Audubon Circle, Boston, MA

Last weekend we decided to continue our Quest by exploring a particular establishment that has been on our "To Brunch List" for quite some time. I am talking about Audubon Circle. This is one of these bar/cool hang out/laid back restaurant kind of places where you kind of find fancy beers, get to sit at a nice table and maybe even catch a Red Sox game. One of the reasons we wanted to explore AC is because we quite enjoy having a burger/beer/pizza in all of AC's sister joints: Miracle of Science, Cambridge 1 and Tory Row.

My friend Sepu was in town and we decided it would be cool take him there for a relaxed brunch experience and a tour of a Boston neighborhood he had not been to before: Fenway.

The place has a pretty cool vibe going on. The whole place is setup with wooden furniture and panels. Quite nice and inviting. Furthermore, they have a large sun roof that gives the place a warm and friendly atmosphere.
Their menu is rather limited but includes your brunch basics. Eggs, check. French Toast, check. Benedicts, check. They also have a nice selection of beers and drinks, including a pretty solid Bloddy Mary that I enjoyed with my meal.

What did we have for food?

As I was just waking up, I could not make complicated decision at that point and decided to go with my usual Eggs Benedict. They were nicely prepared, although a little bit short on hollandaise for my taste. As in Miracle of Science, their potatoes were just wonderful.
Ana decided to make a much more interesting choice. Get a hold of this for Brunch: Hot Dog and a bowl a fruit. What can you say to that? Maybe she'll start a new trend, who knows? She definitely seemed more than happy with her choice.

Overall AC did not disappoint. Still, our Quest continues...

Barney Greengrass, New York, NY

Barney greengrass is a New York institution. There's nothing we can post that will do justice to what this establishment represents and its most of 100 years of history serving the New York West Side. Let it just be said that no visit to New York is complete without a pit stop at this traditional deli for a taste of some of their amazing smoked fish.

Everybody knows about Barney in NY. Although they specialize in many Jewish delicacies, their sturgeon is the jewel that draws manhattanites and tourists alike in large numbers. I have to admit that right after I found out I would be spending a weekend in New York, after a few months away from the Big Apple, I started dreaming of it.

So, what is our story? We found ourselves in New York and had made plans to meet our Manhattan-based friends Jony and Sabine for brunch. They had never been to Barney so we decided it was the perfect time to pay a visit to the old sturgeon cathedral.

The place does not look like much, neither from outside or the inside (you can see some of it in the movie "Incredibly loud & extremely close".). Just your typical traditional NY deli. That's until you notice their open fridge showcasing all sorts of smoked salmon and sturgeon. The best thing to do is to order a platter of sturgeon and another of your favorite type of salmon (Nova, Lox, Salmon Pastrami, etc.). So that's what we did. If you think you need some type of vessel to transport these delicacies to your mouth you are absolutely right. A few bagels do the job nicely. Now you are almost set. The only thing missing is an appetizer. Barney prepares a mean potato pancake (latke). They come with cream cheese and a wonderful apple sauce that will just make your day.

There's not too much else to say at this point, once bliss is attained. If you have not a clue of what I'm talking about, just start making brunch plans for next weekend at Barney Greengrass.

Public, New York, NY

This weekend we went to New York, for what it will probably be our second to last trip to the Big Apple before moving to the West coast. In a fit of melancholia typical of a porteño, Diego decided this was the time to do everything we either love doing or all those things we always say we would do while in NYC. Going to Barney Greengrass fit in the first category, while having brunch at Public fell in the second.

Public is probably one of the coolest, hippest restaurants in Manhattan. It won a James Beard award for best design and graphics in 2004 and the vintage/post-industrial concept has not lost its originality. Brunch is served in the sky-lit lounge, an open spaced, cement and brick-walled room with ultra modern fixtures, wooden bar and a beautiful plant growing underneath one of the skylights.

As with every NYC brunch hotspot we knew there would be a significant wait time. So, we were pleasantly surprised when they told us we should wait just for half an hour. We were happy to walk around Nolita for a while. However, when we came back, 25 minutes later, the wait time was still the same. Part of the problem of Public's beautiful design is that, apparently, one doesn't want to leave! Finally, after a little over an hour we sat. We got a table by the huge glass window and started browsing the menu.

The brunch menu has an eclectic personality. Sweet tahini yogurt, Turkish eggs, coconut pancakes, whipped foie gras butter or tea-smoked salmon with yuzu hollandaise are some of the things we didn't try but made us look twice. We did try the Grilled venison burger on a miso bun with tomato chili jam and cassava chips (Vicky), the salad of herby lentils, green beans, avocado, toasted pecans and baby gem with pomegranate molasses and avocado oil vinaigrette (Ani), and the Fry-up: two eggs (poached, scrambled or fried) on sourdough toast with slow roast tomatoes and buttered mushrooms (Pablo and Diego). Every bruncher was overly happy with its choice and would not have changed it for any of the others (Vicky even said that she didn't find most of the flavor combinations supper appealing, but loved the burger). Happily, each personality found its match.

We did, however, all agree that the way to start was with a freshly baked scone or muffin with preserves. Diego and I shared a caramel-ginger muffin, Pablo had a cinnamon roll with a creamy glaze and Vicky had the cheddar-jalapeno scone with sugar on top. If you think this is an odd combination, think twice. It was awesome. The preserves were apple and raspberry-mint. Delicious.

To gulp all this down, Diego ordered a Bloody Mary, decorated with olive and pickle. I had freshly squeezed orange juice, but I spent the entire brunch salivating after the cocktails that passed by.

To be honest, I have been wanting to have brunch at Public since I first laid eyes on its menu and its ambiance. I had very high expectations and they were one hundred percent fulfilled. So, how can I say this was not the perfect brunch??? Well, as you may know I like outdoor seating... so maybe next time we are on NYC, if it's summer, there is a reasonable wait and we get one of the (three or four) terrace tables, maybe I will have found the perfect brunch.