Brunches in brief.

Although I've been an extraordinarily negligent chronicler of the best brunch in the Twin Cities lately, fear not, breakfast lovers! I haven't sworn off the delights of boozing before noon and catching up with friends over brunch. Quite the contrary, in fact: since the last time I briefed anyone on my brunch quest (March 29th! Eek!), I've brunched it up hard. I'm going to continue, however, to be lazy and not write full recaps of the FIVE brunches I need to record here. Instead, we're going to do quick little rundowns, and call out the highlights, below. Loosen your waistbands, and, if you're hungry, go get a snack or come back later ;) 

ONE. Al Vento, March 30th

Al Vento is a precious little hole in the wall in South Minneapolis with one of the best red sauces I've ever tasted, and their brunch buffet is (justifiably) famous around these parts. I joined Hannah, Sarah, and Katie for brunch on one of the first beautiful days the TC had after a long, nasty winter...it was heavenly! Highlights: the limitless buffet (so many options!), bottomless mimosas, and cute waiter... ;) 

Check it out at http://www.alventorestaurant.com/.

Location/Ambiance: 6/10

Beverage: 7/10

Food: 8/10

TWO. French Meadow Bakery and Cafe, April 5th

My Notre Dame peeps and I snagged the best booth in the place (the round one, super-private, in the back with a view of the whole bar!) for mimosas and perfect quiche and catching up. The ambiance is fantastic--all wood beaming, gorgeous mosaic tiling and off-beat light fixtures--but their mimosas in all their pulpiness made me a little bit sad. 

Visit yourself at http://www.frenchmeadowcafe.com/.

Location/Ambiance: 9/10

Beverage: 6/10

Food: 8/10: 

THREE. The St. Paul Hotel, April 27th 

I absolutely ADORE the St. Paul Hotel. It embodies classic, old-world elegance and tradition from the top-hatted doormen to the cake-frosting crenellations at the top floor. I secretly think it's one of the prettiest places in the world. Their brunch is everything a brunch should be: the sleek, dark-marbled bar sets the mood, $3 mimosas are mixed right at the table, and their crab cake Benedict might just be the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. (You also get a giant plate of caramel rolls just for showing up. Um, hi.)

For major eye candy, head to https://www.saintpaulhotel.com/.

Location/Ambiance: 10/10

Beverage: 9/10

Food: 10/10

FOUR. The Edina Grill, June 14th

The Edina Grill, one of the members of the famed Twin Cities Blue Plate Restaurant Group, pleasantly surprised me. Alyssa, Steph and I met up for brunch before a girly day of manicures and wedding shopping, and the initial cramped wait had my expectations low. Once seated, however, service was excellent, and the sleek, cool atmosphere, delicious ginger-peach martini and toad-in-a-hole, a puff pastry-and-egg dish I haven't seen on a menu since I studied abroad in London, combined to completely offset the dreariness of a rainy Saturday. 

See for yourself at http://www.edinagrill.com/.

Location/Ambiance: 7/10

Beverage: 10/10

Food: 9/10

FIVE. The Boneyard, June 28th

The Boneyard has quickly become one of Hannah's and my favorite Uptown destinations...she's currently studying for the CPA exam, and it's conveniently located near a plethora of coffee shops and the beautiful new Uptown Hennepin County Library. We tried it for brunch for the first time this weekend, and I seriously loved on the spacious, sunny patio and the "Paloma," a tequila-heavy, grapefruit-spiked beverage that was totally legitimate because, hello, it was on the brunch menu. Other standouts? The chipotle hollandaise on the pulled pork Benedict, and the whipped bourbon maple cream on the apple-granola pancakes. Yum. 

Check it out at http://boneyarduptown.com/.

Location/Ambiance: 9/10

Beverage: 9/10

Food: 10/10

Well, campers, are you starving yet? More importantly, are you dying to join me next time? :)

Sunday Brunch: Doubleheader!

Who likes BRUNCH? Who's excited for a brunch DOUBLE-UP?!

In the spirit of checking off places on my newly-founded, epic Sunday Brunch Challenge, I've got a doubleheader today of a new favorite and an old love in the brunch world! On the 8th, I went to Salut on Grand Avenue with my best ladyfriends Kim and Kelsie from high school...and on the 16th, I fiiiinally checked out The Lowry in Uptown with Hannah, Sarah, their roommate Katie and new friend Courtney! Both brunches were seriously amaaaazeballs, folks. If any of you ever come visit me, I'm totally dragging you there. 

Without further ado: Salut!

Location/Ambiance: 

Looooove. Salut is right up my alley in that it's a charming little French-ish bistro hanging out right on Grand Avenue, one of my favorite places in the Twin Cities. Think deep-red leather booths, chalkboards, a shining wood bar, and the cutest outdoor patio with cafe lights in the summer. Add in some French jazz and I'm a happy camper. 

Score: 10/10

Food: 

Yum.com, no joke. Salut is one of my favorite lunch and dinner places on the merit of their fries alone, which are served with a sauce boat of bearnaise and are to-die-for. I also love their French onion soup and their croque madame (ham and cheese with a fried egg. Sign me up.). For brunch, though, I ventured into new territory--the chicken-artichoke crepe with the breakfast hash. It was completely on par with everything else on their menu. The crepe was crispy and the filling was savory and tangy and creamy. The hash combined into a mound of cheesy melty potatoey goodness in just the right way. I'd totally order again--I didn't even miss the fries!

Score: 9/10

Beverage: 

Guys, I deviated from my strict regimen of mimosas! Salut's cocktails are so fun and good I just had to try something different. Usually I'm a blackberry martini girl, but that seemed a bit aggressive before noon, so I went with the grapefruit Negroni. Because...grapefruit's totally part of any socially acceptable breakfast, right? The cocktail was so good...insanely potent mix of gin (my fave), Campari, and fresh grapefruit juice. It was so tart and sweet and good, I sucked half of it down before even thinking to take a picture. One drawback: it's too strong to even contemplate another unless you're walking distance from your couch. 

Score: 8/10

To check out Salut for yourself, visit http://www.salutbaramericain.com/. 

Onto The Lowry...

Location/Ambiance: 

The Lowry, for some reason, makes me think "sleek train station." The bar is beautiful! Paneled in wood, with all the taps mounted in back--it'd be so fun to happy hour there. They have a big waiting area in the front, thank God because was there ever a wait, and the booths are built into the wall like a European train compartment minus the sliding doors (think Harry Potter meets the 1960s). It was really cool without trying too hard, which I liked. Points subtracted for the volume--it was so loud that at times it got hard to hear our conversation!

Score: 8/10

Food: 

Folks, my breakfast burrito was the size of a newborn. I wish I was exaggerating. I'm not. I didn't even know they made tortillas that big, and the whole shebang was topped off with the most delicious smoky chipotle sour cream. I made it through half and had to give up. Also of note: their sweet potato fries come out sizzling-hot, are super generously portioned, and make a great appetizer. 

Score: 10/10

Beverage: 

Standard mimosa. Not bottomless. Nothing to write home about, but not bad either. Just really standard. If I were a Bloody Mary girl, this score would've been way boosted--it looked amazing and came with like an entire meal in the cup along with the drink. Katie's looked to die for. 

Score: 7/10

To check out The Lowry for yourself, visit http://www.thelowryuptown.com/, or check out the rest of my Sunday Brunch Challenge here. 

Sunday Brunch: Good Day Café

Ahhhh, the post-holiday life "hangover." I've been going 100mph lately celebrating, making merry, and festivizing, and it's long past time for this little corner of the Internet to get a little more attention from me! 

So let's kick the post-holiday inertia to the curb with my favorite thing ever: brunch! Hannah, Sarah and I reunited after nearly 2 months off our regular brunch schedule…the last time we brunched was well before there was snow on the ground and, I think, before I even put notice in with my Big 4 employer!! We've seen each other plenty since then, and I've brunched with other people (and with them, separately!), but this was a long-overdue dive back into the land of mimosas, girly gossip, and eggy deliciousness. 

We met up at the Good Day Café today, right off Park Place and Xenia (and close to our other fave spot, Rojo!), and oh my god, campers, it was madness. We walked through the door at 10:30 to a half-hour wait and at least 40 people milling around in the (spacious, but sure felt) small entryway/foyer. Thank goodness none of us was starvingly hungry! 

Without further ado, here's the rankings: 

Location/Ambiance: 

The view from our back-corner booth. 

Good Day is actually in kind of a weird location--it's kind of tucked behind an office complex, and from the outside looks pretty standard--their signage is cute, lots of windows, and it looks about as roomy as an average TGI Fridays. Once we entered, like I said, it was madness--a bajillion people, two bars (one for coffee, one for libations), a few different rooms, etcetera. We hit up the coffee bar, waited in the packed lobby, and were seated at the back of a huge (loud) room in a cute little round booth tucked in a corner. Overall, the decor was adorable and the atmosphere was fun, but points were lost for the crazy entryway and high volume. Had we not been in a corner/quiet booth, it would've been even more nuts!

Score: 7/10

Beverages: 

White chocolate yumminess. 

Since we had a half-hour wait, each of us got a coffee beverage while we waited and a mimosa once we were seated--double dip for the win in this category! Shockingly, I preferred my white chocolate mocha to the mimosa--the mocha was served in a huge 16-oz mug, piping hot, rich, velvety, and topped with oodles of whip and white chocolate drizzle. It was sweet but not tooooo sweet, which is usually my gripe with white chocolate mochas, and warmed me up super fast. 

Mimosa madness. See all that pulp? Sad.

The mimosas were good, but nothing to write home about. Not bottomless (but let's be real, a girl can't and probably shouldn't have everything), a bit pulpy on the orange juice front and a bit light on the champagne front. Not to say I didn't adore it, because I adore all mimosas indiscriminately, but if it had come down to being between the mocha and the mimosa, this would have been a case where the mocha would've won out. 

Score: 8/10 (for the mocha's sake!)

Food: 

I already want it again. Paulie's Quiche for the win. 

Oh my gosh, friends. This is where the Good Day sets itself apart. Each of us had an egg dish--Sarah had a bacon-and-cheddar omelet, Hannah had crab cake Benedict, and I had "Paulie's Quiche." We were all in agreement that the food was amaze-balls. Like, seriously…I'm a big-time quiche addict, and have pretty high standards. This quiche? Super-deep, super-fluffy, and full of the ingredients, which were mixed really nicely throughout. The caramelized onion, basil, and roasted tomatoes were blanketed under a Fontina cheese layer on top--holy delish--and the crust was buttery, flaky and not too thick. Served with a side of fruit, this was seriously one of my fave quiches in memory. 

Score: 10/10

If the scores don't speak for themselves, I'd definitely recommend Good Day! We had a great time catching up, and on our way in and out, all the food I spotted looked delicious. Although I was skeptical at first--can eggs and champagne really be worth that intense a wait?--I think the hordes of people attest to the solid goodness of the restaurant and their offerings. It started my good day off on a great note! 

To check it out for yourself, hit up http://gooddaycafemn.com…or check out my full Brunch Challenge for more inspiration. Happy brunching!

Sunday Brunch: The Mark Dine and Tap

This "special edition" of Sunday Brunch covers one of my long-time favorite dining spots…The Mark Dine and Tap, in South Bend, Indiana! I spent my weekend visiting my beloved alma mater for a jam-packed three days of football, friends, and (most importantly?) food. My best friend Kaitlin flew in from Baltimore to meet Jon, myself and our friend Michael, and we stayed with Laura, my long-time "life coach" (and role model in all things, basically).  

Laura's a South Bend local who works for Notre Dame in a business capacity now, and whenever we go visit ND we're lucky enough to stay with her and her lovely standard poodle, Fiona. To cap off our weekends, we generally hit up The Mark, in Eddy Street (a shopping-and-dining "district" right across from campus) on Sunday before we leave. Known for its fresh, locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and awesome desserts in particular, I've been visiting The Mark since it opened senior year and a weekend in the Bend wouldn't be half as sweet without a stop! 

Onto the rankings:  

-Location/Ambiance: The Mark, as I mentioned, is located directly off campus in a sort of strip mall of student and visitor attractions including, but not limited to, a satellite campus bookstore, a Chipotle and a 7-11. One might think that initially detracts from the ambiance, but for convenience and proximity to campus, the location can't be beat. It was easily walkable from my dorm senior year, and from Laura's great near-campus location these days. The ambiance inside is chic and cozy, with lots of plum purple and warm gold, and a huge stone-and-wood bar with soaring ceilings. Its warm, welcoming atmosphere earns big points from me.  

Score: 9/10  

The aforementioned coffee, in a nicely-branded mug to boot. Yum. 

-Beverages: I can't say I tried a mimosa or other breakfast libation here, since we hit up my favorite college bar, The Backer (ahhhhhhh!) pretty hard the night before and alcohol in any form sounded pretty repulsive. That said, The Mark earns top marks (pun definitely intended) for its amazing coffee. Could just be the residual hangover talking, but their coffee was hot, fresh and smooth, and kept coming steadily throughout our meal despite the insanely busy restaurant. We also sampled their fresh-pressed orange juice, which combined mandarins, clementines and regular oranges into a pulpy, sweet, tart pint glass of sunshine-in-the-mouth flavor. I did note that, while the restaurant offered both mimosas and Kir Royales, neither were bottomless. 

Score: 10/10 

My plate, post-split. Thanks for sharing, Laura!

-Food: One of the things I love most about Laura is that she is a big fan of trying new things. Namely, trying as many things as possible on the breakfast menu by splitting two items. We decided to split the seasonal offering of pumpkin pancakes, as well as the "Crunchy French Toast," a concoction of challah bread dipped in egg whites and rolled/baked in a Cinnamon Toast Crunch shell. The pumpkin pancakes were just the right amount of pumpkin-y and deliciously fluffy; adding maple syrup and smearing them with the house-made whipped cream took everything to the next level. The Crunchy French Toast was, on first bite, a revelation…sweet, cinnamon-laden and, as promised, crunchy, sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with fresh strawberries. Midway through, however, it started to taste like State Fair food…a little doughy, a lot fatty and a bit excessive. Toward the end, the strawberries were really necessary to cut the fried-dough flavor. That said, however, what a sinful breakfast treat. 

Score: 7/10 

All said and done, The Mark was an awesome way to cap off our weekend back on campus. To take a peek for yourself, visit http://themarkdineandtap.com.  For the more local bunch among here, check out my Minneapolis brunch challenge for similarly tantalizing options!

One last look at that Crunchy French Toast deliciousness...

Sunday Brunch: Loring Kitchen

One of my favorite things about Minneapolis is its numerous amazing restaurants. And one of my favorite things to eat at restaurants is...brunch. I've developed a deep-seated affinity for the leisurely, indulgent deliciousness of a late Sunday brunch that is matched by very few things. 

When I was little, I was not a fan of brunch, with the exception of Easter Brunch at my grandparents' country club...which was basically an excuse to eat 3-5 bites of omelet before hitting up the insaaaane dessert bar with my siblings. Highlight of that holiday for me, right there. In college, I definitely started to appreciate brunch for the amazing hangover cure it was; some of my favorite memories are Sunday crepe bar after Basilica Mass or piling my plate with hashbrowns covered in cheddar and ketchup before rehashing our boozy Saturday night with my senior-year roommate soulmate. 

These days, there's little I don't love about brunch. How luxurious to linger for hours over delicious mimosas, savory egg dishes, fluffy pancakes and a great cup of coffee? Fortunately, my BFW (best friend from work), Hannah, shares my appreciation of brunch, and we've decided to start a Twin Cities Brunch Tour this fall. To track our exploits, I'm going to blog and rate our restaurants on the following three criteria:  

1.  Location/Ambiance: Where is/how accessible is the restaurant? Is the location/setting/environment of the restaurant an advantage to the dining experience?

2. Beverages: Specifically, mimosas. Hannah and I are both major devotees, so evaluating the OJ-to-champagne ratio, presentation, etc, will be critical. Bonus points for bottomless. Further bonus points for great coffee.  

3. Food: What are the brunch offerings? Anything particularly unique or delicious? How were our selections?  

With that said, here's my thoughts on Loring Kitchen! 

1. Location/Ambiance: Loring Kitchen is located right off Loring Park, and has great al fresco dining options in the summer. The restaurant itself is very sleek with clean lines, lots of bright lighting, and a solid noise level (bustling, but not too loud to hold a conversation).  

It was actually kind of funny--Hannah initially texted me this morning from Dinkytown saying we could meet up whenever! There were some crossed wires--she was thinking Loring Pasta Bar, not Loring Kitchen. We got it sorted out quickly though! I was able to take advantage of the gorgeous fall day to walk from my apartment to Loring Kitchen...about 35 minutes. So nice!

Score: 8/10 

Please note the absence of the bottom. Truly bottomless. Yum.

2. Beverages: Loring Kitchen hit it out of the park with their $10 bottomless mimosas! They are truly bottomless--as in, I never once saw the bottom of my wine glass, and literally had to request that the waitress STOP refilling my glass after round 4 or 5. The champagne to OJ ratio was great...just enough fizz and crispness, but still sweet.  

 Score: 10/10 

My parfait and sausage. Plus the gratuitous mimosa shot. Still no bottom in sight... 

3. Food: I kept it pretty simple today after a huge Italian feast with my dad's side last night...ordered the yogurt parfait, with a side of sausage. The parfait was huuuuge and delicious...giant, so-sweet blackberries and strawberries layered with creamy vanilla yogurt and almond granola. The sausage was chicken-apple, hot, sweet, and savory. Really good.  

Hannah went for a build-your-own omelet that looked to die for...spinach, goat cheese, and mushrooms, with a side of cubed potatoes and whole-grain toast. Their omelet offerings looked great and were really gourmet. Also on my "to-try" list is the cream-cheese and bacon-stuffed French toast...um, heart attack on a plate, please! 

Score: 8/10 

Overall, definitely a dining experience I think Hannah and I really enjoyed! To check it out for yourself, visit http://www.loringkitchen.com, or get inspired by the full Brunch Challenge!