While Kobe holds court in places as disparate as Cut in Beverly Hills and cult favorites The Original Tops in Pasadena and Cisco Burger in Long Beach, ground lamb has found its way into modest dining rooms that may be off the beaten restaurant path. The cynic in us would wonder whether it’s the poor man’s Kobe burger, if we weren’t actually that poor. Seriously, if the Kobe in the burger is the real deal—we mean, from the actual Japanese prefecture and not the Kobe-style wagyu from Snake River—prices can soar upwards of $40 for a lunchtime burger at Michael Ovitz’s new Kumo. You can request to see a certification of authenticity of it makes you feel better.
Lamb’s characteristic tenderness and aromatic flavor deserve their own regard. As Tom Trellis of Los Feliz’s Alcove Café explains, “It ratchets the flavor profile up a notch or two.” In many cases, it’s even giving the great American comfort food a new multicultural makeover. Burgers are “on the lam”—nope, we have no shame—to places as far flung as Tunisia and New Zealand, and they’re ready to party.
The sheep-to-human ratio in New Zealand is somewhere in the crazy ballpark of 10 to one. No wonder that at Second City Bistro in El Segundo, Nikki Hoessly tips her Kiwi toque to lamb's omnipresence with a 10-ounce patty dressed with garlic-mint aioli and beet relish—they love them beets on burgers down under!
Lamb, of course, is an integral part of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. Chef Adnen Marouani at Pasadena’s La Maschera Ristorante draws from his Tunisian heritage for a burger that’s laced with tabil, a 10-spice Tunisian medley, then topped with smoky harissa and served on brioche. While it initially appeared as a seasonal special, the lamb burger is now a permanent fixture on the menu.
The lamb burger at Fiddler’s Bistro cruises the Mediterranean with a combination of feta cheese and pesto. In fact, lamb seems most often to be on Greek burger holiday: Dusty’s in Silverlake offers a lunch entrée infused with garlic and shallots and topped with tzatziki and tomato chutney. At Alcove Café, ground lamb is blended with Dijon mustard, kalamata olives and rosemary. A mini lamb burger even appears alongside Kobe in a trio of sliders that also includes a bison variation.
But lamb burgers do go domestic at Billy’s Grill in Sherman Oaks with an American get-up of lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, Thousand Island dressing, sweet hot mustard and mayo on a white or wheat bun. At this rate, we may end up seeing a Double-Double lamb option at our local In-N-Out drive-thru.
