Find burger bliss at Fat Cow

Scan the menu at new eatery Fat Cow Burgers and Salads and certain ingredients will pop out at you: balsamic vinaigrette, black forest ham, fresh apple slices, marmalade, goat cheese. And no, those aren’t the salads; those are the burgers. Every patty that slides off the grill at Fat Cow is a work of art, piled with quality toppings that are fresh both in flavor and in combination, a perfect balance of savory and sweet. The idea is a quick-service restaurant that doesn’t sacrifice quality for speed, existing somewhere between fine dining and fast food. But Natchez natives and co-owners Doug and Kerry Hosford didn’t start out intending to create a restaurant. This entrepreneurial couple—he a fine-dining chef and 16-year veteran of the industry, she an accomplished food photographer—just wanted to do one thing: build a perfect burger. They already owned a successful catering business called High Cotton in Mississippi, but, says Doug, “We just wanted to try making a really good burger.” It turned out to be easier said than done: It took months of tweaking and more than 250 recipes to get the taste just right. By the end, jokes Doug, “our kids were begging us, ‘Please, no more burgers!’” Find out if they got the recipe right—click here to read the whole story on this burgeoning burger joint. And click here for a photo gallery of Fat Cow Burgers and Salads.