If you're looking to get a taste of Los Angeles glamburgers at the freshly opened Umami Burger on Union Street, InsideScoop recommends you plan your visits strategically, as the place has been packed since last week's soft open. Also, don't let the burgers-only concept fool you, diners should feel free to treat the place "more like a restaurant than a burger joint", although you can also pick up a greasy sack to go. Currently the only San Francisco-specific menu item is the bacon-wrapped scallop burger, although Grubstreet hips us to the off-menu cheddar tots. Other than that, it's pretty much the same (amazing) burger menu you'll get down South. [InsideScoop] [GrubSF]
Eater also got a look around the new space, which should help with that strategic visit planning, although the 4.5 stars on Yelp might not. [EaterSF] [Yelp]
Morton's Steakhouse, which famously landed a big goose egg from Michael Bauer, appears to be making an attempt to overcome the zero-star stigma with a new holiday-themed cocktail and some free food. The "festive libation", as it was described in a press release, is called a Sparkling Cinnamon Apple and contains prosecco, green apple lambic and honey syrup in a cinnamon sugar-rimmed champagne flute topped with whipped cream. It's also $14.
In other Morton's news, anyone who slips a secret code word to the bartender on any given Friday or Saturday between the hours of 2-4 p.m. can score themselves a free gift card good for an item from the bar menu of miniature sandwiches. The secret code word, by the way, is "Home for the Holidays". [PR]
Last week 7x7 Magazine graciously shared the recipe to Absinthe's spicy pork meatballs. Just in time for all those holiday cocktail parties you will soon be hosting. [7x7]
Biergarten, the beer garden offshoot of Süppenkuche in Hayes Valley's proxy project that we've been anxiously awaiting for months now, could open at any moment. A tweet from the Proxy Project indicates staff were in the outdoor space training yesterday. [@ProxySF]
Marijuana-infused wine is apparently a thing, although don't bother trying to ask for it in the tasting room. Most of the batches are kept under wraps, well away from vintner's standard operations. [SFoodie]
The worst paragraph of food writing for 2011 is (allegedly) a paragraph from the New York Times trivializing Julia Child by claiming her opus "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was nothing more than the inspiration for a cool blog-to-book-to-movie deal. [CHOW]