Sunday Brunch: Hola Arepa

I’m not going to lie, I’ve majorly slowed down on the brunch front these past few months. Part of my recent decline in activity was driven by my month off from eating out in January, and I’ve continued to try to stay in, eat healthily and not spend so damn much on mimosas and eggs Benedict. (My back-to-back Fridays at Spoon and Stable and Marvel Bar, on the other hand…yikes.)

That said…I can think of few better winter brunch destinations than Hola Arepa. At one point, I think I actually closed my eyes and imagined I was back in Mexico…it was the perfect escapist hour and a half. I met Hannah and her lovely mom there and we had so much fun…it was great to see Hannah, not to mention how delighted I was to get to see so much of what makes Hannah who she is in her mother. Isn’t it funny how we all grew up afraid we’d turn into our moms, and now it seems like the best thing ever?

Location/Ambiance

Like I said, Hola Arepa feels like a little slice of perennial summer. It starts with the bright, poppy turquoise of the exterior and sign, and carries through the inside…the lengthy bar, splashes of color and light, and plethora of green growing things just made me feel like I was hiding out at some very sophisticated beach shack in the Caribbean.

I have to throw in a plug for the patio…I’ve spent MANY a summer afternoon wasting way too many hours out there taste-testing tequila drinks and snacking on small plates. Hannah and I had a five-hour happy hour once (or twice)…and I met up with ND band friends there one evening when I was living in Lakeville and ended up staying out til almost midnight. On a work night. Go me. Go Hola.

Score: 10/10 (for the patio’s sake!)

Beverage:

While I’ve worked my way through Hola’s beverage offerings more comprehensively than I care to admit, I always come back to their creative and innovative daily sangria offerings. I’ve had cucumber-jalapeno white sangria, raspberry-pomegranate, even hibiscus-lime…and they’re always outstanding (if sometimes a little weird). The day we went, they were pouring a blood-orange cranberry sangria that, no lie, made me so insanely happy I debated offering the bartender a non-essential organ for the recipe. Cranberry has been one of my favorite flavors since the college dining hall days, when I’d get cranberry juice and add a splash of Sprite as a dinnertime treat like…daily, and “blood orange” is a buzzword that instantly settles me on whatever dish includes it these days. The combo of the two PLUS red wine and a little spice made me fall in love hard and fast.

Score: 10/10 (also don’t miss their bottled offerings, I love the “Que Pasa Martinez?”.)

Food:

I’m a sucker for an eggs Benedict any day, but I kind of burned out on them because, realistically, how much can you change up an English muffin, ham, egg, and hollandaise? Hola proved me wrong in a big way, swapping the muffin for arepas (a griddled cornmeal cake), changing out the ham for chorizo, spicing up the Hollandaise and adding a sweet-and-tangy guava sauce to the whole thing. They top it off with chicharron, a crackly bacon-type deal, and serve it with a side salad. Um, hi. I could have licked my plate clean with very little shame.

Score: 10/10

To check out Hola Arepa for yourself, head to www.holaarepa.com. Then call me and let me know you’re going so I can arrange a designated driver and work my way through the cocktails with you, mmk?

More brunches here, duh. 

Sunday Brunch: Ike's

One of Erin's only requests for her time in Minny last weekend was to do brunch, and I, obviously, freaked the eff out with excitement. Erin's read this blog for longer than most people other than my mom, I think, and I was so thrilled to officially loop her into the Brunch Tour! 

We went with a true Minneapolis classic, Ike's downtown...

Location/Ambiance: 

Ike's is located on 6th Street, right in the heart of downtown, and has long been a Schwegfam favorite for its cute, retro bar vibe and adorable signage. Fun fact: my grandparents used to come here for date nights! We still have photos floating around the house somewhere of them all dolled up and out on the town. It just has that vibe to it, I think...

...a place where you want to go out with people you enjoy and just socialize and people-watch and read the quotes on the walls and have a generally delightful evening. 

Score: 9/10

Beverage: 

You mix your own mimosa with a split of champagne and a tiny carafe of orange juice. Excuse me while my inner control freak runs a victory lap. This is the best idea ever. 

Score: 10/10

Food: 

Absolutely obscene in volume and quality. For starters, about five seconds after we sat down THIS monster was brought to our table: 

That, friends, is about a quarter-pan's worth of giant, hot, syrupy caramel roll with melting whipped butter all over it. Please note there are multiple forks stabbed in the top, as if to encourage you to just throw all decorum to the wind and essentially faceplant into that thing. I honestly could have had this as a meal and still had leftovers. 

Ike's brunch format, though, guarantees leftovers no matter what. You pick your eggs (breakfast quesadilla, Benedict or omelet, or prepared any which way), and then your table gets this giant, bottomless platter of pancakes and hash browns and sausage and bacon. IT'S BOTTOMLESS. It gets refilled. This would be the perfect place to bring like...a team of hungry high school athletes or that guy from Man Vs Food or something. Erin and I were out of our depth in a big way. 

I did the breakfast quesadilla and it was FANTASTIC. My hangover go-to meal is cheesy eggs with salsa, and this was like that, plus a tortilla, minus a hangover. So great. 

Full table shot! Corner of the caramel roll, our GIANT PLATTER OF SIDES, Erin's scrambled eggs and toast, and of course champagne, because what brunch is complete without it?! We barely dented this spread. I had leftovers for days, folks. 

Score: 10/10, for sheer volume. Also, for deliciousness. 

To check out Ike's for yourself, first assemble a team of at least five others, preferably who have been wandering in the woods without food for like a week and are optimally hungry. Then go to http://ilikeikes.com/. If, on the other hand, you don't have an army of ravenous friends, find somewhere else to brunch right here. Happy dining! 

Sunday Brunch: Hell's Kitchen

Wow, it's been a long while since I had brunch...although it was great to blaze back into it in the best form with Kelsie and her friends! They had a great day of holiday shopping and the Macy's 8th floor planned, and we kicked it all off visiting a Minneapolis institution...Hell's Kitchen! 

Location/Ambiance: 

Obviously a restaurant called Hell's Kitchen is bound to be a bit unorthodox, decor-wise...located in the basement of a downtown office building, the entrance is unassuming enough, apart from the fun marquee. 

Get inside, though, and it's...well...hellish. Wrought-iron gates, giant "stone" angels and demons, and some very interesting artwork. Not the brunchiest atmosphere, but the novelty of it was definitely fun. 

Ambiance-wise, we didn't know that the Hell's Kitchen weekend brunch featured live music! While it was a bit loud and hard to converse at times, it added a fun spin to a girls' brunch to have a (fairly good) band to watch and listen to while we sipped our drinks! 

Score: 7/10

Beverage: 

The big selling point at Hell's Kitchen is the dual Bloody Mary and Mimosa bar, which features absolutely insane build-your-own mimosas and bloodies. For $15, and not bottomless, however, it seemed a bit rich for our group (especially considering usually my Prosecco costs less than $15 for an entire bottle!). Instead, we stuck to the classic drink menu. A few of us tried Tequila Mockingbirds and Salty Dogs, but I went with the "Dante's Screw," a classic screwdriver with infused vodka. Remembering how good the vanilla vodka concoction was at Haute Dish, I went with vanilla and it was fantastic. 

Score: 8/10 (points off for the ridiculously expensive mimosa bar)

Food: 

Hell's Kitchen was always one of my favorite places we'd order dinner from during public accounting busy season...BiteSquad delivered and they were open super late, so it didn't matter when we got hungry. My favorite dish back then was and still is their "Ham and Pear Crisp" sandwich. The combination of thick-sliced ham, cinnamon-poached pears, and fontina is ridiculously decadent...even more so on cinnamon-spiced sourdough. I ordered it with sweet potato fries and barely dented it...enough leftovers for lunch the next day is always a win. 

Score: 10/10

To check out Hell's Kitchen for yourself, head here...or else visit one of my other favorites from my Brunch Challenge! 

Sunday Brunch: Aster Café

Although we've had the most gorgeous fall ever here in Minnesota, patio brunch season is definitely and irrefutably over. I had so much fun popping back into my photo archives to revisit this beautiful early-fall breakfast date with Eva! 

As my favorite miss, soon to be Mrs. is tying the knot at the Nicollet Island Pavilion next summer, we decided to take advantage of a gorgeous Sunday to enjoy a little al fresco brunch action before strolling around St. Anthony Main! We headed to her venue and strolled up and down the adorable brick streets, scouting out photo locations and building (very) pre-emptive anticipation for all the wedding day fun we're all going to have. Of course, before our stroll, we made sure to fill up at the ever-so-charming Aster Café!

Location/Ambiance:

The Aster is located right on Main Street, facing the river and replete with gorgeous views. Their interior is quirky and offbeat, full of dark wood and stained glass and wrought iron, but we wanted to take advantage of their spacious patio: 

Gorgeous, right? The river view was especially pretty with the first leaves beginning to change, and as an added bonus, there was a surfeit of precious dogs and babies for me to coo over. 

Score: 10/10

Beverage:  

The brisk morning called for hot drinks rather than boozy ones, so I went with a pot of Evening in Missoula tea, my favorite. Eva's chai tea latté was the true winner, though...sweet and spicy in just the right proportion. I totally should have followed her lead on this one. How cute is this girl!? 

Score: 8/10

Food:

Eva's waffle looked sinful, and my quiche couldn't have been yummier. The Aster rotates their omelette of the day and quiche of the day weekly, and this week's was a spinach, sun-dried tomato and Gruyere option that had me cleaning my plate. 

Score: 9/10 

To check out the Aster Café yourself, head here. Otherwise pick another favorite from the Brunch Challenge! 

Sunday Brunch: The Freehouse

Oh man, you guys. So behind on brunch. Both eating it, and writing about it. Way the heck back in early September, my sister Emily came home to visit for ten whole days, and we had an absolutely amazing brunch at The Freehouse the day she left! 

Location/Ambiance: 

The Freehouse is the newest member of the Blue Plate restaurant family, home to several of my favorite Twin Cities brunches including The Highland Grill, The Lowry and the Edina Grill. In my opinion, The Freehouse knocks them out of the water as far as appearances go, at least. As a brew pub, the decor leaned heavily on beer...from the keg ceiling lights to art made out of bottle caps. The big bar was super sleek and cool and the outdoor patio looked beautiful as well. 

core: 10/10

Beverage:

I enjoyed a "Molly Pitcher Martini," which was a blend of cherry vodka, lemon, a dash of vanilla bitters, and prosecco. It was DAMN good. We also tried their beers, and I enjoyed the wheat...nice, unoffensive, and flavorful. 

Score: 9/10

Food:

SO good. I had the breakfast sandwich, which was served on the lightest, fluffiest English muffin I've ever seen: 

We all also really wanted to try the special, the "Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes," but nobody was in the mood for a whole serving of them. Devin, our AMAZING server, was kind enough to bring a half-order to the table as a surprise for us after hearing how we dithered over whether to order them or not. On top of that, he comped them as a "taste test" for the table. WHAT fantastic service...he truly added to the entire experience with candid reviews of the menu and that action. (In case you were wondering, the pancakes were divine. If they have pancake specials, you should go for it.)

10/10 (plus a bonus point for Devin!)

To visit The Freehouse, head here! Otherwise, check out some of the other amazing places I've been and let me know if you have suggestions!