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Bad Apple's Seitan Burger Is Even Stranger Than It Sounds

 The Strange Famous burger at The Bad Apple is named for hip-hop artist Sage Francis, who owns the record label Strange Famous.
The Strange Famous burger at The Bad Apple is named for hip-hop artist Sage Francis, who owns the record label Strange Famous.
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Sage Francis/Facebook; DNAinfo/Janet Rausa Fuller

May is National Burger Month, so each week DNAinfo is bringing you the story of a unique burger and its maker.

NORTH CENTER — There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of variations on the veggie burger all over town, but only one of them pays homage to the great Sage Francis.

Wait ... who?

Francis is an underground hip-hop artist who owns the fiercely independent label Strange Famous Records and lives in Providence, R.I.

It would seem he has no obvious connection to Chicago other than his devoted fan base here, nor to The Bad Apple, 4300 N. Lincoln Ave., where the Francis-inspired, seitan-based Strange Famous burger ($9) is on the menu.

But for Bad Apple owners Craig and Mandy Fass, who count themselves among his superfans, a world without a Strange Famous burger would be strange.

Hip-hop artist Sage Francis is the inspiration for the "Strange Famous" veggie burger at The Bad Apple in North Center. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]

In 2007, the couple was on a hiatus from the restaurant business and traveling as much as possible. Rage Against the Machine had reunited and were playing in San Bernardino, Calif. The Fasses had to go.

“All the way over on a side stage was this show of independent hip-hop artists, and Sage was there. After he was done, he drops the mic and just jumps into the crowd,” Craig Fass said.

That was typical Sage Francis, Fass said, as was him working his own merchandise booth after the show. Mandy Fass introduced herself and her husband then, and a friendship was born.

Two years later, the Fasses were preparing to open the Bad Apple. They knew they wanted to name a veggie burger after Francis (he’s a vegetarian), so they told him their plan.

Janet Resa Fuller tells us more about the Strange Famous.

“And I was like, ‘Hell yeah. F---ing do whatever you want.' And they were like, ‘Well, what do you want on it?’ They’re foodies, you know? I’m not a foodie. I don’t really have high requirements. I microwave most of my food, and that’s part of the reason I have such a great physique,” Francis said in an interview with the AV Club.

He likes goat cheese and mushrooms. The Fasses figured out the rest.

The Strange Famous burger, made in house, is a blend of seitan — that’s the “strange” element — wild mushrooms, chickpeas, corn and spices.

While it sears on the flattop, it’s topped with a puck of goat cheese. Off the heat, baby spinach leaves and red onion and sage (obviously) marmalade finish it off.

Fass said it took about six months of fiddling around to get the patty right, meaning “not dry, not mushy, so it tastes good.” The secret: falafel mix from Middle Eastern Bakery in Andersonville, which acts as a binder.

The hearty, slightly spicy burger is so good, some customers sub it for the beef patty in other burgers, Fass said. The restaurant’s veggie meatballs are made with the same seitan mix.

“We get meat eaters who don’t believe our meatballs aren’t meat,” Fass said.

The Bad Apple owner Craig Fass said the restaurant sells 50 of its "Strange Famous" veggie burgers on a typical Saturday. [DNAinfo/Janet Rausa Fuller]

Via e-mail last week, Francis said he came to Chicago a few times for taste-tests.

"My only criticism was that I thought the bun was too ‘bready,' which took away from all the other tasty ingredients,” he said. "The chef gave me laser eyes when I mentioned that and he whispered death threats as he walked away, so I'm not even really trying to insinuate that the burger is nothing less than fan-f---in-tastic. Overall I love it and I try to pop into the Bad Apple whenever I'm in the wiggity-windy city.”

Fass doesn’t recall this, and it doesn’t matter anyway.

“If you’ve ever seen Sage in concert, he’s so accessible. He makes you feel special. He’s just an aggressively outstanding human being,” Fass said.

There’s a similar philosophy at The Bad Apple, where half the menu is “vegetarian, vegetarian-friendly or can be made vegetarian,” he said.

“We’re a burger place, a meat place, and the fact that vegetarians not only like our food but feel comfortable eating here, it’s cool,” he said. "We're here to take care of people."

There have been other dishes at the Bad Apple named after famous and semi-famous rappers — the VindaLupe sandwich for Lupe Fiasco, the Feta Wap for Fetty Wap — but those are fleeting. The Strange Famous burger is always on the menu.

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