Chef Spike Mendelsohn said the hamburgers at his restaurant, Good Stuff Eatery, get their flavor from three different cuts of beef and diverse toppings.
While rap group Public Enemy’s 1988 declaration “Don’t Believe the Hype” may have been applicable in cases such as the Y2K scare, Darko Milicic’s entrance into the 2003 NBA Draft and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the mantra is definitely inappropriate for a review of the much-publicized Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Despite tons of press — often thanks to the promotion of its reality television character owner — the quality food-done-fast (not fast-food) restaurant really is what its name claims to be.
Opened, owned and operated by Top Chef Chicago alum Spike Mendelsohn, (you know, the cocky, scruffy guy with the hat) the faux-greasy spoon burger joint made area news this past May for serving first lady Michelle Obama. And Mendelsohn had foodies buzzing as he racked up burger awards at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival in February and at the New York Food and Wine Festival’s Blue Moon Burger Bash last month. The only Washington-based chef in a fry bag full of New Yorkers won the judge’s pick in the latter contest by defying traditionalist burger heavyweights — including Bobby Flay — with Good Stuff Eatery’s Obama burger: a bacon, blue cheese, horseradish mayo and red onion marmalade-topped success.
Just like the national competitions, Good Stuff Eatery is driven by 28-year-old Mendelsohn and his pop-star status in the food and reality TV scenes. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a huge picture of Chef Spike in his trademark fedora, along with his quote about his grandfather’s inspirational burgers.
I walked upstairs past the organized, noisy chaos of families, Hill staffers, students and yuppies lined up near the busy griddle station, some bobbing their heads to the classic rock blaring from the speakers. As soon as I reached the second floor, I saw Mendelsohn, sans hat, chatting it up with a group of female customers and posing for pictures. And a few yards away, hanging from the ceiling, was a massive, plastic cowbell with the Good Stuffy Eatery cow logo.
If I hadn’t tasted Good Stuff Eatery’s food, I might have been cynical and labeled Mendelsohn’s portrait, mingling behavior and branded cowbell as shameless self-plugging. But my meal was so satisfying, I’m just going to be an optimist and admit Mendelsohn is a great host with a talent for marketing.
Although Mendelsohn, whose given first name is Evangelos, started out cooking classical French and Vietnamese food, he said he wanted his first restaurant to be a laid-back hangout with familiar food for the masses. Mendelsohn’s sister, Micheline — a former Canadian Embassy staffer — persuaded him to move from New York to provide the stuffy Capitol Hill neighborhood with some much-needed comfort American food.
And Good Stuff Eatery does just that with all á la carte items priced less than $10. The 5.5-ounce beef burger patties, a blend of freshly ground chuck, sirloin and brisket, are always griddled to a juicy, slightly pinker than medium. The chuck — from the cow’s shoulder — provides the fatty goodness, while the sirloin and brisket — from near the ribs and chest, respectively — give the burger a pronounced, deeply beefy flavor. And the burgers somehow achieve the coveted charred exterior and crispy crust, despite cooks not smashing them down with a spatula on the griddle.
“No way!” Mendelsohn exclaimed when I asked if he and his cooks use the smash technique common in old-school Midwestern diners.
“We prepare our burgers differently,” Mendelsohn explained. “The key is to put the burgers on a tray after we cook them and let them rest before we re-heat them for orders. The juices distribute and you get a tastier burger.”
When Mendelsohn won the Blue Moon Burger Bash with his unorthodox toppings, certain hard-core burger purists expressed dissent in the press and on Internet forums. But despite garnishing his Obama burger with pungent Roquefort cheese and offering other innovative creations such as a burger version of a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich at Good Stuff Eatery, Mendelsohn said his favorite burgers are the menu’s basic, “handcrafted” options.
“So to all you burger purists out there, I am one of you,” he said. “But I’m running a business and I want to appeal to a lot of people with varied toppings.”
And Good Stuff Eatery’s stocks would be off the charts if all traders tasted the smokehouse burger. Wrapped in wax paper so the buttered and toasted potato roll can steam to optimum, fluffy softness, the sinfully yet awesomely greasy burger features a savory medley of thick-cut bacon and melted and browned sharp cheddar cheese that’s almost blindingly yellow. It’s also stacked with onion rings and barbecue sauce.The bacon, cheese and onion are smushed between the hot buns to form a texture and flavor tapestry that stimulates taste buds with united layers of salty, smoky, chewy, porky, creamy and crunchy. So many adjectives, so many sensations.
The fries, served in an oil-stained brown paper bag — similar to that of Five Guys Burgers and Fries — have extra character due to a sprinkle of fresh rosemary. They are browned with the skin on, have a creamy and well-cooked interior and are basically everything I want in the addictive side. Even when my stomach was full, I couldn’t stop shoving my greasy hands into the bag for more.
And the diverse dipping sauces make the fry-fest even more fun. The chipotle mayo, similar to other versions I’ve had, could have used more kick and spice, but the Old Bay mayo was properly crabby and the Sriracha mayo was just as hot and tart as the actual Asian cuisine condiment.
In addition to burgers and fries, Good Stuff Eatery serves milkshakes with custard made in-house. The best-seller, the toasted marshmallow milkshake, is a decadently thick vanilla custard and Marshmallow Fluff concoction. But it doesn’t achieve the smoky essence of marshmallows heated by a camp fire. And the extra two whole marshmallows, while a pleasant complement, were barely toasted.
Despite my brief disappointment, I still inhaled the milkshake as the amiably loquacious Mendelsohn discussed his plans to open a pizzeria in early 2010, called We, The Pizza, next door.
And as I got cheddar and sauce all over my bottom lip, Mendelsohn expressed his passion for sustainable agriculture and supporting local farmers. He said Good Stuff Eatery’s meat and vegetables are raised and grown in Maryland and Virginia.
“I want to teach the new wave of kids how to eat better and make sure I’m serving 100 percent beef,” Mendelsohn said.
And although he hopes to make Good Stuff Eatery a national chain, he said he definitely won’t make his restaurant anything like McDonald’s. “You don’t know what you’re eating there or where the food is coming from,” he lamented. “It’s like mystery meat.”
His conscious motto sounds as good to me as the fries I polished off on the Metro ride home.
So despite all the hype, Good Stuff Eatery elevates timeless, casual dishes to new heights and is a homey hangout with a proprietor who is the life of any burger bash.
rush@umdbk.com
