SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - If Jeff Rossman seems at home in this modest Mission Valley kitchen, it's no surprise.
"I started here when I was 12, washing dishes. I tell my son this story all the time. He doesn't believe me," Jeff said.
For 30 years, Jeff's family ran a small café called Pan-Pan attached to the Days Inn Hotel on Hotel Circle. When the hotel's owners asked Jeff to come up with a new concept for the restaurant, the chef had a plan.
"I think we'll do something a little more farm-to-table, a little more gourmet," Jeff said.
Using hormone-free natural Angus beef and fresh local products, they are having fun at Bunz.
"We opened and it's been great, man. It's been a blast," he said.
Letting his creative juices flow, Chef Jeff invented Three Little Pigs, a hamburger slathered in pork products and served on a Bread & Cie bun.
"Hey everybody likes pork -- pulled pork, pork bellies. You can't go wrong with bacon," Jeff said. "Let's do bacon, pulled pork, ham, caramelized onions, a little cheddar cheese and to really pick it up we do our own beer-thyme mustard we make."
If the Three Little Pigs isn't enough to satisfy your appetite, you can always add a side order of Bunz' hand-dipped, lightly battered onion rings and wash it all down with a shake.
"We got fresh strawberries from local farms," Jeff said.
To add to all this carbo-loaded craziness, Bunz has added a back east treat to the menu -- a thick ice cream concoction known as a Concrete.
"We're here on Hotel Circle. There's nowhere to get gourmet burgers, nowhere to get shakes and Concrete," Jeff said.
In this simple café, a top chef is serving gourmet comfort food that will no doubt please your palate and probably go straight to your bunz.
Bunz (Located inside Days Hotel)
475 Hotel Circle South
San Diego, Ca 92108
(619) 298-6515
475