date: 6/3/07
location: minneapolis
grade: c

it's a bad sign when you get home from a not inexpensive brunch and think... you know, i really want some toast right now.

all in all, it was a kind of disappointing experience.

brenda langton means fresh and seasonal, right?

i had the farmer's market omelet. it had heirloom tomatoes, chevre, basil, and guacamole in it. fresh, seasonal, sure. i'll give it that. but underseasoned, with the eggs a bit overcooked. it was decent, but not great. the guac would've made more of a difference inside than outside of the omelet, where it was.

i swapped out the fresh fruit that came with it (seemed too healthy or some such) for the potatoes on the brunch menu. which is where the whole fresh, seasonal thing went out the window. roast potatoes with breakfast, sure, red onion, possible, but the roasted cauliflower, cabbage and carrots with it?

what the hell?

that was a dish that would be good with a meal of roast meat in fall or winter, not with any sort of breakfast in spring or summer. per my csa newsletter, there's stuff out there that could've been put with the potatoes that would've made tons more sense for the season, or even better, hey, leave them out. it was wrong. just wrong. and weird.

i asked for ketsup for it, and by the time i got it (our server disappeared post-food delivery and didn't come into view until 10, 15 minutes later and since by then there was no mid-meal check in we had to wave them down for ketsup, then there was a several minute delay after that on some sort of ketsup hunting expedition in the back), they were cold. which made them even less pleasant. they were also underseasoned.

since there was maybe, maybe two tables per server at that time, the service was very slow, and not very good. friendly, sure, but not good. when being seated, i was given a choice in a nearly empty place of sitting squished between two other tables at a window (though there was another window table or six close by where we would not be squished, i should've asked for one) or the empty banquette seating, where we were seated at a two-top despite the emptyness. a four-top would have been a nice gesture.

i also split a side order of chicken sausage. when you think side order, what kind of portion do you think? let me throw in that it's a $4 side order. i was thinking maybe four links or two, three patties. but nope, one patty. for $4. which, though good (fresh chicken and good seasonings, but again, not quite enough of them), was not $4 worth of side order. possibly the most overpriced side order i've ordered.

after all that, as mentioned, i still needed some toast to round out the meal. it just wasn't filling, oddly.

the underseaoning was a bit vexing as the salt and pepper shakers were those wee ones that do not let you extract much from them. ack. the other person ordered a passion fruit bellini, but they were out of passion fruit (they must've run out saturday, as there was only a few tables filled when i got there half an hour after it opened). they replaced it with prickly pear. a bit dry, but interesting was the verdict. they had orderd a side of the weird potatoes, too.

the greek omelet they got had feta, red onion, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, and herbs in it, and came with a side of green salad. both the omelet innards and the salad were kind of overdressed. it made a change from not enough seasoning.

the room itself is a long, skinny, railroad flat of a place a la modern restaurant (think ikea-ish). very understated and somewhat underdecorated. (the long wall is blank). nice bathroom, though.

despite being disappointed at brunch, i would maybe go back for a lunch or dinner. i think they'd do those a lot better, and their girly drinks menu looks superlative. though apparently there's no free parking anywhere near the place, even at meters on sundays. what's up with that?

i did hear reports before we headed out that their brunch was disappointing, and yes, it was. so maybe it's not just brk in this case.

maybe.

a good brunch is hard to find, i guess.