It may seem like an unlikely philosophy for a guy who owns a burger joint, but Josh Bortman wants you to consider eating less meat.
In fact, the owner and head cook of the Bainbridge Island artisan burger bastion Soup’r Burger has dedicated a special weekly event to his culinary crusade to bring new and exciting vegetarian fare to island foodies: Meatless Mondays.
Don’t worry, die hards, all the regular menu burgers are still available.
Bortman’s not trying to convert anybody away from his featured fare. It’s just a fun way to try new things in the kitchen and perhaps show a few skeptics that vegetarian food can be just as enticing as anything else, he said.
“For me it’s not about being vegetarian,” he explained. “I’m not trying to make vegetarian versions of regular food. The concept of Meatless Mondays is just that if everyone ate a little less meat it would be really good for the world.
“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, even before we opened,” he added. “But, when you open a new business it’s like you have a thousand ideas and then the core idea [alone] takes more time than what you actually had.”
The comic book-themed burger joint, located in the Pavilion, celebrated its third anniversary on Halloween and began instituting a new Meatless Monday option back in August.
Past meatless menus have included seasonal fare — dinners designed around ingredients like pumpkin, mushrooms or tomatoes — and regional cuisine like Thai noodles, both to customer acclaim.
“It started off well and I expected it to take a little longer to catch on, but even from the get-go we had a pretty decent response,” Bortman said. “I love the concept of coming up with menus, so the idea of coming up with a new menu every week is great.
“We’ve always had veggie options,” he added. “It’s not exactly about vegetarianism as a lifestyle. For a lot of customers it’s about eating less meat or just having an interesting dinner.”
Soup’r Burger has always been more than just a burger joint, and boasts a menu featuring a dozen or so floats and shakes and a regular rotation of gourmet soups. Bortman insists his menu use only organic and natural ingredients.
“I like making things the way they should be made,” he said. “Like making all of the components from scratch as opposed to starting with shortcuts.”
Visit www.souprburger.com to view the full menu and restaurant hours.
