Thursdays with TT: CT at Flip Burger

I am taking this week off and handing over the reins to my eater in crime, CT. Bon Appetit- TT.

Every year, my office sends us away for our annual training. This year we were in Atlanta, the land of great chefs such as Top Chef’s Richard Blais and Kevin Gillespie. Being a huge fan of Top Chef, I knew I would have to visit at least one of their restaurants. Being the large group that we were, I opted to take everyone to Richard Blais’ Flip Burger. Now, I’m a firm believer that Richard should have been the Top Chef Winner, so I was very curious to see what he came up with for a burger joint.

The burgers came in two styles: Beef Burgers

And Flip Burgers

My friend, MVB, knew how excited I was for this dinner, so she offered to split two burgers of my choice with me. So many sounded delicious, it was tough to decide, but in the end I opted for one Beef – Butcher’s Cut and one Flip – Gyro.

The Butcher’s cut was delicious – topped with caramelized onions, bleu cheese, shallots, frisee salad and a red-wine jam. The caramelized onions and bleu cheese flavors really stuck out, while the others blended together, but in a good way. Bleu cheese isn’t my favorite on its own, but worked well in the sandwich since there wasn’t too much of it. We also got a side order of the zucchini fries per MVB’s request. These were good – crunchy and not too greasy. I only ate one as we were sharing sides across the table.

The Gyro burger was a spiced lamb burger, topped with more roasted lamb, lettuce, tomato and pickled cucumbers. It was a favorite among the table as many people ordered it and rightfully so. It was great and again, the toppings didn’t overwhelm the burger but added nice flavors.

We also got the buffalo sweetbreads on the side, see above with the Gyro burger. After TT and my dinner at Maialino, I was excited to try sweetbreads again and I still like them! They weren’t that crispy, but that’s expected under buffalo sauce. The sauce was good without being too spicy. Unfortunately, I only got one of these too as I offered them down the table, not expecting anyone to actually eat them. However, I was happy that everyone gobbled them down as quickly as I did.

Also, on the side you’ll note the whipped tzatziki dressing for the burger and the whipped ranch dressing for the sweetbreads – this is Richard’s specialty! I loved both sauces. They were very light and airy making them a great accompaniment to the dishes without the heaviness that creamy sauces can give.

Some innards of the two burgers.

The Butcher’s was a perfect medium, with lots of juiciness. The lamb was a little over-cooked for my taste, but the tzatziki sauce helped keep it moist.

There were 15 people at the dinner, so I couldn’t get pictures of everyone’s burgers before they were inhaled. However, I snagged a pic of the Philly Beef Burger and Steak Tartare. On the Philly Burger, there was an upscale-cheese-whiz of sorts. They had put the cheese through the same process as the ranch and tzatziki sauces, giving it a lighter look and taste. The Steak Tartare Burger got great reviews and was the waiter’s top recommendation (the soft poached egg yolk looked delicious), while the Philly Burger was given a “just ok” review. I think the cheese was a shock.

Philly Burger

Steak Tartare

We ordered some fries and onion rings for the table. Both were delicious – lightly fried without being too greasy. We got fried pickles too, but since I hate pickles I quickly passed these down, forgetting to take a picture.

TT says: Yea, I am sure you “forgot.”

All of the different sides that are offered.

And of course, no meal at Flip Burger would be complete without a Milkshake! Even after all that food, we had to do it!

Four of us got the Rice Krispy shake – it had a vanilla base with bits of rice krispies in it, along with a mini treat on top! It was delicious, but way too filling to be finished. We probably should have split it.

One girl got the Nutella and Burnt Marshmallows – this was fantastic! Great chocolate flavor with perfectly burnt marshmallows as though they had a campfire out back. I was tempted to get this one, but glad I at least got to taste it.

Lastly there was a Turtle Shake – I didn’t try it, but it looked like a vanilla base with caramel and pecans? I didn’t get a full review, but it was finished so it must’ve been good.

TT says: I am dissapointed no one, got the “Offaltine” shake. It has foie gras and chocolate. I bet CT’s mom would have gotten it since she is a huge foie gras lover.

Overall, this place was a huge success for our large group. They happily accommodated our group of 15, the waiter was very helpful and friendly, and the prices were very reasonable! But best of the all, the food was fantastic! If I’m ever in Atlanta again, I will definitely be going back to try some of the other burgers.