Build a Better: Brunch

Ethnic specialties, signature cocktails and music are just some of the ways restaurants are building brunch business.

Paella Sunday Brunch ($85) was part of a weeklong Peruvian Independence Day Celebration held July 26 through August 1 at La Mar by Gaston Acurio at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami. Among the brunch specialties were a paella station, live Peruvian music, unlimited brunch cocktails, seafood offerings at the Cebiche Bar, and hot foods such as grilled anticucho skewers and whole fish at the Anticucho Bar, as well as an entrée and dessert.

At South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa in Las Vegas, weekend brunches at Baja Miguel’s include the Bloody Mary Breakfast with a complimentary Bloody Maria or House Margarita from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Specialties include Guava French Toast ($10.95) and Miguel’s Chilaquiles ($15.95) with sautéed corn tortillas in red sauce with Jack cheese, topped with a 7-ounce New York steak.

In New York City, the newly opened Babbalucci Italian Kitchen & Wood Burning Oven in Harlem offers Italian-American inspired weekend brunch items made in the wood oven. Specialties include Nutella Pizza with mixed berries and yogurt, and a pancetta, egg and provolone hero sandwich. Chef/owner Andrew LoPresto makes all bread and pizza dough in-house.

Brunch cocktails at Gardenia, New York.

In San Diego at Park & Rec, a courtyard cocktail destination, cocktails on the Liquid Brunch menu are priced at $8, and include signature spins on classics like the French 75, Pimm’s Cup and the Paloma made with tequila, lime, grapefruit ale and a chili-salt rim.

Signature brunch dishes at Gardenia, the Latin/Mediterranean restaurant in New York City, include a Tuna Melt ($15) with fresh tuna salad, fried egg, Manchego and a fennel radish salad, and the Omelet Gramajo ($14) with country ham, crispy potatoes, green peas and chimichurri. Brunch cocktails, too, are out of the ordinary. They include the Mediterranean Sangria ($10, rose wine, berries and elderflower), Playa Spritz ($10, tangerine, lemon bitters and prosecco) and Lavender Margarita ($11, tequila, Combier, lime and lavender salt).

Consider the following brunch-worthy recipes for your morning menu:

Ham and egg ravioli

Chilaquiles with fried eggs

Moroccan benedict

Chicharron waffle

Blue corn waffle with chipotle shrimp

Contact Gail Bellamy at [email protected]