Blackbird Public House
Brotha – 1/11/2019
It was a crisp, bluebird morning in January when the boys pulled up to Blackbird. The air was still and steam hung on every breath. Naturally, Francie wore shorts. It was the time of year when people had already started flopping on their New Year’s resolutions; fortunately, the boys kept their resolutions simple and realistic: Eat More BB’s! Blackbird Public House was a great first stop for 2020 and really kicked off the new decade as far as burritos go!
Tortilla
This tortilla was the best of both worlds: toasted and crisp on the outside but soft and gooey on the inside. It was perfectly folded without too much bulk on the ends. Structurally, it was an engineering masterpiece.
Rating: 9/10
Textures
Inside this burrito was a diverse ecosystem of texture. Fluffy scrambled eggs, tender ground sausage and crisp potatoes were seamlessly held together by a delicate web of cheese. I couldn’t decide if I preferred shoveling them all in together or picking apart each component.
Rating: 10/10
Flavors
What complex harmony! The eggs were perfect, as is not uncommon, but Blackbird didn’t stop there. The potatoes were perfectly seasoned with tons of flavor but not too much salt. And the sausage… oh the sausage. The subtle, smokey sweetness was unexpected but certainly welcome. Meanwhile, the cheese effortlessly filled in the flavor and textural gaps without dominating the landscape. And finally, the drizzle of green chili sauce over the top tied the whole bundle together like a brown paper package, tied up with string. This was just one of my favorite things!
Rating: 10/10
Use of Potatoes
First tater 10/10 of 2020! The potatoes came in the form of small diced pieces and as mentioned above they were crispy and well seasoned. Some of my favorite bites of the burrito included just the cheese and potatoes with a little green chili.
Rating: 10/10
“Smother”
This was a somewhat nontraditional smother as there was a green chili sauce drizzled over the burrito but not necessarily a full-on, plate-smattering smother as is commonly seen. That said, the sauce enhanced the burrito exactly as intended and provided just the slightest touch of heat. Mighty fine.
Rating: +
Impression
What a solid BB to kick off the decade! We’re happy to give this burrito a tying top score of 39. It reminds me of an old song by the Beatles:
“Blackbird [BB] in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise”
Blackbird [BB] in the [early morn’]
Take these sunken eyes and [help me] see
All your life
You were only waiting to be [eaten by me]”