Behold the Deconstructed Lamb 'Burger' at Ración

As part of Eater's Burger Week, chefs at five Portland restaurants that are a tad burger-phobic agreed to make a special Eater Burger that will be available on their menus all this week. Every day we'll highlight a new off-the-menu creation, and next up: Ración's Anthony Cafiero.

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[Avila/EPDX]

It shouldn't be surprising that modernist-leaning chef Anthony Cafiero took the "deconstructed" approach to making a burger, but even then, there's an additional twist: the meat isn't even cooked. "It's basically deconstructed, but if you literally seared off this tartare you could make a legit burger out of it, in a way," Cafiero says. "There's not anything too odd... it's kind of American."

For Cafiero's Eater Burger, now on the a la carte menu at Ración, Cafiero offers a Mediterranean-inspired lamb tartare (a diced Cattail Creek lamb featuring diced sun-dried Moroccan black olives, garlic, white soy, olive oil, and lemon zest) laid down on a bed of a miner's lettuce. Cafiero mimics the texture of a doughy bun with brown butter crumble (made from dried milk power simmered in butter); the bright yellow dab of aioli on the plate is actually a cold sous-vide egg yolk. And for the layer of "ketchup" on top, Cafiero creates a sheet of "spicy tomato" (tomato juice, valencia hot sauce, and Sriracha mixed with a bit of gelatin and agar) before dusting the plate with blue cheese powder from Rogue Creamery.

Eaters mix it all up with a sesame tuile wafer made with the classic French recipe. The Ración burger is now available on the spot's a la carte "raciones" menu in the lounge; it's yours for $11.
· Ración [Official site]
· All Previous Ración Coverage [Eater PDX]
· All Previous Burger Week 2013 Coverage [Eater PDX]