Elevation’s 3rd local chef collaboration (LCC) is back in the form of the Spicy Maple Chicken sandwich! Delivering on that ever-so-addictive medley of sweet and spicy flavors envisioned by local chef Abdulrahman AlKhashan, the Spicy Maple Chicken sandwich brings together the clever combination of Maple Chipotle sauce and Jalapeno relish with Elevation Burger’s USDA Certified Organic crispy chicken strips, real sharp cheddar cheese and fresh lettuce.

What’s not to love about Elevation Burger’s local chef collabs? From the South American inspired flavors that Maryam AlNusif brought with The Chimmi, to Chef Khaled Al Baker’s celebration of earthy Portobello mushroom flavors with The Bello, we look forward to Elevation Burger’s LCC every single year.

But due to this year’s exceptional challenges brought on by the ongoing pandemic, we simply had to wait a little longer to get our hands on this special sandwich of joy. Trust us when we say, it’s absolutely worth the wait.

Chef Abdulrahman is no stranger to Elevation Burger’s scrumptious offerings. The Johnson and Wales culinary school graduate has always been a fan, and laughingly told us how he doesn’t think anyone couldn’t be, “My usual order is the Elevation Burger topped with lettuce, tomato, mustard, ketchup, and jalapenos.”

Knowing this, we now have a better understanding of why he chose to add a spicy element to his latest collaboration with Elevation Burger. Chef Abdulrahman’s culinary experiences have taken him to Denmark, Germany, the US and Kuwait, and his seasonal, ingredient-driven approach to cooking allows him more freedom “in creating dishes and being inspired by multiple cuisines and flavor profiles,” he said.

We also spoke in detail with TABCo CEO Abdulaziz AlTuraiji to learn more about why Elevation Burger began the Local Chef Collaboration program in the first place, he describes how the movement of localization and supporting local concepts and people is of utmost importance to their business.

“For us, ‘Ingredients Matter’ is not just a slogan as it goes beyond our food. In fact, what we mean by Ingredients Matter is that the people in our community are the ingredients that matter to us the most. Here at Elevation Burger, for every product launch, we think of how to launch it in an innovative way and how to localize it and share our values with the community we live in. We believe that businesses should always support localization, and for us, our Local Chef Collaborations, also known as “LCC” is a platform for the local chefs to express their unique style and elevate their skills to give our customers an exceptional Elevation Burger experience.”

Chefs are selected for the LCC program based on their credentials and knowledge, Abdulaziz said, “Their ability to work with our ingredients, ability to dedicate time towards training our team – as we are focused on the consistency of the recipe – and most importantly, the chef should be local. Although we welcome all chefs, this initiative was created two years ago with a specific mission dedicated to the community’s local chefs.”

TABCo’s passion for localization is a part of every aspect of Elevation Burger’s operation, “since the establishment of TABCo food, the company operating Elevation Burger stores, we were invested in supporting the local talents and developing their career. And that is reflected in our long-term partnerships with different parties such as LOYAC, The Proteges Program, sponsoring athletes, TABCo’s summer internship program, our LCC program, and much more.”

Late last year, Elevation Burger approached Chef Abdulrahman to begin the latest collaborative journey toward the Spicy Maple Chicken sandwich and arriving at this specific combination was absolutely a joint effort.

“TABCo’s passion for localization is a part of every aspect of Elevation Burger’s operation.”

“‘Ingredients Matter’ is not just a slogan as it goes beyond our food.”

Chef Abdulrahman told us that while he never worked with a concept like Elevation Burger in the past, he was impressed by the entire process. He said, “The attention to detail in their development process is very different from how I’m used to working in casual and fine dining establishments. Elevation Burger adheres to a very meticulous approach in their operational procedures which is necessary to ensure a consistent product across 13 branches, and this is what we wanted to achieve with the Spicy Maple Chicken sandwich.”

Abdulaziz also commented on working with Chef Abdulrahman, “It was such a great experience; we learned so much from him. We were supposed to launch the product early this year however with the COVID-19 situation we had to postpone the project for a while and wait for things to get better to finally launch it. Nevertheless, Chef Abdulrahman’s commitment was impeccable through it all and only made the experience more exciting!”

As for deciding on the unique sweet and spicy flavor profile, Chef Abdulrahman always knew that he wanted to make a spicy burger. He explained, “Once the development process started, I created a few different sandwiches and as the tastings went on we agreed that the best one was the Spicy Maple Chicken.”

The flavor profile was absolutely supported by Elevation Burger’s team, as Salem Abdulhadi – Supply Chain Manager at TabCo also explained, “Selecting the final product is a joint effort among all the parties involved with the goal of bringing the chef’s vision forth and to build on Elevation Burger’s food values. The Chef initially presents a selection of creations and then these creations go through an elimination process, once we’ve all agreed on the product, it then goes through an improvement process to elevate the product’s food values where possible. With this product, we ensured to complement our USDA certified organic chicken with freshly made daily in- house sauces such as the jalapeño relish which consists of fresh herbs and high quality jalapeño and pickles as well as using real Canadian maple syrup for the chipotle maple sauce.”

It’s important to mention that this is the first LCC to feature Elevation Burger’s USDA organic chicken and that the key takeaway here is that you don’t need so many ingredients to make a delicious sandwich, you just need the right quality of ingredients, and that is something that Elevation Burger prides themselves on.

This is exactly what you get with the Spicy Maple Chicken sandwich, delectable crispy chicken, the tangy- sweet maple chipotle sauce matched by the bite and freshness of the chopped jalapeno relish and lettuce, and a slice of really good, real cheddar cheese to bring it all together.

The best part? You can order the Spicy Maple Chicken Sandwich for delivery, also a first time offering from Elevation Burger. It will only be on their menu for a limited time, so hurry up & order before it’s too late!

Interested in joining TABCo’s team? Email career@tabcofood.com. For more information and for Elevation Burger’s latest, follow them on Instagram @elevationkw.