Wedding Brunch at Cornelia, Greenwich Village, NYC

It has been a few days since our last posting, but this does not mean we have not been brunching. The main reason behind our disappearance  was the wonderful Thanksgiving break in Ahmerst, MA (and as great as the turkey was I should not tell you much about it as TG dinner is clearly not a Brunch experience). More interestingly, the weekend before last we went to NYC to attend Pablo's and Vicky's wedding. Since they got married at city hall, the festivities consisted of lunch after the wedding and Brunch the Sunday before. It was a fun event and the the groom's and bride's families were there, as well as a few friend like Ani and myself. Visiting from Spain was Anastasia (which has also made a previous appearance in this blog), from Houston, TX, Gustavo and from Adrogue, via NYC, Mercedes.
Given the size of our party, finding a Brunch spot in Manhattan was a little bit of a challenge. Pablo and Vicky solved this problem successfully by picking Cornelia Street Cafe. This establishment is tucked away in a little street (Cornelia) just off Bleecker in the heart of the Village. Ani and I were assiduous visitors at Cornelia back when we were living in NJ. It is a very relaxed cafe where you can chill out and enjoy great Eggs Benedict and Bloody Marys while taking in the awesome atmosphere of a Sunday morning in the Village. Particularly amusing is the fact that they fully open their windows in Summer and you can take the art of people watching to new heights.

On top of that they offer a very comprehensive Brunch menu, including a Prix Fixe option, which was the usual choice for Ani and I. Luckily for us, the wedding Brunch consisted of such fixed menu. This is what you get: Coffee/Tea, Bloody Mary/Mimosa, a piece of pastry (like the wonderful warm chocolate bread from Amy's Bakery just across the street) and an entree. While people around the table ordered different dishes, the Eggs Benedict and the Quiche were the most popular choices and, as it happened, Ani and I each ordered one of these (can you guess who got the Eggs Benedict???). The Eggs Benedict are just great here. They are usually cooked to perfection (in ~30 times I have been here I can remember only one less than perfect Egg) and covered with a formidable Hollandaise, not too thick, not too runny.  The Bloddy Marys are also very solid and consistent. While they are not the best ever, they are well above average and more than reasonable for the price of the Prix Fixe. Quiches are another one of Cornelia's specialties. They offer a different Quiche of the Day every weekend and they are usually very tasty. In our case, Ani got to enjoy a ham, bacon and cheddar quiche-bomb (there was also a less adventurous vegetarian quiche option). It was served with mixed greens and was more than enough to send you home happy. All in all, this is a great place and a very typical representative of the great Brunch scene that NYC has to offer.

While it is true that you might not be celebrating a wedding every weekend, it pays off to find an excuse to visit Cornelia as often as possible and enjoy life West Village style.

Fusion, Bloody Marys and Spice at East Coast Grill, Cambridge, MA

This week Ani and I decided we wanted to give East Coast Grill a try for Brunch. We had been there before for dinner and I was particularly interested in visiting this Inman Square legendary establishment - ECG is consistently ranked as one of Boston's best restaurants - to enjoy the mother of all meals. There was one main reason for my unbridled enthusiasm. If you've been to Inman Sq. before you might think this was the fact that there is always a line outside or that they are solidly fully booked every night of the week. This was not the reason. Every time I walk by ECG, while on my Quest for the Perfect Brunch, I can see the most wonderful thing through their windows. It is a perfectly set up Bloody Mary self service bar with dozens of different ingredients to choose from to make the perfect eye opener. If this is not a reason to pick a Brunch spot, what is? But I am getting ahead of myself here... We'll get to that.

East Coast Grill is a pretty cool restaurant that serves a type of Latin-Southern fusion food where dishes are mostly (but not only!) seafood based. Culinary examples of what you might find in the menu go from fish tacos to southern style BBQ, making a quick detour through a raw bar where solid oysters are served. Also popular at ECG are their special events held around the year, the most popular of all being Hell Night. Truth to be said, the common denominator found in all dishes here is the fact that they tend to be rather spicy. I guess that is not a surprise in a latin-southern restaurant, but what is particular to ECG is that they make a statement out of it. Hell Night is just the main date in the calendar where this aspect is enthusiastically celebrated.

So, what about our brunch? While Ani went with her usual Grape Juice / OJ combo and coffee, I could not resist from venturing deep into the Bloody Mary bar described above. I decided to go with it head in first. When you order the drink, you get a tall glass filled with vodka and ice, topped with a lime and rimmed with hot spices. Then, off you go to the self service area where the sky's the limit. I decided to try a few things so I could have a general idea, but not too many so I could make out the particular tastes. I went with: Heart of Palm, Mango and Avocado fresh mix, Garlic and Chile sauce, Pickled Jalapenos, Olives, Tabasco sauce and Celery. Good, ain't it? If you think that's a lot, well... it was just a very small fraction of all options possible. Now, that does not make a Bloody Mary. There is one crucial ingredient left: Tomato juice. ECG offers three different options: standard tomato juice, Bloody Mary Mix and Clamato. Wonder what this last one is? It is tomato juice mixed with just the right amount of clams juice which makes the drink saltier and tastier. Of course, I decided to go with this last, more adventurous, option. The result was just amazing. Brunch perfection in a glass. I can hardly wait to come back and try a different combination.

What about the food? We opened with three oysters from the raw bar. They were meaty and tasty. Very solid, indeed. Ani is not a big fan of raw prehistoric animals in shells, so she asked for some cornbread croutons as a snack. Here we have to take our hats off to our waitress, as she agreed to serve us 3 oysters (while 6 is the norm) and the croutons (that were part of some other dish). After this prelude, and while I kept sipping from my self-made Bloddy Mary, we got to the entrees. Ani went with the Amilcar's Omelette, which comes with avocado, black beans, jack cheese, salsa verde, salsa roja, queso fresco and guava paste. I thought it was pretty good and I especially liked the salsa verde. Ani thought it was too much of a fusion dish (she confessed she is not very much impressed with latin fusion food, as all dishes tend to contain way too many ingredients) and did not like the fact that the black beans where inside the omelette and not mixed with the cheese. Not a complete success. I, on the other hand, nailed it. I got one of the specials. Salmon and Chorizo Cakes with fresh tomatillos and beans. It was just out of this world. The cakes where golden crispy and spicy, but very well complemented by the tomatillos. It was a perfect dish to pair my clamato based Bloody Mary.

I have to say I had a great time at East Coast Grill. Making my own Bloody Mary was fun and their ingredients were fresh and tasty. Oysters were a great way to start our meal. On top of that, my dish was remarkable. Maybe Ani, was not a 100% pleased with hers, but it might have not been the strongest dish in the menu. Furthermore, her complaints about latin fusion food made me feel she may have not been unbiased in her judgement. :)

East Coast Grill is an Inman Sq. classic and you will not be a local until you've visited it. What better time than Brunch to do so?

Minimalist Brunch at Market, Boston, MA

When you think of Brunch, do you have baroque images of big dishes filled with bacon, fries and other forms of grease based food in your head? Is your idea of the most important meal of the week a type of comfort food where quantity and overall goodness are more important than presentation? Do you like to sit at a spot where you can see right into the kitchen where a 20 year old is flipping your pancakes and poaching your eggs? Then you have no business visiting Market at the W hotel in Boston's Theatre District.
Ani and I have been meaning to visit this nicely setup establishment for a couple of months now. We first discovered the place when our friends Javier and Nicole (who have just happened to visit Boston again last week and have been immortalized in the previous posting!) visited Bean Town before their wedding and decided to stay at the W. If you visit their web page you'll see they describe themselves as "wicked cool". Well,... They are right. While waiting for Javier and Nicole at the lobby we were admiring the place and were very surprised to discover that Jean-Georges has a restaurant in the hotel. Apparently, Ani read about him in a New Yorker article so we decided to make a mental note to visit the place for Brunch sometime. That time was today.

Market has a very quiet and sophisticated atmosphere. It does not feel as a hotel restaurant at all. Tables are very nicely setup and the menu matches the wide range of offerings you can find at any top Brunch destination at Soho in New York. Prices are just a little steep but nothing to cry about. Also, how expensive can Brunch be?

On to the food and drinks! Besides our usual cups of coffee we decided to share two drinks. One was Ani's favorite mix of OJ and Grapefruit Juice in equal parts. The other was a drink that caught our attention: Lychee-Raspberry Bellini. I have to say I am not a big fan of Bellinis, but this one was quite tasty. Ani was not sure about the Lychee, but in the end she ended up having the whole drink for herself! I barely tasted it and heard that it was good...haha.

Ani decided to have a gruyere omelette with roasted potatoes (as always) and fresh tomato salad. It looked quite tasty and the vegetables were fresh and flavorful. Oh, there were also some toasts. But I took care of that...guess I was trying to compensate for the lost Bellini. On my side I went minimalist all the way. I decided to try a deconstruction of Eggs Benedict (I am also predictable, I guess). It was fresh smoked salmon served on top of hollandaise covered poached eggs resting over nicely cut baskets of brioche. Wow! The dish also came with a great side of fresh greens salad which included fennel as an ingredient. Just great.
Maybe we did miss some human warmth. Maybe the lack of students/actress/singers/poets/waitresses was noticeable. Maybe they called us "M'am" and "Sir" instead of "dude". But our servers were fully trained and efficient and everything was just right. We had a great Minimalist Brunch experience and recommend you have one too. Make the most of the weekend!

Russell House Tavern, Cambridge MA

For quite some time we have been looking for brunch places in Harvard Sq. Because the university attracts students and tourists in equal parts, brunch menus around the square tend to be either cheap breakfasts -sometimes with a texmex twist- or upscale prix fix meals. We love the latter, but you can't always pay $45 for brunch! Specially not this weekend, when a group of ten Argentinians crossed the Charles river to brunch with us and were eagerly waiting for our recommendation as to where to go. The whole thing was very spontaneous, and we found ourselves desperately thinking of places to go, where big parties could be quickly arranged and that would not make a big hole in our friends pockets. We remembered having seen the word "brunch" written on the windows of Russell House Tavern, a gastropub recently opened in the heart of Harvard Sq. Having dined there before, we knew the large downstairs room would be able to fit a big group. Since the dinner meal had not disappointed us -hearty French-accented American menu- we thought it would be good to give it a try.
Everyone at the table was very happy with their choice. Almost all of the men went for the "Pit Master"; a roasted pork and egg scramble served over golden toasts that was guaranteed to clog some arteries. Everyone of them finished the plate and did not utter a word while doing it, so I'm sure it was great.
Most of the women went for the more minimalist -although by no means healthier!- "Toads in the hole", one of my favorite breakfast meals. Rarely found in brunch menus (usually called "something" in a hole) it is a fried egg sandwich (in this case, sweet croissant, yummy) with the particularity that both slices have a round hole -a circle- cut in the middle, such that the yolk is left exposed. Of course, you are supposed to break it and eat the bread soaked in yolk. Delicious. The menu said it came with hash, but the side was more like homefries; small squares of fried potatoes. Also delicious.
Two people at the table went for the real healthy choice: the local leaf salad, a mix of greens, walnuts and dried figs dressed with a mustard-cider vinagrette. They both added shrimps to it; two huge chilled shrimps that topped the salad. Not only did the salads looked great, but they gave us a chance to test the patience and good manners of our server. Our friend Javier thought he had read grilled instead of chilled shrimp and complained and demanded the "error" to be fixed. Our poker-faced server brought a new salad with grilled shrimp. Then Javier decided it was ridiculous for the salad to come without bread (after all, everyone else at the table had some in their plates!), and he said so to the server. Once again, the server brought him some bread with a big smile on his face. There was a similar and final episode with the coffee... let's just say we left a generous tip!
As Russell House Tavern has a very sophisticated list of drinks and cocktails, we couldn't do without some alcohol. I went with a Mimosa, Javier had a classic Bloody Mary and the adventurous Diego asked for a bacon-infused-bourbon Bloody Mary. I asked him if it was similar to the one in Lord Hobo, but he said it was like comparing apples with pears, as one was with vodka and the other with bourbon. All comparisons aside, he quite liked it.
So, was this the perfect brunch? I personally enjoy being bathed by sunlight, even in winter, so I wouldn't always choose a downstairs salon (note that they have an upstairs room and a patio in summer...). But if you are in Harvard Sq. with a large group and do not feel like spending $45+ per person, Russell House Tavern comes close.