Heard It Here First: Brunch Is the New Dinner for First Dates

Flickr user chispita_666

Long ago, I posited a (unwittingly) controversial sentiment: brunch makes for the best first dates. This month, the dating app HowAboutWe shared data on what makes for the most popular dates in cities across the country. In San Francisco, guess what came out on top? Brunch.

S.F. has more brunch dates than in any other city, accounting for one-third of their dining dates. (HowAboutWe infograph)

But the sweet sense of validation doesn't stop there, the Huffington Post sang brunches praises when commenting on the data set

Apparently, San Francisco is chock full of genius singles. It's about time we've recognized brunch as the most important meal of the day. When else is it socially acceptable to get boozy at 12 noon off delicious mimosas while simultaneously munching om french toast and gruyère sandwiches? SF, we see you. (HuffPo)

Here's the crux of my brunch date rationale, and you can read the full post here.

Other than the drawback that the lighting is a bit little less concealing, everything is truly brighter at brunch. There are fewer guessing games about what to wear (it's the day time -- causal is king!), the price point will be less burdensome than dinner fare, and you have the whole day ahead of you to either make up a prior engagement or to continue hanging out.

Post via Sōsh: Brunch at Central Kitchen

An excerpt from my Sōsh writeup for Central Kitchen's Sunday brunch service:

Both exceptional and traditional, brunch at Central Kitchen is a refreshingly simple concept that's expertly executed: classic brunch dishes made with seasonal and fresh ingredients...(read the rest on Sōsh!)

If you live in San Francisco, this is definitely a place to put on your brunch rotation — they take reservations and keep tables open for walk-ins, so no excuses for not trying Central Kitchen.

Brunch Trends: Predictions for 2013

Photo: Alan Klim

Fried Eggs w/ Fried Kale, Central Kitchen, San Francisco

2012 was the year of fried chicken & waffles and other southern inspired brunch dishes. Even the classiest of brunch services had some variation of the Waffle Hut staple on their menu, including Bar Tartine's served on potato bread, Zero Zero's honey butter smothered and maple syrup-soaked waffle, or Farmer Brown's perfect execution of the archetype. This year, the southern trend tapers out.

In 2013, carb-laden dishes will generally be eschewed for dishes that center on the protein. Instead of benedicts on buttermilk biscuits, dishes like baked eggs that appeal to the gluten-free crowd will be showing up on menus. Fancy (and fancifully) fried eggs will make a resurgence for the same reason, so anticipate seeing luxuriously fried eggs, like Nopa's butter basted eggs, being served with crisped and fried greens like kale and brussel sprouts.

Pimm's Punch, Foreign Cinema, San Francisco

Cocktails will also be getting more of the spotlight. The brunch-time standards, the mimosa & bloody mary, will get some stiff competition from drinks crafted with an artisan touch. Aromatic bitters will make their way to the brunch table in creatively — not overtly — sweet, herbaly  concoctions that are balanced to compliment brunch fare, not overpower it.

Pimm's, the British day-drinking staple, and punches will also be making their way from bars to the brunch table. At lower-brow brunch joints, Lemon Shandies, the beer and lemon soda European import, will gain in popularity. And the shandy will be a good alternative to mimosas, which are too often disappointingly proportioned with overly sweet sparkling wine — mimosa perfection is an art unto itself, one that is rarely mastered.

Pork Belly Plate, Zero Zero, SF

Pork will be the go-to meat, but not in bacon form. Traditional brunch dishes will get the pork the upgrade, like pork belly benedicts. Pork Sausage, pork rillettes, and braised pork will also be popping up everywhere.

Lastly, the trendy brunch item of 2013 (and this might be a gamble): brunch pizza. With the number of high-end pizza joints, expect to see some offering brunch services featuring egg and bacon covered varieties.

Brunch Pizza, Zero Zero, San Francisco

And to wrap up, here's a bit more food porn for you. Happy brunching in 2013!

                             

                                         Baked Eggs, Nopa, 

 

Baked Eggs & Chorizo, Central Kitchen

It's Been Awhile, Non?

While I might have been a bit MIA here on the brunch blog, I've been keeping busy on Twitter and writing about San Francisco brunches for Sōsh an awesome local activity discovery site for San Francisco! 

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to update my blog with my Sōsh write ups, as well have a return to form — I'll be back to brunch blogging as a new year's resolution. Speaking of new years, expect to see a post on my 2013 brunch predictions soon!

Upward Trends: Southern Style Brunch Staples

The Boxing Room's Brunch Offerings

Having rarely travelled below the Mason/Dixon line, I won't claim to be an authority on southern cuisine. Recently, however, it feels like you don't need to leave Yankee territory to get a yourself a helping of southern staples — you just need to go to brunch.

Zero Zero's Chicken & Waffles

In San Francisco there seems to be an ever growing abundance of menus serving up the almost unholy signature southern dish: fried chicken and waffles. From fancy brunches to street-side service, you can get a crispy waffle smothered by even crispier chicken.

Top choices for a fixing of fried chicken & waffles in San Francisco are:

• Zero Zero, they cover your waffles in a layer of butter and syrup to get the perfect balance of savory and sweet.
• Farmer Browns Little Skillet —they will do you right, with a distinctly sweet waffle and the crispiest of chicken.
• Citizen Band — does refined diner better than anyone, and their fried chicken is no exception.
• Good Foods Catering — A regular at the Window SF,  Good Foods makes chicken & waffles with some soul.
• Town Hall — The fanciest entry on the list, brunch at Town Hall is a must-try. Regulars will know that the only thing that could make their fried chicken better is a helping of waffles.

Farmer Browns: Fancy Soul Food

But make no mistake, chicken & waffles isn't the only southern flavor popping up around San Francisco. More than just southern and soul inspired, The Boxing Room and Brenda's French Soul Food have menus wholly devoted to bringing New Orleans cuisine to San Francisco (you won't find chicken & waffles on either of their menus).

Both Boxing & Brenda's serve up a good number of brunch dishes featuring crawfish, catfish and grits. If you're feeling adventurous, you'll regularly spot alligator on Boxing Room's menu too.

I'm keeping my eye out for the growing number of shrimp & grits dishes around San Francisco (a personal favorite of mine), so I may be following up with another southern post soon. And with that, I'll leave you with a tantalizing look at Serpentine's biscuits & gravy.

Serpentine's Biscuits & Gravy

Mixing Business with Pleasure: The Brunch Blog Makes a Video

Without giving too much away about my real life, I can readily admit to having a job. Being gainfully employed mean I don't get to spend as much time as I would like brunching and writing about brunch, but sometimes my worlds collide.

Last week I set out to better understand the world of video creation. A few simple facts made me perfect self experiment:

• I'm not a film maker
• I don't harbor any secret dreams to be a YouTube superstar 
• I have a blog completely unrelated to work with lots of pictures

The goal was to see if I could create a compelling video for my blog using only the resources I had on hand: my iPhone and the internet. I used some free online video creation services and this is what I came up with...

If anyone has any thoughts, other services, suggestions or otherwise shoot me an email at jesskateo@gmail.com or leave a comment.

Many thanks.

Upward Trends: The Brunch Pop-Up

There have been several awful trends that have come out of the last few years. The return of 80s neon. High-waisted pants. Large, square glasses frames. Denim hot pants. The food world has had better luck with trends in the same time period including kale, local foods, slow-food, brussels sprouts. Obviously my personal favorite trend has been the rise in brunch offerings.

More specifically, there has been a rise in a certain type of brunch offerings: Pop-ups. What is a pop-up? A pop-up is when a guest chef essentially takes over the kitchen of a restaurant. Chefs serve up what they do best, but with the flexibility to have fun and deviate from what's on their own menu. Pop-ups are run by a spectrum of chefs: catering kings, food-truckers, fine-dining darlings, rising-stars, and old-guard stalwarts.

Some spots in San Francisco have institutionalized pop-ups, by hosting weekly visiting chefs. Pop-up venues you can reliably expect to see a brunch pop-up include:

Dear Mom, which regularly hosts guest chefs for it's Sunday brunch. Frequent favorites include Fogcutter and Seoul Patch Korea.

Dear Mom

The Window SF, soon to be the latest iteration of Coffee Bar, is currently all pop-ups all the time. They serve up brunch Saturday and Sunday. Frequent favorites include Good Foods Catering and Bayou by the Bay.

Good Food Catering at The Window SF

Parada 22, turns into a Haight satellite location for the Mission's famous Boogaloo's brunch on Saturday & Sundays.

Yield Wine Bar, lets BMSF take over its kitchen to serve up Hair of the Dogpatch brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.

BMSF at Yield Wine Bar

Here's a few non-brunch San Francisco pop-ups on my radar:

• LihoLiho Yacht Club pop-up is run by Ravi Kapur, formerly executive chef at Prospect.  You can find him serving up a prix-fixe menu at Citizens Band.
• Rice Paper Scissors, bring Vietnamese street food to the streets of San Francisco (sometimes literally to the street). Click through to their website to see where they'll be popping up next.
• HayaHon is serving up Japanese food at the former Mercury Lounge on 12th & Folsom.