Brunch at the River Cafe

I have celebrated a few major milestone birthdays (16, 21, my Mom's 50th) at the River Cafe (1 Water Street, at Old Fulton St., 718-522-5200) and have always had a lovely time. It's a perfect spot for special occasions or just for a treat. I hear they had record numbers on Valentine's Day for dinner (so much for doom and gloom restaurant reports) and while I've eaten dinner there a number of times, I was lucky enough to be taken this past weekend for Brunch for the first time.

You first enter their long cobble-stoned driveway, at the end of which you're greeted by valets, if arriving by car. Once you step through the door, it's as if you've arrived at a flower shop. HUGE bouquets of sweet-smelling flowers are everywhere, including palm fronds and more tropical looking plants. Framed maps and old newspapers line the dark wood wall where you're asked for your coat before you're directed through another set of doors into the main dining room to be seated. It's then that you take in that view. The skyline of lower Manhattan is framed by the big windows along the far wall. The Brooklyn Bridge extends out over the water in it's colossal beauty and the water is alive with boats of all shape and size.

We were seated along the wall side by side, facing the dining room and the water. The dining room is not very large, so it feels intimate, and there's not a bad seat in the house. You can see the water from every spot. The menu listed about 15 options of appetizers and main courses and is Prix Fixe ($55 for Brunch). We were also presented with an Amuse Bouche course of banana & walnut with homemade granola and a drizzle of cream from Ronnybrook Farm. Warm and delicious, interestingly served in an egg shell.



To start, I ordered the Pear Salad with Cider Vinaigrette, Walnuts, Maple Bacon and Goat Cheese Fondue. The half pear was warm and subtly sweet, the goat cheese fondue was decadent in its creaminess and the bits of bacon and walnut added an earthiness to the dish. Yum!



My boyfriend chose the Smoked Rainbow Trout with a Horseradish Crust, Quail Egg & Caviar Sauce. The portion of wonderfully smoked trout was substantial and the sauce was perfectly light and salty. The quail egg was served on the cutest mini-bagel ever. Lovely.



As my main course I got the Farm Egg and Lobster Tail Omelette with Black Truffle Cheese & Herbed Butter & Biscuit. This was incredible. The lobster tail was succulent, the omelette was rich and stuffed with the perfect amount of cheese. The biscuit was good too! Loved it.



The best dish of the day was what my boyfriend got as his main, the Amish Chicken Pancetta with Cornbread and Confit Giblet Stuffing & Caramelized Onions in a Sweet Pea Sauce. Again, the serving was quite substantial with four big pieces of chicken which was marvelous. The chicken was juicy and tender and had the most amazing flavor. Everything was perfect about this dish, and it was beautifully presented.



There is a dessert menu but we were both too stuffed to eat any more. It was a lovely way to start the day and enjoy the specialness of Brooklyn dining.

Brunch at Cafe Luluc

I love Brunch. Mixing savory and sweet, all the options for easy sharing - it's the best. So we headed to Cafe LuLuc on a recent Sunday (214 Smith St., between Butler St. & Baltic St., 718-625-3815) because they have a good brunch menu and the best pancakes in the neighborhood. It's a bustling, crowded spot on the weekends, so get there early (they're also one of few places that open at 10 instead of 11) or prepare to wait. There is a small bar you can sit at if there's room, to sip a cappuccino with perfect foam while you wait for a table. They usually have various pastries and baked goods you can order while you wait, although the croissant we got was huge and really chewy.

We didn't have to wait long until we were seated and once we ordered our food came out pretty quickly. I got those pancakes I was talking about, which are similar to the ones at the Greenpoint Coffee House; kinda crusty on the outside and wonderfully moist and fluffy inside, but these are within walking distance! They're amazing, and are topped with slices of strawberry and banana. YUM! I was in heaven!



My boyfriend got the Eggs Florentine, two poached eggs on top of English Muffins and spinach and topped with hollandaise sauce. They were perfectly poached, no runny bits at all, and the spinach was fresh and delicious, but the hollandaise sauce was disappointing. It had almost no taste and just ended up being a coagulated skin on top of the yummy eggs. No thanks. The fries are also some of the best around, thin sticks perfectly salted, and the salad is a nice accompaniment to the rich flavors but next time, I think it'll be an omelette, or something sans hollandaise sauce!



We also got a side of bacon. This was on the disappointing side too. It was a bit too greasy and very fatty, not thick cut or smoky like the bacon at many of the other brunch places in the neighborhood. I ate it though, cuz it wasn't awful, it was just less than it COULD be.



I do love it here, and think the brunch is a good deal, particularly if you're in the mood for pancakes. The spinach and goat cheese omelette is great too.

Soup from Nectar

Everybody is sick these days, and really, one of the best things to do is get yourself some chicken soup. Being that I was sick, I wasn't about to make anything from scratch, but neither did I want to open a can of something that was sure to have too much salt and dry, chewy pieces of chicken. So I dragged myself over to Nectar (198 Court St., at Wyckoff St., 718-855-6166) for their Chicken with Pasta soup. Boy, was I happy I did.



As you can see it's loaded down with big chunks of tasty white meat, lots of pasta shells, pieces of tomato and slices of carrots and celery. The broth is hearty, soothing and fresh; homemade from the best ingredients. I felt better immediately.



They also toss in half a loaf of a sourdoughy white bread that's really good; I like to dip it in the hot broth to get it soft - so comforting when you're feeling under the weather. Or just cold from the bitter wind and chill.

Nectar also has a large selection of fresh vegetable and fruit juices made to order, as well as sandwiches and wraps and smoothies, always made from fresh ingredients. The space is teeny though, so it's best for take-out.