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T H E

D A Y P A R T

August 8 , 2005

S T U D Y

Brunch Comes of Age

Once overlooked daypart now a Western institution
When Sarabeth Levine opened her
tiny jam and bread factory in New York
City in 1981, people would linger
awhile, sit at one of the few tables and
chairs and munch on Levine's nowfamous preserves and baked goods.
Pretty soon, as lines began to snake
around the block, Levine expanded
her original location on the city's East
Side and added a West Side location
as well. Diners flocked to Sarabeth's
Kitchen for lunch and dinner, but it was
her signature brunch menu, featuring
items like pumpkin waffles topped with
sour cream, raisins, pumpkin seeds
and honey, which drew crowds of New
Yorkers and tourists alike.

routine weekend dining-out experience, served often on both Saturdays

and Sundays and frequently running
from 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. to late into the
afternoon, even bumping up against
the dinner hour. Brunch truly has
become the weekend dining focus.

often were featured, but the emphasis

was on more traditional brunch fare French toast, pancakes and the like.
Now, according to restaurateurs, the
food is lighter and more creative.
Duck breast confit and other specialty
dishes can be found alongside more

At Sarabeth's, servers are instructed to meet their customers' caffeine

needs the instant they sit down. The
first shift of Saturday and Sunday diners typically is composed of young
families who arrive as early as 8 a.m.
Then, around noon, 20- and 30-somethings populate Sarabeth's to sip a
Bloody Mary and dine on both breakfast and lunoh fare.
The artful mingling of breakfast and
lunch and even some dinner
dishes characterizes brunch, and
that's one of the reasons the meal has
evolved over the years into such an
inventive and lucrative daypart.
"Brunch is one of the meal periods
we do best in," says Michael
Desiderio, general manager of the
renowned Tavern on the Green,
perched on the edge of Central Park.
Once an afterthought from an operator's point of view, brunch has moved
closer to center stage, and in some
cases certainly on weekends it
edges out dinner as the main event of
the day. Going out for brunch used to
be reserved for holidays like Mother's
Day or other special occasions.
Though still popular as a celebration
meal, brunoh also has become a more

In addition, going out for brunch

has become almost "like sitting down
in your own home," especially when
out-of-towners need to be entertained
or after morning playtime at the park
with hungry kids, says Maurizio
Chiovaro, general manager of the
Park Avenue Cafe in New York. The
eatery, which seats about 250 for
brunch on Sundays, has been serving
its version of the meal for about 12
years.
And traditional brunch drinks, like
the Bloody Mary, are coming of age
again as well. Every establishment
now has its own versions of the venerable tomato juice-based cocktail.
Shrimp and chlpotle are just a couple
of the garnishes that are jazzing up
the staid old-timer, operators say.

"When I was doing brunch many

years ago, no one was doing brunoh,"
says Levine, who now is about to add
a fifth location on New York's Central
Park South. She also is licensing the
Sarabeth name to a new eatery in Key
West, Fla., marking her first out-ofstate venture.
What's the secret to Sarabeth's or
any other successful brunch offering?
Great service, a range of food choices
and an instinct for what customers
want as they arrive at the restaurant for
what is typically their first weekend
meai of the day: 'That first cup of coffee is heaven," says the 62-year-old
restaurateur.

tor of Zagat Survey. According to

Gathje, brunch has gotten a lot "fancier," with "a lot more diversity than just
eggs and waffles."

Clyde's has been serving brunch to Washingtonians

since the mid-'60s.
melding together elements of breakfast, lunch and, yes, even dinner
And that's not all. Compared with a
decade ago, the food has changed as
well. Ten or more years ago, hotels
were major players In the brunch market. They typically would feature buffets of waffles, pancakes, seafood,
fruit and omelets. Fruit and salads

traditional brunch fare. There is a

heavier emphasis on salads. Although
buffets are still abundant, many operators now prefer to plate dishes individually and to add a creative, personalized flourish.
"For years and years, brunch was
in hotels and was stuffy and expensive," says Curt Gathje, New York edi-

"It's not just a Bloody Mary anymore," explains Chiovaro, referring to

the drink, which, along with the
orange juice-and-Champagne classic,
the Mimosa, has become a brunch
standard. Park Avenue Cafe, part of
the Smith and Wollensky Restaurant
Group, also serves "Mocktails," such
as leche lemon grass lemonade and a
citrus cooler, which both are handcrafted. Other operators
have
installed fresh juice bars to cater to
customers' desire for a more healthful
alternative to traditional heavier
brunch dishes like eggs Benedict.
Another appeal of brunch is its
lower pnce point relative to dinner At
the Park 75 Restaurant at the Four
Seasons Hotel Atlanta, a 14-course
brunch tab runs $42 a person, with
individually plated dishes changing
Cniilitiiicd "II j>ai;f 14

Clyde's
Crab Cakes
Serves: 2
1 Ib. jumbo lump crab meat
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tbtsp water
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tbisp Dijon mustard
1 tbIsp chopped parsley
4 saltine crackers

1. Pick the crab meat over to remove excess shells

and cartilage.
2. Combine the mayo, Old Bay, parsley, mustard
and water until smooth.
3. Add the mayo mixture to the crab meat and mix,
being careful not to break up the lumps of crab
meat.
4. With your hands, break up the saltines into
crumbs and mix into the crab mixture.
5. Form into four patties and pan-fry, or broil the
cakes until golden brown.

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August 8 , 2005

Brunch
Continued from page J2

Profile
Company:
Founded:
Owners:
Number of
Locations:
On the Menu:
Noteworthy:

Sarabeth's Kitchen
1981 in New York Oity
Sarabeth and Bill Levine

Farmers Omelette, Pumpkin Waffles, Popeye

Eggs, Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelette
In 1991 Sarabeth's was honored to become the
first private restaurant for the Whitney Museum
of Art where it still serves lunch and brunch to
art lovers from around the world.

weekly and with the season. To dine at

New York's Tavern on the Green,
scrambled eggs with applewood
smoked bacon and sausages costs
$18, while a Cobb salad is offered at
$19. The restaurant can satisfy heartier appetites as well, with such dishes
as herb roasted chicken, priced at $23.
For those hankering for a return to
childhood, Sarabeth's Kitchen has an
array cf porridges, ncne more than
$6.25, with storybook names like Baby
Bear, Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Big
Bad Wolf. At Park Avenue Cafe, spring
pea soup with smoked Icbster, leeks
and green apples, priced at $10, prcvides a refreshing start to spring
brunch, while dishes like duck meatleaf with peached eggs, baccn and
wild mushrcoms, priced at $21.25,
shew hew much brunch has grown up.
"When peeple can dine nicely and
something cemes nicely plated and it
doesn't cost them a major fortune," it's

a popular dining alternative te pricier

meals like dinner, says Sarabeth's
Levine.
And brunch in and cf itself can
evolve inte an eccasicn even if
there is nc special event on the calendar.
At breakfast, there's a "physielegical need to get scmething in your
stemach," says Chiovaro of the Park
Avenue Cafe. "Lunch is filling your
hunger," he says, while brunch is
becoming fer 20- and 30-semethings,
as well as families, much mere of an
"event." Chiovarc says many young
singles ccme to his eatery for brunch
as a way of capping off a night cn the
town.
"It's being together, [being] convivial, getting family together, [being
with] friends," he adds.
From an eperator's peint ef view,
brunch is abcut "offering breakfast

Thanks to brunch, Sundays

are the busiest days ef the year at Clyde's
[alcngside] lighter lunch foods,"
explains Michael Desideric, general
manager ef Tavern en the Green.
Made-to-order food that is plated
and served individually appears to be
a trend that is taking reot nationwide.
Many hotels, long the bastiens ef ice
sculpture-adorned buffet tables, are
reworking their brunch menus.

The Park 75 at the Four Seasens in

Atlanta always has served its $42 14ceurse brunch individually plated.
Served every Sunday frem 11 a.m.-2
p.m., customers are a mix of hotel
guests and locals, some of whem
return weekly, according to Themas
Humphrey, director cf restaurants.
The elaberate Park 75 meal strives
to cover a let ef culinary bases: seme
breakfast items, seme mere substantial fare and seme creative dishes as
well. Breakfast efferings include soft
scrambled eggs with black truffles.
With a nod toward diners who choose
to eat a lighter meal, Caesar salad and
heirlocm tomate gazpache are effered
as well as the traditienal brunch fare.
"We're seeing mere ef a savvy
diner," says Humphrey, whe, like other
operators, stresses the importance cf
expanding efferings te include lighter
dishes. "They're not filling up en all
breakfast Items," he says ef his customers. "Ten years age we weuldn't
have thought of serving heirleem
temate gazpache," Humphrey says.
Jehn Ackerman, the cwner of
Orange, a Chicago breakfast, brunch
and lunch hot spot, alse has develeped fanciful items, many ef which are
take-offs of non-brunch faverites er
entirely different cuisines. For example, the eatery, which serves enly
breakfast, brunch and lunch, has created a dish that it calls "frushi." Fruit
juices, such as grape, are used te
celer rice, then pieces ef pineapple
and other fruits are placed in the middle ef the rice. The creatien then is
wrapped in clear wrap before being
cut inte rells. "It looks identical to
sushi," says Ackerman.
Coniiijui'tl on pof^e 20

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August 8 , 2005

Brunch

Continued from page 14

With frushi and other innovative

dishes, Orange has been able to cuitivate a highiy successfui niche and a
dedicated foilowing. Open seven days
a week, it serves 400 meais a day. The
smali, independently owned restaurant seats 56 indoors and 18 outdoors.
Asked whether brunch was
increasing in popularity, Ackerman
points out his own unit's crowd-pleasing breakfast and brunch offerings,
noting: "There must be something
going on!"
Another standout for the 14-yearold Orange is its signature "pancake
flight," priced at $10.95. Silver dollar
pancakes are placed on a plate, three
to four to each section, with each section representing a different part of the
world, such as Germany or the United
States. With an eye on the health-consoious diner, the restaurant also features a fresh juice bar.
Washington, D.C.-based Clyde's,
owned by the 11-unit Clyde's
Restaurant Group, has been dishing
out brunch to every stripe of
Washingtonian from college students to Georgetowners since the
mid-'60s. Tony Moynagh, general
manager of the Georgetown branch,
says that at that time, the restaurant
was looking to do something "innovative."
Rather than just serve a regular
lunch menu on Sundays, Clyde's
decided to scrap the traditional lunch
menu in favor of breakfast-type items,
served along with a Bloody Mary. Now
the brunch daypart ranges from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. and offers a selection of a la
oarte entrees. While the same core
offerings as 10 years ago omelets
and eggs Benedicts still have
legions of loyal followers, greens and
salads also are sparking interest
among customers, he says.
So popular has brunch become at
Clyde's in Georgetown that "the day
shift on Sundays is our busiest day of
the year," Moynagh says. And that
popularity doesn't appear to be waning.
Tavern on the Green, a mecca for
tourists, serves large numbers of individually plated brunches during the
weekend to locals as well, says general manager Desiderio. At the highly
popular eatery, the brunch daypart
stretches from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and
during the spring and fall, outside
seating is particularly coveted.
For Sunday brunch, the eatery
serves well over 1.000 customers.
And if the weather cooperates, outdoor seating oan drive the number of
diners closer to 1.500, Desiderio says.
Eggs Benedict, french toast and
other traditional brunch dishes are
staples at Tavern. Like other operators. Desiderio sees a definite trend in
the direction of lighter brunch fare.

Tavern on the Green's menu features

salads, like roasted baby beets and
mache, as well as a yogurt parfait. For
heartier appetites, the eatery offers
cedar-planked salmon and fish and
chips.
Many venues strive to make their
brunch daypart kid- and family-friendly. Park 75 at the Four Seasons Hotel
in Atlanta recently set up a video corner for kids. At Tavern on the Green.
part of the venerable eatery's Mother's
Day offering consisted of a customdesigned kids' corner, where children
who whipped through their pancakes
and other brunch fare were able to
create their very own jewelry and deoorate giant cookies, cupcakes and
brownies, among other activities. Just
to make sure it was kid friendly, the
restaurant developed the concept in
tandenn with local sohools, Desiderio
says.
When it comes to the well-trained
brunch server, operators differ about
whether servers require special training and even specific temperaments to wait on a group of customers that oan include everyone
from out-of-town guests to squirming
children. The meal, while more leisurely than breakfast or weekday on-thego lunches, still is eaten more quickly
than dinner. And servers must attend
to children's needs as well as to their
parents'. Perhaps most importantly,
brunch food can be the first food of
the day of any type that people eat. so
servers need to be quick on their feet,
says Sarabeth Levine.

Saraheth!s Buckwheat^
Whole Wheaty Apricot
Almond or Blueberry
Pancakes

serves e

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
V2 teaspoon salt
2 V2 cups milk
2 large eggs, separated
Clarified Butter
Warm pure maple syrup, for serving
Unsalted butter, softened, for serving
1.

In a large bowl, whisk the whole wheat and unbleached

flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt to combine, and
make a well in the center.

2.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and egg yolks

until mixed.

3.

Pour into the well.

4.

Using a wooden spoon, stir just until the batter is mixed.

5.

Do not overbeat - a few tiny lumps of flour may remain.

6.

In a small, greasefree bowl, beat the egg whites just until

soft peaks form.

7.

Gently fold the whites into the batter.

8.

Preheat the griddle and grease the griddle with the clarified butter.

"Brunch time is when people are

hungriest," she says. Tables turn over
roughly every 30 minutes at
Sarabeth's West Side dining spot.
according to that location's general
manager. Carlos Blanco.

9.

Using a scant V3 cup for each pancake, pour the batter

onto the griddle, leaving an inch or so between the pancakes.

10.

So servers at Sarabeth's Kitchen

need to be nimble on their feet.

Cook until tiny bubbles appear on the surface of the batter, about 1 minute.

11.

Carefully turn the pancakes and cook until the other side
is golden brown, about 1 more minute.

12.

Serve immediately on warmed plates, with the syrup and

butter passed on the side.

For brunch, "the waitstaff needs to

be quick minded and organized and
must move with the crowd. They have
to be common-sense people,"
emphasizes Levine.
As brunch becomes more than a
simple melding of breakfast and
lunch, dominated by traditional
brunch fare, it is emerging as a significant category, adaptable to the
changing tastes of its wide-ranging
customers. Where brunch at one time
was simply french toast or an omelet,
now it also is light soups and salads
for those so inclined. Not so long ago,
brunch was a daypart in which hotels
played a substantial part. And
although they still do. independent
operators, too, have sensed the rising
interest in this special weekend meal,
propelling them to take brunoh to new
levels in terms of food choices, execution and presentation. Not just for
Mother's Day anymore, brunch has
become a weekend institution. .*^

Apricot - Almond Pancakes

Fold V2 cup sliced natural almonds, toasted and coarsely
chopped, into the batter.
Serve the pancakes topped with sliced fresh apricots and a
spoonful of apricot preserves.

Blueberry Pancakes
Fold 2 cups fresh blueberries into the batter, being careful not
to overmix.
To serve, dust confectioner's sugar over the pancakes and
garnish with additional blueberries.

Buckwheat Pancakes
This makes a thick batter; thin with additional milk, if desired.
Substitute 1/2 cup buckwheat flour for V2 cup of the whole
wheat flour.