[dropcap size=big]B[/dropcap]y now we’re all familiar with the no substitutions rule with Father’s Office’s burger but if I could ask for one modification? Change the name and call it a torta.
The torta umbrella fits chef Sang Yoon’s creation better than a burger. At its base elements, a torta can be as simple as meat and cheese but can be as complicated or complex as the maker desires. In a one-to-one comparison, a typical torta has plenty of meat, cheese, and produce sandwiched between a telera or bolillo, which can be argued to be another version of a French roll.
All elements of which are present in The Office Burger®.
There are really no guidelines to what a torta is and could be, but my rule of thumb is this: All tortas are sandwiches but not all sandwiches are tortas. What makes a torta a torta is the bread, or in Father’s Office’s case, a bolillo, A.K.A., that french roll. “I liked the oval shape because visually it didn't look like a burger." Yoon has even partially admitted this claim in the past, explaining the thought process behind the bread, “This bun doesn't have a lot of character, it's almost bland, but that allows it to absorb the flavors.”
That’s the same spirit of a torta. The bread on its own is fine but it’s more about what it houses and how it’s cooked.
What disqualifies Yoon’s masterpiece from being a burger? Nothing. It just fits the torta categorization so much better. Both aesthetically and spiritually.
Far before smashburgers dominated the burgerverse, Yoon’s torta sparked the gourmet burger craze. And it deserves respect beyond setting off a trend: It pushes the boundary of a sandwich. The slightly funky dry-aged beef is the kind of punch you see from a mile away but are helpless to dodge it. The blue cheese and caramelized onion combines with the beefy punch so beautifully that you might have an existential crisis or call your dad apologizing for shit you did as a kid.
After tasting it, you understand the policy behind the no substitutions, a policy which was created by necessity and lack of space. Yoon recalls that the infamous no subs rule was not a fuck you to the picky eater, but that same rule is the part of the torta's cult reputation. Rather Father’s Office first kitchen was too small and didn’t have the pantry and ingredients to accommodate the modifications.
P.S. Don’t even get me started on why Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s Big Mec is actually just a torta ahogada.
What disqualifies Yoon’s masterpiece from being a burger? Nothing. It just fits the torta categorization so much better. Both aesthetically and spiritually. Yes, The Office Burger® torta is a masterclass in European techniques and ingredients but Yoon is not a stranger to Mexican food, you can find a pork belly al pastor sope on the same menu as the lauded burger. All this to say, Yoon knows it’s a torta but called it a burger to appease the masses (not really).
“The Office sandwich” doesn’t have the same panache as “The Office torta.” is it a burger? Yes. Is it a sandwich? Yes. And is it a torta? Without a doubt.
So what do you say chef Yoon, do you mind making one technical modification to your masterpiece?
P.S. Don’t even get me started on why Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s Big Mec is actually just a torta ahogada.
