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.

Hub 51 or Hubba Hubba!

The Slow and Savory Review

After The debacle that was Roof at the Wit ("Even their capitalization is pretentious!" Brandy was heard to remark) Our Ladies decided to try their luck with Hub 51, a chic industrial themed restaurant named after its address of 51 W. Hubbard Street.  There they met someone very special, the splendiferous Mama Bee, Queen of the honey industry and owner/operator of the world famous Honey Bee Bakery.  The three were swept in off the street and given a table right away by a friendly host, given water immediately ("Thank goodness!" coughed a very thirsty Bunny) and presented with menus.

Right away, Brandy scanned for cocktails.  A rather nice variety were to be found, and for only $6 a piece, they were well worth it.  Brandy opted for the St. Germain and O.J. which was wonderfully sweet and refreshing, where as Mama Bee settled on a River North Mimosa, made with house punch to be bright and unique.

Brandy insisted on treating the others to a starter, so they opted for something called Breakfast Nachos.  Their table was presented with a gigantic plate full of fresh made tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream, scrambled eggs, cheese, and hot sauce.  Everything together made for an exciting start to their meal, though Bunny and Brandy agreed that the addition of some crumbled bacon might have made the dish even more breakfasty.  "And don't forget the honey!" Mama Bee reminded them (Mama Bee is on a never ending crusade to make honey a condiment on par with ketchup and salsa.  So far she has been fairly unsuccessful on that front).  Overwhelmed by the sheer size of the portion, Our Ladies and guest had barely even made a dent before their entrees arrived.

Mama Bee, being an expert in all things sweet, picked the Skinny Cinnamon Pancakes.  The dish arrived as a hubcap sized portion, a little under dressed, but bursting with cinnamon flavor from both the cakes and the cinnamon glaze that coated the dish.  The consistency of the pancake was somewhat unique, somewhere between a crepe and a dutch pancake.  "Reminds me of my English pancakes," Bunny mused.  "Needs honey," Mama Bee chirped between chews.

Bunny's choice was the Baked Apple French Toast, with which she was very pleased.  The apples were warm and deliciously caramelized, but not too sweet.  The toast itself was a little on the dry side, but still rather tasty in combination with the apples.  "Would you like some honey with that, dear?" Mama Bee asked, pulling a honey straw from her bag.  Bunny politely shook her head.

Brandy's breakfast consisted of the Truffled Egg Sandwich.  Again served in a huge portion (Brandy, who usually finishes her dishes without blinking an eye, was only able to conquer one half of the sandwich) it came served with a side of thinly cut and uniquely spiced fries, which Brandy had to hover over for fear of Mama Bee trying to slather them in honey.  The sandwich itself, which was served on a giant slab of artisan bread that housed melted brie between a scrambled egg that had been cooked in truffle oil, was filling and pleasant, but became bland after a few bites.  "A touch of vegetables may have helped to break it up a bit," Brandy mused, to which Mama Bee responded, "I know what might pep up that sandwich, a little bit of-"  "NO!  Thank you,"  Brandy interrupted her.

With near perfect service, good pleasing food in humongous portions, and a sophisticated but not unfriendly atmosphere, Hub 51 had Bunny and Brandy leaving in a much better mood than they came in with.  The lesson learned this week is that there is no room for empty hype and gimmickry when it comes to a good brunch.  Our Ladies would rather have a friendly staff and comforting food over sky high views any day.  You can rest assured, dear reader, that the smiles across Our Ladies faces upon exiting Hub 51 were indeed genuine, as was their haste to pull Mama Bee from the restaurant before she had finished asking to see the head chef about adding a "Honey Glazed" section to the menu.

The Short and Sweet Review