The DIY Food Revolution
Since Subway’s success way back in the early 2000s, everything is becoming customizable. Recently, custom burgers are all the rage with burger bars popping up all around town. The Counter is a chain located across America that also happens to have a location that is a 10 minute walk from Caltech. If you don’t create anything too extravagant, you can have a solid meal for roughly $12. For people who find customization too difficult, they do have pre-determined combinations.
Is a burger still a burger if it does not have a bun? In-and-Out has a secret menu where you can order burgers “protein style”, which means that the buns are replaced with lettuce leaves. This is great for body building fanatics who want to save room for extra protein while cutting the carbs. It is slightly counter intuitive since the people I know, who order “protein style” often get a side a fries. Apparently carbs from potatoes don’t count. I bring this up because the Counter lets you get burgers on a bed of greens for an extra $1. Does that make it a burger SALAD?
I decided to test the burger salad this past week with my friends. My friend created a proper burger with a grilled chicken patty, while I opted for an albacore fillet patty on greens. We chose as many toppings that fit our order. Since albacore tuna is already very unusual for a burger patty, I am pretty sure I am just eating a salad by this point. If it doesn’t look like a burger or taste like a burger, it is not a burger. I think the restaurant should just call themselves a burger/salad bar.
One of the ironic aspects of eating healthy is that you feel the urge to treat yourself with dessert. We went to Bengees after for CUSTOMIZABLE ice cream. I argue ice cream is the most customizable because you can add any range of toppings and have it in a cone/cup. You can also sample as many flavors as you want. We sampled everything but chose to leave out toppings because we are ice cream purists. We got vegan strawberry, pistachio, and blueberry cheesecake. Burger salads and vegan ice cream? It doesn’t get more Califonia-American than this!
