Day 195:
Of course my blog is mainly about ramen, but occasionally I like to highlight stuff I come across from my daily life that is totally non-ramen related. The burger joint frisco in Shimokitazawa is one of those exceptions. I've heard about frisco from many people whenever I profess my craving for a 'real' burger. So today, my boss and I decided to finally check it out.
Now that's what I'm talking about! Char-grilled fat-ass patties on a sesame seed bun.
I asked the owner why he named it frisco and his response was "I lived in Berkeley and I hate the city." Need I say more?
They were right. This is definitely a burger that needs to be reckoned with.
It turns out the owner graduated from UC Berkeley and was a pretty famous gymnast back in the day. He even coached the U.S. Olympic team in 1984. When I told him I was from LA and graduated from UCLA, he got all excited and pulled out his 1970 yearbook to share. We then ended up talking for over an hour about his life and how he ended up owning a burger joint in Japan. When I told him I worked at a ramen-ya, he laughed but instantly understood. It felt good to meet a fellow UC graduate following his dream.
So did you think I'd go the day without eating ramen? Not a chance, right?
Life is good...
Awesome. I took a pilgrimage out to frisco in shimokita last year and had a nice long talk with "Mike" the owner. Didn't know about his UC background though - I'm a UCSD alum.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder. I need to peel myself away from the noodles one of these days and get myself back over there for another one of them meat sandwiches! (And I still need to visit Bassanova! doh!)