Renee's Cafe, Somerville, MA

It happens, from time to time, that you discover a new brunch place in a completely random way. I'm not talking about the case when you visit a new place that has been recommended to you or that you've been hearing about for a while. This is not the kind of place you read about in magazines or newspapers. You just stumble upon a place by sheer luck... And when that happens, when fate helps you on your Quest for the Perfect Brunch, you'd better relax and enjoy the ride.

This was how we ended up having a delicious brunch on a beautiful summer morning at Renee's Cafe (this is a link to the Urbanspoon webpage. Is it possible that in this day and age a restaurant does not have a website? Apparently so.). Ana was still jet lagged from her trip to South Africa and we woke up (meaning, she woke me up) early on a perfect Sunday morning. I think it is fair to say this was the first warm, perfect blue sky, Sunday of the year, signaling the end of a long Winter. We decided that, since we were up, we should go out for brunch early to some place where we could relax and enjoy our meal away from the crowds. While we were browsing for places on the web, we randomly stumbled upon this great little place in between Davis Sq. and Teele Sq. in Somerville. As I mentioned, they have no website. We had not heard about it. I have no clue how we ended up on the Urbanspoon page dedicated to Renne's. It was a good thing we did because we really loved this place.

Renee's Cafe is very nicely decorated, unpretentious cafe that seems to embody the essence of  brunch. They have a very comprehensive menu that includes very interesting Omelets as well as different variations of Eggs Benedict. Furthermore, they offer some pretty good looking French Toasts on real french bread. If you are being difficult and find their menu incomplete, they have a huge blackboard with a long list of daily specials, which included, in our case, dishes containing crab cakes, roasted sweet potatoes and other very appealing options.

I decided to go, as I often do when I visit a place for the first time, with a variation of Eggs Benedict.  In this case, the protein was a very hearty and yummy corned beef hash. Eggs where cooked to perfection and the roasted potatoes could rival your mom's on a good day. Ana decided to try one of their wonderful omelets: Brie cheese, Virginia cooked ham and apples. Good stuff, indeed.


Although food arrived rather fast, as service was impeccable, we decided to hang around for a while and take in the morning while sipping coffee and orange juice. Renne's Cafe has very large windows which make it an ideal spot for people watching while reading the newspaper in a sun drenched atmosphere. If you haven't been to Renne's, now you have plans for next weekend! We will certainly be back.