The Age of Brunch

Brunch. This one word seems to have popped up from nowhere and taken the Nairobi food scene by storm. One minute we were all meeting for breakfast and the next thing, we’re spamming our friends with the latest brunch offerings from our favourite restaurants. Where did it come from though? We would love to give you a definitive answer but the truth is that no one is really concerned about where it came from. In truth, we’re all planning outfits, scrolling through timelines and making calls trying to prepare for the next day when we can indulge in lunch for breakfast. Or was it breakfast for lunch?

When you think of brunch, what probably comes to mind is French toast, poached eggs, bacon and the iconic avocado toast. If none of these sound abrunch dishes such as burgers, waffles and fried chicken, bao buns and more. This mid-morning meal has evolved into something so versatile that you can even have brunch at 3pm without offending anyone. There are no hard and fast rules on what types of brunch exist but one thing for sure is that you have probably experienced the hangover brunch, the boozy brunch, the catch up with your friends brunch and the dessert brunch. 2019 saw restaurants take brunch to a global scale, adding different cultural cuisines to menus, incorporating healthier options and turning it into a family affair. You’ve probably been invited to a home brunch or two as well and this is only going to get more popular.

Home brunching gives you the freedom to pick your own food and eat from the comfort of your home without having to worry about leaving the table for the next set of people. Let’s take a look at The Big Brunch that happened at Ikigai Westlands on 23rd February 2020. The theme was pajamas and the timing was loose enough to accommodate even the latest brunchgoers. Convention was thrown out the window and brunch included a coffee and pastry station, giant shakshuka set up and more croissants on the tables than anyone could truly finish. You would be mistaken to assume that a concept this new would not be popular but guests showed up in plenty to find out how well brunch and pajamas go together.

Brunch is one of those meals that like High Tea, could be considered a little bit stuffy but once you take a step back you realise that the minute the words breakfast and lunch were combined into a word now recognised in dictionaries, all rules were thrown out of the window. This is why if you are hungover and just want something to help settle your stomach or if you need a reason to dress up and meet your friends, brunch is there for you!

Regardless of one’s stance on the matter, brunch is simply a meal that becomes what one makes of it. Whether had at home, in a fancy restaurant or in a garden dressed in pajamas, the food and comfort one feels are what truly makes the meal. A combination of breakfast foods and fruity alcoholic mimosas seems to be the idle bait to drag people out of bed on the weekends.

With the ever-increasing number of brunch places, it can seem taxing figuring out where to eat or how to go about hosting your own. If you’re looking to dip your toe into the wondrous world of brunch, then take a couple of pages out of The Big Brunch. You don’t have to have the beautiful and expansive grounds of Ikigai Westlands to have a successful brunch. Pick your spot, have fun with your themes and find a way to inject some life into this sensation that won’t be going anywhere any time soon.