my heart goes boom boom

Let's get some things out of the way. I love burgers. I am a failed vegetarian. Very very failed. But I also work for a climate change non-profit and take sustainability pretty seriously. So any burger joint that sources all its ingredients locally is one I have to try. I've been watching the development of Boom Boom Burgers online and was excited on Monday to see an announcement about its soft opening for Tuesday. A coworker and I walked from our office down to 1703 E. Franklin St. to try it out.

[View from outside]

Walking in I immediately spotted a friend which added even more fun to the rare lunch out. As soon as I walked up to the counter, Boom Boom Burger owner Josh Eftekhari recognized me from my Twitter picture. I think it was the first time it ever happened to me and I was impressed. Boom Boom has a great Twitter presence, promoting information about their suppliers as well as discussing Richmond events.

[Front counter]

Boom Boom's interior reflects their brand with strong explosive graphic details and bright, fun colors permeating the space. The menu is written on a chalkboard so specials can be easily changed and seasonality is key. Currently the basic burger comes ketchup and pickles since tomatoes aren't in season. There is also a mushroom burger, a bacon bbq burger, and one with grilled ones and special sauce. I was bummed they were out of bacon when I arrived, because (we've been over this) I love bacon.

[The Ms. Boom]

So on to the most important part: the burger. Let's just say I'm glad this place isn't closer to my office because I would having burgers twice a week. Great meat, grass-fed from Polyface Farms cooked medium-rare. The bun was an unexpected treat. Buns are crucial to a good burger but I never sit down expecting to be raving about the shell of the burger. Could have used extra pickles, but it's the type of place I'm sure is amenable to that type of request. One note, all business transactions on done via iPad. Bring a debit/credit card as they don't bother with cash.

[Saving the world. One burger at a time.]

Posted inside the bathroom. I love the slight tongue-in-cheek nature of the sign. Certainly Boom Boom has a deep commitment to sustainability and local sourcing, but you can tell they don't take themselves too seriously. I don't go out in the Bottom, but if I did I'd want to end the night here having an impromptu dance party with the staff while eating delicious, delicious local burgers.

design quote

"Graphic design is everything you can see and experience. I think life is graphic design really."
- Anthony Burrill

is the new york times reading my blog?

What with their stories on banh mi, which I wrote about for the banh mi throwdown, and their coverage of Husk Restaurant which I just posted about my visit, I'm begining to think the New York Times dining writers are just stealing ideas from this blog.

Wishful thinking.

music of the day: the head and the heart

The Head and the Heart

recipe: pork tenderloin with preserved lemons over couscous

I tend to not cook much meat, especially nicer cuts of meat due to my fear of overcooking them. But when my parents visited and brought me a freezer full of frozen goods ranging from her homemade casseroles to a pork tenderloin, I knew I had the perfect accompaniment for the dish.

For Christmas presents for several family members, I had made preserved lemons. Preserved lemons are quite easy to make and I was able to bulk purchase Meyer lemons at Trader Joes. I made a jar for myself and they were just about ready to use when the bounty of meats arrived. Googling turned up a few recipes for pork with preserved lemons, but the most delicious sounding was one from Bon Appétit that didn't actually use preserved lemons. So naturally I had to adapt it just a bit. I ended up creating a new(ish) dish: Pork Tenderloin over Isreali Couscous with a Preserved-Lemon Butter Sauce.

Despite my fears and the possibility that I sliced the pork much thicker than an inch (it took far longer to cook than expected) the meal turned out great, one of my favorites for a long time. The preserved lemon tastes incredibly fresh and adds a sweet note to the meal and the vegetables crunch is complemented by the chewier couscous.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch-thick medallions
• 4 or 5 tablespoons butter
• 2 cup chicken stock or canned broth
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• peel of 1 preserved lemon, diced
• 16 oz Israeli couscous
• 1 cup red peppers, roughly diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Cook couscous according to package.

Press pepper onto both sides of pork pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. (Or do as I did and cook in your bacon-fat seasoned skillet.) Season pork with salt. Cook until just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plates and keep warm.

[Pork in the skillet.]

Add stock and preserved lemon to skillet. Boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 7 minutes. Whisk in remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Add tomatoes and peppers. Cook for 2-3 minutes more. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place pork on top of couscous and pour sauce over both.

[Phone picture halfway through the meal. With roomie's green beans.]

Update: recipe for preserved lemons here.

dewdrop tents

I love when I stumble great design that has a social change objective. The drop shaped tents above are not only visually interesting but are a design intervention developed for the Road Alert Group, an activist group that protested the clearcutting of forests by living in the trees to prevent them from being cut down. The designer, Dré Wapenaar, developed the tent in 1998 to assist the protesters by providing a comfortable place for them to stay during their habitation of the forest. I'll skip the treatise on effective protest and just discuss the designwork. The photo above shows their current use at a campsite.

[I really appreciate when designers show their process work.]

The unique shape of the tents is eye-catching and appropriate. As Fleke Konljn wrote for an exhibition, "The Tree Tents, of which three have been made to date, were inspired by the Road Alert Group in England. These activists chained themselves to trees which were due to be cut down in the hope of saving them. Wapenaar set himself the notional commission of designing a tent which would make their vigil among the branches more agreeable. He designed the tent in the form of a water drop... What a fine picture it would make: tents hanging among the leaves and branches like green tears, a sign of mourning."

Of course, that is a highly romanticized view of the reality of both protest and the design of the tents themselves. According to Wapenaar, “the form of these tents naturally developed itself, when I hung a circular platform with a rope on the side of a tree. My inspiration for the shape was not the dewdrop. Form followed function.”

In the end, I love that the shape of the tent was wholly derived from the function that prompted Wapenaar to design a living space.

Originally found on ReNest and Inhabitat. Images and quotes from Dre Wapenaar.

design quote

"It’s not about paper, it’s not about forms. It’s about space and material.”
-Peter Zumthor, architect and 2009 Pritzker Prize winner