FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

.@EastsideCafeATX

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Val and I spent her 9th day in Austin continuing the adventure.  And since I hadn’t shown her much of the East Side, we headed that way.  We pulled up to a the Eastside Cafe, greeted by a simple sign in front of an understated bungalow, wanting more than just a delish brunch.  Seriously, I wanted to move in.  If I had to settle on a dream home, this would be it.

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We showed up just before 11 AM and were seated immediately in a cozy dining room.  The friendliest of servers brought us our coffee and tea, delivered a basket of unexpected and delicious jalapeño corn muffins, and steered us in the right ordering direction.

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Val went with the apple almond Belgium waffle, which had a presentation that couldn’t be beat.  A mound of freshly whipped cream, a bowl of apple compote, a mini pitcher of pure maple syrup – beautiful I tell ya!  I reached across the table and snagged a bite.  An A-Mazing bite for a savory breakfast lover and an even more A-Mazing meal for the sweet loving kind.

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This savory breakfast girl ordered the eggs florentine, which was served with a heaping stack of homefries.  They won me over with the use of fresh spinach that was only slightly wilted from the heat of the egg.  And the homefries, well, each square was cooked to homefry perfection.

Eastside Cafe quickly became my favorite brunch spot in Austin.  The food, the service, the atmosphere – the place was spot on in every instance.  The cafe alone is worth venturing over to the East Side, but the fact that they have such awesome neighbors makes the trip even more exciting!

I’ll be seeing you soon, Eastside Cafe!

@OxfordExchange

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As soon as Thanksgiving fullness wore off, Val and I started scheming about weekend brunch plans.  She suggested Oxford Exchange, the newest of her favorite places in Tampa town.  She described the concept and I was sold.

I woke up this morning beyond excited for brunch, appropriately humming Oxford Comma.

We sat in the main dining room, which was the perfect combo of light, airy, crisp, and cozy.  Every detail, from the wall tile to the ceiling panels to the light fixtures…  amazing.  Architecturally speaking, Oxford Exchange might just be the best restaurant thing Tampa has going on right now.

After I finished ooohing and ahhhing, I read through the varied, yet simple, menu.  My biggest brunch peeve is when a major breakfast component is forgotten.  That was certainly not the case with this menu.  Eggs, pancakes, oatmeal, lox, all covered.  We went with smoked salmon bagel and fresh berry pancakes and couldn’t have been more pleased.  The goodness and proportions were as equally thought out as the ambiance.

And when we finished up, the server brought us the check with a quote of the day.  It was the brunch equivalent of a fortune cookie, but cuter.

South Congress Brunch

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On Sunday morning, Emily and I swooped up my long-time friend, Shayne, from her hotel and headed to the brunchiest brunches of all brunches at South Congress Cafe. Shayne and Emily had met years ago, so it was a nice little reunion for all of us. An even nicer little reunion when the ginger mango mimosas arrived. Seriously? Seriously.

I hadn’t been to South Congress Cafe since my apartment hunting trip last February, which was totally ridiculous because their brunch is the best around. I stuck with a classic benedict that had finely sliced ham and perfectly poached eggs. I’m more of a meat-liker than a meat-lover, so the proportions of this dish were 100% my style.

Emily ordered the steak & migas and had a little love-at-first-sight moment when they arrived. Perhaps we all did, they were b-e-a-utiful.

And Shayne went with the daily special of gouda grits with pork shoulder and poached eggs. A day prior, I had just finished ranting to Emily about Austin’s inability to provide a solid cheese grit. After tasting Shayne’s grits, I had to eat my words and then eat more cheese grits – they were phenomenal!

And a little P.S. bonus… The wait will most likely be long, but the hostess will get your digits when you arrive and give you a ring when you’re next on the list. We were able to pop into a few shops while we waited, which made 45 minutes fly by.