The first time I attempted to have brunch at Lula, I showed up at 9:30 a.m. only to be told that there was an hour and a half wait, resulting in my first visit to Treat Restaurant. Naturally, it was the third time that was a charm, and when I finally got a table, it was at the bar. At 9:15 a.m.
For those of you who actually follow the pre-brunch guide diatribes, you should know that there are only a few things that I absolutely avoid when going to brunch: long waits and screaming children. Luckily, the latter isn’t much of a problem at Lula, but the former has been a huge issue. Mainly, I have to consistently explain why I’m too much of a little bitch to wait for a table in order to accurately give a weighted opinion of what I think of this place — and as a website that is based entirely on a meal for people who are too lazy and hungover to cook for themselves, I find this to be completely excusable.
Don’t worry. You really didn’t miss much last weekend in the brunch world, which may or may not have had something to do with the fact I was coincidentally on vacation. But this weekend, pretty much everyone in Chicago has decided to do brunch. Seriously, pick a place — any place. Sabor Saveur? Yep. Karyn’s on Green? You betcha. Citizen Bar? Okay, you should get the point by now.
(Photo: Carly Fisher)
Easter is coming up too. If you celebrate Easter, I would be more concerned about attending church than brunch, but I guess it’s “a thing people do.” Luckily, since I do not celebrate Easter nor did I participate in Lent, I’ve been enjoying all of the pleasures of living life in excess — including a recent invite to David Burke’s Primehouse to finally try out those bento boxes I’ve been hearing about for so long.. I still haven’t tried out the Hangover Bento though, so perhaps another trip is in order.
What a gloomy day outside. You know that after brunch you are definitely not leaving the house, so make sure to save those leftovers for your rainy day snacking. This week’s scraps come from Josh Linton of Aja, including a recipe (for the improv challenged):
“Honestly, when it comes to leftovers, I usually chuck ‘em. But if you have cornbreads, bread pudding and so forth, then you can dry those at a low oven temperature maybe 175 or 200 degrees and soak them in a “royale” (egg yolks, heavy cream, vanilla, sugar) until competely absorbed. Bake in a casserole dish and serve with ice cream.”
Potatoes. Well, isn’t this cliche? (Photo: Carly Fisher)
Because my comedic skill set is confined to hyperbolic musings of really unfortunate things that always seem to be happening to me (i.e. first world problems), I attempted to find a good brunch joke for this weekend’s Where to Brunch. Unfortunately, I kept running into watered down Jewish jokes about bagels and lox, like this POS right here, and more Brunch with Bridget bits from the Ellen show. To answer your questions: No, I have not seen it; No, I don’t care; Yes, I wish Ellen would pay me to have a stupid segment where I eat brunch and talk about things, preferably hung over and in bed (call me, gf!).
Judging from the site traffic, it seems like all of you people want to know where to get corned beef hash before, during or after you get shitfaced this weekend (which, according to this Sun Times article, isn’t even Irish). Actually, that sounds pretty good right now. Eh, what the hey? Presenting your St. Patrick’s Day brunch options in Chicago:
I was going to dignify the notable absence, but — Hey, look! What’s that?!
(clockwise from upper left: 1. pulled pork hash, 2. heavenly hot cakes, 3. scrapple, and 4. brie, asparagus and mushroom omelet)
Shh, baby. We don’t need words; just brunch. This is what I ate last weekend when I stopped into Ina’s for brunch. The breakfast queen herself gave me the official title of brunch princess, so it’s settled. Damn, that woman knows how to make a fine breakfast.
I have also been posting galleries on the Chicago Brunch Blog Facebook page for your drooling pleasure, where you can upload photographic memories from your favorite brunches if you like. Or not. Whatever.
It’s the post-brunch dilemma that has plagued scrap savers for years: what to do with brunch leftovers? Last week, I pigeonholed Lockwood’s Phillip Foss into talking shop on the eve of Restaurant Week (such a good guy) and he shared this advice for giving your leftovers a second chance:
“If you’ve got a lot over potatoes or vegetables, I like to make a frittata. A lot of times, [potatoes] get left over on peoples plates. So, I’d make a sandwich with a leftover frittata.”
Toss those puppies into a frittata using Foss’s recipe on his blog, The Pickled Tongue — which is a wonderful read if you haven’t checked it out already.
Did I say “tomorrow”? Because I meant to say tomorrow. Yeah, sorry I’ve been a flake, guys. I have been working on food stuff — just not for myself. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to check out the new NBC blog, Feast, which just launched yesterday. No worries, CBB isn’t going anywhere. It’s just taking me a little bit to adjust to the whole working 17-hours-a-day thing. Who says you can’t live the American dream?! Oh wait, I guess that would be having a trust fund and vacationing in the Hamptons. Oh well.
Death by Benedict. (Photo: Carly Fisher)
But this isn’t about me! It’s about you! And brunch! And trying to accomplish things in your day despite having the world’s worst hangover (which I was not successful last weekend. Sorry, sorry, sorry). Here’s where to go this weekend:
Listen, I know this makes me a grade-A failure and disappointment in your eyes, but please don’t judge me. The weekly Scraps of Wisdom feature will be here, just tomorrow, not today (sorry sorry sorry). Obviously, this is on account of that life is just like, really, really challenging this morning. Luckily, there are about three months of archived culinary wisdom from all sorts of great chefs to consider until tomorrow.
Today is the happiest of all Fridays and the happiest of all birthday brunches to me! Wondering how old I am? Old enough to know better, suckers! HA! Sorry if I’m sensitive to this, but I’m a Pisces (on the cusp!). But yes, today is my birthday and yes, tomorrow I will be hung-over as all hell — and definitely needing the perfect brunch. You know what would be a great gift? Voting for Chicago Brunch Blog on the 2010 TOC Eat Out Awards. If you want to, I mean.
Gonna be sippin’ on some syrup this weekend. (Photo: Carly Fisher)
First, let me say where you should NOT have brunch this weekend: pretty much any restaurant involved in Restaurant Week. David Burke’s, for instance, will be closed for brunch this week and next because they’re too busy plating out delicious portions of steak for all you cheapskates trying to get in on discount gourmet dining. Thus, I am not able to get a Brunch in a Box this weekend. Chicago dining scene: 1, Carly: 0. Upwards and onwards, let’s brunch.
What a gloomy day outside. You know that after brunch you are definitely not leaving the house, so make sure to save those leftovers for your rainy day snacking. This week’s scraps come from Josh Linton of 
