One of L.A.'s Best Burgers at Rustic Canyon
in Santa Monica

by Damon Gambuto, A Hamburger Today, September 23, 2009

The truly seasonal and obsessively sourced menu at Rustic Canyon is a decidedly contemporary take that has its roots in the oldest traditions of feeding ourselves. That is to say, there was a time when every human menu was seasonal and locally sourced. These days, our food economy has been so thoroughly reconfigured by modernity that we don’t find it odd to pay less for food driven, shipped, and flown thousands of miles before they hit our plates.
Now that we are slowly waking up to the perils of big agriculture and the pleasures of proximity, it's understood that part of a chef’s duty is cultivation, even if only the kind that blossoms relationships with the best local farmers. Rustic Canyon’s chef Evan Funke is perfectly suited to obsess over produce and just about everything else that has to do with his kitchen.

The beef for Rustic Canyon’s Niman Ranch Burger comes from the vaunted Alameda institution. It’s an 80/20 blend that Funke has ground to what I would call medium. The Gruyere is cave-aged and the bun is the brioche-style from Rockenwagner. Usually just the mention of the brioche bun sends my eyes rolling in fancy-pants-fueled burger angst, but I’ve had this one before (at The Golden State) and know it to be excellent (mostly because it barely shares any similarities to most brioche buns). The wild arugula and five onion “fondue” (leek, Bermuda, Spanish, Spring, and Brown) that top the burger are, of course, from local farmers. The bread and butter pickles and herb rémoulade are made in house.