Last year, award-winning pastry chef Dominique Ansel gave LA diners a taste of his restaurant with a week-long pop-up picnic event. This year, he brought the experience back for the last two weeks of March, converting his restaurant 189 by Dominique Ansel into “Dom’s Burger Park.” Located on the second floor, above his LA bakery at the Grove, the restaurant dining room was transformed into an outdoor, or rather, indoor picnic, complete with lawn games and picnic blankets. They cooked up burgers and fries, grilled hot dogs accompanied by housemade pickles, served ice-cold lemonade and root beer floats, and much more. Dom’s Burger Park ran weekdays from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM, and I was able to attend the event with a friend toward the end of the second week. Here’s what our food experience was like.
THE FOOD
Burgers ($15)
The 189 Burger Jr. was a mini replica of the 189 Burger offered regularly during the lunch and dinner services at Ansel's 189 restaurant. My friend ordered this one and shared her thoughts on it: “I liked how the patty was juicy and the melted cheese really brought the burger together. I’m not a big fan of aioli, but the spices and kick in the sauce along with the freshness in the pickled onions helped cut through and balance out the flavors. And the buns were so incredibly flakey!” It looked and sounded delicious!
I personally am not vegetarian, but I do appreciate a good veggie burger, and Vegging in the Park was the way to go! The burger featured a mushroom patty where you could see the chunks of mushroom in it. Although the patty sort of fell apart as I ate it, the savory umami flavor it had was unmatched. It was complemented with the sweetness and mild tang of barbeque sauce and topped with mixed greens and big juicy slices of tomato for a refreshing bite. And I agree that the buns were unbelievable and really made the burger. They were so flakey and airy, almost croissant-like; I have never experienced a burger bun like that!
The burgers were served with a hefty serving of herb-garnished fries, which really fills you up!
Hot Dogs ($8)
The staff at Dom's Burger Park recommended we try the hot dog, so of course, we had to. They were being grilled out back and served on a potato bun with various condiments and toppings. It tasted like your normal hot dog; the hot dog itself was big, juicy, and had a nice snap to it. The relish provided a nice sweetness. The buns were soft, although, it would’ve been nice if they were toasted a little, too.
Lemonade ($4)
There were two flavors of lemonade offered this year: strawberry and passion fruit. Both were on the tart side for my preference. The strawberry lemonade had a mild strawberry taste at first sip that faded away whereas the passion fruit lemonade definitely embodied the pucker-inducing sourness of passion fruit. Despite, they were cool and refreshing, especially on the hot day, and served with a paper straw, which I thought really channeled the picnic vibes.
With all the food we ate, we were stuffed! Unfortunately, we could not get to the desserts they offered: the homemade blueberry hand pies, the cookies, and the popcorn. But we had a great experience and amazing food nonetheless. Special thanks to the staff for being so nice and accommodating during our visit.
If Dom’s Burger Park does come back for another year, we highly recommend that you take the opportunity. I mean, who doesn’t want to have a good time with good burgers? Be sure to keep an eye out for future events!