Blended Burger Project event in KC draws crowd

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three chefs presented beef and mushroom burgers to a full house at Bluestem restaurant, the last of four James Beard Foundation regional events to encourage participation in the Mushroom Council’s Blended Burger Project.

The project is one of the foundation’s numerous sustainability programs, encouraging the inclusion of mushrooms in burgers as a way to increase the nutritional value of a burger and to reduce its environmental footprint. The Kansas City event was May 23. Other events were in Boston, Sacramento, Calif., and Louisville, Ky.

Restaurants with blended burgers on menus from Memorial Day to July 31 can participate. Consumers will vote for their favorites, and chefs with the most votes will go to New York to prepare their recipes at the Beard House. Eligible burgers must be at least 25% mushroom.

Chefs and media sample mushroom-and-meat burgers by Kansas City chefs. (Photo by Ashley Nickle)

The burgers at the Kansas City event were created by Andrew Longres of Bluestem, Josh Eans of Happy Gillis and Joe West of Stock Hill. Other chefs and media sampled sliders made by the chefs.

Adriane Rippberger, digital strategy director for Harvest PR & Marketing, which works with the Mushroom Council, said the project has been focused on foodservice professionals but is increasingly targeting consumers.

“We’re really taking the strategic approach to this and first talking to influencers and these early adopters instead of going straight to consumers,” Rippberger said. “We really wanted to also work out the process so that when we do go to consumer and home kitchens we know what we’re talking about and we have examples, and (we can say) ‘This is what the pros are doing’ ... We’re moving into that consumer focus now.”

Voters in the summer event can also win a trip to New York.

Longres used shiitakes, creminis and porcinis in a sweet and savory burger, which was 50% mushrooms.

In an ode to Kansas City barbecue, West called his creation the Burnt Blends Burger, which was half meat, half trumpet mushroom — smoked like a burnt end — and topped with pickled green strawberries.

Attendees at the event each received three sliders made of at least 30% mushroom. (Photo by Ashley Nickle)

Eans used charred shiitakes and Japanese ingredients in his burger, which was about 30% mushrooms.

John Hawkins, executive chef for retail and residential dining at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, said a dining location at the university will participate in the Blended Burger Project.

“I think the whole blended burger concept (is) a great thing,” he said. “We’re going to sample it to students.”

The Blended Burger Project is aiming to have 500 chefs participate this year, up from nearly 350 last year and about 250 in the first year.