[Photographs: Damon Gambuto]

Last week we had a bit of controversy here at AHT in Robyn's post about Jamie Oliver's work as a "food revolutionary" at the Los Angeles fast food joint Patra's. The discussion heated up in response to Kenji's friendly ribbing of Oliver's burger bona fides. It was all particularly interesting for me as I am both a burger guy and a TV writer and producer. While I enjoyed the passionate discussion, what I realized was missing was an actual tasting of Mr. Oliver's burger revolution.

I headed over to Patra's to taste what all the hullabaloo was about. As it turned out, a lazy Friday afternoon showed little of the (made for TV) excitement that had taken hold of at Patra's a few months ago. It felt like a classic Los Angeles charbroiled burger stand again. Well, except for the section of the menu that Oliver had left behind.

I started off my meal with Patra's original (i.e., pre-JOFR) cheeseburger as a baseline for comparison to Oliver's version. It comes just as you'd expect from a classic LA burgerstand: thin patty, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and a slathering of special sauce (a version of Thousand Island), all on a commercial bun. As the you can see from the above photo, there is little to be critical of when it comes to the look of the Patra's original. Unfortunately the problem with this burger is hiding in plain sight: The patty on the Patra's burger is a wafer thin, preformed round of blandness. It is fresh (not frozen), but beyond that there isn't much to recommend about it. It lacked any flavor to stand up to the rest of the toppings and bun. Certainly it was acceptable as fast food as all of the toppings and bun were in order, but it didn't seem like it would too difficult for Oliver to outclass this guy.

As it turned out, I was right. Oliver's Revolution Burger doesn't offer much satisfaction if you are looking for the classic burger flavor profile, but that doesn't mean it was bad. In fact, it was very good.

Instead of the classic, white bun, Oliver sourced a very tasty whole wheat bun with some oats sprinkled on top. Instead of the bland, chuck blend, the Revolution burger gets slim, but flavorful 1/4-pound of grass-fed Angus. The special spread is tangy and matches the heap of veggies on top. Then there is the potato and bean spread. This element is both what makes this burger a Jamie Oliver burger and not a developed reference to the original. I'm not really sure why it's added. The addition of the beans as a flavor component was a distraction that, while not bad for a sandwich, felt out of place on a burger. I couldn't help but think that it would have been much better without it.

Then I realized there was a way to get closer to what I was looking for. Patra's will let you swap out their lower grade beef for the Angus patty on any of their burgers. I decided on taking a Mulligan on their cheeseburger. With the addition of the more flavorful patty the meat gave off more than just a whiff of char like it did the first go round. This was my favorite of the three that I sampled. That said, I could imagine playing with some of the various components of Oliver's Revolution burger and the classic to come up a hybrid that is both a classic flavor profile and a good bit healthier. (Maybe just swap out the bean spread for a slice of American cheese.)

Patra's seems to have embraced their makeover while not losing a connection to their fast food roots. While I was there, I was the only one to order anything off of the Oliver menu, but the photos of the boyish chef still adorn the walls and his menu gets prominent placement over the grill. I wouldn't say that Oliver's makeover burger is going to satisfy fast food regulars looking for tastier (and healthier) burgers, but some of his ideas certainly have changed Patra's for the better.

About the author: Damon is one of our roving burger reporters and food writers. When he's not eating more than is warranted or healthful (and then writing about it) he can be found writing and producing for television and film. You can contact him at seriouslydamon@gmail.com.

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