Food News: Brunch Bites Returns to River North + GIVEAWAY!

UPDATE: A winner has been picked and confirmed. The giveaway is now closed, but tickets are still available for purchase.

Brunch Bites is back in Chicago on April 21st for another year of brunchy goodness!

This innovative event features some of River North's finest brunch destinations in a neighborhood-wide food treasure hunt that sends participants on a self guided walking tour in search of delicious food and awesome cocktails. There's 8 participating restaurants this year; 6 returning from last year's line up and two new additions.

Pick up tickets and check out the full list of participating restaurants and what they'll be serving HERE. Jump on it, because last year's event did sell out!

Want to see what last year's festival was like? Check out this post

Want to try your luck at winning a pair of tickets? Leave a comment below this blog post to be entered! A winner will be chosen at random next week. For extra entries, keep an eye on the Bunny and Brandy social media pages! Good luck!

Festival Recap: Brunch Bites Walking Tour

Normally, Brandy avoids physical exercise at all costs, preferring activities that require as much sitting as possible. But when said physical activity involves brunch, she's more than willing to lace up her special comfy sneakers (with their accompanying custom molded cushion inserts), put her hair into an immaculate bun, and prepare to perspire. Such was the case last weekend when Brandy attended the Brunch Bites Walking Food and Drink Event in River North, in which she and several hundred ticket holders were able to make their way to eight different participating restaurants for mini versions of signature brunch dishes and cocktails. "Well, I suppose it is a rather nice day," Brandy reasoned, "so might as well get out and get some sun. And some bacon. And a cocktail or two... or eight."

After receiving her lanyard and official map at the check in, Brandy was on her way. Her first stop was to GT Fish & Oyster, where they were serving one of her favorite little bites, an Oyster 'Po Boy Slider with kimichi and peanuts, along with a mimosa with fresh apricot puree. The crispy little sliders were just as delightful as Brandy remembered, and the fresh burst of fruity flavor in the champagne shot was the perfect start to an exhilarating morning.

Across the street and down a little ways, Brandy entered Bottled Blonde, where they were serving up a delectable Prime Rib Benedict with a spicy hollandaise, green onions, and potatoes, accompanied by a small glass of White Sangria. Brandy devoured the dish quite quickly, savoring the tender meat, the crispy potato cake, and the little kick of the sauce. The sangria was a pleasant surprise, packing quite a potent punch into a few sips.

Brandy then headed to the farthest western point, Hutch Cafe, where they were offering up one of her recently discovered favorites; Nutella Poppers. The dough was just as light and chewy and the middle just as decadently chocolaty as when she'd first sampled these little pockets of heaven a few months ago. The cocktail was called a Spicy Sunset and added a touch of jalapeno to a traditional mix of orange juice, tequila, and strawberry puree.

Backtracking towards the center of the circle, Brandy stopped into Brunch for one of their Banana Bread French Toast bites, which came drizzled with a rum based Bananas Foster sauce, and a tiny yet adorable carafe of mango and ginger sangria.

Moving North, Brandy's next location was Dolce Italian in the Godfrey Hotel. Here, she was handed a small plate of an amazing gnocchi, which had been dressed with plenty of cheese and crispy panchetta. This plate was one of Brandy's favorites of the day, and she almost contemplated trying to sneak a second one. The cocktail was a traditional, but refreshing, peach bellini.

Next up was Zed451, which Brandy still holds in very high regard as one of the best brunch buffets in town. Here, they had not one, but two cocktails for brunchers to choose from; a mimosa, or a coffee based cocktail called Drink Your Breakfast, which was what Brandy gravitated towards. The rich and creamy flavor was the perfect break from the mostly fruit based drinks of the other locations, and the coffee gave Brandy a much needed boost to get through the final lap of her journey. The bite was a mini Chicken and Waffle, spiced up by a bit of buffalo sauce.

Finally, Brandy traveled south to Hub51. They were presenting a pretty little avocado toast with a touch of mascarpone and radish, along side a Salty Dog, with vodka, grapefruit juice, and rim of black sea salt. The avocado toast was surprisingly light, which made it ideal among some of the more protein themed bites of the day, while the cocktail was made extraordinarily flavorful by the black salt.

Brandy's last stop was River Roast, where she relaxed in the upper bar with a glass of a special punch (made with rye, rum, sherry, champagne, lemon, and best of all, Earl Grey tea) and a beautiful little deviled egg, which had been topped with trout roe for a burst of salty goodness. As she gazed out on the river outside, Brandy smiled to herself. As if getting to try all of the dishes and cocktails hadn't been reward enough, she had also been bestowed with the gift of being able to truly enjoy Chicago on one of the very few beautiful days of the year.

The writers of this blog were invited to attend this event for free by the organizers in order to facilitate the writing of this post.

GT Fish and Oyster or Mother of Pearl

The Slow and Savory Review

Brandy was becoming more than a little worried about her friend, Mama Bee, and her obsession with honey.  Though Mama Bee's business was in honey (she is of course the owner and operator of the Honey Bee Bakery empire), it seemed she simply could not eat a meal without a generous coating of the sweet stuff.  "What you need is a good dose of savory, maybe even salty food to reboot your palate," Brandy told her.  "But you yourself always say that savory is made better with sweet!" proclaimed Mama Bee. "Yes, but life is all about balance, and right now your diet is balancing on the side of rotting your teeth.  We need to find a good seafood restaurant, perhaps, with lots of briny goodies for you to sample."  "I'm not such a fan of seafood," Mama Bee said, wrinkling her nose.  "When I get done with you, you will be!" said Brandy.

Brandy chose to take Mama Bee to GT Fish and Oyster, one of the original oyster bars that seem to be popping up everywhere in Chicago these days.  GT was unsurprisingly rather hip and modern inside with a slick black and cream color scheme and warm metallic accents.  The little nautical touches, like the model ships and the light fixtures made from black rope to look like oyster clusters, helped to warm the place up a little while providing a pretty literal interpretation of the restaurant's specialties.

First order of business was to decide on a couple of cocktails: a Peach Bellini for Mama Bee and a No Hitter for Brandy.  The Bellini was very well executed with a crisp, dry taste and a fresh peach flavor.  The No Hitter, which Brandy got with some sour mash, had a tangy kick to it that livened up the palate without being too obtrusive and kept the fresh strawberry flavor from being too sweet.

Soon after, food began to make its way to the table.  As Brandy had heard that GT was known for its Monkey Bread, she knew she simply had to try that for certain.  This morning, the doughy delight was in its sweet version topped with caramel and toffee and accompanied by some vanilla whipped cream.  The little balls of dough quite literally melted on the tongue, surrounding it with a buttery caramel flavor.  Indeed, so tender was the monkey bread that it fell apart while attempting to get the pieces into one's mouth, almost requiring a spoon to eat it properly.  The whipped cream, while delicious, almost seemed unnecessary, as Mama Bee and Brandy were too distracted fighting for pieces to actually utilize it.  "Oh, I do like this dish!" said Mama Bee, licking caramel off her fingers.  "Good, now to ease you into the savory realm," said Brandy.

"The place has 'oyster' in the name for goodness sake!" Brandy sighed, but Mama Bee would not budge in her resolution to not let any seafood pass her lips, so Brandy ordered up an Oyster Po Boy Slider for herself.  The little sandwich was a perfect mix of textures and flavors, with a soft bun, bright and sour kimchi, and a single crunchy fried oyster in the middle.  "Normally I take my oysters raw, but this is rather delightful!" Brandy exclaimed, and for a moment, Mama Bee seemed to be regretting her decision.

Mama Bee had chosen the Fried Chicken and Waffles as her entree, not only because it wasn't seafood, but also because it came served with Burton's Maplewood Farms maple syrup, a product she had become addicted to thanks to Brandy.  "If I can't have it with honey, this is the next best thing," she grinned.  The chicken had been perfectly cooked and coated in a nicely light and crunchy batter, but Mama Bee really took a shine to the waffles, which were excellently caramelized on the outside, and light and chewy on the inside with a nice malty flavor.  "I only have one complaint," Mama Bee said.  "Let me guess.  Not enough syrup?" Brandy replied.  "You know me too well," Mama Bee grinned.

Brandy had decided on the Lobster Biscuits and Gravy as her entree.  The dish certainly put the emphasis on the biscuits, as the two gigantic buttermilk biscuits, which had been cut in half so as to look more like four biscuits, dominated the plate.  While the texture on the biscuits was beautifully tender, their flavor was more than a little on the salty side.  The gravy, which was more of a brown gravy than the traditional cream gravy one normally sees on such a dish, wasn't as rich as Brandy would have liked, but the veggies in it added a much needed bit of texture to the dish.  There was a decent amount of lobster mixed in, but it seemed over shadowed by the biscuits, and Brandy would have liked to have seen two poached eggs instead of one, if only for symmetry's sake.  "It's not disappointing, per say, but I would have liked to see the lobster be a bit more extroverted here,  It should be the star here, when really it's merely making a cameo appearance," Brandy commented, hunting under her biscuits for more little morsels of shellfish.

Though Bandy did not succeed in her goal of convincing Mama Bee to gain a new appreciation for seafood, a fine brunch was indeed had at GT Fish and Oyster.  The presentations could have been a bit more finessed, and though perfectly efficient, the service wasn't particularly friendly, but the quality of the food was what really came through.  "Perhaps next time I will finally be able to convince you to down an oyster or two," Brandy chided Mama Bee, who shuddered a little at the thought.  "I'm afraid all my teeth are sweet teeth, my dear," she said, "And unless those oysters miraculously pair well with honey, I doubt I'll ever be able to enjoy them."

The Short and Sweet Review