Toast or New Year’s...Hey!

The Slow and Savory Review:

There’s that old idiom that says, “Third time’s the charm,” and for Our Ladies and Toast, that has proven to be true.  Turning up at just past 10:30 on New Year’s Day, Our Ladies were surprised to find a table open and ready for them, as in their previous two tries they have been told a wait of more than an hour was expected.  Once inside, it’s easy to see why there’s such long waits, as Toast only holds about 20 medium sized tables in a smallish space.  But the ambiance is cozy enough, with varied toasters scattered around the room and ironic country rooster wallpaper.

This week Bunny and Brandy were accompanied by some new friends, Bean and Bailey Blue, a charming couple from Boise, who they had met at their local lodge’s annual New Year’s Eve Bash.  “I’ve heard lots of good things about this place,” said Bean good-naturedly, “Kinda has to be somewhat decent with a two hour wait, eh?”  He chortled to himself, causing Bailey to roll her eyes at him and smile to herself.

The menu had a few surprises and twists to it, but for the most part Our Ladies were presented with standard brunch fair: sandwiches, pancakes, omelets, and (of course) French Toast.  Our Quartet ordered beverages first, to cool their aching, celebration weary heads: a mocha, a latte, some fresh apple juice, and “Coffee… just bring me coffee,” groaned Bean.  For entrees, Bailey played it safe with 2 eggs, scrambled, with toast, fruit, and house potatoes, while Bunny ventured out of her comfort zone with a dish called “Pancake Orgy,” a combo of different pancake flavors, topped with yogurt and granola.  Brandy ordered something similar, the “French Toast Orgy,” while Bean tempted Bunny’s ire by ordering the Tenderloin Benedict, with a truffle flavored hollandaise. 

Drinks and food arrived in a decent amount of time.  By then, Our Ladies had noticed the huddled masses forming at the front door and whispered amongst themselves that they must have just missed the rush by mere seconds.

Bailey’s eggs were a lovely, simple dish, just as promised.  However, Bailey noted that her scrambled eggs were the best she’d ever had in a restaurant.  “They have weight to them, you know?” she chirped, “So often places make scrambled eggs too fluffy.”

Bean’s Tenderloin Benedict was cooked wonderfully, with just the right amount of runny to his yolks.  He observed that there was something a little different about the hollandaise, which the waitress told him was due to the lemon included in the recipe.  But Bean found the house potatoes disapprovingly bland and greasy.  “I’m from Idaho and I know a good potato,” he was heard to remark.

Brandy’s dish came with three pieces of stuffed French toast of different flavors: strawberry, Mexican Chocolate, and Mascarpone.  The menu had promised a topping of yogurt, granola, fresh berries, and honey, but sadly, the dish only came with the berries and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  The stuffings themselves were good and just the right amount of unusual to make things interesting, but the French Toast into which they had been stuffed could have been cooked up in almost diner’s kitchen.

Finally, Bunny’s pancakes did come with the promised granola and yogurt, but sadly, Bunny felt the granola didn’t help the already dry, yet fluffy pancakes.  The flavors, which were meant to be banana, blueberry, and lemon poppy seed weren’t very distinct from one another either.

After eating and paying their bill, Our Ladies and guests were rather rudely rushed along by a manager so that the next of the millions of people on the waiting list could have a seat.  All in all, Toast proved to be mediocre at best, and no where near the standard expected by a two hour wait for food.  With so many other hidden gems around the city, Our Ladies wondered why it was that anyone would wait that long for over priced and under-plated comestibles.  After all, why wait when you could be full and happy by the time some one on the Toast waiting list is just being seated.

P.S.  Our Ladies would like to extend a hearty congratulations to NANA for hosting a very successful and refreshing Pajammy Jam New Year’s Day Brunch, and they most certainly look forward to that sort of spectacle being instituted for brunches across the land!

The Short and Sweet Review:

Socca or Do you know what I know

The Slow and Savory Review:

Yet again, Our Ladies tried their hand at that particular Bucktown haunt with the bread-based moniker, and yet again they were told to expect an extraordinarily long wait.  “I didn’t wait for the Prince of Wales to call for a second date and I’m not waiting an hour and a half for brunch!” said Bunny.  Bunny’s unusual show of moxie was due to her wanting to impress her brother, who was joining them that morn in addition to Biscuit Brown (“Birdie isn’t allowed to come to brunch until he apologizes for calling my mother a Yankee scoundrel,” Biscuit explained about the absence of her husband, “He insists that anyone born North of Tallahassee is a Yankee!”).  Bunny’s brother, here to be known as Mr. Bacon, is a former (or possibly current) agent of MI5, and therefore has to be carful not to reveal too much about his true identity.

After a short drive, Our Ladies and guests noticed a banner on the corner of Aldine and Clark proclaiming “Brunch!” and decided it was worth investigating.  After Mr. Bacon had secured the perimeter, Our Party entered Socca, a Mediterranean inspired bistro, that has only very recently begun serving brunch.  The unassuming entrance leads one past a rustic, dark wood bar, the open kitchen, around the corner to the hostess stand, and finally into a wide open sunny room.  Our Ladies were frankly shocked to see such an elegant room with almost no one in it, especially considering the improbable wait time that was given at their previous stop.

Their waitress presented a plate of fresh baked scones and orange slices along with their water.  The scones were warm and citrusy, almost more cookie like in texture.  A round of mimosas were ordered (expect for Mr. Bacon, who ordered a Grey Hound, shaken, not stirred) while Our Ladies perused the menus.  For Brandy, vanilla croissant French toast and a side of polenta “cheese grits.”  For Biscuit, some pork belly potato hash and eggs.  For Mr. Bacon, a simple omelet made with tomato and spinach.  And Bunny, as always the adventurous soul, ordered the crab cake Benedict.

Mr. Bacon’s omelet tasted of fresh, well cooked spinach, and was doused in a light, creamy cheese sauce.  To the side were some standard diced potatoes.  It was hard to gauge his expression from under his dark sunglasses, but Bunny thought she caught a flicker of a smile on the corner of his lips as he munched.

Biscuit, who downed three mimosas all by her lonesome, devoured her pork belly hash with relish.  She had never had pork belly until that day, but at Brandy’s urging (“It’s essentially thick cut bacon,” Brandy explained, to which Biscuit’s eyes grew as big as saucers) she happily received her rustic plate of hash and over easy eggs.  Hearty and not overly greasy, the dish helped to combat the effects of the mimosas on delicate little Biscuit.

Bunny’s crab Benedict was a vast improvement over Ann Sather’s.  Real crab meat mixed with wonderful spices and served traditional style over Canadian bacon and an English muffin, Bunny was very happy indeed.  The Hollandaise, she reported, was vaguely sweet, but very light and not overpowering to the rest of the dish.

Brandy was glad she has ordered the side when her French toast arrived, as the portion size seemed a bit small, especially considering it was one of the more expensive meals on offer.  But upon slicing into the confection, its densness revealed the reason for its small appearance on the plate.  Thick and rich, as it was covered in a sabayon and vanilla gelato, the dish would have been just as at home on a dessert menu.  The “Cheese Grits” were light and fluffy and bursting with parmesaney goodness, and actually made a nice contrast to the richness of the French toast.

The moral of the story is a long wait does not a delicious brunch make.  All told, about $25 was spent per person, and that included drinks.  Our Ladies suggest you run to Socca for a lovely holiday brunch before word gets out and the wait starts to form.  Mr. Bacon mentioned something about recommending Socca to his good friend, the President of… but stopped short of revealing any more information, least one of Our Ladies be put into mortal peril.

The Short and Sweet Review:

Nana or Mama’s Boys

The Slow and Savory Review:

There are times in all of our lives when we all need warmth, comfort, good food, and company, and there is no better time for any of those fine things then on a blustery, blizzardy, bitterey day, such as this particular Sunday happened to be.  This is precisely why Our Ladies chose to deviate from their original plan of visiting one particular restaurant in Bucktown with a bread-based moniker in favor of somewhere that had less than a two hour wait for a table.  “Two hours indeed!” Brandy huffed as they trudged back through the snow to Bunny’s ’27 Model T, “I could die at any second, and they want me to wait two bloody hours for brunch?”  “It does seem a tad excessive,” said Biscuit Brown, who had joined Bunny and Brandy for a Girl’s Morning/Early Afternoon Out.    “Calm now, ladies,” Bunny said as she cranked the engine into life, “I have an idea.” 

Half an hour later, they arrived, travel weary, at Nana in the Bridgeport neighborhood, an all organic family owned restaurant that’s still in it’s infancy, having opened a little over a year ago.  Three blue faces presented themselves to the smiling hostess at the door and they were whisked away to a spacious table near a window (“This is more like it!” Brandy was heard to mumble).

Nana achieves the remarkable goal of feeling homey and sophisticated at the same time.  Original art works, some of which are for sale, hang on the exposed brick walls just above white wainscoting, and at the back of the house is an open kitchen, where all of the action can be glimpsed.  A set of brothers, Omar and Christian Solis (“If their food is as delicious as they are, we’re in for a treat,” said Bunny), run the place along with the restaurant’s name sake, their mother, who is an accomplished pastry chef in her own right.

Our Ladies and guest had been hoping to sample that days’ special of roasted sweet potato beignets, but sadly, they were informed the kitchen had run out of them.  Instead, they were encouraged to split a plate of Gingerbread pancakes with roasted apples, which they agreed to.  Drinks were also ordered: for Bunny, a mocha for Biscuit a cappuccino, and for Brandy, a house made hot apple cider.  For entrees, Bunny, a sucker for a certain egg dish as always, ordered the Nanadict (a Latin twist on the original), Brandy got a bowl of the soup de jour as well as Pear and Raspberry stuffed French Toast, and Biscuit decided on the Fried Chicken and Waffles.

The gingerbread pancakes were utterly deliriously delicious.  They came served with a cinnamon sugar whipped cream, which only enhanced the taste the fire had licked onto the apples.  Brandy’s soup too was warm and filling, though she had mistakenly thought it to be a mushroom based soup.  “It says Northern white and wild mushroom soup, does it not?” she asked the table.  “Northern Whites are beans, dear,” said Bunny, which explained the abundance of legumes in the bowl.  Brandy devoured it none the less, savoring the still crisp veggies and the warming herbaceous broth.

Biscuit’s Chicken and Waffles was thoroughly scrumptious; doused in a spiced and flavorful gravy, the dish left Biscuit with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face.  “This chicken makes me want to go home and slap my mama,” she said.  Seeing that her hostess’ faces had registered a touch of confusion and shock, she simply said, “It’s just an expression.  I’ve never slapped my mama, mostly because I would have been slapped back, 3 times harder.”  Blank stares met her laughter, so Biscuit shoved a waffle bite into her mouth.

Brandy’s French toast was beautifully presented with whipped cream and a sliced, poached pear.  The thick cut brioche was packed with a pink, cheesy filling that was sweet and creamy, but not overpowering to the dish.  The pear on the side, while a splendid garnish, also served the purpose of a side dish to help break up the richness of the plate.

 Bunny’s Nanadict was more closely related to Huevos Rancheros than a traditional Benedict, but she found it refreshing.  Covered in chimichuri sauce, the brilliantly poached eggs rested on a zesty corn cake and were accompanied by some equally peppery potatoes.  Rich, well portioned, and unique, the Nanadict gets the stamp of approval from Bunny, Pros. Emeritus of Eggs Benedict.

A little on the pricey side, but worth it for a place that is all organic and local, Nana gives one the feeling of being well looked after.  All they need to do is make warm, fuzzy blankets and slippers a mandatory part of the dress code.

The Short and Sweet Review: