I love truffles. The fungus kind. I love the luscious smell, that deep earthiness. Truffles make every food they touch taste just a bit smokey and velvety. Pure luxury on a plate.

Duck Fat Fries. Photo courtesy Bourbon Steak

On the other hand, I’m not always a hamburger fan. It takes something special to win me over. Like truffles. Not only did Bourbon Steak, located at Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, win me over, it combined truffles and burger to create a great wow moment. It added in fries for an over-the-top WOW moment.

Bourbon Steak is a high end restaurant (someday I’m going to try that $72 Kobe beef filet minon to see if it offers me a wow moment), with great food and superb wines. When my husband and I went to the restaurant’s burger bar, open 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in the restaurant’s bar, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Burgers? How high end can you make a burger and what can you get in a $14 burger that you can’t get in a $7 burger?

Not only was it fun, but I found the perfect place to feed my truffle passion. They handed us a clipboard when we arrived that had all the options available for our burgers. We could either take the easy route and select one of the signature burgers or create our own burger. Well, I’ve never been known to do anything the easy way, so I chose to create my own burger.

For the actual meat, the choices are dry-aged all-beef, turkey, lamb, salmon, and falafel. I opted for the all-beef. For the $14, you get to choose up to 6 toppings.

I chose truffled pecorino cheese, heirloom tomatoes, butter leaf lettuce, onion ketchup, and (of course), black truffle aïoli.

The bar at Bourbon Steak. Photo courtesy Bourbon Steak

The side dish of a trio of duck fat fries is $5 (by the way, these are served complimentary to restaurant guests). I had to go with these. I mean DUCK FAT. How can you go wrong? I wasn’t disappointed. These are crunchy little fries, soft in the center. They were the ultimate wow moment of the entire meal. We got a tray of 3 different types of fries and accompanying sauces: smoked paprika-dusted fries paired with a barbecue sauce; herb-and-garlic-crusted fries with onion-infused ketchup; and (my favorite) lightly salted fries with truffle aïoli dip. Wow. I was in truffle heaven.

Just when I thought the meal couldn’t get any better, we received our “adult milkshakes.” My Bourbon malt was a yummy concoction with Jim Beam and salty caramel. The perfect accompaniment to those salty fries and that juicy burger.

We finished our meal with beignets and dipping sauces. My husband was very understanding when I claimed the dark chocolate sauce. Of course, he was still sipping on his rum raisin milkshake, so he was enjoying his own wow moment.

If you go…

Bourbon Steak, A Michael Mina Restaurant
Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
7575 E. Princess Drive
Scottsdale, AZ
480-513-6002
http://www.michaelmina.net
Burger Bar hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m.