Chef Michael Symon and Impossible Burgers: Meatless patties that taste like meat

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - Michael Symon has taken on an impossible mission.

Impossible Burgers - plant-based vegetarian patties being touted for meat lovers - are being grilled in B Spots across Greater Cleveland.

"When you go out to eat you should know what you're eating," he said. "You buy a car, no one walks to a random lot. You research it for months. But then we go to a restaurant or a grocery store and buy food, and stick it in our mouths."

For Symon, a devout and proud carnivore but one who recognizes healthy eating and cooking habits, the Impossible Burger makes perfect sense.

"It smells like a burger, it bleeds like a burger, it tastes like a burger," Symon said.

Vegetarian offerings have come a long way since the days of stir fry with tofu being about the most creative non-meat dish available.

The science and history behind the vegetarian Impossible Burger dates to 2011, when they were developed by Stanford University biochemistry professor emeritus, Patrick Brown. They use 75 percent less water and emit 87 percent fewer greenhouse gases.

Symon rolled up his sleeve Friday at the Strongsville B Spot, dashing Kosher salt on a patty as he grilled it while praising its virtues.

Specific Impossible Burgers are available at different B Spots:

* "Impossible Patty Melt," 28699 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood: Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, sauerkraut.

* "Salisbury Steak," 20 Main St., Crocker Park: Mushroom gravy, crispy onions, grain mustard.

* "Buckeye Burger," 5091 N. Hamilton Road, Columbus: Spicy peanut-butter sauce, sweet hot pickles.

* "Polish Boy," 18066 Royalton Road, Strongsville: French fries, coleslaw, tangy shasha sauce, coffee barbecue sauce.

The Thin Lizzy Impossible Burger - named for Symon's wife, Liz - will be at all B Spots.

A little more than a year ago, Symon's chef-friend Traci Des Jardins suggested he try the Impossible Burger. Symon has had a vegetarian burger on the menu since customers demanded it, he said, and because his wife and son are vegetarians.

"It's never been appealing to me," he said. "But none of them tasted like this."

The epiphany came when his wife - who hadn't had a burger in 10 or 15 years - tried one.

"She said 'This tastes exactly like a hamburger to me.' It tastes like a hamburger to me, too, which completely blew my mind. It made me rethink a lot of things."

The Impossible Burger goes after the "sensory experience you would have from eating a burger," said Ashley Kleckner of Impossible Foods. So that juicy, savory, sink-your-teeth-into-every-bite feel that meat eaters enjoy was the ultimate goal, she said. Brown's research went after "why meat tastes like meat. Turns out you don't need the cow. Cut out the middleman."

The resulting burger from that trial and error won over Symon, a poster child for beef. He wrote a book called "Carnivore" and has a restaurant called Roast. He said when he first introduced Impossible Burgers, "customers thought I was lying to them. They were looking for the (hidden) cameras."

In fact, 70 percent of the people ordering Impossible Burgers are meat eaters, Kleckner said.

Impossible Burgers should be refrigerated like beef. ("It's real food," Symon said.) They have about the same number of calories as a beef burger (A three-ounce beef patty has about 220 calories, Kleckner said.) But an Impossible Burger has zero cholesterol, and its fat comes from coconut oil.

They are not sold in stores now. The company is gauging the restaurant interest first, she said.

Symon is selling the "burger" along with several fellow award-winning chefs, including David Chang, Chris Cosentino, Chris Shepherd, Des Jardins, Ken Oringer and others. In Cleveland, Wahlburgers also started serving one.

And while Symon is at first hesitant to say which is his favorite, he cannot resist the Patty Melt.

"I love sauerkraut," he said. "Sauerkraut is not for everyone. But to me sauerkraut is a food group."

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