Revisiting Revival Social Club

At the end of 2014, Brandy was flooded with nostalgia when she visited the newly opened Revival Social Club, which was located in the same space that was once occupied by M Henrietta, otherwise known as Bunny and Brandy's very first brunch review destination. "There was just something so heartwarming about seeing that space cared for and loved by a whole new crowd," Brandy wistfully recalled. But having learned recently that Revival Social Club had acquired new chefs, a revamped menu, and a whole new bar program, she knew she had to go back to see how the old place was doing. "I feel a duty to that space, to make sure it is always home to a worthy brunch. I would take it as a personal insult if I ever heard ill being spoken of the brunch in that little spot next to the Granville Redline stop!"

Sunday morning brunch was still buzzing, which Brandy was happy to see. Glancing at the menus, she noticed that the once experimental bar menu had become more approachable, while the food menu, which used to concentrate on Southern American themed cuisine, had shifted more to home style Mexican American. Still, there was some holdovers from the previous incarnation, like the unforgettable skillet monkey bread.

Brandy started off her meal an iced Mexican Coffee, which had been spiked with Ancho Reyes liqueur and topped with a tequila whipped cream. "Oh, this is dangerous!" she said after taking a sip. The iced coffee was so smooth and the liqueur's flavor so subtle that she could have easily sipped her way through three glasses or more without even thinking about it. The whipped cream certainly did pack a punch, though, reminding Brandy that she wasn't merely drinking a lovely coffee, but enjoying a proper cocktail. Though she missed seeing the Dark Matter coffee infusions that the bar had previously been creating, she thought the Mexican Coffee almost made up for their absence.

To start off brunch, Brandy ordered the Truffle Fries, which came with a sprinkle of Parmesan, crisped bacon, chives, and a lemon aioli. The fries were a little dry on their own, but taking them for a dip in the creamy aioli certainly did help. The bold flavors of the bacon and the chives drowned out the truffle, sadly, but they did make the fries mighty tasty. "If it was me, I'd forget the truffle all together and just call these Bacon Fries," Brandy thought aloud.

Next, she shifted to the sweeter side with some Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. This was a flavor profile she'd been seeing quite a lot as of late, and though lemon isn't typically Brandy's favorite thing in the world, she did like these particular pancakes. A healthy slathering of coconut cream helped to bring out the creaminess of the ricotta while balancing the acidity of the lemon nicely. The pancakes themselves had a great fluffy texture that didn't leave Brandy feeling weighed down by the end of the plate.

Lastly, Brandy ordered the Skillet Nachos, which seemed to be an interesting new version of of chilaquiles. Adding some medium rare steak to the concoction that included pico de gallo, black beans, sour cream, guacamole, and scrambled eggs really gave the dish a feeling of well-roundedness. Every bite was a little different, which Brandy loved, with plenty of crunch coming from the freshly fried tortilla chips. She used these interchangeably with her fork to scoop up all of the lovely toppings. "What a delightful change of pace," Brandy declared, "I've become a bit bored by seeing chilaquiles on every menu in town, but this has something different about it that makes it into a whole new experience."

Satisfied to see a location so close to her heart finding their footing in a new realm, Brandy wandered out into the street. She then immediately wandered back into Revival Social Club, took a seat at the bar, and ordered more Mexican Coffee's until she had to be asked to leave so the staff could go home.

The writers of this blog were invited to dine at the restaurant free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Revival Social Club or Drinking Full Circle

The Slow and Savory Review
"I think I've figured out how to make a time machine," Brandy's good friend Brocco Leigh Binto (genius inventor and scientist) told her one day over tea.  "Oh?' was all Brandy could muster in response.  "It's all a matter of getting the wavelengths at the right frequency, you see?" Brocco tried to explain, "You just have to isolate the exterior timeline from the interior timeline so that you can have a living organism traveling through the fourth dimension without it effecting that organism's bio-molecular make up, you see?"  "Um... of course."  "Of course, I'll need to apply for some grants to develop the right kind of equipment, but I'm sure that won't be hard.  So, where would you want to travel to in time?" "Excuse me?" "You could be the first time tourist!  Name any era, any place, and I can send you there."  "Why wouldn't you want to be the first time tourist then?" "Well... someone has to operate the equipment, of course."  "Of course.  Well, if I must be your guinea pig, I suppose we'd better start off easy.  Why don't you send me back four years ago to Bunny and I's very first Chicago brunch?  I'd be interested to just how educated my palate has become since then."  "You've got it!  Where was your first brunch?"  "It was at M. Henrietta.  Oh... I still dream about the beautiful little baked egg and that delectable bread pudding..." Brandy trailed off.  "Stay with me," Brocco said, snapping his fingers in front of Brandy's face, "Can we go there to collect the exact coordinates?" "Sadly, the lovely place is no more.  However, I've heard there's a new restaurant there, and they do serve brunch..." "Then what are waiting for?  Let's go!"

The restaurant that had taken M. Henrietta's place just off the Granville Red Line stop was called Revival Social Club.  Though the outside was familiar to Brandy, the inside had had several changes from its predecessor; the once butter yellow walls had been painted a more sleek grey color, a bar had been constructed on the eastern wall that was not only stunning architecturally, but also utilizational for storage, and the whole dining space had been opened up and decorated with graphic canvases that lent the place the air of a speakeasy.  "I'm not sure if we've just traveled into the past of the future!" Brandy declared, stepping into the place.

The pair of friends started off with some drinks: the Southern Decadence for Brandy and the Kentucky Mule for Brocco.  Brandy loved seeing the original twists on classic cocktails that pervaded the menu, as well as some very original concoctions made with Dark Matter coffee (but we'll get to those later).  Brocco did like his Kentucky Mule, which was made with bourbon instead of the traditional vodka, thinking it had a nice effervescence to it while being simultaneously smokey and citrusy.  "That's not a flavor combination you see every day," he said, taking some sort of dodad out of his pocket and scanning the drink.  Brandy's drink, the Southern Decadence, was constructed from it's name sake tea from Rare Cellar Tea, some vodka, soda, and garnished with a grape and some fresh mint.  Brandy liked that it was nicely light, sweet, and refreshing, but still with a rather sophisticated herbaciousness from the mint.  "It's good, but probably more of a summer drink," she admitted.

The meal began with the Iron Skillet Monkey Bread (Brocco heard about half of the smiling waiter's description before he asked for an order of the confection).  The two bite sized balls of dough came warm to the table, a bourbon caramel glaze bubbling around the edges of the skillet.  The bread like spheres were light and airy on the inside, and while the glaze was sticky and sweet, it didn't overwhelm the dish.  "I might use my time machine to go back and eat this again," Brocco moaned, scooping up the last little dough ball.  "Or you could, you know, just order another..." Brandy suggested.

For his entree, Brocco ordered the Treehugger Omelette, which was loaded with roasted poblano peppers, onions, tomato, and spinach.  Brocco liked that the eggs were a little on the denser side of things, as it gave the omelet more substance, and the veggies were still a little crisp, adding texture to every bite.  The dish also came with a side of Fingerling Potato Hash, which was dressed in paprika and chives.  The potatoes were soft, not too salty, and had a lovely subtle flavor that made for a nice change from the typical kinds of breakfast potatoes found at other spots.  Brocco also ordered an additional side, a Double Chocolate Chunk Muffin, which also came warm.  Surprised by his first bite of the muffin, Brocco soon realized that the richness of the chocolate had actually been cut with a little cinnamon, giving the muffin an almost Mexican chocolate flavor.

Brandy went for the Short Rib Sandwich with a side of Candied Bacon and Popcorn Grits.  The short rib meat on the sandwich was unbelievably tender and juicy, and Brandy liked that the fried egg on top of it served to make the dish all the more richer, but she couldn't help wishing for a little slice of tomato or the crunch of some onions.  "I see this a lot," Brandy explained to Brocco, "A nice meaty breakfast sandwich is often served without veggies, but I usually find that even a little bit of greenery does wonders to brighten up an otherwise heavy dish."  Brandy was rather surprised by the grits, which really did taste of popcorn!  "I know this looser style of grit is more traditional," she said, scooping up a spoonful of the porridge like goodness, "I actually do like my grits a little more polenta like, usually, but these have such an unusual flavor that I'm willing over look that."  The grits had also been topped with a pad of maple butter, which didn't add as much sweetness as Brandy would have expected, but did provide a bit of guilding for the lily, so to speak.  The Candied Bacon was everything one could want from something of that name; thick slices of bacon coated in a thin layer of brown sugar to make the perfect kind of salty and sweet brunch snack that left one licking one's fingers for minutes after they were gone.

Closing out the meal, Brandy found herself intrigued by one section of the cocktail menu that mentioned house made coffee liqueurs, created using different blends of Dark Matter Coffee, and so she ordered up a little cordial sized glass of the Drunken Unicorn (so name because it utilized Dark Matter's Unicorn Blood blend).  The little glass of chocolate brown liquid was concentrated and thick, but smooth and luxurious, with all of the coffee's bitterness and acidity toned down with the rum it had been infused with.  Seeing the bliss of Brandy's face as she sipped the little coffee, the waiter insisted she also try the house made Limoncello, and he brought her another tiny glass of bright foggy yellow liquid.  This limoncello was also incredibly smooth with an almost creamy like flavor.  Though the drink was very sweet, it had somehow not taken on the syrupy quality other limoncellos can sometimes have.

Mightily impressed with the new occupants of one of her formerly favorite restaurants, Brandy had to be practically dragged away from the table by Brocco once he had collected all of the data he needed.  With most dishes priced around $10 and most cocktails around $12, Brandy thought the quality of ingredients and care put into their preparation was more than justified.  The subtle plating of the dishes as well as the perfect portion sizes showed that someone had really thought out not only the flavors, but the entire experience of eating at Revival Social Club, from the setting down of the plates all the way through the savoring of the last bite.  Even more impressed was she by the inventiveness of the bar, which not only paid homage to a by gone era of cocktail craftsmanship, but also showed originality in creating their own coffee liqueurs, a product not common even in the fanciest denizens of drink.  "Remember what you said about going back in time to eat that dish again?" Brandy asked Brocco.  He nodded.  "Maybe that's not such a bad idea after all," Brandy said, scratching her chin.

The Short and Sweet Review

Angel Food Bakery of Nostalgic Du Cool

The Slow and Savory Review

The culture we live in today is one obsessed with its own past.  Old musicals are becoming blockbuster movies, and old blockbuster movies become Broadway musicals, classic songs are being covered by new artists on the millions of musical television programs every week, and lazy writers wait slowly for works of the old masters to become public domain so that they can write sequels to them.  Its hard for Brandy to feel nostalgic about anything any more, seeing as how most of her childhood memories were made before the popularization of the art of photography or audio recording, so when she sees this sort of cultural recycling, she can't help but shake her head and wonder.  "Didn't they just make a film about a super hero?  For goodness sake," she's been heard to ruminate while passing a movie theater, "Why not something new, like a movie about someone my age.  Maybe someone who explores a foreign city by partaking in its rich culinary tapestry   That is a movie I would watch!"

But this longing to relive "the good old days" has even manifested itself in the culinary world in the form of "comfort food," that rare bird that plays on our collective memories of safe flavor combinations, banking on the emotions brought up when the eater samples something so close to home they have to check the kitchen to see if their mother took a job as a line cook they were unaware of.  It was just such a place that Brandy stumbled upon in the Edgewater neighborhood; Angel Food Bakery, a small cafe that prides itself on bringing back the joyful flavors of an earlier time.  It was the vintage aprons in the window that first drew Brandy's attention, and upon entering she found the place to be covered in the bright chartreuses and tangerines of the early 1960's.  A ledge around the dining room boasted an impressive collection of vintage toy ovens, hinting at the sort of flavor profiles spotlighted in the glimmering bakery cases.  Without even realizing she was doing it, Brandy took up residence at one of the small tables and began to peruse the brunch menu.

The food was ready in a flash.  Brandy started off with something called Baked French Toast, which came served with a lovely array of fresh fruit and a shot glass of vanilla orange syrup.  She found the dish to be more of a bread pudding than a French toast, as it was a layered loaf of buttery bread, covered in powdered sugar.  Brandy also thought it lacked the custard like quality of a French toast, but enjoyed the crunchy crust on top, and the vanilla orange syrup had a wonderful tart sweetness that helped to sooth the heavy bread.

For her entree, Brandy chose the Creamed Wild Mushrooms, which she was delighted to see was really just a re-worked version of the traditional full English breakfast.  "Now this is something I can feel nostalgic about!" she exclaimed as the plate was put down before her.  Though lacking the baked beans and blood sausage, the dish did contain a slab of more buttery bread, two perfectly poached eggs, two roasted tomato slices, and two strips of crispy bacon, all covered in a creamy mushroom gravy and assisted by a side of roasted potatoes.  Though the texture of the potatoes and the herbaceous rosemary flavor was spot on, Brandy found them to be a tad salty.  The bread was so hearty that it proved a little hard to cut through, but it was tender in the mouth, and the creamy mushrooms lent a brilliant earthiness to the dish that was brightened up by tomatoes.

Not wanting to let the good-old-days feeling go quite yet, Brandy grabbed a few things to go from the bakery cases: first was the Trailer Park Trio, which consisted of a yellow cake filled with marshmallow cream, the same cake rolled in raspberry jam and coconut, and a decedent chocolate version filled with peanut butter cream, all of which had a cylindrical shape that not only inspired their name, but was also meant to remind the viewer of the storied snack cakes of old.  "I thought they stopped making these things," Brandy said, pointing to them.  The kindly clerk behind the counter smiled strangely at her, perhaps thinking she as joking. Brandy found the cake of the pastries to be perfectly supple with an odd but lovely bit of texture from what she supposed to be corn meal.  The cream on the inside was light and delicious, especially in the chocolate version.  Brandy's favorite of the three was probably the raspberry version, which for some reason made her thing of the word "Zing!"

In addition to that, Brandy also took home three cupcakes in very nostalgic flavors: Boston Cream, Malted Milk Ball, and Mudpie.  The Boston Cream was perhaps the most traditional of the three; a spongy yellow cake that had been filled with a thick, rich vanilla pastry cream and topped by an equally rich chocolate ganache   The Mudpie was amazingly dense with a crunchy top, almost like a chocolate sofflee, and took Brandy two sessions to finish.  To her surprise, Brandy found the Malted Milk Ball to be her favorite, due to the moist chocolate cake, malted cream frosting, and crunchy bits of candy on top.

At the end of the day, the tidbits at Angel Food Bakery left Brandy feeling nostalgic for memories she didn't really have, but was quite happy to have imagined them.  With most entrees around $10 and most pastries around $3, there seemed to be something for everyone's budget, with a heaping helping of love at no extra cost.  "Perhaps remakes aren't such a bad thing after all," Brandy mused, "After all, a good recipe is meant to be treasured and passed on, with each new maker adding his or her own special twist to improve it.  But I still don't see any need for another movie about those damned Hobbits."

The Short and Sweet Review

Bananas Foster Cafe or Back Where It All Began

The Slow and Savory Review

Where were you a year ago, dear readers?  Were you doing some early Christmas shopping?  Maybe you were putting together the perfect Halloween costume?  Or perhaps, you had just stumbled upon a blog about two friends going to brunch in Chicago.  That's right lovelies, this is the one year anniversary of Bunny and Brandy's Brunchtime Blog!



Missing Bunny especially on this day, Brandy asked Biscuit Brown to join her at the Bananas Foster Cafe (getting the idea from the wonderful cover article in November's Chicago Magazine which Brandy was sadly not consulted on), an eclectic bistro in Edgewater, which coincidentally stands next door to Bunny and Brandy's first ever post subject, M. Henrietta.  Arriving a little later than usual (Brandy likes to brunch promptly at 11:30, but a mistranslation of the address from the restaurant's website lead Brandy and Biscuit on a bit of an adventure, finally arriving at BFC around 1:00pm).  A fifteen minute wait allowed a little bit of exploration into the space.  The back room, which seemed to be more of a dining room, was laid with soft curtains and housed a chic banquet sporting willow branches at its top.  The front room and entrance to the establishment seemed more cafe like, with smaller tables pushed next to windows to allow room for the small open kitchen, which was at the room's center.  It was at one of these tables (one which was particularly drafty and hard to get into) where Brandy and Biscuit were finally shown to their seats.

A massive menu listing choices from the very British, to the classically French, to Southwestern twists was presented to the pair.  Some warm drinks were ordered (a thick and rich white mocha for Biscuit and a creamy and dense Chai for Brandy) to sip on while navigating across all the choices, which included a breakfast buffet for $12.95 a person.  Brandy was surprised that the pressure of both keeping a buffet stocked and filing orders for such a diverse menu was put on such a tiny kitchen.  That pressure did present itself in a long wait for food.

Brandy decided to try something more adventurous than the buffet and ordered the Ploughman's Omelet, a very English combo of green apples, cheddar, and bacon with some straight from the UK brown sauce relish.  The dish also came with two sides, so Brandy chose Bubble and Squeak and a fruit cup.  The omelet was flavorful with the smokey bacon and the tart apples mixing nicely, but it really livened up with the addition of the vinegary brown sauce, taking the dish from delicious but traditional to a real winner.  The fruit cup had a nice variety of pieces, including orange, banana, and grapefruit as well as the usual bit of melon, berries, and grapes.  The bubble and squeak (a combination of mashed brussell sprouts, potatoes, peas, and other veggies for you non-Brits) was a lovely change of pace from regular breakfast potatoes.  The absolute Britishness of the plate seemed to bring a tear to Brandy's eye, though she insisted it was just a waft of chopped onions from the kitchen.

Brandy also decided to indulge her sweet tooth with some Orange and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast, which came lovingly presented with some whipped cream and orange zest.  The toast was very tender, though not soggy, and the filling had the perfect level of sweetness.  Though the flavor combination is certainly one that Brandy had seen before, it certainly made for a very unusual and tasty bit of French Toast.

Biscuit chose the Cowboy Benedict, one of BFC's many twisted versions of Our Dear Bunny's favorite dish.  This came served on Texas Toast instead of English Muffins ("It's like regular toast, but bigger, because they like things bigger in Texas, you see?" Biscuit tried to explain to Brandy, who just shook her head while mumbling something about fixings things that aren't broken) with skirt steak taking the place of bacon and a red pepper hollendais.  Biscuit also ordered some Home Fries, as her dish did not come with any sides.  The first thing Biscuit noticed about her chosen breakfast was that the portion was rather small for being supposedly "Texas Sized."  Not only that, but the three tiny medallions of steak on her plate hardly warranted the $10.50 price tag, especially since it didn't come with a side dish (for reference, Brandy's omelet was $9.50 and came with 2 sides).  Regardless of size, the non-traditional Benedict did serve up plenty of flavor, thanks to the red pepper hollendais, which was nicely bright and rich.  The toast did go a bit soggy though, but Biscuit cheerfully used her home fries (cut into rounds and fried to a nice crisp, Brandy originally thought they were pickle chips) to lap up the sauce.

With good, though maybe slightly over priced food in their stomachs, Brandy and Biscuit headed for home.  As she passed the buzzing place next door, Brandy caught a glimpse of the table she and Bunny had shared when they first started their adventure a year ago.  She flashed upon all the waffles and pancakes, all the French Toast and fried dough, all the eggs, all the potatoes, and of course all the Benedicts and she thought about what a rich and wonderful year this has been.  Brandy thought of how lucky she has been to spend time with all her friends like Our Dear Bunny, Biscuit and Birdie Brown, Barry and Blanche Black, Bailey Blue, Mama Bee, and all the others, and how many people she's been privileged to meet through her adventures.  And so let us all raise our mimosas in toast to Brandy's adventures booth past and future.  Here's to Brunch!

The Short and Sweet Review