Brunch

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Brunch is the classy man's breakfast.

Breakfast with the addition of  bloody mary's? I just don't know how it could get any better.

Keep your mimosas and bellinis because if it's brunch, it's bloody mary time and that's exactly how this brunch went down.

It was a long wait at Locanda Verde, so we went to hang out in the adorable lobby of the hotel next door. First we picked up some snacks, we were ravenous and had an hour and a half of waiting ahead of us. We soldiered on though, baked goods in hand.

We settled on the parmesan pretzel, apple cider donut, and one other thing that tasted lemony and was a relative of a muffin. I was told next time I've got to order the olive oil cake. Sounds like a plan to me!

Did I mention I was in good company?

My parents were in the city for my dad's birthday, and trust me...these folks know how to dine.

After a nice chill in the hotel lobby, we sat done and ordered some drinks.

Bloody marys for mom and I and a "bicicletta" for my dad; it was made with aperol, lillet and aranciata. I'll stick with the bloody mary.

Of course we had to order the ricotta. It's some of the best ricotta on earth.

Bold statement, but I'm going to go ahead and say Cotogna (in SF)---we had an appetizer there of ricotta, roasted squash, brown butter, and honey and it was sort of perfect--- and this place have the best ricotta dishes on a menu, at least the best I've ever tasted.

This ricotta was topped with truffle honey, and thyme. Last time I was here it was just olive oil, both were also sort of perfect. I have to give a lot of credit to that grilled bread though. 

It's the simple things sometimes, the simple things that just work so damn well. 

The crostino of the day was topped with a foie gras & chicken liver paté, don't be intimated...that translates to "delicious" The pickled raisins and red onions didn't hurt either.

What could be next but some crispy potaters?

Mom and I thought the side of garlic potatoes would be disappointing and well...it wasn't at all. You could smell the garlic as the waiter approached the table with these babies.  They succeeded in putting most other breakfast potatoes to shame.

We finished the selction off with the highly recommended (shrimp) scampi and grits.

The coddled eggs were spot on.

Only complaint? Bloody Marys were over priced. That's not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy the spicy, tomatey beverage though.

Oh yeah,
Interested in dinner? Check out my Birthday Dinner at Locanda Verde