Red Robin Debuts New 'Finest' Gourmet Burger Line

Chef Laurent Tourondel knew his beefed-up bacon cheeseburger was special when he entered it into the Amstel Light Burger Bash at the 2013 South Beach Wine & Food Festival months ago. The French-born gourmet guru, who earned fame by cooking up a storm in Michelin-starred kitchens across the globe in the late '90s and who's currently behind handfuls of his own accolade-earning eateries in BLT Steak, BLT Fish, and BLT Prime, knows an extraordinary burger is less about flopping on foie gras and lobster and more about amping up the ingredients you'd expect in an everyday application.  

You have to appreciate Tourondel's viewpoint about humble treatment yielding the best burgers; after all, this is a guy who was chef to the Admiral of the French Navy fresh out of culinary school. Luckily for us, his fondness for simplicity between a bun predates his classical training at Saint Vincent Ecole de Cuisine.  

Tourondel fondly remembers his first brush with burger bliss, which began by chance on an American adventure he had in his youth. Forced to hitchhike in the middle of nowhere while traversing the U.S. in his early 20s, he found a friendly truck driver heading toward Chicago who was willing to let him ride shotgun.

He recalled with passion, "We drove for a bit and he asked me if I was hungry. So we stopped at a diner. And it was an amazing diner!"

Tourondel went on to describe an old-fashioned roadside haunt with swivel stools: "The counter was kind of zig-zagged and the cooks were guys with those upside-down hats." The future epicurean icon was treated by the guardian angel trucker to what he described as "probably the best pure burger [he's] had," adorned with a simple slice of cheese, a smashed, griddle-seared beef patty, black-peppered bacon, barbecue sauce, and a soft bun. And that was it.

"It stuck in my head," he says. "And after that, I went back home for my French training and forgot about it."

That is, until the nostalgic chef broke out a box of pictures years later and found a photograph of the truck he was fortunate enough to be found by that day.  

"I remembered the burger right away, and then decided to make a more sophisticated version for the menu at my restaurant."

The same inspiration was behind his Smashed Smoke Burger entry at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and perhaps that's why it stood out so well among its more "gourmet" counterparts.  

When Denny Marie Post, Red Robin's CMO and Burger Bash judge, was sampling the 12 entrants' edible offerings, she found herself in dire need of a flavorful wake-up for her palate after getting through two-thirds of the tastings. She recalls, "There were some really interesting-sounding burgers with elegant add-ons like lobster, but they just didn't translate well when we tried them. I honestly didn't think we'd make it to the end. Everything just tasted the same after a while."

And that's when she finally sank her teeth into Tourondel's treat: The Smashed Smoke Burger.  

Post remembers being floored by the sheer excellence of the peppery bacon, high-quality ground beef, and lip-smacking barbecue sauce that blended sweet, tangy, salty, and smoky flavors into quite the complementary condiment. "There was something about his burger that did it, between the flavors and the textures. I knew we had a winner."

Tourondel took home the "Best of the Bash" crown and a cool $10,000 on that sweet, sunny day. But more importantly, his creation was the catalyst for Post and vice president of menu innovation, Steph Hoppe, to push the 44-year-old franchise to add a new, extra-special element to their menu: "Red Robin's Finest Gourmet Burgers."

This new line of flame-grilled burgers will feature premium produce, cheeses, proteins, and sauces, many of which will be made from scratch in each of the company's nearly 500 establishments across the U.S. and Canada. Patties will be shaped from Black Angus beef, and buns will be classier than the typical Kaiser roll.

The first burger to earn the distinction of "Finest" is Red Robin's new Smoke & Pepper Signature Burger, available for a limited time starting Nov. 12 and inspired by Tourondel's Burger Bash winner.  

Each juicy, fire-grilled Black Angus patty is seasoned with alderwood smoked sea salt, imbuing it with a scintillating aroma reminiscent of a campfire. Extra-sharp Cheddar is melted over the meat, which is then topped with three crispy, freshly black-peppered bacon strips and house-made Smoke & Pepper ketchup. I'm not privy to the exact recipe for the sauce, but I tasted hints of tangy tamarind with the sweetness of tomato and enjoyed how bits of chopped onion gave it a boost of savory flavor and a thick consistency (extra sauce is provided for dipping Bottomless Steak Fries, and it will get finished). Add in superior green-leaf lettuce and pinking-sheared pickle planks to complete the equation, tuck all that deliciousness between a split, buttered ciabatta roll, and you're ready for a mighty fine feast (and at a reasonable $13.49 with those fries).

Red Robin will be at the upcoming 2014 South Beach Food & Wine Festival in February, searching for another winning chef to provide further inspiration, and The Daily Meal is looking forward to seeing what creativity the company displays next.