The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Brunch’

Breakfast in Abundance at 丰盛号

Abundant alley.

One of the coolest things about older cities is that they aren’t perfectly planned. Roads aren’t necessarily straight lines and newer buildings stand next to buildings that have stood for more than 100 years. These features add character to a place. Yet, when it’s 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity and you’re looking for breakfast first thing in the morning, it can be a bit frustrating when you find yourself walking down a residential street to find breakfast at a place with a name that is only written in Chinese. Yet, that only made finding 丰盛号 in that alley over on the left all the better.

Digging a Toad Hole at Artisan House

Fire in the hole(s)!

It’s not easy to go across town for breakfast or brunch. Especially if you’re like me and consider noon to be the beginning of the day on a weekend. But, I managed to pull myself out of bed for brunch downtown at a place called Artisan House. Surprisingly, it didn’t just have the kind of upscale brunch items I have grown used to, but a couple items I hadn’t seen before.

Eggs Over Arugula at Claudine

But why the arugula?

When you need breakfast or brunch in Encino, where do you go? Well, when the opportunity presented itself to me I found myself at Claudine, which is like a bakery and restaurant in one. You order at a counter, and seats are hard to come by on the weekend, but I managed to snag a table right out from under an old lady. To be fair, all she needed was 2 seats and we needed 6 so I found another table for her. Sheesh.

Neighborhood Eating at Cafe Nouveau

So beautiful.

Perched on a corner in what is more neighborhood than retail area in Ventura is a restaurant called Cafe Nouveau. The restaurant boasts a pretty great outdoor eating area, but the wait there was nuts so we went inside to what felt like a home that had been converted into a cafe. I set to work at figuring out what to order, but after a quick look at the menu I had made up my mind.

Fox and Goose and Brunch

Capitol idea.
Capitol idea.

While in Sac Town, it’s advisable to check out the State Capitol. It really is a beautiful building with a sprawling grounds showing off some of the best flora of California. And just up the street from there you can find what seemed the be the coolest place in town to grab brunch: Fox and Goose. With a dingy interior and pretty sweet patio, this British Pub drew me right in.

At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe

A mouthful.
A mouthful.

When life presents the longest restaurant name in history to you for brunch, what do you do? If you’re anything like me, you embrace it and so I headed to At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe in Duluth, Minnesota to see what such a place had to offer. I was mildly disappointed to find that the dish names were only a fraction of the length of restaurant’s name.

Army Style at Industrial Cafe and Saloon

Chip off the old beef.
Chip off the old beef.

Not far from Forest Park is an old industrial part of Portland, which includes a spot called Industrial Cafe and Saloon. We stopped by for some brunch and found the menu to generally be in line with the kinds of brunches I’m used to. There were scrambles, hash and a breakfast burrito, but one thing stood out to me. It was called Chipped Beef on Toast and because I had never seen such a thing I had to have it.

Waiting with the Birds at The Park

Picturesque.
Picturesque.

The Park in Chelsea is quite literally a beautiful place to eat. It isn’t an actual park, but the marginally glassed-in courtyard area is so full of growing green things that a bird took an actual crap on my mother-in-law before we had the opportunity to order our food. No joke. But this was brunch, so we laughed it off, took down some Bloody Mary’ses and pressed on.

Brunching at Eagle Rock Brewery Public House

Sexy on top.
Sexy on top.

You don’t typically associate a brewery with breakfast. But then, Eagle Rock Brewery Public House is less of a brewery than a quaint brunch spot that also happens to serve up a bunch of Eagle Rock Brewery’s beers (the real brewery is located elsewhere in Eagle Rock and is foodless save for the occasional food truck). Thus, after downing a beer I settled on the subject of food.

A Wicked Good Brunch at Wicked Spoon

Too many good things for one plate.
Too many good things for one plate.

I don’t know about other people, but when I tell someone I just went to Las Vegas, the first question is “Where did you stay?” The next question, though, is “Which buffet did you eat at?” Perhaps it’s because I’m a food blogger, but I tend to think it’s because the buffets are just so damn good that gluttony in Vegas is just a more interesting sin than gambling. Plus these days, you can gamble on sites like www.boomtownbingo.com/high-life-bingo-review on your phone and so you can have your cake and eat it too. Thus, on my most recent outing to Vegas the buffet of choice was Wicked Spoon in The Cosmopolitan.