plus Burgh’ers Restaurant (Pittsburgh), Toltec Brewing (Albuquerque, New Mexico) and Curb Side Bistro (Texas) — which were selected by a prestigious panel of judges that included TV personality Andrew Zimmern?
It’s called the “Smokey Mushroom Venison Blended Burger,” showcasing a mix of farm-raised New Zealand venison, Angus beef and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms.
Featured on the cafe’s menu through July 31, the chargrilled burger was seasoned with alder-smoked sea salt, cracked pepper and porcini mushroom powder, then presented on a sourdough pretzel roll with beet ketchup, smoked Tillamook Cheddar and wild ramp béarnaise. Phew.
“We were thrilled at the wide array of creative recipes and types of eateries that took part in this year’s competition,” said James Beard Foundation COO Kris Moon in a statement. “Adding fresh, chopped mushrooms to the burger patty makes the traditional burger much more flavorful and sustainable – a change James Beard Foundation stands behind. We congratulate the winners and are grateful for all restaurants and chefs that took part.”
In October, Courtyard Cafe and the other winners will cook their Blended Burger entries at the historic James Beard House in New York City.
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This article appears in Aug 23-30, 2018.
