High-level chef brings good food for a good price.
Everybody who has eaten a Blue Collar Burger says it was fantastic/delicious/great, or some other enthusiastic compliment. That is why the food truck location on US 92 west of Branch Forbes Rd. has been serving a steady stream of customers; between 500 and 600 per week. Now this winner is coming to downtown Plant City.
The owner is Cory Rapp. “I absolutely love cooking,” he said. “It is a challenge. It keeps you on your toes. It is a very busy industry. I started when I was four or five years old with my grandparents on either side of my family, and I stuck with it. I worked my way up from dishwasher to executive chef when I was 26. I worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Napa Valley and San Francisco and I was sous chef for Thomas Keller in Napa Valley at Ad Hoc. At Spruce, when I was the lead line cook, we earned the Michelin Star.”
Michelin Stars are given for excellence in food, service, and ambiance. Michelin Stars are the pinnacle achievement for a restaurant. There are 36 restaurants in Florida to have a Star. None have earned a 3-Star designation; two restaurants have 2-Stars; among the other 33, five restaurants in Tampa have a 1-Star award. Keller is the only chef in America to own two Michelin 3-star restaurants at the same time.
“I wanted to be one of the best chefs around, and ended up working under the best chef around,” Rapp said. “So, my goal happened, then I opened my own restaurant when I turned 30. It was called Royal Rooster. It was a very popular restaurant in San Diego, but they were taxing me to death. The restaurant was on the water, so I had more city percentage, and they were taking it; about 56 percent taxes. They were taking more than me. It wasn’t right.” Rapp moved from San Diego two years ago, and he lives in Plant City. “I moved to Florida because of taxes, and to be able to own a home. I don’t want to pay for a million dollar house.”
Why is Rapp opening Blue Collar Burger in downtown Plant City? “I like brick and mortar-style restaurants,” he said. “That is what I have grown up on. Out here, when it gets hot, the restaurant slows down because I am outdoors. This move will keep it more consistent. I think we can get a real flow, and honestly, I just love the City of Plant City, especially the downtown area. I have always wanted to be in a little city like this, like in old town Sacramento, I love the old buildings. There is something about the architecture I love. I saw that this city is very up and coming, and there is a lot of opportunity in this city for a chef with some good food.”
Blue Collar Burger hand forms its patties. Rapp uses only local, grass-fed beef from Providence Cattle Company. His recipe creates a unique flavor not found anywhere else in the region. Blue Collar makes pickles from scratch, and sauces, and mayos with clean ingredients. There are no chemicals in the food. They cook only with pure butter and use beef tallow to make the French fries.
Despite the high-quality ingredients, Blue Collar Burger tries to keep the cost of the food it serves as low as possible to compete with the chemical-laced burgers of the big chains. “It is a big cost difference for us,” Rapp said. “But we are going to try to eat it over volume, because we are hoping the community supports us, and we’re busy. As long as we have the volume, we can keep prices down for the people. Our flagship is the Working Class Burger. It is the standard of what a burger should taste like, we feel. Then we do spin-offs on that burger. Everything else is different toppings on it.”
In addition to burgers and fries, Blue Collar Burger will also serve homemade onion rings, homemade chili for their cheese fries, and chicken strips with a lemon-honey herb brine. “We brine it overnight, so it really seasons the chicken throughout, and keeps it nice and moist,” Rapp said. “It’s a totally unique flavor that our people go wild for. When I worked at Thomas Keller’s restaurant, it was famous for its fried chicken. My chicken strips are something special.” The restaurant will also put together homemade milkshakes and malts. Blue Collar Burger is installing TVs, so patrons can watch sports and kick back and hang out after games. They will also offer a dine-in-only kids menu.
“Your ideas for restaurants morph and change over time,” Rapp said. “You grow wiser as you get older, and you can realize what a town really needs for its demographics, and I think it is working out really well. Restaurants are kind of the pillars of little cities and towns, and they bring in more business. I love this little town. I think it can be just popping. The community is really loving the food and what we are trying to do. A lot of people can’t get to the Michelin-Starred restaurants, and that’s my thing. I have worked so long in these restaurants, I just want to bring amazing quality food to the people for a good price.”
The planned opening date of Blue Collar Burger at 115 E. Reynolds St. is January 7. Hours will be:
Wednesday to Saturday – 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday – 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
