It’s a sweltering Saturday in November, and the La Brea Tar pits are hosting a science festival. The knolls are humming with educational amusements and food trucks; young synapses are firing, and tired parents are hunting for a meal that might help them momentarily turn their own brains off. The vendors that cater to these festival-goers know that their dog whistles can ill afford to be too quiet. Blessedly, a single auspicious “V” handles the heavy lifting for The Vurger Guyz and they catch my eye almost instantly upon my entering the grounds.
To the omnivore crowd, this “V” appears to be a scarlet letter; the long line ahead of me is being winnowed down as each family connects the dots. As a father of two slouches out of the queue with his kids in tow, his grade school daughter struggles to find the language to explain their change of course to her younger brother – – she settles on “These burgers are made of vegetables”. It would seem that whether Beyond patties and the like are over-processed or irredeemably tainted by greenery is a matter of perspective.
It can be tough at the best of times to settle outside a vegan eatery and observe passers-by peering at the menu, grimacing and ultimately rejecting your values in real time; I imagine it stings much more for the purveyors trying to win their business. Watching the Vurger Guyz team handle a tough crowd with grace is a humbling reminder that navigating holiday meals with omnivores is not the hardest job in vegan history.
The Vurger itself is a well crafted creation that makes excellent use of the horizontal plane. The layers are all quite broad and, with the exception of the patty and buns, relatively thin. Think elevated whopper with better ingredients and without the criminal over-application of mayo. The pillowy sesame buns are lightly toasted, and the Beyond patty is grilled to an even medium. A few slips of lettuce and tomato add some color, american ‘cheese’ bonds it all together and a lovely thousand island style spread anchors the flavor. The classical presentation is well-balanced and satisfying.
Coming of age when the bistro style burger still reigned, I learned to expect that the pinky on my burger-bearing hand might be drafted into service at a moment’s notice to brace the back of a loose patty. While an overstuffed burger on a dainty brioche roll might play well in pictures and video bites, it doesn’t play well with diners on the move without easy access to a handwashing station. The Vurger makes no such ask of my outermost digit; it’s not only a proper treat but also a considerate form factor for the context it’s most likely to be enjoyed in. Ironically it’s often the fast-food style burgers that allow themselves to be enjoyed with the pinky out, and the excellent Vurger is eminently deserving of this treatment.
