The First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art, now in its eighth year, is all about telling stories. But at last night’s Foobooz Burger Cruise, the connection between delicious burgers and storytelling was tenuous at best: There was a brief explanation of First Person Arts, followed by a rundown by Foobooz creator Arthur Etchells, during which he dabbled in memoir by recalling his parents taking him to restaurants when he was a kid.

Photo | Helen Horstmann, phillyfoodie.com

At our first stop, Good Dog, Etchells spoke to his beef-hungry followers about the cruise stops, as well as a few that didn’t make the cut (including too-small-for-a-crowd Rouge and Village Whiskey). Some cruisers chimed in: “I had a burger in Switzerland once … “; “When I was in a Japan I had a burger and … ” Alright, so we got some storytelling going — but then it stopped. For the most part, folks just talked to their friends and munched mini versions of Good Dog’s super-juicy Roquefort and caramelized onion burger (above).

Next stop was Barclay Prime, which gets props for serving rare beef to a crowd of 30. I’m a girl who likes her red meat red, so I was pleased — in fact, this burger, made from dry-aged and Kobe beefs, was by far my favorite. It was juicy, flavorful and it didn’t need much on it to make it mouth-watering — just some “special sauce” and onions. And on the side? The tastiest tater tots I’ve had. We sat with strangers at tiny tables, rather than standing against a wall, like at Good Dog. This set-up was more encouraging for tale-tellers, at least between fellow eaters.

Photo | Helen Horstmann, phillyfoodie.com

At Noble: An American Cookery, we had their signature burger, which is topped with a beet. I was nervous: In my mind, the words “beet” and “beef” should never meet. But it was actually good — the beet part, at least. The burger was too well-done, leaving little flavor in the beef. Here again everyone was sitting in close quarters, and keep in mind the beer had been flowing at each stop — by now everyone was feeling a bit looser, a bit more apt to speak up. I sat with Etchells and listened to him and another foodie discuss the best roast pork in the city, and why South Philly pizza tends to suck. (Etchells shared a mob-related theory on that debate.)

Our last cruise stop was Pub & Kitchen, which was saved for last for a reason. P&K was the only place to provide condiments, and they also served up plenty of fries. Oh, and raw oysters for appetizers. (My feeling, though, was while the burgers and beer were getting along just fine in my stomach, if I threw some shellfish into the mix there might be a battle, with me on the losing side.) P&K provided Sly Fox cans to wash it all down. Their Windsor burger was tasty and traditional — no Kobe or beets in sight.

Photos courtesy of Helen Horstmann of phillyfoodie.com. Check out her recap of the Burger Cruise.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Food Events, Food and Art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.