Descending into gleaming white basin that contains the new City Target in Downtown LA is like boarding a space-craft circa year 2100. Maybe one day, all urban structures will be holes rather than towers. Of course I am in no way qualified to make projections about the metropolitan architecture of tomorrow, but I like a sci-fi fantasy as much as the next girl.
Anyway, if you proceed further down the hole, dubbed Figat7th for its proximity to 7th and Figueroa Streets, you’ll find the newly opened food court known as The Taste. As you might expect, The Taste is the food court of the future, all minimalist and chic with shiny stainless steel counters offering up the latest in gourmet, sophisticated convenience. Last night, we ventured over there to sample an appropriately high-tech new innovation: Michelin-starred chef Paul Shoemaker’s Juicy Lucy Burger.
The former Savory chef has developed a burger made from luscious grass fed beef and injected with a blend of nitrogen-infused artisanal cheeses, resulting in a patty with a gooey lava-like center. Baked in a vapor-controlled oven, the aptly named Juicy Lucy holds onto all its juices before being thrown onto a nickel-plated plancha, topped with crisp lettuce, caramelized onion, aioli, pickles and tomatoes, and nestled into a soft brioche bun.
Now open from 11am to 5pm, you can complete your next-level meal with Sirracha cheese fries, an idea so brilliant yet so simple that we don’t know why we didn’t come up with it ourselves. A thick, creamy Salted Caramel milkshake blended with organic dairy is absurdly tempting, while Agua Frescas made from fresh fruit stand by as a more reasonable alternative. Turkey burgers and salmon burgers are available as well if you prefer white and pink to red.
