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Blanc Burgers gets national, local nods to their patty

Tuesday, 26 May 2009 23:00

In just over a year Blanc Burgers and Bottles has gone from new restaurant on the block in Westport to opening a second location in Leawood and being named the best hamburger in Missouri.
This rise to fame has made Blanc one of the most talked about eateries in the city and has made for full dining rooms at lunch and dinner.
"When we started, I realized people eat about 150 burgers a year, that's two or three a week," owner Ernesto Peralto said. "People are going to eat burgers."
Peralto, co-owners Eddie Crane and Jennifer Price, and chef Josh Eans started the Westport location with the idea of creating an upscale hamburger spot with the added element of bottled beverages.
"Being in Westport, we didn't want to be a bar, we wanted more of a restaurant," Peralto said. "We wanted to stand out, be different. That's why the colors are so bright."
The interior of both Blanc locations features bright colors and modern motifs. The menu features 12 hamburgers, four choices of sides, and hundreds of choices of beers, wines and sodas.
Peralto said the most popular burger and the burger that Food Network Magazine declares the best in Missouri is the "inside out burger." It features bleu cheese stuffed inside the patty, cooked until the cheese is melted. It comes with smoked bacon, onion rings, ketchup, mustard and lettuce on an onion brioche bun.
Peralto said getting recognition from Food Network only helps the restaurant.
"It's priceless," Peralto said. "It's rewarding to hear other people say that. But it's also a gauge. It shows we're going in the right direction with what we wanted to do."
Blanc uses local businesses to help make their menu items. The restaurant has paired with Farm to Market Bread Co., Shatto Milk Co., Foo's Fabulous Frozen Custard, Boulevard Brewery, Christopher Elbow Chocolates and Arrowhead Specialty Meats.
Peralto said that as a locally-owned business, he appreciates what the companies he partners with are doing.
"It's been great partnerships," Peralto said. "I think we're all growing together. For example, when Foo's Custard gets recognition, they attach our name to it. Now we're trying to come up with some ways to have proprietary blends of the meat that only we can carry. "
For the first few months after the Westport location opened, Peralto said mostly locals frequented the restaurant. After word-of-mouth spread, the restaurant became more popular with Johnson County and south Kansas City residents.
"We started to get 75 percent of people from Johnson County," Peralto said. "I realized that for every person that comes from the Johnson County side, there are about 10 that don't. So let's do something out here. When (the developers of Mission Farms) broke ground, I thought it was great looking place. When I talked to the landlord, he told me he wanted to do only upscale, locally-owned concepts. That's what got me sold. "
Popularity with the Johnson County crowd led Peralto and his partners to open the second Blanc location in the Mission Farms mixed-use area at 106th Street and Mission Road. Peralto said the location attracts more families than the Westport location.
"Most of the families have four or five kids, so they all come" Peralto said. "But we have some special drinks for them and everyone can eat off our menu."
With just a year under their belt, Peralto said the ownership group is keeping options open for the future and actively looking at the potential of opening other locations.
Peralto said getting the right people in place will be the most important part of keeping quality at the same level.
"It is very important who we hire," Peralto said. "We train them in the food, let them taste everything, taste all the sodas, make sure they know what they are telling the customers. We're a family here, and I think one of the reasons we have been successful is because we all share that same passion."

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