Mini-burger madness: A quick look at Burgers And Brew
Bill Lubing/ courtesy REAP Food Group
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Last year’s Burgers And Brew event at Capital Brewery took one of the most classic pairings in American cuisine and threw stuff like quail eggs into the mix. Instead of staging a humble backyard cookout-type affair, the sustainability advocates at Madison’s REAP Food Group let local chefs turn the burger into a savory canvas for experimenting with locally farmed (and sometimes mildly extravagant) ingredients, pairing each creation with a Wisconsin microbrew. As REAP prepares to bring the event back this Saturday, Decider spoke with organizer Rachel Armstrong and looked back on some of last year’s finest offerings.
What exactly is it?
Ten local chefs will be paired with some of Southern Wisconsin’s well-loved microbreweries, farmers, and cheese makers to demonstrate the merits of local food. Each chef will prepare a mini burger using locally sourced meat or vegetables, and will select a beer to complement it. Though it’s not a competition, there’s likely to be some friendly rivalry over which pairing draws the biggest lines. Tickets are $25, which gets you three mini burgers and their accompanying matched mini beer—your pick from among the 10 options. For dessert, Ian’s Pizza may also bring along some artisanal frozen yogurt made by Sugar River Dairy.
A fundraiser for whom?
This afternoon of burger gluttony will benefit REAP Food Group’s Buy Fresh Buy Local program, which helps Southern Wisconsin restaurants and consumers connect with local farmers and the flavors of our region. Since the program began in 2007, 25 restaurants have teamed up with local farmers. Armstrong says that Burgers and Brew gives people “the opportunity to see and taste how good local food is. We’re bringing together brewers and producers in way that’s accessible and that honors our state’s history.” That’s right—drinking beer now counts as honoring history.
What kinds of burgers will be featured?
Last year, Bluephies did an Asian-style sweet-and-sour pork burger with a pickled veggie slaw, while the Willy Street Co-op featured a veggie burger made from goat cheese, Himalayan red rice, chives, walnuts, dried cranberries, and egg. The craziest burger award went to Lombardino’s, which made a lamb burger topped with gruyere cheese and a fried quail egg. As for this year? This year’s highlights include Lombardino’s lamb-’n’-egg concoction once again; another lamb option from Bluephies; a Hungarian-style burger from Metcalfe’s Sentry, and L’Etoile’s bacon cheeseburger with garlic aioli.
What if you aren’t into quail eggs and shit on your burger?
Don’t worry. The chefs last year also prepared more conventional items like the Weary Traveler’s famous Bad Breath burger, kicked up a notch with a slice of Cedar Grove’s roasted garlic havarti. Or Brasserie V, which made its regular burger but added Hook’s cheddar. Expect more of that this year—a mix of the unusual and the conventional. There will also be two veggie options, one from Ian’s Pizza and the other from chef Tory Miller at L’Etoile.
Who’s going to be there?
If you’ve never had the funds for a splurge meal at L’Etoile, Burgers And Brew is your chance to taste how the place does burgers. It’s paired with Sand Creek Brewing of Black River Falls. Or maybe your tastes will run to the Weary Traveler burger, paired with a brew from Lake Louie. The other pairings are: Lombardino’s and Lakefront Brewing; Brasserie V and Furthermore Beer; the Willy Street Co-op and Sprecher Brewing; Ian’s Pizza and Central Waters Brewing; Bluephies and Capital Brewery; The Old Fashioned and Tyranena Brewing; Sardine and New Glarus; and Metcalfe’s Sentry and Great Dane Brewery.
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