Jason Triail, The Habit Burger & Grill’s director of culinary innovation, is a New York native. But when he joined the Irvine-based chain in 2023, he started thinking about West Coast produce.
The result is called Tempura Avocado Wedges.
“This is something I’ve been working on for over a year,” he said, showing off the dish in his test kitchen here Habit headquarters. It’s in the back of a drive-thru at 2200 Barranca Parkway.
“Our new mantra, and it always will be, is we are California feel-good and we’re a California-based company. So avocados spoke to me. What can I do with it? Turn it into a tempura fried avocado with a crispy outside and creamy inside. Serve it with our signature ranch.”
The dish went on sale for a limited time this week.
Triail said he likes to come with unexpected recipes nobody else has, but he is also revisiting the existing menu.
Since Triail joined The Habit he has been evaluating it from every angle. He is testing a new take on the Santa Barbara Cobb in about 20 restaurants. He not only tweaked the recipe, he’s showing it off in a new bowl.
“I looked at the value proposition,” he said. “Everything’s getting pricier out there so you’ve got to show the consumer what they’re paying for. Instead of doing diced egg like most people see in a Cobb salad, I went with the whole egg. I cut it in half. Same thing with avocado. Instead of using smashed avocado, I took that avocado and quartered and put a little bit of color, a little bit of pizazz with Everything But bagel seasoning. Instead of diced tomatoes, we go whole grape tomatoes. Let it pop.”
He is also using sliced white cheddar instead of grated cheese.
“We’re hand-crumbling it to give it that charcuterie look to it.”
Triail said a couple of new beverages are on the way in coming weeks, including dragon fruit and a frozen chocolate banana shake.
Information: habitburger.com