Falcons Plucking - Day Minus 3

We have arrived in Atlanta, settled into our campground and went out to explore the Atlanta culinary scene.  We landed at a place called Holeman & Finch Public House.  This place is known for the exotic foods they serve in a friendly pub atmosphere.  They are not know for their signage mostly because they barely have one.  Just a small stylized H and F on a black background.  We were parked next to the restaurant and didn't know it was there.  It looks like a bar in the lobby of a hotel.  But it does not matter because there are 30 seats in the main restaurant and a large bar area that had 40 or so people in it and the place was packed.  It stayed that way all night long and at 11:00 on a Thursday night they still had crowds of people coming in to eat.  About half the seats in the main restaurant are at one communal table, the rest are small 2 person tables and a couple of booths.  All of them are close together enough that were you inclined you could sample something from 1/2 the tables without leaving your chair.  I suspect had anyone tried they would have gotten their hands stabbed by a fork.  No one seemed inclined to want to give up anything they had ordered.  They are also known for an unusual practice.  They serve burgers.   Not a lot of burgers.  Exactly 24 cheeseburgers served at 10:00 each night.   You need to reserve one of these burgers during that night's service prior to 10:00.  We were lucky enough to get the last two reservations - at 8:45.

So we started with some drinks - mine was a very refreshing concoction that tasted of spring and figs.    Then we had a few small dishes to while away the time.  We had duck ham, veal bunderfleisch, lardo, and parts.  Parts are just what it sounds like, Veal Brains, Lamb Testicles, Veal Sweetbreads and Roasted Marrow Bone.  There were many others and I only wish I could have had the room to try some others.  They were all very good, small portions so you could try many of them and relatively inexpensive.  Their main menu had a dozen different items that all sounded great that I was not able to get to and these also are served in a tasting portion size.  The most expensive item on the menu was $14 and most items were in the $5-$7 range.  Think Tapas or dim sum.

And then came the burger.  At 10:00 one of the cooks comes out of the kitchen and in an incredibly loud voice announces through a megaphone that it is BURGER TIME.  He repeats BURGER and the crowd responds TIME, and this chant is repeated several times until all who have burgers coming are drooling in anticipation and those who have missed out are contemplating ways to sneak one off of the table of those lucky few.

So, can any burger be worth this hype?  Is this all show and no substance?  My friends I am here to tell you that this was the best cheeseburger that I have ever had.  It was the epitome of the burger art.  I have eaten Michael Simon's burgers at B-Spot in Cleveland and have driven out of my way to go back to Cleveland to have them again.  Did you here that, driven out of my way to go to Cleveland.   I have eaten at the "Best Burger Cafe" in Iowa where they claim to have changed the name of the restaurant because everyone said they had burgers that were that great.  I have made burgers in restaurants, at home, and at tailgates and I consider myself a fairly good cook.  I have never had anything like this piece of burger delight.  The perfect patties, the ideal homemade bun, fantastic tasting american cheese melted just the right amount, great onions that were not too sweet and done just right, 2 slices of pickle because that is the perfect amount of pickle to balance out the other tastes in the burger.  I am sitting here now wondering if anyone would think I was crazy if I drove the 45 minutes to the restaurant and put my name on the reservation list for tonight's burger time.  Oh and that would also mean sitting there for the next 10 hours.  And I am wondering if I care if people would think I was crazy.  It was that good!!

Tonight we try a restaurant called Gunshow.  I will give a full report tomorrow about that experience and from everything I have read it should be wonderful.  But I know, in the deep dark corners of my mind, that I will be wondering if it is too late to run over the H&F and get on the list.

And so now my final parting thought.  If we offered these Burgers to the Bears after every victory, would the '72 Dolphins have to stop opening those bottles of Champaign?