Slightly Scrambled
THE SIZZLING RESTAURANT TREND of 2013? Egg-ceptional weekend breakfasts and brunches, enjoyed at leisure and repented at waist. Wagering “heads, tails or rim” settles Sunday disputes whether to breeze to Ocean Beach for eggs Benedict at Kaiserhof (egg-stravagantly bathed in buttery hollandaise), amble to Hillcrest for egg-squisite Ham Benedict III at Snooze or line up at Hob Nob Hill for corned-beef hash accessorized with a perfectly poached pear. News accounts declare cheap eggs scarcer than hens’ teeth, and the days egg ranchers charged customers chickenfeed are as dearly departed as the phrase “they cost chickenfeed.” Old-fashioned feed supposedly caused the problem, since the cost of shipping it to San Diego’s free-range, organic, matronly mother hens elevated prices. You won’t hear about this at The Westgate, whose custom omelet station focuses a remarkable Sunday buffet, but the new, lighter-feed formula supposedly produces shells 25 percent less thick, which makes walking on eggshells harder than ever. Whatever — just keep your sunny side up…
CAN A FRENCH GUY REDEFINE huevos rancheros? Pascal Vignau makes the effort on the “Breakfast All Day” menu served Sundays at Chandler’s (pictured above), the casual but very up-market restaurant at the new Hilton Carlsbad Resort & Spa. Chandler’s delimits “all day” as 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; and given the truly magnificent ocean view across Carlsbad Boulevard, there’s no reason to dawdle getting there. Portly and paternal, Vignau is both solidly experienced (long service with Four Seasons Hotels, chef/proprietor of Savory in Encinitas, which he sold to take on Chandler’s) and the antithesis of today’s celebrity toque wearers. Since entrée prices include an appetizer, a basket of freshly baked mini-pastries (ravishing jam Danishes, flaky raisin rolls) and coffee, spending $19.75 for a dome-shaped construction of huevos rancheros doesn’t seem a splurge. It rises from a base of corn tortillas through layers of crumbled chorizo, creamy beans, chunky salsa (the server cautioned “spicy,” even though he knew better) to over-easy eggs whose yolks run into the dish like a saffron-tinted sauce. Very nice, and suitable for service along the Seine. Nice menu, too: Starters like roasted-beet salad, a tomato-burrata cheese combo and yogurt “parfait” precede big plates of bacon-wrapped pork loin with poached eggs and hollandaise, lobster-and-shrimp tacos and duck confit hash. Orange-lemon crepes occasionally supplement a long dessert list that inspires the desire to patrol the beach afterward…
IF YOU AWAKE DAZED AND CONFUSED because you apparently slept under a table at Anthology, you’re in luck if it’s Sunday morning. Just climb into a chair, order a “Dazed and Confused” and read the brunch menu while sipping a spirited slosh of mango-melon vodka, green Chartreuse, kiwi puree, citrus juices, honey and soda. If a nightclub seems an unlikely brunch destination, Anthology delivers with sweet-savory dishes like griddled zucchini bread with berry compote, and Brie-stuffed French toast with cardamom-flavored topping and maple syrup. Weird, but it works, both as an eye-opener and a substantial breakfast. Classic and pleasant: a truly fluffy omelet with Dungeness crab, forest mushrooms and sauce bearnaise and hearty steak-and-eggs with hash browns…
BREAKFAST BUFFETS often seem design-
ed for individuals intent on stuffing themselves silly, but a deeper intelligence informs the morning spreads at Marina Kitchen, the new, waterfront Marriott Marquis restaurant that crams an unexpected amount of local appeal into its several spacious rooms. “The goal was to not offer a typical breakfast,” says executive chef Aron Schwartz. “That’s why we offer dim sum, and all the eggs are made to order.” There are also, most remarkably, an oatmeal bar whose myriad garnishes run from dried cherries to agave and flax seeds and, more tempting, a breathtaking bakery station with excellent croissants, brioche cinnamon rolls, artisan breads — you name it. A line cook cheerfully will whip up a plate of bacon and eggs, but cheese, fruit and charcuterie stations sing seductive Siren songs…
CAN A CHICAGO GUY COMPOSE copacetic
chilaquiles? George Morris, a youthful graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and now executive chef at Beaumont’s Eatery, puts a Windy City twist on the Mexican home-style favorite of leftover corn tortilla garnished with whatever Mom has on hand. There’s a lot going on for $10, which builds up the basic dish with tomatillo sauce, pulled pork and scrambled eggs, chile strips, cheese, salsa, tart Mexican crema and guacamole. The breakfast menu, served at the friendly Bird Rock rookery 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends, goes to great length to please everybody, a challenge met by buttermilk pancakes and short-rib hash with eggs…
ODDLY ENOUGH, old-timey buttermilk cakes and the same hash are weekend brunch stars at Giuseppe Ciuffa’s new “wow-what-a-view” Caroline’s Seaside Cafe, on the far right side of La Jolla Cove by Scripps Pier…
DISH: By David Nelson Photography by Martin Mann
