Umami’s Boy

By The Editors
July 29, 2013 9:00 am

If you travel in certain genuflective foodie circles – ever witnessed the rabid scrum of Chowhounders on a burger vs. burger comment thread, or enjoined your own lively debate about the merits of NYC’s various cow-sammies – then you’ve heard:

LA’s renowned Umami Burger has arrived, and it is delicious.

For you men who haven’t, cock an ear: the first ever UB opens in Greenwich today, and it’s dishing out the famed patties with that legendary “fifth taste,” umami.

It’s a truly tasty taste — nuanced, savory, chock full of glutamates — though grousing New Yorkers would be forgiven for suspecting it’s just a marketing gimmick.

The Greenwich Umami stands out, though, with some Big Apple-only exclusives, including a braised beef and gravy-dipped French Dip Burger and a Five-Spice Duck Patty sporting fennel-and-apple compote and Chinese five-spice powder.

Plus: a full bar slinging cocktails like the cognac-and-sweet-tea Bobcat (NYU stand up) or the 21-U Club, an Umami-dusted Bloody Mary with a secret spice blend.

Between those burgers and drinks – at least according to owner Adam Fleischman – Umami will lay soggy patty’d waste to the NYC competition.

“New York has some okay burgers,” he says, “but I’m creating a whole new genre.”

You be the judge.

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