Discover Walla Walla

My love affair with hamburgers started as soon as I was tall enough to reach the snack bar counter at the beach club where I spent my childhood summers. There was simply nothing like 'em, and those unpretentious classics are primarily responsible for the strong preference I have for certain burger-preparation traditions over others to this day.

Let me get some basics out of the way: a burger should be cooked over strong enough heat, whether on an open or closed grill, that it develops a certain firmness of texture on the outside, but it should be removed from the heat while still pink and tender at the center. Both while the patty is being formed and while it is cooking, it should be handled, whether by hand or spatula, as little as absolutely necessary, in order to preserve its soft texture and its juiciness.

I am not a burger purist; I think that condiments are absolutely critical to a burger's greatness, and a properly-dressed burger will tend to be somewhat messy to eat - in fact, I count napkins when eating a burger.

In preparing a comprehensive survey of Walla Walla Valley burgers, I decided to take advantage of a recent trip to Los Angeles to re-calibrate my burger palate. I'm speaking, of course, of the Mecca of my kind of burger, the Apple Pan restaurant on Pico Boulevard. The Apple Pan has been a formidable presence in Los Angeles since it opened its doors in 1947, and the family that has always owned and run the business has changed almost nothing about it in 62 years.

It remains a tiny (26-seat) counter-only restaurant, and there's always a line at mealtimes. The Hickoryburger that I enjoyed was exactly as I remembered: a juicy, four-napkin half-pounder cooked to perfection with a melted slice of Tillamook cheddar, a smear of mayo on the lower bun with a sheaf of iceburg lettuce next, and on top of the burger a generous dollop of the Apple Pan's secret sauce with some pickles.

(I will admit to doing some desperate dumpster-diving behind the Apple Pan in my youthful quest for burger perfection, and as a result of what I found there I have been able to closely replicate their secret sauce at home.)

Some will argue that the Apple Pan consistently puts too much lettuce under the burger. I would answer that it's easy to remove a leaf or two if you feel that way. What's important is that the burger, as a whole, is not a mushy eating experience, and the more tender the beef, the more critical the platform of lettuce becomes in providing a pleasurable crunch when taking a bite. And the Apple Pan's is very tender beef.

Suffice to say that my palate re-calibration has left me excited and ready to begin tasting and reporting on the myriad hamburgers of the Walla Walla Valley. There are many that I have already enjoyed, and a few that I have heard about and not yet tasted. I'm willing to state at the outset that I think there is something about the air, the altitude, the culture, the environment and the people that seems to prompt restaurateurs to pay close attention to their burgers, and that's a terrific thing for hamburger lovers. Stay tuned for my monthly reports!