Smash burgers!!
The newest, hottest burgers in town
“Hey, guys! I’m thinking of heading over to Café Beaujolais to grab one of those smash burgers for lunch today. Who wants to join? Meet me there?”
If you had been looking over my shoulder this morning, that’s the text message you would have seen fly from my hungry fingers as I dreamed of the perfect meal to fuel me up after my 9-mile run. I hadn’t had one of these burgers yet, but Guy and Steven had been telling me tales of savory, juicy, burger heaven since the Café started making them in October, and today seemed like the perfect day to see what they had been so heartily praising. So, I shot them a text while I was getting ready for my afternoon shift on the Front Desk, pretty certain they would jump at the suggestion. Sure enough, just a few minutes later I received an emphatic “Yes” from Guy. We were on!
The chalkboard menu propped up by the take out window, which was a functioning door at one point in bygone years.
As I strolled up the block from where I had parked not too far from the historic Café Beaujolais, I could see Guy waiting impatiently in the street, peering around to see where his lunch buddies were. I chuckled and waved. “He must be hungry!” I thought. We greeted each other and ambled up to the Café’s take out window around the side – the only place at the Café where you can get one of their popular smash burgers. As we were pondering the beautifully concise menu on the chalkboard, Steven appeared from around the corner and agreed with us that the truffle burger sounded amazing. We all wound up with the double burger in the end though. For my part, my legs needed that protein! And of course, we couldn’t resist an order of those special fries with that super secret rub. Who possibly could?
These fries with their intriguingly secret spice rub are not to be missed.
Chef Julian greeted us through the little take out window as he passed by in search of some ingredient or other. We could hear the hum of busy tables in the restaurant’s main dining room. Our drinks appeared in the window. We chatted a bit as more folks came up to order. Then at last the gal taking orders called out our name and held forth a beautifully full paper bag that smelled of beautifully delicious things. I think I almost started to drool.
Back at the inn, there was no being dainty with this beast of a burger!
Since it was a tad on the chilly side, we decided to take our feast back to the inn and enjoy it in the warmth and comfort of our own Great Room rather than make a picnic of it on one of the outdoor tables the Café has scattered around their Brickery. As we got out of our cars and crunched across our gravel parking lot, Guy groaned, “Torture! I had to drive here with that bag on my passenger seat the whole way, taunting me with its amazing smell. Let’s eat!” Once inside, we divvied up the spoils and dove in. Oh my goodness. It looked like a total mess, but the good kind, you know, the glorious mess of unapologetically unfussy perfection. The bun was obviously fresh and locally made. The melted cheese was so wonderfully all over everything. Roasted onion was dripping out down the side past the pickle and lettuce that were peeking out from around those two craggy, toasty-edged, perfectly seared burger patties. Chef Julian had created a masterpiece.
Wow. Just wow. SOOOOOOOO good!!!!!!!!
What is a smash burger? Think good Niman Ranch ground beef smashed down onto a super hot flat top to sear in the best of the flavorful juices. The edges get a bit ragged and toasty, and the result is sheer perfection.
Grab your own smash burger from the take out window at Café Beaujolais in Mendocino on any Wednesday or Thursday 11:30-2:30. If it’s sunny, dig in and enjoy in the gorgeous garden surrounding their Brickery. Or swing your paper bag of divinely-scented goodies down to Big River Beach or out onto the Mendocino Headlands for a fantastic picnic. If it’s raining or just too cold, bring it all back to the inn and watch the weather as you happily munch away in the Great Room by the fire. Fair warning though – we may try to steal a bite!
A couple other locals wait by the take out window around Cafe Beaujolais’ side for their piping hot smash burgers.
Words and pictures by Laura Hockett