Time was when Sunday brunch meant one thing — an overcrowded buffet. You grabbed your plate, joined the long line of hopeful diners and contemplated a phalanx of chafing dishes boasting 23 varieties of scrambled eggs, overdressed pasta salads, picked-over fish fillets and eggs Benedicts dating back to the Paleozoic era. And then you watched helplessly as the fellow in front of you speared the last sausage link.
Then it was eat and repeat: Back to the line, in hopes of finding crisper bacon or a replenished pasta entree (there’s an art to spotting the waiters with fresh food trays as they emerge from the kitchen), then hustling back to the table before your coffee got cold. Repeat as needed to justify the price you paid.
Happily, things have improved.
At today’s brunch, particularly in the city, the customer is more likely to be handed a menu than an empty plate. Many restaurants prefer a la carte brunches, their menus full of not-the-usual-suspects dishes such as lobster hash, shredded-pork tostadas and loup de mer. And buffet operators are wooing patrons with fancy pates, elaborate seafood presentations, rack of lamb and other luxury touches.
“We never considered a buffet here,” says John Manilow, owner of John’s Place, a 90-seat neighborhood restaurant in Lincoln Park that serves a popular a la carte brunch. “Seeing eggs in a chafing dish is kind of gross. I think buffets are more of a hotel thing.”
The mainstays of buffet brunches have always been big properties — banquet halls, golf clubs, hotels — that have the space and manpower to handle buffets efficiently. And those properties that put on elaborate, relatively expensive brunches appear to be thriving. But not all hotels are interested in brunch on such a large scale.
In the last 18 months, five luxury hotels — exactly the sort of properties that might be expected to feature a lavish Sunday buffet — have opened in downtown Chicago. None — not the Park Hyatt, Peninsula, Le Meridien, W City Center or W Lakeshore — offers a buffet brunch.
Other hotels — the Hyatt Regency Chicago, the Westin River North and the Palmer House Hilton — feature brunch buffets only on Easter and Mother’s Day (the most popular brunch Sundays of the year, when a sellout is virtually guaranteed). And the Hotel Monaco actually discontinued its Sunday brunch buffet; now the restaurant is dark on Sundays and offers an a la carte Saturday brunch. “I’m not a big buffet fan,” says Gerhard Doll, executive chef of the Peninsula Chicago Hotel. “I don’t think it fits with our image. And the idea of people going up five times to fill their plates is probably history.”
Avenues, the fine-dining seafood restaurant inside the Peninsula, serves an a la carte brunch that includes a cold seafood assortment, daily soup and a selection of cooked-to-order entrees. There is a buffet component — a serve-yourself table with smoked salmon, breakfast pastries and sweets — but it’s a small part of the overall experience.
“The layout of our restaurant isn’t well-suited for setting up banquet tables and 10 chafing dishes,” Doll says. “I’d rather do a la carte brunch for 70, and charge a bit more, than serve a buffet for 200 and the next day need a new carpet.”
The trend away from buffets is fueled by several factors.
Quality: “All you can eat” is not a selling point to some diners, who judge food by quality, not quantity. Operations that emphasize quantity can create the impression that quality is lacking. Cooked-to-order dishes enjoy a perception of higher quality.
Variety: Some chefs find buffet-style dining creatively stifling. “With plated entrees,” says Doll, “You can do anything.” By contrast, certain dishes aren’t suited to sit in chafing dishes, which keep food warm for extended periods of time. “You can do very nice things in chafing dishes,” says Doll. “Pasta, lasagna, baked fish — there’s nothing wrong with them. But you can’t compare that to a fresh risotto with seared scallops.”
Cost: An elaborate buffet requires special equipment — chafing dishes, table skirts, carving stations — and extra staffers. A sparsely patronized buffet can waste a lot of food and money. “Some of the places that have done buffets forever do a fabulous job,” says Peter Grills, director of operations for Cornerstone management (Wave, one sixtyblue). “For us to compete with them at an economical level would be very, very difficult.”
Efficiency: Buffets are good at feeding a great many diners in a relatively short time, but that efficiency isn’t necessarily as evident on a smaller scale. “My kitchen can crank it up fast,” Manilow says of his a la carte brunch at John’s Place. “We can serve people faster than people can serve themselves.”
Interaction: Compared with full-service dining, buffets can seem impersonal, especially to restaurants that put a high premium on attentive service. “Our clientele considers service to be an important part of their experience,” says Frank Mendoza, executive chef of We restaurant in W City Center Hotel. “They desire the interaction between server and guest that a buffet just cannot give.”
Though all-you-can-eat buffets have often been marketed as a bargain (eat a week’s worth of groceries for one low price), the brunch buffets that are thriving are among the most expensive in town. Business reportedly is up, modestly, at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, whose tony buffet goes for $51 (increasing to an eye-popping $75 on Easter and Mother’s Day) and at the similarly priced Four Seasons Chicago. But both properties make a conscious effort to make their brunches as unlike a “typical” buffet as possible. And, not coincidentally, they address many of the factors that scare restaurants away from buffets.
“We go for a very residential look,” says Tanya Wagner, assistant food and beverage director at the Ritz-Carlton, where buffet items are arrayed on tables that look more like fine furniture than banquet-hall tables. “You feel like you’re walking through a buffet catered in your living room.”
And the Ritz-Carlton puts out a lavish feed, with such dishes as salmon en croute, roasted duck and prime rib. There’s a children’s buffet at a low table, its chafing dishes filled with pizza, mac and cheese and hot dogs. Seatings are staggered to eliminate long lines at the food stations.
The Four Seasons is in the midst of adding custom-designed stations, with the look of fine furniture, to replace its buffet serving stations. “For us and I think a lot of places, we’re putting much more effort into brunch,” says executive chef Mark Baker. “If you have a glass or two of champagne with our brunch, you’re spending as much as you would for dinner; obviously, we have to provide more of an experience.”
And so Baker features such upscale items as rack of lamb, seared ahi tuna and an abundance of shrimp and crab claws. “People are more discerning,” Baker says. “They’ve set their expectations higher.”
So don’t count out buffets completely. Christine Dowd, executive chef at the Hotel Monaco, says she might even resurrect the hotel’s Sunday buffet brunch by September.
“I still think you can do a buffet, but you have to do it right,” Dowd says. “The customer has to feel there’s a bit of extravagance to it.”
The best brunch bets in the city, a la carte and buffet
Following are some of my favorite city brunches, a la carte and buffet. Keep in mind that prices typically increase for Easter and Mother’s Day.
For more brunch ideas, log on to Metromix.com. And I’ll have suburban brunch spots on this page next week:
ADOBO GRILL, 1610 N. Wells St., 312-266-7999. A la carte brunch is served noon-2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. A la carte items include tamales de pollo, huevos Imperilaes and a Mexican-accented French toast.
AVENUES, PENINSULA CHICAGO, 108 E. Superior St., 312-573-6754. This elegant and pricey seafood specialist begins brunch by presenting a three-tiered tray of seafood at each table; following soup, patrons select from entrees such as caramelized almond-ricotta pancakes and pan-fried tenderloin with chipotle hollandaise sauce. Cost is $69.
BISTRO 110, 110 E. Pearson St., 312-266-3110. Grady Johnson and his Dixieland Jazz Band perform at this lively a la carte brunch, serving eggs Louisiana, bistro French toast, duck hash and steak with poached eggs hollandaise.
BLACKHAWK LODGE, 41 E. Superior St., 312-280-4080. Specialties on the a la carte menu include salmon Benedict, berries-stuffed French toast, spiced pumpkin waffles and cheddar cheese grits. Music by the Bashful Brothers.
CAFE 28, 1800 W. Irving Park Rd., 773-528-2883. A la carte brunch is offered Saturday and Sunday at this Cuban/Mexican spot; dishes include crab cakes Benedict with spicy hollandaise. The place is small, so arrive early.
CALITERRA, Wyndham Chicago, 633 N. St. Clair St., 312-274-4444. The “brunch on wheels” at Caliterra is a variation on the dim-sum format; patrons are served a wide range of tasting-portion dishes, which are wheeled to each table on small carts. There’s a fixed price of $36 adults, $12 ages 12 and under. Dishes vary but may include seared tuna nicoise salad, foccacia eggs Benedict, polenta-crusted halibut and hot chocolate bread pudding.
CHILPANCINGO, 358 W. Ontario St., 312-266-9525. The a la carte brunch menu includes breakfast items such as chilaquiles and various egg dishes, along with items from the regular menu. Finish with Cafe Xtabentun, a flaming coffee drink.
DELEECE, 4004 N. Southport Ave., 773-325-1710. Fun neighborhood hangout whose quirky a la carte menu features such favorites as smoked-salmon scramble and an excellent artichoke and goat-cheese frittata. I love the cinnamon-orange French toast.
ERWIN, 2925 N. Halsted St., 773-528-7200. Erwin Drechsler’s homey neighborhood restaurant has a great a la carte menu, with a yummy smoked-salmon eggs Benedict, and eggs any style with basil-seasoned sausage or applewood-smoked bacon. And there’s valet parking on Sundays.
HOUSE OF BLUES, 329 N. Dearborn St., 312-923-2000. HOB’s brunch combines a Southern-style buffet (fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, jambalaya, cornbread, plus traditional egg dishes) with performances by local gospel choirs. $35 adults, $15 ages 6 to 12. Seatings are at 9:30 a.m. and noon. Advance ticket purchase required.
INA’S, 1235 W. Randolph St., 312-226-8227. This neighborhood spot serves its acclaimed a la carte breakfast menu from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays. On Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, Ina’s will feature a special breakfast buffet, served in the upstairs dining room, for parties of eight or more only (regular a la carte menu served downstairs). Cost is $16.75 adults, $7.75 children under 8. Reservations required for the large-party buffet.
JOHN’S PLACE, 1200 W. Webster St., 773-525-6670. The a la carte brunch includes roasted chicken and cheese scramble, chorizo burrito, pumpkin pancakes, chilaquiles and various omelets. Many entrees available in half orders.
NAPA VALLEY GRILLE, 626 N. State St., 312-587-1166. This River North newcomer augments its regular lunch menu with a page of brunch entrees, among them lobster hash, eggs Monterey and a house-made sausage plate. Order a brunch entree and get a complimentary mimosa.
PARK AVENUE CAFE, 199 E. Walton Pl., 312-944-4414. 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The cafe offers a fixed-price “American dim sum” brunch, in which rolling carts deliver tasting-size portions of some 35 items, such as beignets with strawberry jam, mini pancakes and thyme-roasted lamb loin. $38 adults, $14 children under 12.
RITZ-CARLTON CHICAGO HOTEL, 160 E. Pearson St., 312-266-1000. Seatings are at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for the weekly brunch in the Dining Room. Buffet includes salmon en croute, made-to-order omelets, fish station, Asian station, dessert buffet and a kid’s-height children’s buffet. $51 adults, $18 ages 4-12. Reservations required.
SALPICON!, 1252 N. Wells St., 312-988-7811. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. A la carte brunch, including authentic Mexican dishes such as huevos Mexicana, chilaquiles and grilled steak with spicy salsa. Appetizers include lobster ceviche, shredded-pork tostadas and tamales with a serrano-tomatillo sauce.
SEASONS, Four Seasons Hotel, 120 E. Delaware Pl., 312-280-8800. Elaborate buffet brunch includes specialty stations for seafood, Asian cuisine, Midwestern dishes, vegetarian items, pastries and traditional breakfast items. Cost is $51 adults, $15 ages 4-12. Reservations required.
SIGNATURE ROOM AT THE 95TH, John Hancock Center, 875 N. Michigan Ave., 312-787-9596. One of the most popular brunches in the city is the sky-high buffet served here, which includes such delights as imported cheeses, domestic caviars, whole-poached salmon and much more. Regular hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; cost is $35.95 adults, $15 ages 4-12. Reservations highly recommended.
WE, W CHICAGO–CITY CENTER, 172 W. Adams St., 312-332-1200. This French cafe in the Loop generally serves breakfast, not brunch, but on Easter and Mother’s Day the menu will expand to include ham and grits with quail-egg toast, German pecan pancakes and other dishes. The regular menu includes smoked salmon, pecan waffles and pancakes.
