22.8.09

Mission Street Food Presents: Mission Burger

Starting Sunday August 23rd, we will serve beef and vegan burgers on the DL--the counter inside Duc Loi supermarket (18th and Mission). Duc Loi has graciously agreed to donate $1 from the sale of each burger to the San Francisco Food Bank. Lunch service begins at noon and continues until we run out of food. We'll open every day but Thursday.

MENU

Beef Burger: 1/3 lb of aged harris ranch brisket, short rib and chuck, granulated* and seared in beef fat. Served with monterey jack, caramelized onion and caper aioli on a griddled acme bun - $8

Vegan Burger: maitake, shitake, roasted kale, edamame, scallion, sesame seed and fava-chickpea patty. Served with avocado and miso "mayo"** on a griddled acme bun - $7

Fries - $2

* granulation is our term for the process popularized by Heston Blumenthal, a michelin 3-star chef based in London. Blumenthal combines strands of ground meat to create a loosely grained "meat column" (not Blumenthal's phrase), then slices the column into patties. The result is, well, a delicacy.

** like traditional mayonaise this is an emulsion, but we're using seaweed instead of egg yolks.

13 comments:

Jared Zimmerman said...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3850082204_ed56bc549d.jpg"

Dave! said...

This is great, but I wish it wasn't Harris Ranch beef.

Unknown said...

Hi Dave,
What did you mean when you said that you wish the hamburger wasm't Harris Beef? I am no familiar with what might be wrong with that beef?
Thanks
Carol

Unknown said...

Drive down Highway 5 towards L.A. sometime - about halfway there you'll pass by Harris Ranch and will understand why.

Industrial Cattle Processing at its worst - but I'm sure the Mission Street folks want to keep the burger reasonably affordable. Throw in some Prather Ranch beef and you've got yourself a 12-dollar burger.

sc said...

I hope the over salted-ness was just a fluke and not standard. I love salt and salty but yesterdays burgers were salt overkill. I'll try them again next week to be sure.

brooke said...

I agree Dave. Harris beef is a rung below Niman, which is overrated and just as corporate feed-lot as Rancher's Reserve these days. Make it Marin Sun Farms, guys! I'd eat it every day.

MSF said...

If we used Marin Sun Farms beef, we would be forced to raise prices somewhat, and possibly alienate customers many of whom are probably barely willing to pay $8 for a burger.

Also, though sustainable and grass fed, Marin Sun beef actually tasted out to be different and no more desirable when aged and handled in the same fashion (and so did not justify the price difference).

Lastly, while Grass fed beef is "sustainable" it has never been clear to me that the world is a better place as a result. Like what if we left the beef to big ranches and Marin Sun staff just made solar panels for a living? Is there any economy of scale advantage that more than offsets the unsustainability? I have no idea. That's why we just cast aside any moral imperatives by donating a lot of money to charity and using whatever product provides what we find to be the best balance of flavor and cost.

If we were ever busy enough, then we'd consider adding the option of Marin Sun beef, but for now sales are too unpredictable.

Thanks for your interest though.

chntly said...

New to SF, and just "discovered" you guys, Duc Loi, and your burgers. Amazing - love the tender granulated method.

Thank you for sustaining the neighborhood with your affordable burgers. I very rarely eat meat (my own way doing something for sustainable agribusiness). But when I get that hankering for a burger, I thank MSF for the choice.

Jun Belen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jun Belen said...

A big big fan of both the burger and the fried chicken sandwich!!

Unknown said...

Please please bring back the Vegan Burger

Unknown said...

One of the best burgers AND fries I've had in awhile.

Anne said...

I really never eat beef, but heard this was the best burger ever so I tried one, and WOW! Yes! The best burger ever. I couldn't wait to try the veg burger, but alas I did (wait) and now it's gone! Please bring it back! Please?