(Team Willow. Clockwise from lower right, owner and executive chef Tracey O’Grady and assistant, Official Logo of the 2015 BRGR Bash; Legendary chef Robert, now of Tonic downtown; Brian Wolken and assistant; Heather Small and lower center, award winning Burger Bash champions with house made Tater Tots. Photos Socotra).

I don’t normally have a burger for breakfast, much less a gourmet model, but we are in historic country this morning. Tracey O’Grady’s Willow restaurant team has accomplished the unbelievable: they beat fifteen other outstanding restaurants in the Burger Brawl, and pulled off the three-pete, accomplished the hat trick of burgerdom, and won the “best burger in DC” trophy for the third consecutive year.

(Team Ris. Very personable ladies. Photo Socotra).

Unreal. The burger I am eating right now is from DC’s Ris, a high end bistro down on L St NW . Their burgers were quite good- they specialize in ” seasonal New American cuisine in a modern, sophisticated space. ” Jon-without and I had two tickets left after eating our first three from Willow, Big Buns, and the remarkable offering from Medium Rare, whose valiant attempt featured sliders topped with a sunny-side up quail egg. They cracked a thousand of them, according to their managing chef:

Our complaint about Big Buns was that there was too much bun- but what else would you expect? The offering was topped by a tasty morsel of sausage.

Alright, so I am getting ahead of myself. I picked up Jon-without at noon sharp in the Police Cruiser, the only vehicle really appropriate to drive to Rosslyn along the vibrant Wilson Boulevard Corridor.

We were a little concerned about what was going to happen. The sixteen vendors were obviously going to be gunning for Willow this year and were likely to pull out all the stops to do it. We were concerned about parking, as well, but found a space for five bucks in the office complex across from Gateway Park, which was fenced off to keep the riff-raff out and the beer drinkers in.

Heather had comped us a pair of “Flight A” tickets, so it was just going to be the beer we had to pay for- and the t-shirt, of course. They sold the beer tokens for $5 at the front gate, and threw us a five-for-the-price-four deal.

The selection of beers was outstanding, with offerings from DC Brau, Atlas Brew Works, Old Bust Head and Old Ox Brewery. I don’t drink beer very often any more, but what the hell. This promised to be a friendly ground-round smack-down among sixteen of the best chefs and restaurants in the DELMARVA region.

As non-VIP a ticket holders, we were assigned to “Flight A,” the four grill tents immediately facing the stage where a fantastic band called “Jeff From Accounting” was playing their hearts out.

Due to leg problems, I walk unsteadily these days, but the rendition of classic arena rock hits and modern tunes had me attempting to dance. They rock. We were entitled to four sliders, one each from Willow, Big Buns, Ris and Medium Rare. A VIP ticket got you free beer and all sixteen sliders, though I have no idea how you could get through more than a couple. We paced ourselves and drank several excellent English Pale Ales from the Old Bust Head folks out in Fauquier county.

There was a lot at stake in the competition. Willow was gunning for the three-pete, of course, and was placing their undefeated record on the table. The winning team takes home the prestigious trophy, a four-day, three-night ‘Eatcation’ in Austin, Texas, and burger bragging rights for a year. The runner-up snags four Diamond Club tickets to a Nats home game and the Silver BRGR trophy.

MEATING THE COMPETITION

Sixteen of the DMV’s best chefs and restaurants grilling up custom 2.5 oz. beef blended burgers.
Willow Restaurant of Ballston: Two time defending champ, led by Chef Tracy O’Grady. Last year’s trick was to smoke the beef and pan-sear it in duck fat. This year, I can now reveal, it was to toast the house-made Kate Jansen rolls in a butter mixed with bacon drippings. Unreal.

Boundary Stone of Bloomingdale: Last year’s runner-up was going to reprise their tasty beet and Blue cheese burger with a house-made bacon jam.
The other fourteen were hungry for a win:

Cafe Saint-Ex | Representing 14th Street
1905 | Representing Shaw
Burger Tap & Shake | Representing Foggy Bottom
Fainting Goat | Representing U Street
The Liberty Tavern and Lyon Hall | Representing Clarendon
Plan B Burger Bar | Representing Penn Quarter
Brickside Food & Drink | Representing Bethesda
Chef Geoff’s | Representing Tysons
Big Buns | Representing Ballston
Citizen Burger Bar | Representing Clarendon
Medium Rare | Representing Cleveland Park
Mad Fox Brewing Co. | Representing Falls Church
The Georgetown Grilling Society | Representing Georgetown
RIS | Representing DC’s West End Neighborhood

Jon and I toured all sixteen tents, though we only managed to eat three sliders. The skies cleared and the temperatures soared. We decided to have one last brew and cast our votes, for Willow, of course,I forget what happened after that- something to do with the pool, I think, and an impromptu party on my patio back at Big Pink. It was a marvelous afternoon, and since the festivities back at Gateway Park went on until six P.M. I did not know who had carried the day in the burger shoot-out.

In the morning I made the coffee and hit the computer to check the national news and no one had picked it up yet. Ditto for Traffic and Weather on the 8’s on the radio. Then suddenly I realized that social media was the way to find out what had happened, and wen I hit Heather’s Facebook page I shouted loud enough to wake Joe, my neighbor:

Victory for Team Willow!

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303