When you get that cheese steak or burger on 24th Street, does it have foie gras, Port Salut, or bourbon-brown sugar bacon on it? A just-opened spot is serving up gourmet burgers meant to be consumed with a glass of some distinctive and little-known wine. B³ ― aka B-Cubed ― had nearly every table full at last night's public debut. Earlier this week, owners Johnny Gato and chef Kevin Ahajanian (both of Bouchon), plus Ron Elder, rolled out two nights of practice runs for the Bold Italic's Moveable Feast promos.
Conceptualized as a "winemakers' speakeasy," B³ stands for bottles, burgers, and bites.
Add-ons for burgers (prices start at $10) take up a fair amount of the menu. You can also lose the beef patty and get olive oil-braised chicken breast confit ($12) instead, get a BLT (cue the bourbon-brown sugar bacon) ($8), a grilled veggie sandwich ($11), or hen of the woods "burger" ($12) to appease less carnivorous appetites. Onion ring fans may be challenged to find a finer version of the light, sweet, crisp ones here. And the French fries ― with or without truffle salt ― are enough to feed three. (One request, B³: Please give up more ketchup with the fried goods!)While it's not likely you'll be hungry after taking in the hefty portions, there are three Humphry Slocombe flavors available for dessert.
Wines are of the small-batch sort, available to taste, by the glass, or full bottle. Just like at neighbor Heart, wine comes with a retail option for to-go bottles.
Previous eateries in this site included Senses and Janitizi. Both had too-dark dining spaces, but B³'s added appealing art to the walls. The front area is uncluttered, and offers better street views than its predecessors here. For now, B³ is open every day for dinner. Brunch is reportedly next, possibly rolling out a month from now. Weekday lunch is a maybe.
B³: 1152 Valencia (at 22nd St.), 401-7258.
