By Jacob Kamaras
LA JOLLA, California — In recent years, the advent of the Impossible and Beyond vegan burger brands has helped fulfill a seemingly impossible dream for the kosher consumer: the taste of an authentic cheeseburger. And that’s exactly what set the stage for my visit this week to Botanic Burgers, the new kosher restaurant at the Lawrence Family JCC.
The creative and intriguing array of Impossible Burger choices includes the Hamburg (classic burger), Waikiki (Hawaiian), Playa del Carmen (Mexican), Monopoli (Italian), Piraeus (Greek), Jerusalem (Middle Eastern kabob), and Bialik (falafel). Botanic Burgers’ chef, Boaz Zuzan, has transitioned to a plant-based diet in recent years — “a journey that started in solidarity with his wife’s and then two of their children’s compassionate decision to do so,” according to the restaurant’s website.
After 10 years, Zuzan’s former Israeli meat restaurant (Place Cafe) at the JCC closed due to the difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, paving the way for Botanic Burgers’ opening a year and a half later.
“Botanic Burgers melts together unique culinary influences from Boaz’s authentic childhood majestic experiences and adulthood travels into mouth-watering Burgers that are better for you, for today’s fast lifestyle, for our planet!” states the website.
While dining with my friends Gabe and Lizzie Rubin, we settled on the Hamburg (tomato, lettuce, onion, garlic aioli; the Playa del Carmen (tomato, lettuce, onion, guacamole, pico de gallo, roasted corn, jalapeno aioli); and my choice, the Monopoli (tomato, lettuce, onion, eggplant parmesan, sundried tomato, pesto aioli). I wanted to try the classic burger just for a point of reference, but in truth what I couldn’t resist was what felt like the mad science experiment of eggplant parmesan on an Impossible Burger — and it didn’t disappoint. Really, what could go wrong with combining two such delicious savory items in an enticing pretzel bun? Both the Monopoli and the Playa del Carmen delivered the “kick” befitting of their adventurous toppings. And the French fries, quite simply, were fresh.
Lizzie Rubin, who mainly focused on the more conventional Hamburg, said, “The burger is made fresh and is hot when received. It was the pretzel bun and garlic aioli that elevated the burger from ‘regular lunch’ to ‘a treat.’ The pretzel bun is slightly toasted but not hard, like I have experienced with other pretzel bun sandwiches. The garlic aioli gave the burger a nice kick.” (That’s right, even the classic burger had a kick.)
Commenting of one of the restaurants’ specialty drinks, the Limonana, Lizzie described it as
“sweet and refreshing, with a healthy helping of mint. A nice summer beverage.”
Against the backdrop of the creativity of the Botanic Burgers menu is actually a refreshing simplicity. The laser focus on burgers is far preferable to the “let’s try to be good at everything” approach of many other kosher restaurants — for instance, the ones that have both Chinese and Israeli food on the menu, not to mention fish and pasta. When you try to be good at everything, you’re ultimately good at nothing. And Botanic Burgers is good at burgers, at a price point that’s essentially what you’d expect for either kosher food or a quality Impossible Burger at a non-kosher restaurant. These are some of the more interesting Impossible Burgers that you’ll come across these days — especially if you keep kosher.
For more information on the restaurant, visit https://botanicburgers.com/.
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Jacob Kamaras is Managing Editor of the San Diego Jewish World.