I am obsessed with burgers. Finding a good burger was one of my top priorities when I first moved to Boston, and the foie burger at KO Prime was at the top of my list (well, just under the burger at Radius). There is nothing like a burger made with care: good-quality, freshly ground beef (or lamb, buffalo, etc.) and a house-made bun, garnished with any number of accompaniments. KO Prime's burger comes on freshly baked brioche, with kobayaki sauce (a Japanese sauce usually served with eel-think teriyaki, but sweeter and less thick) and a thick slice of seared foie gras (duck liver). It is really wonderful. The foie, when seared, has a great, steak-like depth of flavor and a really creamy, buttery flavor and texture; it just makes sense with the brioche and the beef. The sweet kobayaki pulls everything together nicely while keeping the burger moist; there is nothing as tragic to me as a dried-out burger patty. It was really a joy to eat, especially with a generous mound of fries and house-made yuzu aioli (a mayonnaise usually made with the addition of garlic; KO Prime adds yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit, instead). After this meal, which also included a lovely side of fresh spaetzle with parmesan and fines herbes, I knew I had to come back.

KO Prime is chef Ken Oringer's steakhouse, and his fourth Boston restaurant (of six), located on the second floor of the Nine Zero hotel in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood, just a few blocks from Boston Common.

So far, this may sound like a strange place to review for a campus newspaper-a full meal here can easily be over $50. But it certainly doesn't have to be. Several entrées, the burger included, are $18; while definitely not cheap, it is doable for an occasional splurge. And there is a new trend in the food world that has sprung up in the last year: group buying sites, where large numbers of people buy coupons for businesses that offer one-time deals (usually a 50-percent discount), and the deal only goes through if enough people buy. Of course, most of the businesses featured seem uninteresting and not worth it, but occasionally some of Boston's best restaurants put themselves out there, usually with a $25 for $50-value deal. Three sites to Google are LivingSocial (on which KO Prime has had two deals in the last year), Groupon, and BuyWithMe. These deals are incredible for making great several-course meals suddenly accessible-not to mention the possibility of splitting a coupon with a friend, so that each of you end up paying $15 or less.

I should also say that most of these higher-end restaurants have very affordable bar menus and specials (one need not be of drinking age if just coming to eat). KO Prime has several items on its bar menu for just $5: a Philly cheesesteak with secret sauce; a pulled chicken sandwich with house-made pickles, BBQ sauce and crispy onions; and seasonal hush puppies. Their poutine ($11) is tempting as well: a two-hour egg (slow cooked for that long), local cheese curd and mushroom gravy over their house fries. Two other specials in the city that have caught my eye are Tremont 647's $2 taco Tuesdays and Sel de la Terre-Back Bay's $2 mini burger Mondays (with choices of New England beef, porchetta, tuna and marinated mushrooms with cilantro pesto and almonds).

But back to KO Prime. My most recent meal there was one of my best in a long time: chanterelle mushroom risotto, red snapper and butter-poached lobster and pumpkin cake with mascarpone cream.

The risotto-which is actually listed under the restaurant's sides (they are happy to bring any of them as an appetizer), was definitely the weakest part of the meal. It was good: creamy, interspersed with sliced sautéed chanterelles and each grain of rice had a nice amount of bite, but it lacked personality.

My entrée was completely different-incredible on many levels, the most stunning of which was the composition of the dish: how each element was presented and how they all worked so well with each other. Two large seared fillets of red snapper were perched upon a bed of perfectly sautéed mustard greens. Around it on the plate were pieces of poached lobster, sautéed chunks of apple and butternut squash, toasted chestnuts and fresh pumpkin gnocchi (little potato dumplings). A pool of lightly curried butternut squash sauce enveloped the greens and the other vegetables, and atop both fillets was a scattering of assorted flower petals and pumpkin foam.

It was really a joy to look at-and even more to eat. There were so many levels of flavor and texture, an important part of which were the crisp chestnuts against the soft fish and gnocchi. The chestnuts also provided little explosions of full, toasty flavor. All of the components were good, but what stood out the most were the pumpkin gnocchi. They were so fresh and flavorful-and perfectly sautéed-with just the right amount of firmness and bite to each.

The dessert was strongly recommended by my server, and it stood out on the menu anyway (though the dark chocolate marquise with buttery popcorn ice cream was a close second). The pumpkin cake was presented just as beautifully as my fish: pecan cookie crumbs scattered with flower petals divided a large, circular plate. On one end, a square slice of cake with two layers of mascarpone cream, topped with candied pecan halves and a quenelle (dumpling-shaped scoop) of bourbon-brown sugar ice cream. On the other side, across the line of crumbs, was a small dollop of cranberry compote (cranberries cooked in sugar syrup). The cake was very nicely done, and while not mind-blowing by itself (it could have used more pumpkin, perhaps), the flavor combinations were fresh and interesting. The compote was more distinct, probably because of its contrast with the rest of the dessert, providing a bright fruity flavor similar to the taste (and texture) of Craisins, except not overly sweet. The flavor was clearer and more fresh.

Food like this is exciting and more accessible than you might think. I'll leave you with a short video to look up for some insight into the basic process that some chefs use when creating dishes with traditional and nontraditional flavor combinations. Search on YouTube for "Flavor bouncing Grant Achatz" (title: Flavor Bouncing). Both the process and the realization of the ideas at the end are very inspiring.

KO Prime is rare among steakhouses because of its commitment to be new and fresh, reinterpreting classic presentations of steak while serving whatever else they like to go with it. As the restaurant says on its website, "Leave the 'classics' to others. KO Prime is edgy, appealing and totally 21st century." Agreed.

KO Prime is in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood, at 90 Tremont St. Visit it online at koprimeboston.com, and check their Facebook page for specials and updates.