Even though this place has more cobwebs than a G-train subway stop, I’ve been getting brunch every weekend. Really good ones too. I went back to Spoon and had great conversation on the state of blogging with Mashable’s Adam Ostrow, and just today I went to The Food Experiment’s awesomely successful Brooklyn Brunch Experiment.

I brought my big DSLR a couple times, transferred a couple of those to the computer, but nothing made it up to the site. Meanwhile, I was documenting the whole thing via my personal twitter account. Location, photos, notes on food quality.

Lightbulb moment.

If you clicked any of those links up there, odds are they went to a twitter related item.

While rebuilding Brunchable has been on my mind for a couple months, yesterday I spent a couple hours brainstorming on the proper format, and some design concepts. The one thing I know for certain is that this is going to use twitter as a platform.

If you follow us on twitter, you’ll be the first to know about the latest and greatest. Photos and reviews almost in real time. If you frequent the site, you’ll have access to past collections of tweets and media by location and occasionally long form pieces if the brunch was truly special.

A couple of weeks — ok, MONTHS — back Sabah and Myself hit up The General Greene for brunch. Duh.

I love this restaurant, really. I love the way they serve the dishes in cast iron skillets, and how they use real ingredients from local farms. I had the blood sausage omelet, and I can’t quite exactly remember what Sabah had. I’m going to blame the Irish coffee I enjoyed with my brunch on this day for this current bout of forgetfulness.

However, I was a little bit disappointed with the service at the General Greene. The hostess sat us, and we waited at our table without beverages for a good ten minutes before somebody decided to “check in” on us. At that point we had to force the “server” to take our order.

So, to reiterate, aside from the bum service the General Greene is an excellent Brunchable location. I give it 3 out of 5, um, Brunchables.

When sunshine happens to present itself during one of NYC’s still-crappy April days, you can find us not only brunching, but brunching outdoors. One of the best places to do so is at Greenpoint favorite Enid’s. Situated atop the bustling McCarren Park, Enid’s is the brunch spot to take in the neighborhood, and last weekend, spring worshippers were out, rolling by on their fixed gears, throwing their Frisbees, and peeking out behind wayfarers to check the progress of their barely-there tans.

Even if we hadn’t scored a table outside, the window-lined joint allows for excellent people watching. Without this, it’d be easy to get antsy waiting for sluggish servers to deliver coffee, water, orange juice, coffee, food, coffee and a check – all of which was our fate, in that order. But no matter, Enid’s is far from a place for the fussy, and nothing is more a testament to this fact than their menu of straight-up, down-home hangover food.

To wit: the morning special was Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and something else that came fried atop Eggs Benedict. I passed on both for another coma-inducing plate, the menu standby Hungry Bear. Sure, it boasts a cute name, but the dish is a fully flooring affair. With eggs and a protein of your choice (veggie sausage for me) anchored by fluffy biscuits, it seems we’ve got a classic breakfast sandwich. But the whole thing comes housed by heaps of gravy, under which the pillowy ingredients can’t help but yield. By the end of brunch, I was practically spoon feeding myself a concoction that could have been re-coined the Mushy Bear, and somehow that was not such a bad thing. Plus, a meal like this is easy enough to throw back knowing that afterwards, you can become one of the people-watched and sleep it all off in the park next door.

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Full disclosure: I totally got this meal for free. Big thanks to Paige and the Spoon PR team. You certainly know how to make a small-time blogger feel like a big shot.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk brunch.

As you’ve probably noticed, I normally don’t stray outside of my 10-block Manhattan comfort zone. When I’m jonesing for a breakfast/lunch chimera, proximity often outweighs diversity. While on my last snowboard trip to VT, I ran into a sage who spoke of a land where street numbers run into the 20’s (!) and buildings are shaped like flat irons. In this mythical place, there is a catering company called Spoon that has a storefront which recently started offering brunch service. I thanked this traveler for her insight and added it to my to-do list.

This morning I strapped my camera around my neck, hopped on my bike, and threw caution to the wind. Remarkably, I made it to 17 West 20th St. unscathed. Well, mostly unscathed. Cut down in the prime of its life by a insurgent glass shard in the street, my rear tire did not survive the trip. After a quick detour to a bike shop, I was ready to nosh.

One of the first things I noticed about Spoon was its relaxed atmosphere. Behind the pastry/deli counter, the hand-laid mosaic tiles, mis-matched furniture, worn pastel colors and fresh flowers gave me the feel of a french cafe meets mom’s kitchen. The attention to detail actually reminded me of a Keith McNally restaurant (Balthazar, Schiller’s, Pastis), but while they serve bread from Balthazar’s bakery, Spoon is family-owned and operated.

Before you get all worked up, Spoon is currently BYOB. They serve a virgin Bloody Mary which I’ll talk about in a bit, but they do not have a liquor bar. Booze and Brunch go together so well that at times I find them hard to separate. Shockingly, I was able to enjoy this meal while completely lucid. If you can’t go without, pack a little Vodka in a flask and teach that drink a thing or to.

Spoon makes a point of paying attention to where their ingredients come from. They only serve Stumptown direct trade coffee, and their meats and eggs are locally sourced and organic.

On the suggestion of the waiter, I ordered the Brook Trout and Grits. It is served with “pan-seared lemon zest and thyme with Gorgonzola grits cake, frisee, and radicchio.” I also ordered a coffee and their virgin Bloody Mary. I considered the pancakes, but I’m such a finicky pancake eater that the chance of it being too bread-y often causes me to skip them. The food arrived pretty quickly despite a packed house, and the presentation was top notch (see picture). You can check out the full brunch menu here.

Fish at breakfast is a risky thing (smoked salmon excluded). Done right, it can be light and refreshing, but done wrong and your whole morning can be thrown off. When I bit into the first forkful, I was pleasantly surprised to find it not too “trouty” with just the right amount of seasoning. I was tempted to not even use the lemon garnish because it was so tasty out of the oven.

Grits is another risky move. I’m from the south, and I know what grits are. These were balled up into a patty and cooked just long enough to be crispy. The Gorgonzola was a subtle but inspired addition. Definitely not your traditional approach, but a unique and really tasty Spoon recipe.

The Bloody Mary, you ask? Oh right. Unfortunately, I’m not as aglow about the drink as I was about the plate. Right out of the gate, it had an overwhelming taste of smokey spice, like a plate of buffalo wings. Also, it came with an almost laughably large stalk of celery (see photo). In their defense, it was missing a key ingredient that we are accustomed to with this libation. For a place that doesn’t serve booze, their Bloody Mary was acceptable, but probably skippable in favor of the homemade lemonade or other offerings.

All in all, comp or no comp, I really enjoyed this brunch. The service was great but not in your face every 5-minutes asking how you are doing (huge pet peeve of mine!), and the prices were very reasonable. If you find yourself in the Flat Iron district between the hours of 9 and 1pm on the weekend, I highly recommend getting a spoonful at Spoon.

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When you hear about Spitzer’s Corner, people are generally talking about their extensive (we are talking huge) list of beers on tap. The wall behind the bar is literally crowded with pull handles brandishing logos from across the globe. It also turns out that they have a delicious brunch, complete with their in-house take on the Bloody Mary.

Seating is done “community style” on large wooden benches that span the room, and bar style seating around their large (typically open) windows. I recommend the window seats as they provide excellent people watching opportunities. Needless to say, the corner of Ludlow and Rivington is frequented by interesting personalities.

First things first: the booze:
Natasha ordered a Mimosa while I, too stubborn to stray from my tastes, boldly ordered their Bloody Mary even after they told me that it was “very different” and “might not be what I expect.” It turns out, they weren’t lying. If you are looking for a thick, tomato-y beverage with tons of veggies, look elsewhere. But if you are open to a drink more closely aligned with a margarita, full of heirloom tomato pulp and and spice (and a splash of strong vodka), then I recommend this one highly. This drink would be particularly tasty on a warm summer Sunday morning. After letting it sit in my stomach for a bit, I decided it was even worth a second round. Be warned that if you are like me and don’t appreciate an excessively salty drink, request that they not salt the rim. Oh, and Natasha said the Mimosa was tasty. Women.

After cruising the food menu (which is about a 1/3 the size of the drink menu), I decided on the Southern Omelette, featuring home fries and avocado. Being an omelette fan, the concept of avocado and egg seemed like a daring choice, but if done right, potentially very tasty. Boy was I wrong. I guess I was anticipating a garnish of avocado on top of the eggs, but the chef choose to cook them inside the dish. What resulted was a sulfurous heap of conflicting flavor that I was unable to finish. If you’ve produced a dish that even -I- won’t finish, you’ve got problems.

Luckily, Natasha has a stomach the size of a ping-pong ball, and I was able to swoop in and steal her Blueberry Pancake left-overs. I’m not a huge pancake fan because I tend to find them too “bready” and thick, forcing me to chug a lot of liquid to keep my mouth from drying out. Spitzer’s pancakes have caused me to re-evaluate everything I think I know about the dish. These were soft and fluffy, not overly sweet, prepared with fresh fruit, and some of the best authentic maple syrup I think I’ve ever had. Two major thumbs up.

Although not the trend on Brunchable, I actually returned to this restaurant for a second brunch before finishing this article. I had the same Bloody Mary (which was still wildly different yet very tasty), but decided to mix up the dish.

This time I went with the Smoked Salmon platter. Instead of the typical “tomato, red onion and cream cheese,” Spitzer’s Salmon dish comes with creme fraiche, slices of golden and purple beets, a sprig of dill and two lemon slices. The capers were true to custom, but instead of a bagel, they provide with you 3 slices of brown whole wheat bread.

All in all, it was a successful execution. The creme fraiche was light, and didn’t conflict with the beets. The three separate slices of bread prevented the need to pile everything onto one half of a bagel and make a mess as you try to get it into your mouth. If I had to criticize one part of dish, it would be that the Salmon was particularly flavorful. I wasn’t able to tell if this was because it wasn’t particularly fresh, or if it had been smoked for xx amount of time longer, but it had an almost overwhelming flavor.

The verdict? Stay away from the eggs, experience the Bloody Mary, and be prepared for strong flavors. 4 out of 5 brunchables.

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Supper is a well known restaurant in the East Village, home of great atmosphere and delicious food. Unfortunately, this was not my experience. Immediately upon entering its somewhat busy front room, I and my brunch-date were ushered past the kitchen, up a some steps and towards the ass-end of a communal table that might have been salvaged from a failed diner. Oh, and to add insult to injury, the room was drafty, forcing us to wear our jackets during the meal.

After scouring the menu, I decided on the Roasted Fennel and Fontina Omelette. I’m a big omelette fan and recent practitioner of omelette making, so title and description had my mouth watering. When it arrived (about 25 minutes later) I found the taste nor the luke-warm temperature to my liking. My company for the meal had the organic pancakes which she reported [3rd party reporting at its best] as being dry and over-cooked. She left more than 1/2 off it on the plate.

But the real salt on the wound, what kicked me while I was down, was the Bloody Mary. It had waay too much lemon in it, a pitiful quantity of vodka, and boring veggies (lime AND lemon, and an albino stalk of ancient looking celery).

In the defense of this restaurant, I’ve had perfectly delicious dinners with good service and reasonable room temperatures at Supper before. But thank god they didn’t name this restaurant “Brunch,” because it’s namesake sucks at 156 E. 2nd street. Don’t waste your time.

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Little Giant, on the corner of Orchard and Broome, seems to be titled self-referentially: “Little portions, Giant prices.” The good thing is that their food is pretty damn tasty.

Being a veggie, I haven’t extensively sampled their menu, but I can say with confidence that they know a thing or two about making a biscuit, their home made gravy is drool-worthy, and their Bloody Mary will make crawling out of bed on the weekend worth it.

The friendly wait staff happily replaced the sausage patty that typically accompanies their biscuit and gravy dish with a very tasty tomato slice which I feel was a worthy pairing for the poached egg and small side salad. If I had to be harsh about any part of the meal, it would be that the gravy and biscuit, while moist, were a slight bit on the salty side. Luckily, Little Giant gives each table their own decanter of water.

But on to the star of the show: the Bloody Mary. Little Giant’s rendition of everyone’s favorite early morning alcoholic beverage is a top contender for my favorites spot. Although they tend to mix up the accoutrement, you are guaranteed to have a tasty selection of crisp veggies to munch on while or after you consume the beverage. Spicy pickled string beans, regular and golden beets, and chunks of jicama made this a destination I would DEFINITELY recommend. Just remember to hit the ATM, their brunch is cash only.

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Noho Star. The restaurant’s name properly reflects the area’s fine cuisine which includes Two Boots, Gonzales y Gonzales (aka the neon sombrero), Wendy’s, and Subway. So, it came to no surprise that brunch at Noho consisted of underwhelming bloody marys and, adding insult to injury, an annoying clientele (children, tourists, and NYU freshmen) and food not worth the total bill.

While the bloody mary has perfected its form with a delicate balance of sauces and spices, Noho thought it’d be great to substitute its traditional tabasco/horseradish/rochestershire base with just lots of balsamic vinegar. Topped with a salad of chives, this drink’s flavors were more appropriate for bruschetta.

It baffles me that a restaurant could so terribly mess up a staple of east coast brunch. While the food was tolerable (ok, it wasn’t bad) and the service was prompt, they receive an epic FAIL for their inability to deliver on something so essential to brunch.

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Randomly selecting a restaurant for Sunday brunch can be risky,  and this weekend the gamble did not pay off.   Our (random) choice = was the Oak Wine Bar & Cafe on Graham Ave. I was lured in by the appeal of Ricotta Blueberry Pancakes, but the actual menu item that was presented was reminiscent of wet cardboard. Allow me to summarize my experience: Junk.

I didn’t bother to take any photos because I didn’t want to remember how bad this brunch was.

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Eli: I had the Huevos Rancheros with white beans, pico de gallow, and sourdough toast which was delicious, and a bloody mary, both of which were delicious. The service was fast and attentive, although I highly recommend asking for “no salt” with the bloody mary otherwise it arrives frosted like the rim of a margarita.

The serving was perfect, and I had enough bread to carry me to the end of the meal.

Overall, I give Bar Martignetti 7 out of 10 brunchables. The service was extemely fast, the food was delicious, and the price was reasonable. If I had one complaint, it would be that while the interior design is slick and detailed, it is almost too much so. I get the feeling that I’m eating in a corporate chain-style restaurant, a finely greased machine. If this is your thing, they have it in spades. I happen to like my dining experience to feel a little more “home made.”

Also, while I didn’t indulge, Bar Martignetti has a “brother” drink to the Bloody Mary named the “Bloody Bull.” Out of curiosity, I asked what made the difference. “Beef broth,” I was told. YUK.

Julseas: With large windows and shabby chic table settings, Bar Martignetti boasts a big bistro feel with no hint of brunch-time pretentiousness. There was no wait (even though their Bloody Marys merit one) and they sat me solo while I waited for Eli (where do they ever let you do that?). Still, there was one minor setback: Shire’d? Sheared? Sure’d? Even the waiter seemed unsure on how to pronounce the Shirred Eggs plate I ordered. But the dish was a cheesy triumph, loaded with a mild gruyere and supplemented with a few fluffy slices of brioche toast. Heavy, to be sure, but with a pucker thanks to generous dollops of tomato concasse.