We love a great downtown Manhattan brunch spot, but believe it or not you can get the same trendy, hungover scene uptown, too. We're big fans of Cafe d'Alsace, where the enormous platters of hearty French food more than make up for sometimes spotty service.
One of our fave things is the croque madame: a ham-and-cheese sandwich the size of a dinner plate, topped with a fried egg. The steak and eggs is also tops, while the brioche French toast with raspberry coulis works if you're in the mood for something sweet.
Sitting outside on the terrace is nice if you remembered your sunglasses, but you'll have a better chance of scoring a table inside. And if worse comes to worse, seats at the long, pewter bar will put you close to the bloody marys.
Josie's Restaurant West on Manhattan's Upper West Side takes the proverbial granola out of organic eating (though the dairy-free oatmeal with maple syrup and fresh fruit is delicious).
Executive chef Louis Lanza also owns the place, in addition to three spin-off restaurants dotting the island: Josie's East, Citrus Bar & Grill, and Josephina.
Josie's is one of the few places in the city where everyone in a group of New Yorkers--and all the neurotic eating habits that comes with them--can find something to eat. While vegans fill up on animal-free fare, their carnivore friends can still find gorge. For every scrambled tofu omelet, there is a free-range egg one to match. And for every veggie burger, there is a beef patty made from a steer who supposedly was able to live his life grazing in an open field.
Though you'll probably have to wait an hour or more for a table, the deliciousness makes the thumb twirling worthwhile. Five Points Restaurant, on the quiet Great Jones Street in Manhattan's NoHo, delivers the quintessential white tablecloth NYC brunch. Chef Marc Meyer's menu is creative without being pretentious. And for City standards, the prices can't be beat. Here's a sample of the brunch menu:
Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes, $9; Honey Sweetened Soft Polenta, $8; Dulce De Leche French Toast, $9; Ricotta Fritters with Carmlized Apples, $8
For the less experimental brunchers with a penchant for the savory, Five Points also serves a variety of omelets, burgers, fish, and sandwiches.
Few can deny the appeal of Sunday brunch. It's a clash of indulgences -- sleeping late, overeating, and consuming alcohol at inappropriate times. New Yorkers understand this trio of pleasures and have transformed brunch into a weekly ritual. As with anything popular in Manhattan, this means lines, and lots of waiting. If you're going to sit on a narrow windowsill for an hour starving for a table, the food and the atmosphere better be good. That's where we come in.
Every Sunday at Nolita House, a quartet of musicians bring in their banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, and stomping feet for the weekly Bluegrass Brunch. Sounds loud, but the music coincides with the raucous, happy-to-be-alive feeling of
late Sunday mornings in New York. Yellowed class photos, chalkboards, and family artifacts line the walls -- the schoolhouse theme is corny enough to give the place kitsch without being annoying.
If the band quits tomorrow, we'd still go for the food alone. The brick oven eggs are the brunch specialty -- eggs, bread, spinach, blackforest ham, and cheddar baked in a crock. Surround it with a cup of coffee, a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a bloody mary. Followed by a nap, of course.
The spring sun has been blazing in New York lately, and that means only one thing: time for a visit to The Central Park Boathouse.
The place certainly isn't under the tourist radar, but we're cool with that. Deep inside Central Park and overlooking the Lake, the Boathouse is a world away from the city it's in the heart of. Plunk down at one of the tables on the deck, and you'll be ready to tuck into a roasted beet and fennel salad or a bowl of mussels. Afterwards, you can rent yourself a rowboat to explore the lake--if that's your thing.
The Boathouse is also the perfect spot for a boozy brunch--just get there early. We're not the only ones who love Bloody Marys, artichoke frittatas and strolls through the park.
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by pbb
