Jim's Deli, Brighton, MA

Yesterday morning I went househunting around Brighton with my friends Rocio, Tomeu and Pablito (they are the ones looking). The sun was shining, but with 15F it did not really make that much of a difference. So, after visiting a couple of open houses we were confused, exhausted, cold and hungry. Thanks God then for Jim's Deli!

Jim's is your typical undergrads hangout. Huge portions, relatively cheap prices, fast and greasy, it has all you need to get you blood running again after a hungover (I don't think they have alcoholic drinks though) or, in our case, after having lost all sensibility from our limbs.

I have to confess that when we arrived I was a little bit worried about Pablito. The place is incredibly popular, and there was a long line of loud BC students eager to devour chicken sandwiches, one out of four breakfast specials, omelets, pancakes, burgers and more. It seemed a lot of information overflow for an eight-month old. It turns out that most students order take out, and this leaves the booth area (cleverly partitioned from the cafeteria-style kitchen) as a relatively peaceful space for those eating in. In addition, the servers were all super kid friendly and, maybe, were even happy about the change in demographics. Pablito was very happy and super excited (I'd like to think it was because of Jim's, but who knows....).

So, what did we have? Rocio ordered the "farmer's special" that came in two plates (!), with eggs any style, bacon, ham or sausage, pancakes or waffles, and homefries. Tomeu asked almost every

bruncher at Jim's about their orders (he was tempted by absolutely everything) and finally settled with the Cordon Bleu chicken sandwich plate, an obscene sandwich with five large pieces of fried chicken, cheese, Cordon Bleu sauce, a mound of fries and pickles. Even though it came in a very large plate, it was clearly not enough. Alright, I guess I just wanted to preface my order so that you realized that it was actually the most minimalist out of all the three! I had an egg and cheese sandwich with ham on toasted (thanks to the suggestion of one of the cooks) marble rye. The ham was a very thick, half-inch steak. I could have done without the cheese -I don't think it was super high quality-, but there wasn't too much of it in any case. Ah, and it also came with homefries, which were your typical diner-style on-the-flat grill potatoes (sans paprika).

I really liked this place. It is perfect for a quick fix of grease cravings. But I guess it would have been the perfect brunch 10 years ago, when I partied late and I actually enjoyed waiting in line with my fellow party-goers. These days, I'm more into a carefully thought-out design, healthy options, smart cocktails and waiting lists. I probably need a younger perspective; I'm sure Pablito will write wonders about Jim's in the years to come.

Coppa, South End, Boston, MA

Last week we felt the need to get out of quaint Cambridge and decided to aim for nonchalant sophistication in the South End. This is clearly the main brunch neighborhood in Boston and was the perfect place to enjoy a cold but incredibly sunny winter Sunday morning. Of course, we were not the only people that came up with this idea. The streets of the South End were crowded with people running morning errands and getting ready for brunch. Curiously, Ana and I were the only ones that were not walking in the company of dogs or kids...

Our destination was Coppa.

Most people in the Boston area are familiar with the very popular Tapas Bar in the South End, Toro. Ana and I love this establishment. It is the perfect place to get sophisticated spanish fare. If you are into Navajas, Tortilla and Albarino, Toro is your place. Rather recently, the man behind Toro, Ken Oringer, decided to open another restaurant that is to Italy what Toro is to Spain. This is Coppa. After I found out about this place, I could not wait to see what it was like.

We decided to give their brunch a try. Coppa is a very nicely setup establishment. It is cozy and warm while still being sophisticated. The place it is actually an enoteca. Because, we don't do wine and brunch, we will explore that side of the business some other time. Although the specialize in all sort of italian food, I would have to say that their home made Salumi (Charcuterie) is a definite highlight. We could not resist and ordered a portion of duck prosciutto to get things started. It was just amazing. We had coffee and juice with that, as well as a very interesting Bloody Mary with pickled mushrooms and horseradish.

Now, their menu is very interesting and everything looks delicious. We decided that we would definitely be back for dinner some other time and constrained our decision process to their brunch specials. Ana went with the Panino di Mattina: an amazing pressed sandwich containing prosciutto, fontina, fried eggs and arugula. Good, huh?
I decided to go with Uova con Funghi. This consists in a (perfectly cooked, not to runny, not to dry) egg scramble with oyster mushrooms, roasted garlic potatoes and sourdough toast. The ideal dish to jumpstart your Sunday morning.

Overall we had a great time and the staff was very friendly. We had a perfect brunch and got to relax and fill our bellies before taking a stroll down Shawmut Ave. Coppa is definitely a place we will be visiting again soon. I guess French is next in Ken Oringer's list... I would definitely visit that restaurant, too.