Wake up
Brunch with
BY NICHOLAS DEKKER
I
n my nearly 15 years of writing about breakfast and brunch, I’ve been amazed at how the morning meal constantly grows and changes. I’ll think I’ve seen it all — eggs Benedicts, Bloody Marys, corned beef hash — but then restaurants across Ohio will surprise me with creative renditions of classic dishes. It’s what keeps me exploring on my blog, BreakfastWithNick.com. Nothing beats cozying up to a filling brunch and a breakfast cocktail during the winter months, and here are a few favorites across the Buckeye State. The Pearl is an upscale gastropub with locations in Dublin and Columbus’ Short North Arts District. The accommodations are both cozy and modern, the perfect backdrop for brunch. We got started with oysters on the half shell, plus the deviled eggs and the Devils on Horseback, aka baconwrapped dates. Don’t miss jalapeño corn spoon bread, the Tavern 26 |
Ohio Liquor OHLQ.com
Benny with buttermilk biscuits, and decadent shrimp and grits. To accompany it all, we had to order the Bourbon. Bacon. Beautiful. cocktail, a salty and sweet concoction blending fat-washed Larceny Bourbon, grapefruit shrub, maple syrup, and candied bacon. Located close to Cleveland’s West Side Market, Soho Chicken + Whiskey features two of my favorite things in their name. The Sunday brunch infuses new ideas into Southern favorites like beignets with chocolate and raspberry jam, cornmeal hush puppies with sausage gravy, fried chicken with rosemary waffles, and eggs Benedict with fried green tomatoes. The brunch cocktails lean heavily into whiskey and tequila, with hits like the Tee Time with bourbon, Pimm’s and peach shrub, or the De La Soul with tequila, blood orange, grapefruit, agave, and lime. I gravitated towards java-based cocktails like the hot Kitchen
THE PEARL: CAMERON MITCHELL RESTAURANTS; SOHO CHICKEN + WHISKEY SOHO CHICKEN + WHISKEY
PICTURED: Bourbon Bacon cocktail at The Pearl. RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: Hush Pups and Grain Mustard Cream and Fried Chicken Breakfast Sandwich at Soho Chicken + Whiskey.
