Table Top Media Group announced last week that The Bistro at Topsail received Top 5 placement in the James Beard Foundation’s Blended Burger Project.

Voting ended July 31 for the nationwide challenge to make a "blended burger" by blending ground meat with finely chopped mushrooms to create healthier and more sustainable burger. 

Chef Bud Taylor created The Goomba burger for the contest. His burger included local grass-fed Mills Family Farm beef blended with confit oyster and portobello mushrooms. Toppings included Havarti cheese, shiitake bacon, lemongrass aioli, heirloom tomato and baby arugula on a house-baked bun.

Blending meat with mushrooms reduces calories, fat and sodium while adding important nutrients like vitamin D, potassium and B vitamins. A blended burger also brings more sustainable, plant-based items to menus.

As one of the Top 5 winners, Taylor will be traveling to the historic James Beard House in New York City to showcase his blended burger along with the other winners at an event in January.
 
“I’m super excited to have won and would like to thank everyone who voted,” he said. “Having the opportunity to cook at the James Beard House is every chef's dream; it's a real bucket-list moment. I'm really looking forward to meeting the other chefs and having the chance to showcase my recipe and to bring a little recognition to a smaller town like Surf City.”
 
As for now, The Goomba is no longer on the menu, but Taylor said he will eventually bring it back as a promo.
 
In other news, OpenTable, the international online restaurant reservation service, recently named The Bistro at Topsail to its annual “100 Most Scenic Restaurants in America” list for 2017. The Bistro at Topsail, located at 602 Roland Ave. in Surf City, is the only eastern North Carolina restaurant on the list and one of only six in the state.

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