Let There Be Brunch!
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The History of Brunch
The lush setting of the Fontana courtyard, with brunch food stations around the perimeter, including lobster tails at the seafood station
That perfect melding of breakfast and lunch – is as rich as the meal itself. Its origin is ascribed to the English writer Guy Beringer, who wrote an article about it in Hunter’s Weekly in 1895, a meal to help “Saturday night carousers” overcome their hangovers. He considered it “cheerful, sociable and inciting” especially with the addition of Bloody Mary or mimosa cocktails. “It would promote human happiness,” he wrote, as “it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.”
In the U.S., brunch first landed in the capital of rich food and drink, New Orleans, a few years later. From there it blossomed in New York City hotels, between 1920 and 1950, and from there the rest of the nation. Here in the Gables, it’s mostly a Sunday affair, though some restaurants also offer it on Saturday mornings. The key ingredient, beyond reams of rich food, is the alcohol. Nothing quite like the hair of the dog that bit you, as they say in England.
The King of Brunches
For sheer weight of available food options – a culinary opulence fit for a king – nothing compares to the Biltmore’s over-the-top signature Sunday brunch.
Left to right: White tablecloth service, the caviar station, and the dessert room.
Served from 10 am to 2 pm, the food stations occupy interior space on both sides of the Fontana courtyard, itself providing a lush setting that adds to the experience.
You can start on the east side of the courtyard, inside of the Fontana, which provides a full array of ‘standard’ breakfast options – eggs cooked to order, eggs benedict, breakfast meats (bacon, ham, etc.), potatoes, waffles, French toast, fruit (strawberries and cream, blueberries, kiwi, melon, etc.) and freshly baked croissant, bagels, and muffins. While it is nice to start here, our crew felt like this was a trap. Fill up here and the west side – a veritable garden of eats – becomes a more daunting challenge.
But how can eating be a challenge? Answer: When there is so much good vittles to be had that you can’t possibly ingest all of them. You have to pace yourself and practice a kind of triage, where this time you pass on the Italian pasta station so that you can gorge yourself on oysters, snow crab claws, and lobster tails. Those latter three are to be found at the cold seafood station, adjacent to the smoked seafood station (smoked trout, smoked salmon, smoked whitefish, etc.). Fortunately, the caviar station – with royal osetra, imperial white sturgeon, salmon roe, and American hackleback caviar – can be taken in small (albeit intense) doses that are not too filling.
There is also sushi (maki rolls, sashimi, nigiri), baked goods, Atlantic salmon, chicken fricassee, two types of paella (one vegetarian), and risottos (we loved the artichoke risotto). Possibly my favorite was the roast meat area. Here the chef can slice you a roast leg of lamb (with mint jelly), pork belly porchetta style (with mango-chutney), roast sirloin of beef (with peppercorn sauce) and a roasted grouper (alternating with sage infused turkey). Beyond these are tables with salad offerings, cheeses, and sliced meats, farm fresh vegetables, potatoes au gratin.
Feeling full yet? Save room for the dessert room, where we counted more than 45 types of sweets, from macaroons, key lime tarts, caramel rolls, and bread pudding to chocolate cake, profiteroles, petit donuts, and Viennese pastries. Of course, a gelato cart with gelatos and sorbets.
Meanwhile, the white tablecloth service is impeccable, with endless bloody marys and prosecco mimosas. The air is filled not just with laughter and the clinking of glasses, but with the live music of a classical guitarist. Combine that with a blue-sky sunny day and you have entered brunch heaven.
Fontana / Biltmore Hotel / 1200 Anastasia Ave. / 855.311.6903 / $130 per person, $60 per child
The Americana Kitchen
Steak frites with crispy breakfast potatoes plus live music
One of the most pleasant spaces to spend Sunday morning in Miami is the covered breezeway in front of the Loews Hotel at the Plaza Coral Gables. This high-ceiling curved space, which faces the one-acre Plaza courtyard (punctuated by sculptures and fountains), is cooled by huge overhead fans – and wafts of cooler air expanding from the Americana Kitchen bar and restaurant inside. After your second Bloody Mary, you will find yourself in no mood to go anywhere else.
Brunch at the Americana is basically about expanding the breakfast menu to include huge portions of enhanced dishes. The buttermilk waffles expand into buttermilk fried chicken & waffles ($26), the fried eggs and bacon transform into the egg sandwich with serrano ham, Manchego cheese and pepper aioli ($23), and meats and fish appear, from the steak frites (with the best crispy breakfast potatoes you’ll ever eat) to the search mahi sandwich. And nothing quite says healthy-but-decadent as much as the Americana Wedge Salad with blue cheese and bacon ($19).
On the morning that we took our brunch at the Americana, there was a live band consisting of a guitarist and percussionist (congas and bongos), playing samba and Cuban son. The waitress was kind enough to point out that the endless Bloody Mary option (and theirs are top notch, coming from the adjacent bar) for $32 makes a lot of sense as soon as you cross into the 2+ zone. Which I did – and never looked back. They also serve an espresso martini and Don Julio spritz, but the tomato-based Mary felt healthier.
Americana Kitchen / The Loews Hotel at Plaza Coral Gables / 786-772-7600
Bachour
The outdoor breezeway – a perfect setting for Sunday brunch
Antonio Bachour began his career in his family’s bakery in Puerto Rico before establishing himself among the world’s foremost pastry chefs. His Coral Gables restaurant, opened in 2019, earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2022 and has retained the distinction ever since. The industrial-chic establishment, with its glass-enclosed bakery and impressive assortment of pastries, has much more to offer than desserts, particularly during weekend brunch.
We opted for the outdoor breezeway, a pleasant setting for a leisurely Sunday brunch, served from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. And what would brunch be without mimosas? At $13 each, they’re a fitting start, although the absence of a bottomless option is unfortunate.
The menu is extensive, ranging from chilaquiles and crab Benedict to Cuban sandwiches and steak and eggs. We began with Arepa Fritters ($15), their crisp exterior giving way to cotija cheese, with avocado underneath. Our waiter recommended the Ham Benedict ($19), and his judgment was right on the mark. Served on brioche with Canadian bacon and hollandaise, the softboiled eggs released their golden yolks with the first cut. For something sweet, the Guava and Cheese pancakes ($20) are particularly good. Three thick, fluffy pancakes layered with guava jam and cream cheese mousse provide ample sweetness. The surprisingly light maple syrup warranted an extra drizzle.
Brunch may be the reason for coming, but it’s hard to leave without stopping at the pastry counter. Beyond a fantastic array of croissants (pistachio? yes!) Bachour’s sculpted sweets are tiny works of edible art.
2020 Salzedo St. / antoniobachour.com
Bouchon Bistro
In the La Palma building, Bouchon offers poulet et gaufres – chicken & waffles.
Bouchon takes a elegant, unhurried approach to brunch. Set inside the historic La Palma building, Thomas Keller’s Coral Gables bistro is far removed from the American brunch scene. The room is a handsome rendition of a fin-de-siècle brasserie, with the wait staff appropriately dressed in black vests and aprons. The simple French cooking here is the classic comfort food of a Paris bistro, with things like steak frites, onion soup, and roast chicken done simply but perfectly.
We started with the OEufs Mimosa ($10) – four deviled eggs – cool and filled with creamy yolk whipped with French mayonnaise. Simple and classic. The Poulet et Gaufres ($39) is their version of fried chicken and waffles, only the chicken here is roasted (after being brined for 24 hours) and served with thin, crisp sourdough waffles, Crown Maple syrup and sauce Chasseur. The result is savory, refined and decidedly more grownup than the American version.
The Salade de Saumon ($39) followed the same approach. The pan-seared Scottish salmon
comes with heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and Palladin croûtons in a red wine vinaigrette. We swapped in fries for the salad, for a little more of the steak frites ($59) experience, just $20 less expensive.
The raw bar offers oysters, shrimp, lobster, and larger seafood platters, though at prices a little too aggressive (almost $6 per oyster?) – though the escargots are more reasonable ($24). What we’ll definitely try next time is the lump crab eggs Benedict with roasted mushrooms ($41).
2101 Galiano Street | Brunch Friday–Sunday, noon–4 pm.
Bulla Gastrobar
The busy bar at Bulla, our setting for brunch, and the tortilla española.
Restaurateur Carlos Centurion introduced the Bulla concept in 2013, taking inspiration from the gastrobars of Spain. The menu features Spanish favorites, including croquetas, cured meats, and smaller dishes meant for sharing. For us, Bulla Gastrobar offered a fresh take on Sunday brunch, departing from the traditional egg and- pancake breakfast in a light-filled and bustling corner restaurant.
We started with Mahón cheese ($8), a firm cow’s milk cheese with a lemony finish, accompanied by toasted bread, guava paste, and candied walnuts. The trick is getting everything in one bite, letting the sweetness of the guava balance the salty cheese.
Our bottomless mimosas ($23 per person) arrived shortly afterward, with pleasantly fresh-tasting orange juice. The deal also includes sangria and a passion fruit option, with the freedom to switch between all three at every refill. Not a bad arrangement for the indecisive.
A couple of drinks later, we ordered the Croquetas de Jamón ($11.50). Beneath the crisp coating was a creamy ham filling that melted in the mouth. The accompanying sweet fig jam was a good match for the savory croquetas. For our final plates, we shared the Tortilla Española ($12), a thick Spanish omelet layered with tender potatoes and caramelized onions. A spoonful of garlic aioli added a welcome kick to the otherwise mild dish. Alongside it came the Paleta Ibérica de Bellota ($23), thin slices of acorn-fed Iberian ham with a rich, slightly nutty flavor. A fitting end to a different kind of brunch.
2500 Ponce de Leon Blvd. / bullagastrobar.com
Eating House
The famous Cap’n Crunch pancakes, above, and short ribs with eggs.
Eating House has always been one of Coral Gables’ more playful dining rooms, and its brunch menu mirrors that personality in an airy, industrial chic space on Giralda.
Chef Giorgio Rapicavoli’s menu changes with the season, but the idea stays the same: familiar comfort food, reworked with just enough creativity to feel new. We tried the restaurant’s latest addition, the roasted beet salad, dressed with goat cheese-green goddess sauce, mint, and jalapeño. Fresh, rich and well, just different. Ditto the dangerously easy to eat soft-baked potato rolls ($9), brushed with maple-brown butter and flaky salt.
What makes the Eating House special are the small tweaks. The chicken and waffles ($29) are as good as they get — perfectly fried, crisp outside and juicy within – but who puts a pat of butter on top? And then instead of dribbling syrup, sitting the waffle in a shallow pool of Frank’s Ranch & Smoked maple syrup, so it doesn’t tip too far into sweet territory.
We could not say no to Rapicavoli’s famous Cap’n Crunch Pancakes ($19), which works the cereal into the batter, giving the pancakes a subtle sweet-corn flavor beneath vanilla bean butter, condensed milk syrup – and the candied cereal itself. Perfect for inducing diabetes. And for the Short Rib “Steak & Eggs” ($36) with sunny-side-up eggs – who adds crispy potato strings on top, or a pool of onion demi-glace beneath? That’s Eating House, brunch at play deliciously.