Editor’s note: Below is part of an occasional series, “The Dish.” Each article in the series features one menu item from an established Westport restaurant. The dishes are chosen for their originality, brashness or singularity. 

By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–It’s always intriguing to find a humble food favorite – a hamburger, for instance – on the menu of an upscale place like Felice in downtown Westport.

Yet, there it is on the Tuscan-themed menu. It is disguised as an Italian entrée. It’s not a hamburger. It’s “L’hamburger.”

That  “L’” is as convincingly Italian as a badly glued-on black mustache. It’s especially conspicuous on a menu so stacked with Tuscan-inspired dishes in their native tongue that diners may leave with a more-than-rudimentary knowledge of the language. A chicken liver mousse starter is “crostino di fegatini e prosciutto.” A mushroom ragù is “tagliatelle funghi e tartufo.”

Even steak and potatoes appear as “tagliata di manzo.” (Literally, sliced beef.)

(The “passata Toscana,” a vegetable soup with chickpeas and white beans that came out as a thick, deep green puree, was a good choice.)

So what’s the difference between a hamburger and l’hamburger?

For one thing, L’hamburger costs $27. But part of that goes to the dining experience in the newest addition to a collection of restaurants that began on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in 2007 and now includes more than a dozen locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester, Long Island and Florida. Westport’s Felice sits on a second floor, where lunch was served in a dining room overlooking Main Street and filled with ample natural light.

There’s more.

A hamburger is often made from ground chuck. L’hamburger is made with a short rib blend. In a burger joint, ketchup comes in a bottle. L’hamburger comes with a ramekin of the condiment.

Then there’s cheese. L’hamburger is topped with taleggio, a pale, mild cheese that melts well but, to be honest, did not add much flavor. A true burger lover expects the cheese to be orange. (See the scene in “The Menu,” where Ralph Fiennes’s obsessed chef tells Anya Taylor-Joy that American cheese is the best choice for a cheeseburger.)

But L’hamburger stood its own. Cooked medium rare – as the chef recommends – it was satisfying and messy. (“Messy” is a compliment in burger speak.) The French fries were crisped to perfection. Thin and golden with a light inside.

The bun? Toasted nicely. Everything else was a classic burger element – a tomato, a leafy green and bacon.

Felice may not be the first place to think of when you’re hankering for a burger. But within its first couple of months, the lunch crowd was bustling pleasantly, and the place has several five-star Yelp! reviews for its food. So if a group or a partner is dying for Tuscan flavors and you want more basic fare, it’s good to know that L’hamburger is there.

Once you see through its disguise. 

Felice

38 Main Street, Westport
(475) 363-4750

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}