Canele, Los Angeles, CA

This week The Quest for the Perfect Brunch took us to Los Angeles, California. After a couple of hours of intense research we decided to kick-start our two-month long brunch sampler in the Golden State in Canele, a smart, hip and intimate neighborhood institution in the Atwater Village.

The inventive menu includes fried farro with bacon, eggs and sriracha, goat cheese, gruyere, feta and tomato confit omelet, or braised leeks, bacon and fried eggs sandwich. Diego and I went with a more traditional fare: he had pastrami hash with sauerkraut and fried eggs, while I opted for my second favorite brunch dish: eggs in a hole.

Both dishes were beautifully presented. Diego's hash was arranged in a flat, circular mound that had exactly the same

diameter as the perfectly fried eggs. My eggs were precisely inserted in their hole, such that the yolk was in the center. In addition to the presentation, they tasted great. Diego said that the pastrami was not Carnegie's but he also did not utter a single word throughout the meal, which I take it as a sign of Canele's success. My toasts were a bit oily, but tasted great with a crunchy crust (they even brought a serrated knife for it) and a crispy middle. It came with roasted potatoes and a side salad. They both were a nice surprise (not listed in the menu), the potatoes crispy but not fried and the baby spinach salad

beautifully dressed. Another unexpected detail was the salt: slightly moist, it was brought loose

to the table and was an excellent condiment for all elements in the meal.

As for drinks, locavore Canele could not serve anything other than filtered tap water and freshly squeezed orange juice. But, eating local has a price, and the small glasses of OJ ended up being the -relatively- more expensive items on the bill. The free-refill coffee, on the other hand, was dark, strong and delicious. And, it came with brown sugar cubes which, although hard to dissolve, tied the experience as a high-quality, healthy-concious one.

Let me finally say that our plates, as huge as they were, were probably the smallest portions we saw. Humongous orders of eggy French Toasts, salmon tartare and even burgers swept by and

left us with our mouths open. But it was nothing compared to the baked pancake with lemon custard we ordered as desert -not that we were still hungry, but we had heard wonders about it!. After seeing the generous portions of ours and other brunchers plates, we should have seen it coming: the baked pancake, listed as a "side" on the menu was actually a souffle-like dough oven-backed in a medium-size clay pot with a hearty portion of deliciously sweet lemon custard on top. We reminded ourselves that for $4.5 we could simply try it (and check what the fuss was all about) and leave the rest but, after the first forkful, we simple caved in and devoured the entire thing. The hype was right: it was indeed glorious and I can see myself going back just for them.

Food-wise, this was definitely close to perfect. Everything was cooked to perfection, tasted

great and had the right size for a long, lusciously relaxed meal. Location-wise, however, it is in a not very hip neighborhood... People-watching, one of the quintessential pleasures of brunching and a clear pastime of Angelinos is not something that comes easily here, even in the sun-filled communal table that faces the window. Glendale Blvd., the street where Canele is on, is a mostly empty avenue with a few old-fashioned shops. Out-door sitting does not seem like it is ever going to be fun either. So, while we may have found the perfect dishes, we are still far away from the perfect brunch.

Let's see what the next few weeks of California brunching bring to us.

North Street Grille, Boston, MA

This past weekend we channeled our inner tourists and went for a walk around some of Boston's best known sites: the waterfront, the financial district, the North End.... but when brunch time came we realized that while sightseeing with the crowds had been fun, brunching with them would be a complete different business. So, we headed to the North Street Grille, an austerely decorated eatery just around the corner from Paul Revere's house, but where mostly locals seem hang out.

The NSG has a very long brunch menu, with a "build-your-own-omelet" section, inventive

omelets such as the crab and avocado, lobster and truffle oil, or caprese with olive oil, several Bennies, steak, pancakes, French toast -all with some twist. For example, as appetizers they have French Toast sticks, with sweet cream or Nutella dips (I'll have them next time). They also have a long list of morning cocktails, but the fully stocked bar can handle any orders.

The staff is very friendly too, albeit a bit spacey. They forgot to bring the brunch specials menu (we could have found out earlier that they had a prix-fix... but with the long and creative regular menu it was not a big deal), some muffins while waiting (a couple of other tables got them as they were served water), and the brunchers next to us had to go get their own silverware.

All in all, however, it was a pleasant and relaxed experience. And the food was good too. Especially my order. I had a side of homefries ($3) and a fruit cup ($6.5). The table next to us had a really large bowl (more than a pound, I'd say) of fresh-looking fruit salad and I was really convinced that they had all ordered fruit and the three cups were brought together. But then I see the server bringing the same huge bowl just for me! That was a great surprise. All the fruits were just cut and in season: honey dew, cantaloupe, strawberries, watermelon and banana. Delicious. The homefries were also excellent: crispy on the outside, mashy on the inside. They were seasoned with paprika, but they could have used some salt in their preparation.

Diego went the more adventurous route and decided to build his own omelet. He opted for

maple ham, mushrooms, asparagus and mozzarella (with a side of fries, of course). The mozzarella was melted on top, as in a Croque Monsieur, which was a nice touch, except for the fact that the eggs were pretty dried and they could have used some moisture inside. As with Metropolis, Diego again complained that the omelet ingredients were not "one with the eggs". This leads me to believe Diego may not know the difference between an omelet and a frittata! Regardless, Diego said North Street Grille's omelets were immensely better than the South End locale.

This may not have been the perfect brunch, but for a nice and relaxed experience right in the heart of one of Boston's hottest tourist attractions, it could have not been better.

Metropolis, South End, Boston, MA

It is not always the case that Brunch is a beautiful experience where you eat perfectly cooked fresh delicacies and you attain a Zen level of relaxation while you enjoy your OJ and coffee. Sometimes, you have the experience we had in Metropolis this last weekend.

Let us start at the beginning. Our friends Alejandro and Melany (who have been mentioned in this blog a few months ago in our excursion to Jane's) were visiting for the weekend and we decided we had to take them somewhere cool and relaxed in the South End. Metropolis had been on our radar for some time an we decided to give it a try. The place is perfectly located a the heart of this trendy neighborhood right on Tremont St. and just across the street from its sister establishment, Aquitaine, which we have tried for dinner and liked quite a bit. Although the place is small, it is very nicely decorated. The bar is inviting and the tables comfortable. The floor is covered with small white tiles and the atmosphere is great, making the place quite cozy. Although our table was next to the restroom, I have to say I enjoyed the decor. The food was the problem..

We ordered coffee, which Ana complained was too light, and OJ. As for the main dish, Ana went with a simple enough option: Eggs (over easy), home fries and toast. While her eggs were ok, the home fries were bland and uninspiring. I ordered the daily special. It was described as an Andouille sausage, goat cheese and spinach omelette. Sounds tasty, right? Wrong! My omelette was completely dry and tasteless. It seem like it had been made with one of those artificial egg batter mixes you buy in the supermarket. Not only that, their idea of an omelette was to make a disk of that egg batter mix, fully (over) cook it and then toss some ingredients in the middle, fold and serve instantly. More like a disk of egg with a side of ingredients that happened to sit on top of the disk. If that was not enough, the ingredients were scarce and devoid of taste. The Andouille sausage amounted to two pieces of some baseball stadium quality hot dog. Goat cheese meant some sort of philadelphia type cream cheese spread. Spinach was one leaf of oil soaked green vegetable. This "omelette" was served with a side of the same bland home fries Ana had.Very poor. And that was their special!!!

Unfortunately, it was not just my dish that was subpar. Alejandro ordered Eggs Benedict, and I have to say that the Hollandaise looked more like a mix of flour and water than the actual sauce. Melany ordered scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. Although I did not try the fish, I can testify that her eggs looked exactly like little pieces of the same type of over cooked batter used for my omelette. Very disappointing, in deed.

Lastly, to add insult to injury, the waiter asked, very politely and in more than one occasion, if everything was of our liking. I kept replying: "Not so much" or "Not great". He just smiled and went about his business as if I had said "Perfect!"... I guess waiters are not really listening when they ask:

"How is everything?", :(.

I have to say I was pretty bummed by the whole experience. It is really a shame that a nicely setup establishment in a cool location, belonging to a nice family of sister restaurants serves just unacceptable food. Also, if I go back over all the postings Ana and I have written here on QPB, I realize this is the first truly negative account. Oh, well... Not all Brunch experiences can be the Perfect Brunch!