LEO's Eat'N'Blog: Chef Dan seeks out the little donkey

[Robin Garr]

<table border="0" align="left" width="310"><tr><td><img src="http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/salsarita_burrito.jpg" border="1" align="left"></td></tr><tr><td>Salsarita's chicken burrito with black beans, medium salsa, guacamole, lettuce, cilantro, red onions and cheese. Photo by Robin Garr.</td></tr></table>LEO's Eat 'n' Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Qdoba, Moe's, Salsarita's)

When a top chef takes a break from cooking for other people and ventures out to dine on someone else's fare, what goodies is he likely to choose? Ethereally trendy foams and smears and other cutting-edge num-nums of molecular gastronomy?

Well, maybe.

But if you ask Chef Dan Thomas, sous chef at Big Spring Country Club and late of City Café, Café Metro and Equus, about the casual snack that smacks his piñata, a fond, distant look comes into his eyes and he literally licks his chops.

"Burritos," he said. And not taqueria burritos, either. Thomas enjoys getting himself around the fast-food version, Mexican-style stuffed tortilla wraps at least as big as your head. The fanciful name means "little donkey" - food historians can't agree on just why - and it's not classic Mexican but a Mexican-American item evolved from the Mexican soft, wheat-flour taco.

This portable Southwestern variation on the sandwich is immensely popular, and not just with Thomas. And as for the nutritional analysis, don't even ask. (Oh, all right, ask. Fully load a Triple Lindy at Moe's, and you're looking at 1,651 calories. That's without chips or a drink.)

We invited Thomas to take his chef's toque on the road and render his professional judgment of the "little donkeys" at three major local chains, <b>Qdoba, Moe's</b> and <b>Salsarita's</b>. Here is his report ...

Full reports in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.

Fun report and good idea. My .02 on these places is that Salsarita's meats tend to be very salty, and I still find it jarring how they yell at you when you walk into a Moe's. I have had the most consistently good burritos at Chipotle.

[Robin Garr]

Salsarita's meats tend to be very salty

I just finished the leftover half of the burrito in the photo (purchased for lunch yesterday), reheated, and can only testify that in this single instance the chicken didn't seem to be over-salted. I don't recall this of past visits either, although I tend to expect fast-food in general not to be <i>under</i>-salted.

I was comfortable with Dan's findings because they were pretty much consistent with my own experience. Not that I eat a lot of fast-food burritos!

I've no doubt that the seasoning of the meat can vary my location. My salsarita's experience is limited to one location in northern kentucky.

I'm constantly surprised by the continuingly increasing number of franchises using this concept. At what point do they start crowding each other out, I wonder.

[Robin Garr]

I'm constantly surprised by the continuingly increasing number of franchises using this concept. At what point do they start crowding each other out, I wonder.

At this point, though, as Dan noted, it seems that many of the places demonstrate a demand by luring long lines throughout the lunch hour.

Dan,

I enjoyed reading this article very much as I am a true fan of all burritos, I hope the powers that be will continue to let you eat and write, a powerful combination when you are well versed in both.

A recent trip to Moe's confirmed that:

1. They still yell at you when you walk in the door; and

2. Their "fajita steak" is not as high quality as the grilled steak at Salsarita's and Chipotle.

[Robin Garr]

I enjoyed reading this article very much as I am a true fan of all burritos, I hope the powers that be will continue to let you eat and write, a powerful combination when you are well versed in both.

I have indeed invited Chef Dan to bring his rare combination of cooking and writing skills to the team of LEO Eat'N'Blog contributors from time to time, Dean.

[Robin Garr]

(The tofu burrito discussion has been split off as a new topic.)