A Fork in the Road: Lucile's (Boulder, CO)

Lucile's, a 32-year old family establishment, is the breakfast institution of Boulder and its surrounding areas.  It also comes with a lengthy line that is totally worth the wait and the portions :-)
We had a large group which works out well for the reviewer who wants to try a bit of everything.  It's amazing Creole can taste this good in this part of the country.  We began with beignets and unsurprisingly, these weren't that good.  Unlike Cafe du Monde, they are not soft and doughy.  These are way too hallow and crispy; but on to better dishes....



See the partial piece behind?  It is a quarter of my biscuit!

Me first!  Eggs Rockefeller - scrambled eggs, steamed spinach, fried oysters and Rockefeller sauce which is essentially cream, herbs and a Pernod or Herbsaint liquer.  As if this isn't enough food already, they serve it with a side of grits and a HuGe biscuit.  The biscuit could be a meal itself, or broken into quarters to serve four....not joking.  Of course this was heavy, but given I hardly ate the grits or biscuit, the portion was great for me.  The Rockefeller sauce was good, but could have used a tiny more Pernod.  It needed a little BAM! ala Emeril.

Creole Omelet with spicy sausage and delicious.  I am a big fan of tomatoes integrated with eggs, but not the tomato/seafood combo with eggs.  This worked much better for me with the sausage/ham.  For a couple extra bucks, order the cheddar chive grits.  It is worth it.  Trust!

The simple Eggs Eisenhower of poached eggs, grits, bacon, and biscuit.  You want heavy?  Order Carlin County (background) sausage gravy over a biscuit, red beans and grits.  The sausage gravy was good, but could have used a little more sausage dripping with pepper instead of a cream, roux and sausage mix.

Lightest of the bunch was Eggs Jennifer with spinach, tomato, avocado, and poached eggs. 

The idea here is go big!  Zero portion control.  It's what Creole is all about.

Gorgeous drive to Boulder

A Fork in the Road: State Farmers Market Restaurant, Part II (Raleigh, NC)

The restaurant was filled wall-to-wall with folks last Saturday morning and considering the amount of people in line, you'd think it would be a long wait.  We luckily sat in eight minutes.  Of course, the basket of biscuits and hush puppies arrived, but I tried to not stuff myself given that I'd be eating a carb-loaded breakfast.

Scrambled eggs, grits, NC country ham and toast - the grits were creamy, but needed some salt to balance taste to texture.  I enjoyed the ham, but only a few bites.  Country ham is generally salty, but this was too much (for me). 

Forgot pancake picture

My dad ordered the Hungry Man breakfast - eggs, bacon, ham, gravy, grits, pancakes, toast with roasted apples.  Too. Much. Food., though I really enjoyed the small pancakes served with molasses. 

Grandma's fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green bean standby and it my opinion, 'where it's at'.  The lunch just blows the breakfast away.  I just like that most vegetables and fruit come from the Farmers Market and the fried chicken is damn near perfect! 

A Fork in the Road: Baby Barnaby's (Houston, TX)

Baby Barnaby's sits in the northern part of Houston's Montrose area and is favorite among breakfast-loving Houstonians.  Houston isn't huge on their brunch scene, but they know breakfast and Mexican breakfast well! 

It is a warm reception from the staff given most have worked there for years and this menu is what you want.  Not a million options, just a one-pager so they make sure all their items are appetizing. Get there early on the weekend as the wait can be over an hour!

Breakfast Plate - two eggs over easy, grits, smoked sausage and biscuits (with a few of my potatoes)

Green Eggs* - Two eggs scrambled with spinach, artichoke hearts and jack cheese, served with chicken apple sausage, potatoes, and wheat toast.  Some folks order soft eggs and it's never really something I've taken to, but because of the ingredients, it takes like soft eggs, except everything well done.  It's something you just have to experience.  The potatoes are (hollow) squares that are crisp on the outside and the inside, soft.  They stay this way even if you leave some and continue to pick.  Best chicken apple sausage split and smoked to taste similar to pork.

* the secret to these puppies is order with jalapenos.  It's off-the-menu.

The coffee is $2.25 and the best part, the waiters bring over a pot and constantly re-fill. 
http://barnabyscafe.com/

If you're in the area, great custom boots are down a few streets.  Tejas Custom Boots is one of the last real custom shops.  www.tejascustomboots.com

The Redhead

The Redhead may simply have the most perfect, gourmand Southern brunch in New York. In a city exploding with Southern fare, most notably fried chicken and grits, the competition is heavy.

Strolling into The Redhead is like strolling into a New Orleans speakeasy with its dark, wood panels and dimly lit space, but it's certainly no secret. They have been in the spotlight, due in part to their crawfish boils in the garden, as well as drawing in folks for brunch. Luckily, I made to brunch before they decidedly switched to dinner and late night menus only.

The monkey bread is glazed with a sweet frosting, but you haven't had monkey bread until you've had it at Neiman Marcus (that's right, the department store)! Neiman Marcus made monkey bread famous, serving it warm with homemade strawberry butter. It's called monkey bread because the technique of eating is somewhat reminiscent of a monkey pulling bread apart. A good way to start brunch is with dessert, but this might have been a little sweet for my 'buds.

Moving along to a dish which was a beautiful cacophony of ground meat, yukon gold and purple potatoes topped with a sunny-side up egg and cauliflower salata. It was possibly one of the most visually stunning comfort food dishes I've ever seen, then had the pleasure of consuming.

Ordinarily, I do not order sweet breakfast items, but the lemon ricotta pancakes were delightful and with just the slightest hint of lemon. The fresh fruit compote was enough to substitute for syrup.

The Redhead's version of corned beef hash (pieces of tender red meat and potatoes mixed, au jus). The meat was too chewy for this breakfast dish; felt like I was attempting to eat prime rib.

Other Notable Dishes: Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Shrimp & Grits, Bacon Peanut Brittles

The Redhead 349 East 13th Street b/t 1st & 2nd Avenues 212-533-6212
www.theredheadnyc.com

SHUTTERED Catalan (Fork in the Road: Houston, TX)

Roasted Berkshire Pork belly with Steen's pure cane syrup - the perfect fat-to-meat ratio and enough for an entire meal

Arborio-dusted calamari with jalapeno lime dressing - calamari was oily and the dipping sauce, too acidic

Baby arugula, roasted hazelnuts, can vinaigrette, spicy fried oysters - these plump oysters were lightly breaded & deep fried

Spice roasted Grouper, local sweet carrot, crabmeat

Seafood Stew: Local fish, clams, shrimp and calamari - extremely bland flavors

Blackened snapper over a 'crawfish boil' - the flavors worked well together, although the pepper overwhelmed the dish a touch

Lamb chops over white beans cooked down with lamb shoulder and Morcilla

Berkshire pork chop, sweet potato and Texas apple hash demi

Bacon & goat cheese grits

Redneck Mac & Cheese

Every main course's meat was tough, particularly the chops. While Catalan falls short in the entree category, it succeeds with small plates and sides; and honestly, most of the small plates have portions big enough to be considered entree-size.

Kudos to the team for their use of farmers that supply the menu!

Catalan 5555 Washington Avenue

Egg

Nothing is more satisfying when a good, no, praiseworthy dish shows up on your table after an hour long wait. This happens to be one of the rare occasions when I order only one dish; and while all the dishes I passed looked scrumptious, only one looked me in the eyes:

Country Ham Biscuit . . . $8
Country ham from Col. Bill Newsom's Hams in Princeton, Kentucky served on a biscuit with homemade fig jam, Grafton cheddar, and a side of grits.


I've never been a fan of ham texture, but this aged ham is stringy and salty, much like beef jerky. The beautiful, flaky homemade biscuit is flanked with homemade fig jam and Grafton cheddar. The not-so-sweet jam and biscuit cut the saltiness of the ham, but it is the ham that brims with flavor. Pair this with the thick, creamy grits and the plate is a home-run! Side note: You can order products from http://www.newsomscountryham.com/

Egg 135 North 5th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn CASH ONLY http://www.pigandegg.com/menus/breakfast/

A Fork in the Road: Florida Avenue Grill (DC) You Can Take the Girl Outta the South...

My best friend Paulette took me to Florida Avenue Grill in DC this past weekend and this place was, simply put, THE BOMB! It isn't a brunch-y spot of U Street that feed the yuppies of DC. It's a gritty, old diner with red plastic stools, an overpowering air conditioning and most staff have been working there 18+ years - praise Viola Poindexter!

My dad grew up in Georgia, so biscuits & grits were staples of our breakfast. One order of two fried eggs, sausage patties, grits and biscuits and Pronto!!! Now, if you don't care to clog your arteries in a single meal, don't eat here. There must have been an entire stick of butter used between the biscuits and grits, but it was heavenly. I prefer sausage links to patties since my past experiences have proved to be less than edible; but these patties were generous in diameter and soft. The grits, creamy. The eggs, salt & peppered. The home potatoes were excellent, another perfectly seasoned side as well as the Scrapple looking well-seasoned. For those unfamiliar with Scrapple, it's a side usually composed of everything left on the grill - to include onions, potato, bacon, sausage, egg, just about anything.

The highlight of my meal was when the man with reflective lens Oakley's (or a knock-off) sat next to me at the counter and ordered the "Michael Jackson Beat It" special. He even jumped in our photo at the end of the meal!

So, if you can stand the strong gust of A/C, then you'll enjoy wonderfully personable staff and the Southern breakfast ROCKS! Did I mention meals aren't more than $6.95 and you can charge it?

Florida Avenue Grill
1100 Florida Avenue NW Washington DC 20009