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An Ordinary Burger at Ford's Filling Station in Culver City, California

Posted by Damon Gambuto, October 7, 2009 at 2:00 PM

[Photographs: Matthew Silverman]

Recently I've found myself sitting down for some of the pricier burgers in town. Despite the power of attributed value, I am not, as a rule, predisposed to prefer a fancy-pants burger. Often times the impulse to add flourish stands in the way of realizing the simple beauty of the sandwich. Then there are also times when the added cost means the added benefit of excellent ingredients and thoughtful preparation. Two of my recent fancy-pants burgers—the first at Rustic Canyon, the other at Comme Ça—were extraordinary.

With these delectable memories still fresh, I decide to make my way toward yet another posh burger. I've been excited to try the burger at Ford's Filling Station for quite some time, as I've visited this American gastropub on a number of occasions and enjoyed a variety of chef Ben Ford's offerings: charcuterie plates that are salty and hearty, flatbreads topped with shrimp and Meyer lemon. The menu, even in its modest scale, always seemed to be chock full of distractions that kept me from the burger. Of course, that could only persist for so long. Recently I headed to downtown Culver City to make amends for all my non-burger meals at Ford's.

One wouldn't imagine that a baseball injury would initiate a culinary career, but that's what happened when Ford found himself sidelined from his USC baseball squad. He headed to France and the University of Dijon to study food. While there, he found his inspiration not in the rich French tradition, but rather, in what was then a new idea: the Slow Food movement. Afterward he was able to work his way into the kitchens that built California cuisine, beginning with Alice Waters and more recently working for Mark Peele.

Ford can't escape an article without mention of his celebrity father Harrison (a.k.a. Han Solo, Indiana Jones, etc.). I'm not sure what you can glean about this chef's cooking from that tidbit, but it's hard to claim that it's not a juicy one. As it turns out, Ben is TV-worthy in his own right. You can see him featured in season two of After Hours. For some reason, host Daniel Boulud chose not to show us Ford's burger. Let me remedy that.

The burger has the high-end look that you'd expect from a chef-driven restaurant. The beef is sourced from Niman Ranch and shows a nice crust. The bun is a big top brioche-style that makes a stab at originality with a twist of onion baked into it. The "original" version comes with caramelized onions and Maytag blue cheese on the burger, and shredded lettuce, tomato, and sliced red onion on the side.

As I've come to expect from these high-end patties, the flavor of the beef is excellent. While the mass of meat must tip the scale at eight ounces, Ford makes the decision to form his patty a bit thinner. His restaurant's décor gives a nod to the postwar, Route 66 California culture, and I'm happy to see that his burger stays in step (at least in terms of the patty). But where this little homage to the drive-in burger gets off track is the bun. This massive, bready affair throws off the beef-to-bun ratio, but to be honest, I'd say the bun would be a miss no matter the patty thickness. It gives off that crumbly texture that is the backbone of the argument against the brioche bun.

As for the other flavors of this burger, they come together with what I'd call a mild harmony. The blue cheese, usually an overpowering choice, is added with discretion so as to allow it to blend nicely with the sweetness of the professionally caramelized onions. I also added a little lettuce and tomato for a bit more freshness.

It was all good. Not special. Not great. Considering the price point ($16), I imagine what I'd say for that is that it's not enough. In the context of the chef-created burgers—the advantage of the high-end ingredients, the years of training—I've come to expect more. Ford's is an ordinary rendering that lacks that little something extra.

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