Beef – It’s What’s for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

“A hamburger can be a work of art,” he said matter of factly. This, while I was rolling my eyes that my infinitely better half would even dream of ordering a hamburger at a casual, yet, classy joint like The Fig Café in Glen Ellen. I mean, really – who would go to a place with menu items such as tart du jour, café eggs Florentine, grilled butcher’s steak and steamed mussels – and order a hamburger? Especially when he always orders hamburgers.

So, while I was busy sipping a mimosa and awaiting my very own tart du jour, he was drinking in a deep cabernet with visions of ground beef in his head, no doubt. All the while I was thinking how nice it was to have a far more sophisticated pallet than the cave dweller with whom I dined.

Then it happened.

The waitress brought my wild mushroom tart – good albeit – but God bless America, it looked puny next to the best-looking burger I had ever seen. If it was art, this burger was a Picasso. So there I was: major mea culpa followed by begging for a bite. Thankfully he obliged. He’s pretty gracious…for a cave dweller.

By Shelly Kessen