Tapas y mas brunch

While Zoe was having her huevos rancheros at Esperanto, I was devouring the same dish at Pipa, just down the street from our apartment. Pipa is tapas for lunch and dinner, but serves an amazing brunch, although with no bells or whistles to speak of. Coffee and mimosa's not included. The huevos rancheros were the best I have ever had, with creamy black beans spread on a puffed up fried tortilla lying in sweet yet spicy tomato sauce. My only problem was that I woke up early to go jogging with the intention of rewarding myself with a satisfying brunch, and though it was delicious, too small. Next time I will definitely order sides, or the amazing looking calamari appetizer that I saw pass by...
Pipa's decor happens to be done by my favorite home store, ABC Carpet and Home, and there are hundreds of chandeliers dripping from the ceiling- with price tags telling you to dream on.

Brunch Days

Brunch is a sacred thing in NYC and I certainly take part in worshiping it. Every weekend you can walk around the city and see lines outside all of the restaurants. Big groups, small groups. Old and young. Brunch is a beautiful thing. It brings people together. However, as is true for most wonderful things, there is a flip side. It is easy to down FIVE mimosa's at brunch and then realize you are $50 in the hole. How are you to financially keep up!

Don't you worry fellow foodies. I have a solution! My friend Sarah moved to the East Village recently and was dying to try Esperanto, a Brazilian restaurant on the corner of 9th St. and Ave C. I begrudgingly said yes as my bank account is soon to be in the hole. Imagine my surprise when I get there and the sign outside proclaims that brunch in $9.99, including coffee, an alcoholic beverage, and an entree. Woohoo!

via ontheinside.com

On top of being affordable, the whole thing was delicious. I had the huevos rancheros, a staple of mine at brunch, and it was the perfect size and crunch. The entire table of people agreed that the home fries were some of the best they had ever had! Something in that seasoning was just divine. Below is a photo of the eggs benedict and you can see the yummy home fries.

via Flickr

So, moral of the story is, check this place out. The food won't suffer with the affordable price. Stay tuned next week for a birthday report. That's right, I'm turning 26 in 6 days...here we come late 20s!

xoxo

Brunch, Bed, Bath and Beyond

I'm a little tardy for this posting party, but who's keeping track (besides the always punctual Monday blogger! Kidding, Zoe!)? Anyways, I had a surprisingly domestic Saturday afternoon with my husband, complete with trips to Home Depot and Bed Bath and Beyond. Cheesy, I know, but it was completely necessary. But before the errands began, we partook in my favorite weekend pastime: BRUNCH.

I couldn't make up my mind on where to go and was really looking for outdoor seating on this gorgeous New York summer day. But when we wandered by Northern Spy Food Co., one of the latest restaurant additions to the East Village, I wanted to try it after hearing so many great things about the food. And so we did.

The verdict? The food is definitely tasty and the brunch cocktails are ahhhmaaazing and refreshing.

I mean, who wouldn't want wheat beer and lemon soda shandy or a Fuji apple mimosa?!

For our entree's, we got the Slow-whisked scrambled eggs (with sausage and carmelized shallot flatbreat) and the Griddled ham and eggs.





The latter of the two might have LOOKED more appetizing (and the ham was predictably delicious), but for anyone who loves soft scrambled eggs, Northern Spy does it amazingly well. My only regret was not ordering the griddled cornbread with sweet onion yogurt as an appetizer. When it landed on the table next to us, I had a serious case of food envy. Oh well, it gives me a reason to come back. Who wants to come with me?

--Jessica