Four Chicago restaurants have just added new weekend brunch service to their offerings, further proving what we already knew: brunch is the hottest meal of the day. Here’s a rundown of the four new brunches and what you can expect from each menu.
20 East
20 East, the new restaurant inside the just-renovated Talbott Hotel, launched its brunch service on Father’s Day weekend. The menu includes reimagined classics like Baked Crab Cake Benedict served on an English muffin with hollandaise and chives; healthy options like Egg White Frittata with avocado, baby arugula, grape tomatoes, lemon, olive oil, parmesan, and cracked pepper and a Green Smoothie Bowl with fresh berries, chia seeds, sliced banana, and toasted coconut; plus originals like Monkey Bread with caramel, walnuts, and whipped cream.
What would brunch be without cocktails, you ask? 20 East has those covered, too. The 20E Bloody Mary features vodka, tomato juice, pickles, and pepper; try the Hemingway Daiquiri with rum, maraschino, grapefruit, and lime; or make a trip or two to the Build-Your-Own Mimosa Bar with an assortment of juices. Brunch at 20 East served every Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
The Blanchard
Executive Chef Ryan Burns created a brasserie-inspired menu for his Lincoln Park bistro’s first foray into brunch service, which started earlier this month. Offerings include Oeuf Outhier, featuring soft scramble egg, vodka spiked creme fraiche, chive, and golden ossetra caviar; Spiced Peach Pain Perdu with slow-poached peaches, baking spices, chamomile cream, rum raisin syrup; and of course, Croque Monsieur, with smoked Nueske’s ham, fromage gruyere, sauce bechemel. Parents rejoice: brunch service include a kid-friendly prix fixe menu with items like Heritage Green Circle chicken fingers; penne pasta fromage brulee; build-your-own burger and jambon and cheese, making it an ideal stop on the way to the Green City Market or Lincoln Park Zoo.
The exclusive brunch cocktail menu, created by Michael Simon (of Acadia, the Wit, and Celeste), includes a Sex on the Beach and Alabama Slammer.
Weekend brunch at The Blanchard is offered from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Osteria Via Stato
For its first stab at brunch service in the 12 years its been open, Osteria Via Stato created a menu with an Italian twist. Among Chef David DiGregorio’s offerings: House-made Sausage and Vegetable Strata with layered ciabatta, egg custard, roasted peppers, onions and provolone; Ciabatta French Toast with fresh berries and pure maple syrup; and a featured Brunch Pizza: the Nueskies Black-Peppered Bacon Pizza with hand-pulled mozzarella, Nueske black pepper bacon, caramelized onions and farm egg.
One-up your usual mimosa with a Bellini bar with seasonal fruit purees or try The Sgroppino with housemade lemon sorbetto, vodka and prosecco.
Brunch is available Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Maple & Ash
Maple & Ash is now carrying over its lavish menu offerings to midday. The Gold Coast restaurant debuted the poshest menu of the new Chicago brunches the first weekend in June, featuring standouts like a Fire-Roasted Seafood Tower with oysters, scallops, Maine Lobster, Manila Clams, Gulf Shrimp and Alaskan King Crab, or a 60-ounce, 60-day dry-aged steak (that will run you $250), plus a brunch buffet featuring options like a Fontina Cheese Market Omelette with black truffle, Brioche French Toast, Fire-Roasted Prawns, and more.
For $25, you can pair your brunch with Bottomless Bubbles.
Brunch is offered on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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