Habitués of the Hillcrest neighborhood in Little Rock will already know this, but the food truck Excaliburger is setting up shop weekly from 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays at the old Helmich Auto Service location at the northeast corner of Kavanaugh Boulevard and Beechwood Street.
Kyle Pounders is the force behind Excaliburger, which is also the name of its sole product: the Excaliburger, two 2-ounce hand-formed patties of Creekstone ground beef on challah bread that Pounders buys from Old Mill Bakery.
“It’s the classic American hamburger done one way: lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions, house sauce, cheese,” Pounders said. “I’m kind of neurotic about it.” Cooking one item one way allows him to put all his energy into perfecting the burger.
One of his secrets, he says, lies in the “Maillard reaction,” which ScienceofCooking.com tells Whispers “creates flavor and changes the color of food.” It’s also known as the “browning reaction.”
Pounders’ use of two patties in his burgers gives them four points of contact on the griddle, resulting in a more flavorful burger.
Pounders does a lot of private events as well and is working to develop by January a calendar for his website, Excaliburger.com, that would detail his peregrinations.