Fine dining with cow skulls. Boise now has a $50 burger place.
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This is what a $50 hamburger looks like in downtown Boise. (Does it come with fries?) BY MICHAEL DEEDS AUGUST 06, 2024 4:00 AM
Diners have grown accustomed to sticker shock in recent years.
But a new downtown Boise restaurant is trumpeting a menu item destined to drop jaws — if not explode heads.
A $50 hamburger.
“Why not?” explains Cary Prewitt, owner of fine-dining concept Due West, 610 W. Idaho St. “This burger, the whole point is what’s over the top, what’s ostentatious? What’s something that’s very un-Boise that people would enjoy? I knew it would be something that could create a fun controversy.”
Hey, at least it comes with fries.
The signature Due West Burger is an exercise in indulgence. The patty is a half pound of Desert Mountain Grass-Fed custom-blended wagyu beef. It’s served with whipped foie gras, bone marrow, caramelized onions, truffle aioli and Gruyere, on a toasted bun. A pickle impaled on top is supposed to help tame the richness. Due West recommends that customers share this burger — “unless decadence is your jam!” it wrote in a marketing email.
After splitting one with a friend, I can attest: The Due West Burger is absolutely delicious. And ridiculous.
Where exactly did the foie gras and bone marrow lurk in this hedonistic creation? On the bun? Beneath the patty? We had no clue. This isn’t the sort of burger that you want to risk deconstructing. Everything just tasted so rich. The Gruyere and onions complemented the meaty flavor bomb perfectly. But be aware: This burger is relatively messy. I wiped my hands on the napkin after every sensory-filled bite.
So was it worth $50?
Well, it’s a hamburger. Albeit a really, really good one.
But it’s also an experience. How many people can brag (or sheepishly admit) that they’ve consumed a $50 burger?
The result of rebranding in part of the House of Western restaurant and bar space, Due West is not a typical fine-dining destination. An exterior garage door on one wall serves as a reminder that this isn’t, say, Ruth’s Chris. Another is filled with hanging cow skulls. A server will attentively brush crumbs off your dark table cloth, yet cowhide rugs are underneath the tables.
In other words, Due West is a place just quirky enough to sell a $50 hamburger. (Or, technically, a $37 hamburger. The half-dozen steak fries cost $13 on the menu if ordered as a side.)
Bottom line? There’s no other burger in Boise like this one. Perhaps the closest thing, though not the same? The 28 Day Dry-Aged Bone Marrow Burger at nearby Eureka, 800 W. Idaho St. For $20, that one comes with fries or arugula salad.
So who’s the target customer?
“Saturday, two kids came and ordered the burger,” Prewitt says. “I’m like, (whose) parent is letting them order a $50 burger? Good for them. I did not expect that at all.”
Ultimately, he expects the Due West Burger mostly to be enjoyed by parties looking to share something a bit luxurious, extravagant and unusual.
“There are plenty of people here who can afford it who want to be over the top,” Prewitt says. “Why not let people be shameless and get a $50 burger if they want one?”
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