Umami Burger--various locations (High-end burger joint)

This burger joint has exploded in the last few years with many locations, starting with the Los Angeles area and now the Bay Area. The writer-turned-wine-connoisseur-turned-burger-aficionado, Adam Fleischman, started this company in 2009, and it's still growing. Look for Adam's influence in L.A. Creamery Artisan Ice Cream's delights. Hopefully that will be available in the Bay Area soon as well. With flavors like Absinthe, I'm very curious.

I visited the Oakland (2100 Franklin Street, Suite 2190) and the Palo Alto (452 University Avenue)Umami Burger locations to sample some of their offerings. They try to customize each location to their clientele and the area. Each location has a "signature" burger and drink offerings vary as well. Visit their web site for a location near you!

http://www.umami.com/umami-burger/

Beer. This was the Brother Thelonious Belgian-style Abbey Ale. Malty with light hops. A nice beer to go with a full-flavored burger. (Palo Alto location)

House Pickle Plate. A delightful arrangement of various pickles. This included shaved carrots and daikon, shitake mushrooms, dill pickles, sweet pickles, cherry tomatoes, beets, okra, and green beans. Nothing was too tart and the sweet pickles were lightly sweet. Very well balanced. (Oakland location)

Smushed Potatoes. What a great idea to fry some potatoes, smush them, and then fry them again. Served with a garlic aioli, the crispiness on the outside was so enjoyable with the soft creaminess on the inside. (Oakland location)

Truffled Beet Salad. Fresh wild baby arugula tossed with truffle dressing, with truffle ricotta on the bottom and topped with sliced smoked almonds. Very fresh and delicious.

Tempura Onion Rings. Japanese-style battered and fried onion rings served with house-made ketchup. Hot and crunchy. (Palo Alto location)

Manly Burger. This was a perfectly medium-rare, super-juicy, all beef patty, served with beer-cheddar cheese, bacon lardons, smoked-salt onion strings, house-made ketchup and mustard. I also topped it with some pickles from my pickle plate. All on a soft and lightly toasted buttery bun. Yum. (Oakland location)

Triple Pork Burger. A perfectly cooked patty made with fresh ground pork, chorizo, applewood smoked bacon, house-made American cheese, butter lettuce and pimenton aioli. Very juicy and full of flavor. (Palo Alto location)

The All Nighter. This is the Palo Alto location's signature burger. A beef patty topped with maple-glazed slab bacon, cheesy tot hash brown and drizzled with a savory red-eye gravy. The hash brown is an excellent addition to any burger. It was crunchy on the outside and soft and potato-y on the inside. And one can never go wrong with this thick-cut bacon. Delicious.

Ahi Tuna Burger. A gently seared patty of fresh ahi tuna on top of a bed of crushed avocado and topped with gingered carrots, sprouts and wasabi tartar. Wasabi flakes were sprinkled around on the plate for presentation and was also scrapped up for more wasabi flavor. A nice, light alternative to beef.

The burgers are not enormous, and also not overly greasy, so one is not left snoozing in the afternoons. Definitely a good place to go for a beef or non-beef burger craving.