3 Desserts for Brunch in Chicago
Brunch is a late breakfast of sorts, where indulgence is forgiven and where sin and simplicity blend in vicarious pleasure. The audibility of the whimsical name can make one roll out of a barely slept night courtesy of Chicago nightlife, and skip the line for brunch at the epicurian Bongo Room, tucked in the artistic modernism of West Loop in Chicago. Indecisiveness is evident when faced with with a menu that exposes the word sinful in its lickable glory, evidently contributing to food lust for years.
While a quiet place at the onset, it was evident that this was one of those hotspots that attracted lines, luring people in with plates smacked with hefty portions of foods in divine flavors and textures. So without further adieu, and with a penchant for all things glazed in sugar and essentially desserts in disguise, a three course indulgent breakfast began. Having swallowed triple desserts in New York before, the relative sugar fix is not really an issue considering you need the energy in the bird-chirping early morning with a whole day to go.
1: Pancakes
The first breakfast course was a brown sugar and ginger snap crusted pancake with fresh blueberries and blueberry honey butter. The blueberry butter cut the – well – buttery-ness of butter, with its tartness, making for a spread that I could layer the tongue with daily. The pancake was fairly ordinary, fluffy but lacking the snap that one expects from a ginger snap prefix.
2: Hotcakes
The second breakfast course consisted of graham cracker crusted hotcakes with warm Meyer lemon cream and blackberry coulis, with fresh blackberries. The citrus with sweet juxtapositions were exactly what made these Midwestern hotcakes a success. One would’ve never though hot lemon cream was possible without sourness, but maybe it was the lightness of the cake and the freshness of the coulis that made this unlikely combination of flavors, temperatures and textures work.
3: French Toast
Getting better course by course, as is the case with tasting menus but often inexplicable with breakfasts, was the third inhalation. A bittersweet chocolate French toast, better described as a chocolate chunk bread stuffed with maple mascarpone, banana crème brûlée sauce, fresh bananas and shaved coconut. The flavors alone made a trip to Hawaii via San Francisco (for its chocolate!) seemingly possible in a spoonful. For while the bread left a lot to be desired out of dryness, the much maligned and nutritious banana was given a new life with the brûlée. A twisted green and white chocolate floret seemed at odd ease in this indulgent mess. With undertones of cinnamon and nutmeg, perfect comfort food flavors that were in contrast with the freshness of the coconut, but a marriage that worked.
And thus ended a three course, dream evoking saga through an exciting meal of the week: Sunday Brunch. And yes, it truly is part of many daydreams… But as they say, its not a daydream if you make it your life.
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