"Yep, we pretty much painted the town blue" said Chef Stuart Tracy of the Little Blue Menu (blue) billboards around town. Little Blue Menu is a new project from Chick-fil-A, yes the outrageously popular fast food chicken chain. Little Blue Menu is comprised of four restaurant concepts that are available for take-out and delivery only: Outfox Wings, Flock & Farm, Garden Day and Because, Burger (because, sometimes you just need a burger). According to Chef Tracy everyone doesn't always want chicken, so for those times, there's Little Blue Menu. I assumed this was Chick-fil-A's response to the pandemic, but the concept was tested in West Hollywood in 2019. "Chick-fil-A was working towards food delivery then, the pandemic just propelled it a bit quicker", said Tracy.
Last month I was invited to the Little Blue Menu "headquarters" here in Nashville to taste the Because, Burger, which had launched just days before. Intrigued, I went. I was met by Chef Stuart Tracy who is based in Atlanta. Stuart's roots are in fine dining. He was the opening chef for Butcher & Bee in Charleston before being recruited by Chick-fil-A. For him, in addition to providing stable hours, "it's an opportunity to make an impact, do good and expose people to new flavors, like Korean Fried Chicken or fill in the blank. If you've had it at Chick-fil-A you won't be hesitant to have it in Korea town...." And while there are some standard issue items on the menus familiar to most of us who dine out (Kale Salad, Beet Salad) Flock & Farm serves a half head of cauliflower roasted in a savory Japanese seasoned marinade, served with Romesco sauce and toasted sesame seed. Yum (we can't wait to try that). Stuart brings a high-end food sensibility (he's incorporated miso paste and gochujang (Korean chili paste) into numerous items and he's always looking for inspiration. He recently went to Arnold's as he had heard so much about it. It was incredible. So what is a meat & three in 2022, and how do we translate that?"
"it's an opportunity to make an impact, do good and expose people to new flavors, like Korean Fried Chicken or fill in the blank. --Chef Stuart Tracy
For what is a behemoth of a company, (Chick-fil-A did 5.8 billion in sales in 2021), Little Blue Menu is (still) personal and small. Stuart and his taste testing team (his sidekick Aaron) developed and tested most of the burgers. And it's also only here in Nashville. They did their initial testing in Los Angeles, but only Nashville is currently offering it.
So onto the burgers. We went into the kitchen for Stuart to make me one. (No company secrets as I filmed the entire process). They're made from a special blend of beef that is 80-20. And never frozen. The patties are placed atop cheese on the griddle, then topped with caramelized onions, then the top of the "clam shell grill" comes down and cooks the burger on both sides in mere seconds. More cheese is added and the top comes down again to cook the cheese. The burgers reflect Stuart's food sensibility. The onions are caramelized, the lettuce is romaine, some are served with arugula and the sauces are fire.
The burger is doggone tasty, but maybe the best thing is its size. It's reminiscent of the burger at Jack Brown's (sans the 100% American Wagyu beef) a civilized 3-ounce burger, served simply in a paper envelope. And it's served with frites--skinny fries as opposed to the waffle fries--which is great by me.
Little Blue Menu is run out of the Chick-fil-A on 1622 Church St, where you can also order from the Chick-fil-A menu. There's no dine-in, the facility operates as delivery and carry-out only. There's also no line. To order Little Blue Menu go to littlebluemenu.com
Read more about Little Blue Menu here. Read more about Chick-fil-A's culture and history here.
The original restaurant that started it all, called The Dwarf House by S. Truett Cathy and his brother, in the 1950's in Hapeville, Ga.
Copyright ©2024 Edible Nashville. All rights reserved
