Posted by The Diva | 1 Comment

Belly & Trumpet brings in brunch

Belly & Trumpet, the new loungey restaurant in the former home of upscale hot dog joint The Bowery, is kicking off brunch service this Sunday. Among the menu highlights are the glorious French toast above, topped with apples and loved on by maple syrup.

And a njuda deviled egg plate (above). What’s njuda, you ask? It is a spicy spreadable salami — yum!!! Why haven’t I been eating/bathing in this before?

B&T will also serve up a pork belly with grits, greens and egg (above). It looks absolutely yum-inducing! Other menu items will include a bold steak-and-kimchi omelet, a tuna melt and a smoked salmon benedict, all of which would go great with B&T’s fruity cocktails like the Redemption Cup or the Royal Trumpet, mmmm. All that good cookin’ in a cool and fashionable setting? Sign me up, and see you Sunday!

Posted by The Diva | 0 Comments

Gin Mill serves up winners

This weekend, Henderson Avenue eatery/lounge The Gin Mill treated me to some samples from the menu, and I discovered two yummy dishes that make me want to return with haste. The breakfast pizza stars over-easy eggs, bacon crumbles and arugula on a crisp, toothsome crust. I had to share this baby with two friends, but I could’ve downed the this myself with a nice, cold mimosa!

The other noteworthy dish was the Hangover Sandwich, featuring over-hard eggs and sausage patties between two slices of French toast. Dipped into the side of maple syrup, this sandwich made me want to get hung over to return to eat it again. Can’t go wrong with sweet, salty and EGG.

If you’re in the nabe for St. Patty’s weekend, Gin Mill will serve up Irish favorites in the spirit of the holiday: good ol’ corned beef and cabbage and Guinness beef stew for din, and traditional Irish Breakfast as part of Saturday’s brunch specials and full Sunday brunch. Huzzah!

Posted by The Diva | 0 Comments

Private Social flirts with brunch

I got a taste of some incredible brunch stylings at Private Social yesterday – several times. The resto picked brunch as its Third Saturday Lunch theme, which is always an all-you-care-to-eat fest that’s a superb value at 20 bucks. I dined on outstanding shrimp and grits, eggs Benedict with a silky, lusciously lemony hollandaise, tart-n-sweet blueberry ricotta pancakes bursting with fresh fruit, and more … why just look at my well-composed plate:

In addition to breakfast potatoes and an addictively moist blueberry sweet loaf, there was a carving station serving up slices of roast beef, a tray filled with smoked salmon and an onion spread on crostini, and a giant bowl of Spicer’s greens flecked with cheese and candied nuts. Yes, ALL that for $20. And with Rocco the bartender whipping up brunch bevs such as the absinthe-flavored Corpse Reviver for $6, a top-notch meal was had for a song. I can hardly wait for a brunch-themed encore …

ETA: This story corrects an earlier misstatement of the one-off brunch as a regular occurrence – my apologies, chickadees!

Posted by The Diva | 0 Comments

Brunch at Kenny’s Woodfire Grill

I trekked to Addison recently to take a bite out of the new Sunday brunch at one Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill … and at some points it bit back! Here’s the dish … Kenny’s Sunday brunch menu is quite small – for now. I’m told that additions will be made as brunch traffic grows. My group tried Kenny’s Spin on Benedict, featuring eggs atop two cuts of steak over toasted bread and under a blanket of bearnaise.

It was a handsome dish – I didn’t taste it – with my guest’s only gripe being that her eggs were more done than she liked. The kitchen remedied the situation speedily and to her satisfaction. Another guest’s dish, Mike’s Big French Toast, was the envy of the table … thick, custardy brioche slices topped with strawberries and bathing in maple syrup, mmmm.

A deceptively simple dish was well-executed and turned out really delicious.

Speaking of pastries, my chicken and waffles were a sweet and salty delight. Chicken and waffle purists may scoff at the included chicken fried chicken, but hey – load it, the waffle and the smoked bacon up with a river of maple syrup and board the train to HappyTummyVille.

Besides a bacon and egg burger, the other menu item on the brunch list is the custom bloody Mary. And, boy, do they mean custom – our server brought checklists reminiscent of those you get at a sushi resto.

I mean, you could pick vegetables, amount of spice, type of olive and garnish – the works! My guests made spicy, veg-laden varieties, while I stuck to my mimosa. But if ever I need to craft my own post-hangover drink, I’ll know where to go

Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill’s brunch starts Sundays at 11 a.m.

Posted by The Diva | 0 Comments

Brunchy delights at Del Frisco Grille

I had the extreme pleasure of sampling the brunch menu at Del Frisco’s Grille earlier this summer … have you been? This Uptown spot has the delightful distinction of having my favorite bacon in town – such intense smokiness, hearty meat flavor, perfect fat-to-meat proportion, mmmm. Paired supremely well with the crazy-good red velvet waffles, to boot. You read that right. But in addition to the formidable-looking chicken-fried steak and eggs and croque Madame, the other standout for me was the garlic shrimp flatbread.

Get a load of this: succulent seafood, pesto, red chili slices and mozzarella, all flecked with spicy chorizo. Gah! Brunch overload. And so very highly endorsed …