Dawn Delights

Familiar favorites define weekday breakfasts, while weekends invite adventure

By Allison Perlik, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/15/2003

Sales at Good Enough to Eat, a New York City restaurant known for its all-day breakfast and homespun comfort food, set records last year.

The traditional American menu, featuring such favorites as apple pancakes, cinnamon-swirl French toast and ham-and-cheese omelets, has changed little over two decades. Chef-owner Carrie Levin says these morning classics are exactly what customers are seeking.

“Now, more than ever, people want the basics, things they remember from childhood,” she says.

Indeed, chefs across the country are finding that simple, nostalgic foods such as waffles, eggs and oatmeal are leading weekday morning menus. Customers stopping in before work or holding early breakfast meetings are comfortable with such familiar fare, shying away from the diverse tastes that attract them on Saturdays and Sundays.

“People are more adventurous on weekends,” agrees Sara Gibbs, chef at Lynn’s Paradise Café in Louisville, Ky. “You just have to free yourself from the traditional boundaries of breakfast. It’s amazing what foods people respond to.”

To capture morning customers on all occasions, most restaurants choose to compromise, offering conventional entrées alongside more-daring choices that help challenge the daypart’s lackluster reputation.

A LITTLE EGG-CITEMENT
“People think breakfast and brunch really are the doldrums,” says Louise Stewart, co-owner of the Grant Corner Inn, a bed and breakfast in Santa Fe, N.M.

To spice things up, Chef James Martinez concocts Southwestern-style eggs Benedict, topping tortillas with poached eggs, chorizo, black beans, salsa and lime-jalapeño hollandaise sauce. He also prepares an Italian-themed version of the dish that calls for sun-dried tomato focaccia, Italian sausage, pesto tomatoes and sweet-basil hollandaise.

Gibbs of Lynn’s Paradise Café says that while traditional breakfasts are her best sellers, the restaurant also attracts a large clientele looking for something a little different. Among her most popular specials are the Loaded Potato Scramble (eggs, fried red potatoes, bacon and red onions topped with sour cream and chives) and the BLT Scramble (eggs, diced turkey, bacon, tomatoes, Cheddar and Swiss cheeses).

Omelets do brisk business as well, both in traditional and more-novel varieties. A filling of Swiss, Cheddar and cream cheeses sells well on weekends at the Atwood Cafe in Chicago’s Hotel Burnham, says Executive Chef Heather Terhune. D. Bob’s American Bistro in Park Ridge, Ill., offers seasonal omelets as daily lunch specials. Executive Chef Dale Alroth’s winter rendition features roasted root vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, butternut squash and turnips with grated Parmesan cheese and basil mayonnaise.

At the Terrace Grille in the Flamingo Resort Hotel in Santa Rosa, Calif., Executive Chef Gary Arthur finds customers drawn to omelets named for U.S. cities, each highlighting regional ingredients. Offerings include Tacoma, with smoked salmon, cream cheese and dill; and Sausalito, with green beans and blackened tofu.

ETHNIC ADVENTURES
Ethnic-influenced breakfasts often feature Mexican ingredients, common in such popular dishes as huevos rancheros and the now-ubiquitous breakfast burrito.

Daniel Long, head chef in the catering and conference center at Oracle Corp. in Redwood Shores, Calif., puts his own spin on the burrito by offering it as a make-your-own item on the breakfast buffet. Long supplies tortillas, an egg-and-chorizo scramble, beans and salsa from which customers create their concoctions.

More and more, however, chefs are broadening their horizons with Asian, Mediterranean and Italian flavors.

“Ethnic food has taken on such a big part of the American culture,” Arthur says. “Chefs have been timid about doing new things with breakfast, but I think that’s what customers are looking for.”

Recently returned from a two-year stint in Hong Kong, Arthur hopes to incorporate more of what he learned into Terrace Grille’s breakfast menu—perhaps a fried noodle dish or congee, a rice porridge that serves as background for proteins such as fish, chicken and eggs.

“I doubt I can convince Americans to eat rice porridge, but I can try. You can just do so much with it,” he says of the traditional Japanese breakfast dish.

At St. Clouds Food & Spirits, a neighborhood spot in Seattle, a concoction called Imperial Mix Up is among the biggest sellers. Originally from the menu at Cool Hand Luke’s, which previously occupied the space, the dish mixes eggs, rice, scallions, ginger and a choice of Hawaiian-style Portuguese sausage or Asian-marinated tempeh (soybean cake with a texture similar to that of soft tofu).

St. Clouds’ breakfast menu draws on other influences as well. Chef-owner John Platt offers an unusual southern U.S./Italian combination in Collard Green Pesto Scramble, which combines eggs, collard greens, pesto, pancetta and Asiago cheese.

At Parkhouse Eatery in San Diego, Chef Tommy Golden also menus ambitious a.m. dishes, including fried linguini with fresh basil, tomatoes, feta cheese and black pepper scrambled with two eggs; and stir-fried rice with Portuguese sausage, roasted yams, scallions, soy sauce and egg.

BREADY AND WAITING
Batter-based breakfast foods such as waffles and pancakes present abundant opportunities for chefs and diners alike.

To create the Chef’s French Toast at Terrace Grille, Arthur sandwiches bread with a mix of cream cheese and orange marmalade. The sandwiches are cut in triangles and dipped into egg batter then fried. At 15 ria in the Washington Terrace Hotel in Washington, D.C., banana-stuffed French toast coated in cornflakes is a favorite among Executive Chef Jamie Leeds’ customers.

In Chicago, Terhune says a malted waffle mix is her secret for the high-demand item at the Atwood Cafe, where a banana-pecan waffle with maple butter is the flavor of the moment.

“It’s funny how many waffles we sell,” she says. “They’re really yummy: crispy outside but buttery and soft on the inside.”

Breakfast sandwiches, a mainstay of quick-service morning menus, are making appearances in upscale and casual settings as well. At Zov’s Bistro in Tustin, Calif., panini with scrambled eggs, Black Forest ham and Swiss cheese, and a Mediterranean pita filled with eggs, soujouk (Armenian beef sausage) and tomatoes are among the top morning sellers, says Chef-owner Zov Karamardian.

C&O Trattoria in Marina del Rey, Calif., offers Eggs Panini, a breakfast sandwich with scrambled eggs, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil atop focaccia.

LIGHTER BITES
Despite recent media attention to diet and health issues, chefs report little change in customer demand for lighter morning meals. Items such as fruit, yogurt, oatmeal and granola continue to sell well but without a noticeable increase.

“We see a lot more demand for healthier items as spring and summer approach,” says Terhune, who is considering adding smoothies and yogurt parfait with layers of fruit and homemade granola to the Atwood breakfast menu.

Hot oatmeal with apples, cinnamon and raisins topped with toasted walnuts sells well in winter, she says.

At New York City-based Myriad Restaurant Group’s Heartbeat restaurant in the W New York hotel, the menu focuses on healthful dishes made with natural and organic ingredients. Options include “vitality breakfasts” such as the Well Being (organic house-made granola with seasonal fresh fruit, goat’s milk yogurt, wheat-grass juice and choice of smoothie with an immunity supplement) and Warmth (steel-cut oatmeal with muscavado sugar and choice of coffee or green tea).

“Most of our guests are very aware of what they’re putting in their bodies and where it comes from,” says Executive Chef John Mooney. “We wanted to give them menu items that were a little more thoughtful, more mindful of a healthful lifestyle cuisine.”

Strawberry-Stuffed French Toast with
Warm Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Heartbeat, New York City

Yield: 24 servings

Eggs, well beaten	24 large
Milk	3/4 cup
Vanilla extract	2 Tbsp.
Salt	2 Tbsp.
Egg bread, such as brioche or challah, 1-in. slices	48
Canola oil as needed
Strawberry-rhubarb jam (recipe follows)	6 cups
Strawberries, stemmed, sliced	3 lb.
Confectioners’ sugar as needed

In large bowl, blend eggs, milk, vanilla and salt. Dip bread slices in egg batter; set on sheet pan to drain.
Generously oil medium-hot griddle or pan. Sauté bread 2 min. on each side or until browned; keep warm.
In large pan, gently heat strawberry-rhubarb jam; toss with sliced strawberries.
For each serving, place 1 slice warm French toast on plate; spoon 1/2 cup warm strawberry-rhubarb jam over toast. Top with another slice of toast, and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

Yield: 3 pints

Strawberries, stemmed	1 lb.
Sherry vinegar	1 Tbsp.
Granulated sugar	1 Tbsp.
Onions, diced	7½ oz.
Cinnamon stick	1
Rhubarb, unpeeled, cut in 1-in. pieces	6½ oz.
Lemon juice	¼ cup
Powdered pectin	3½ oz.
Granulated sugar	2¼ lb.
Salt	1 tsp.
Black pepper	½ tsp.

In food processor, coarsely chop strawberries; set aside.
In 5-qt. saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, onions and cinnamon stick. Bring to simmer; cook and stir 8 to 10 minutes or until onions caramelize. Add strawberries and rhubarb.
Stir in lemon juice and pectin; bring to full boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar all at once, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a rolling boil; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim foam if necessary. Stir in salt and pepper.
Divide jam evenly among 3 sanitized pint jars with lids; cool. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.