I’m not usually a fan of the”fancy” burgers like Hopfield’s Pascal Burger. I think most of what you can accomplish with a burger comes in the format of: beef, bun, cheese, LTO, and mayo. There is, of course, a world of people that would try to expand on this, adding new ingredients, trying different cheeses, or altogether attempting to change the definition of what a burger is. And you can’t fault someone for wanting to leave their mark or try something special. But the truth is, most of these attempts fall flat. We end up with overstuffed and underwhelming burgers when really all we want is the classic comfort of our youths, maybe just amped up a notch or two.
So it’s with some hesitation that I’ll order a burger loaded with ingredients like Camembert or cornichons. But that’s what we find at Hopfields’ lunch menu alongside a slew of high-end French cuisine. The Pascal burger comes with both of the aforementioned fancy cheese and pickles, grain mustard, and caramelized onions. The beef comes from a place called 44 Farms, which feels impressive enough that I doubt anyone ever follows through with what that means (myself included).
Hopfields is the kind of place that positions itself as high-end, but casual enough that you don’t feel out of place wearing a t-shirt, and I think their burger leans into this. For all its pretentious ingredients, it still comes out wrapped in foil on a mini sheet pan, three-quarters filled with pommes frites. The layout makes it difficult to really get in there and pick up your burger without spilling fries everywhere or removing the foil from the tray entirely and setting it aside.
The fancy ingredients quickly leave something to be desired, though. The cornichons and grain mustard fill so much if the same vinegary space, that it’s hard to tell them apart. If you didn’t care about the crunch from the pickles you could leave out either ingredient and be left with mostly the same flavor profile. The soft onions and soft cheese similarly combine into a sort of savory jelly that longs for the simple flavors and textures of something crisp and fresh.
It’s not my favorite burger, by any means, but it does well for the fancy variety. A burger Icarus that flies a little to close to the sun. Daedalus was right.
Respectable. 5/10
