By Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Aug 31, 2007 at 12:50 PM

Bella's Fat Cat and WMSE have teamed up for a tasty collaboration resulting in a very special variation of the beloved classic hamburger.

Milwaukee, meet the Slamburger, a burger topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickle, and "a special slam sauce" developed by Bella's owner and operator, Mike Schmidt.

The Slamburger is Bella's "burger of the month" for September.

Inspired by a series of characters created by local artist Dwellephant (aka Milan Zori, dwellephant.com) to promote WMSE's annual Food Slam fundraiser last year, the Slamburger emerged victorious in an audio battle-royale broadcast last September, over such challengers as Holler Peño, Two-Scoops Larue, and Carne Assaulta.

The Slamburger will be available at all three Bella's locations starting Sept. 1 as both a traditional meat cheeseburger and as a veggie-burger.

The sixth annual Food Slam happens Friday, October 5th at the Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design. More than 25 area restaurants will present specialty menu items to station supporters who may sample an unlimited number of entrees upon paying the $30 entry fee ($25 advance tickets are available at http://wmse.org). 

Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.

As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”