Thurber Mingus satisfies burger craving with stuffed-pepper patty

After all the attention we’ve given to burgers at DFW.com — and to veggie burgers in this column — we are very late to mention one of the more interesting options in town. The meatless burger I’m most interested in these days gives up on the patty altogether.

Until recently, I had never tried Thurber Mingus, which has been open a little more than a year and made it to the final four of our Burger Battle last summer. I’d heard there wasn’t much for vegetarians except a salad.

But the menu has evolved, and when I finally went, I chatted with chef Coby Baumann and found him to be quite interested in making vegetarian diners happy. For any of the 10 gourmet burgers on his menu, he offers a black bean chipotle patty, not house-made, as a vegetarian substitute for $2 extra.

But he suggested opting for his Oaxaca cheese-stuffed grilled poblano pepper instead of a patty (this is not for vegans, obviously).

He makes plenty of these stuffed peppers every day as a topping for one of the regular beef burgers, which comes dressed with green onion and cilantro mayo ($10.50). So I had one that way, minus the beef, and loved it. It was a tall, satisfying mess with good heat from the pepper cooled down by the creamy cheese and a great pile of lettuce, tomato and house-made pickle.

It came close to being too soft a sandwich (can you even call this a burger?), but the slight crunch of the lightly fried batter helped with that.

I also liked my second attempt, topped with green chile-cheddar pimento cheese ($9.50). There are plenty more toppings to explore here, including candied jalapeños, Texas pesto, local ricotta, asparagus, truffle oil, caramelized 1015 onions and poblano jam. I’ll probably never get around to ordering the nice-sounding field greens salad, with local greens, herbs, candied pecans, goat cheese, pickled onions, oranges and mustard vinaigrette ($8.50).

Thurber Mingus, 4400 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth. 817-570-0537; thurbermingus.com.

New season, new dishes

Spring menus are out at restaurants that let the changing seasons inspire new dishes.

At Grace, chef Blaine Staniford is in love with spring peas — and so am I, when he’s cooking. The new dinner menu has a lovely spring pea soup ($10) with potato gnocchi, fava beans and ricotta (just ask them to hold the chorizo bread-crumble garnish), as well as a spring onion ricotta tortellini with spring peas and preserved Meyer lemon ($15 or $30). This is the main vegetarian entree right now, and that preserved lemon is stunning.

Among the starters, the burrata mozzarella with Tassione Farms petite radishes, house-churned butter and salsa verde is even better than it sounds. The delicate butter takes several days to make, starting with the soaking of various cheese rinds that go into the churn, as the staff can detail for you, and the salsa verde contains some of the radish greens. It’s a great example of the care Staniford puts into everything.

Tell them you’re eating vegetarian or vegan (it’s best to do this when you make a reservation), and they’ll have other ideas for you, too. Grace, 777 Main St., Fort Worth. 817-877-3388; gracefortworth.com.

The current menu at Cafe Modern is as veggie-friendly as any the restaurant has had, with little Blue Zones symbols all over the menu. It’s goat-cheese season, and fresh Latte Da cheese, made in Flower Mound, stars in several dishes, including a honey-roasted rhubarb salad with spring mix, chile-spiced pepitas, shaved fennel and orange white-balsamic vinaigrette ($8), as well as on a goat cheese sandwich ($13.25), with cucumber, Texas watercress, pickled radishes, Texas olive oil and fleur de sel on a nine-grain bread.

There’s also a zucchini-ribbon salad, which eats, as they say, more like a pasta. It’s a version of the current craze for using zucchini in place of wheat noodles (also spotted this season at the Houlihan’s chain and at Vivo 53, the excellent pizza place in downtown Fort Worth). It has long, silky strips of raw shaved zucchini with fava beans, tomatoes, bulgur, kalamata olives, Honey Doe Farm goat feta and fresh herbs in simple lemon and olive oil ($13.95).

There are many more options here, including spring pea falafel (available on a simple plate at brunch and as part of an elaborate “Edible Vegetable Garden” presentation at Friday dinner) and a brunch frittata with spring vegetables. 3200 Darnell St., Fort Worth. 817-840-2157; themodern.org/cafe.

Similar fresh, local cheeses and Mediterranean flavors are everywhere. I haven’t tried these yet, but at dinner, Ellerbe Fine Foods has an herbed chevre-stuffed portobello mushroom entree ($20) with spiced Israeli couscous, roasted red pepper coulis and toasted pistachios, as well as a Demases Farm Mediterranean salad ($12) with za’atar-marinated chickpeas, house-pickled onion, Brazos Valley feta and cumin vinaigrette. 1501 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth. 817-926-3663; ellerbefinefoods.com.

We’ve even enjoyed a significant number of new seasonal items at a chain restaurant, Modern Market, with locations in Southlake and in Collin and Dallas counties. There’s a smoky pesto pizza, with smoked mozzarella and green things of spring like arugula and asparagus; the “Greenberry” salad with goat cheese, red onion, strawberry, lemon-maple vinaigrette and hemp seeds(!); and an eggplant/goat cheese sandwich whose most notable components are harissa tahini and charred onion. Ambitious ingredients for a chain. It’s a great time to be eating veggie.

Modern Market, 1161 E. Southlake Blvd., Suite 260, Southlake. 817-727-8000; modmarket.com.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Thurber Mingus satisfies burger craving with stuffed-pepper patty."