A burger at Summer Kitchen + Bakeshop, a cafe in Berkeley, California.
out of 100 · outstanding
Outstanding, and the road to 90 is open.
Reads as a fully realized roast beef, five of six roles on the board.
Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.
brioche, toasted: Beef Patty (burger); Cheddar Cheese; Provolone; Lettuce; Tomato; Onion; House Condiments.
Worth a look: house-made: Onion; ingredient not in the pantry: House Condiments.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 1.4 | 70th |
| acid | 0.5 | 48th |
| fat | 2.5 | 64th |
| sweet | 0.4 | 49th |
| umami | 2.3 | 85th |
| heat | 0.1 | 50th |
| bitter | 0.1 | 55th |
88 Balance, out of 100
The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.
What each layer brings
| Layer | Role | Flavor and texture | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| brioche | bread | fat 2 soft | the frame |
| Beef Patty (burger)scored as Beef | protein | fat 3 umami 3 juicy chewy tender | +6 |
| Cheddar Cheese | protein | fat 4 salt 3 umami 3 soft gooey melty | +4 |
| Provolone | protein | fat 3 umami 3 salt 2 soft melty | −1 |
| Lettuce | texture | crunchy juicy fresh | 0 |
| Tomato | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | +12 |
| Onion | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh | 0 |
| House Condiments | not scored |
Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.
Pairings
- Beef + Cheddar Cheese: the cheeseburger pair: sharp on seared beef
- Beef + Provolone: philly logic: sharp provolone on beef
- Beef + Onion: onions sweeten seared beef, philly style
- Cheddar Cheese + Tomato: grilled cheese and tomato, the lunch pair
- Cheddar Cheese + Onion: cheddar and onion, the ploughman's pair
How to raise it
- Outstanding, not legendary: nothing on this sandwich is house-made, named or exceptional.
All the sandwiches at Summer Kitchen + Bakeshop · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder