Burger Heaven in Kansas City

I spent two fun nights in Kansas City this week and feel compelled to report on a significant development ... I've experienced the best burger of my life - twice now - during my past two trips to the "city of fountains". This last trip confirmed the splendor of my first visit, where my dear friend Tara, a recent transplant to K.C., turned us onto Blanc Burgers - a fairly new restaurant in the hip Westport district. I was excited to return.

I'll get right to the point ... this is my burger fantasy come true for myriad reasons but basically, every single element is of the highest quality including meat freshly ground in-house (a combo of tenderloin, ribeye and NY strip), a variety of freshly made buns (including my now-confirmed favorite - the salt and pepper brioche bun), from-scratch condiments (including house-made pickles served on the burger thinly sliced vertically). Of course the burgers are cooked to order - as it should be - and medium really means medium (I wanted to go medium rare but my friends insisted I up it to medium). The patty was perfectly pink and hot in the middle with a great sear and bold beef flavor. Gourmet options were plentiful but I opted for the "classic" this time around which included aged white cheddar cheese, mustard and mayo. Just the right amount of lettuce and ripe tomato topped things off and the buttery brioche bun held up well supporting the juicy goodness through to the last spectacular bite. As if the burgers weren't enough, we devoured a fabulous "BLT salad" with chunks of bacon and blue cheese in a just-dressed-enough romaine mix before the burgers arrived. Just to send things into overload, the sweet potato fries and onion rings (served in adorable metal mini grocery carts lined with brown paper) were served hot and crispy along with three house-made sauces - chipotle aioli, whole grain mustard and ketchup. It was a dipping frenzy and a real challenge to decide what to do ... another bite of burger or a fry or a ring ... or how to incorporate all three in one bite somehow. We tried to do it with one order each of fries and rings but ended up with a second order of the fries which were just ridiculously good. My friend Tara enjoyed a cherry lime-aid spiked with vodka while Sarah and I sipped classic cokes from the bottle. There are special beers and soda cocktails and a huge wine list making this place not just an incredible best burger place but an cute bar scene.

Service was top-notch (thanks, Brian!) and as if the whole experience really was something created from one of my wildest dreams, we began speaking of artisanal chocolates at which point Brian told us about Christopher Elbow chocolates and delivered 3 exquisite chocolates custom-made by Christopher for Blanc Burgers with fillings including malt, hopps and root beer. Brian had me at "burger" but at this point I was utterly gleeful and clapping over the whole experience. This place is so good it is worth a trip even if you don't have a buddy to visit ... if you love burgers, you need to GO. :)