Breakfast

Topside Baltimore is now open for breakfast and lunch

Topside Baltimore, a popular nightlife location in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore district, is now open for breakfast and lunch.  Today, I had the opportunity to check out their new weekday breakfast menu. I’ve been to Topside for weekend brunch a few times, so I decided to order a few items that I haven’t had.  I decided on the Chorizo Breakfast Burrito, Grilled French Toast and the Stonefruit-Tomato Tartine. When the food came out to my table, I could see the food styling influence of the new Executive Chef Scott Hines.  I had brunch at B&O when he was there and the food was beautiful and delicious.  I especially liked the thick bread loaf french toast because I’ve never seen it served like this anywhere else in Baltimore. The tartine featured a perfect balance of salty ricotta cheese spread on multigrain bread topped with sweet ripe peaches, I may go back and order that with just a cup of coffee.

After breakfast, I took a peek at the lunch menu and if features a few items that caught my eye.  I can’t wait to go back for lunch.

Be sure to follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …  

@ArlisAppetite on InstagramFacebook and Twitter.

Brunch at Spoons Café in Federal Hill

My favorite brunch buddy and I are up early on Sunday morning, I mean early like 8:00 am.  We’re ready to eat early too but most of the restaurants we frequent don’t open until 10:00 or 11:00 am.   Last Sunday, however, my friend wanted grits and I told her that I had the best cheesy grits at Spoons Café in Federal Hill, Baltimore.  We googled the hours and luckily they open at 8:00 am. We arrived at Spoons around 8:45 and half of the restaurant seating was already occupied. The hostess sat us quickly towards the rear of the restaurant at a two-seat table adjacent to the kitchen.  Spoons is a quaint restaurant space that looks like it could have been a house converted into a restaurant.

My friend and I order a carafe of Apple Cider Mimosas because it’s October and that means you drink apple cider.  That was my first time trying that flavor mimosa and I was impressed. I ‘d never thought to mix apple cider with champagne, but it was a fresh Fall take on the original mimosas. We scanned the menu and decided on The Beast, Fried Oysters and Grits, Deep-Fried Stuffed French Toast and the 2-2-2 (Two Eggs, Meat of your choice and French Toast or Pancakes).  I know, I know… we’re greedy.

The Beast
Fried Oysters and Grits
Deep-Fried Stuffed French Toast
Poached Eggs, French Toast and Scrapple

The Beast sandwich is — well you guessed it — A Beast. It’s a biscuit sandwich with buttermilk fried chicken, fried egg, smoked bacon, American cheese topped with sausage gravy.  Even though the menu describes it as a sandwich it’s not meant to be handheld, you have to eat this with a fork and knife.  In addition to the chicken and bacon, the sausage gravy added another meat element. The chicken was a tender cut, seasoned well and the biscuit was moist.  The Fried Oysters and Grits were my favorite. The oysters had a crispy, seasoned, thick batter on them, what you would call chicken-fried,  and the oyster inside was soft and fresh. The grits at Spoons are always great, even when I get them as a side with cheese, they are thick like grits should be. It also had an oyster sauce that was the consistency of soup and paired well with the oyster/seafood grits dish.  The Deep-Fried Stuffed French Toast was just light and flaky on the outside and stuffed with warm sweet cream on the inside, it’s the perfect portion to share.

Spoons is a great neighborhood restaurant with tasty food and great service. It’s the type of place you bring family that’s visiting from out of town, they’d love it.  They have beer and lunch options also. And because it’s in the heart of Federal Hill, you may want to stop at one of the nearby bars after brunch.

And always follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …  

  

 

Friday night brunch at Home Maid

Home Maid is a quaint brunch-only restaurant on Key Highway in the Federal Hill neighborhood.  The restaurant was originally located in Towson, but relocated to its current location in the Spring of 2016.  The location is only open Friday-Sunday and brunch/breakfast is served all day.  I visited on a Friday night for a private D’usse event hosted by Events 4 Good People.  Stepping into the restaurant was like stepping into my grandmother’s kitchen. There’s cute chicken patterned wallpaper, family-style photos in gold and silver frames and wooden chairs painted white. The restaurant has about 11 tables that seat four and a high-top bar area. Because it was a private event, the menu that night was limited and there was one server.

My friend and I decided that we would each order one dish and share with each other. I ordered the Blackened Salmon and Shrimp with Creamy Grits and my friend ordered the French Toast and Bacon.

In almost every instance that I eat salmon, it’s smothered in a tasty sauce but in this instance the dry rub salmon exceeded my expectations. It was prepared Cajun-style with a spicy rub and flavorful herbs. The cut was tender and juicy on the inside which let me know that the chef knew his way around the kitchen! The grits were thick and creamy almost the consistency of mashed potatoes and accompanied with the house sauce created a match made in heaven. The French Toast had a sweet caramel flavor with a crunchy outside texture served with whipped cream, fried plantains and sea salt.  If you notice on the photo the bacon didn’t come out with the French Toast, we had to ask for it again and it came out about 10 minutes later.

Besides the mishap with the bacon, Home Maid was a pleasant brunch experience.  It’s a little pricey though, the French Toast was $18.00 and the Salmon and Grits was $22.00.  In my opinion, Home Maid is the perfect place to brunch with family.

And always follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …  

  

 

 

Breakfast at The Corner Pantry

I read somewhere that The Corner Pantry  , just north of the Mt. Washington neighborhood had the best eggs.  I am a person who loves eggs and can’t eat breakfast without them so naturally I had to check it out for myself.

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Literally tucked on the corner of a quant shopping center on Falls Road is a cute brown brick restaurant with a stripped awning.  I found a parking spot directly in front of the café and immediately noticed the rustic green tables used for outdoor seating and the sidewalk chalkboard used to display the daily specials.  Inside the café there are about six tables and two long window ledge tables with hightop chairs and the kitchen area has an open window concept.

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Freshly made pastries sit behind a glass enclosed window and the self-serve cold counter includes yogurt, fruit and nuts.  The friendly cashier advised me to take my time looking over the menu after I told her I was a newbie to The Corner Pantry.  I did mention to her that I wanted to try the eggs and she suggested the bacon, egg and cheddar sandwich with house-made bacon and biscuit.

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The food arrived fast and as you can see picture perfect. The bacon was thick and with a little spice and the eggs were fluffy and cheesy.  I was a little hesitant about eating only the sandwich and contemplated ordering something else on the side because I didn’t think it would be  enough but I was wrong.  The sandwich was big and stuffed with egg and bacon, I was so full that I couldn’t finish the entire biscuit.  I also ordered a cappuccino and it was tasty, but I wish it was hotter, I understand they don’t want to serve it extremely hot for fear it might burn someone, but my drink was almost room temperature.  I would definitely check out The Corner Pantry again just for this delicious egg sandwich.  Have you been to The Corner Pantry?  What is your favorite dish to order?

And always follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …  

  

Bottomless Brunch at Cava Mezze

If you mention the word “Bottomless” to me I get excited, especially if you are speaking about food or drink. I’ve recently heard some buzz about Cava Mezze (1302 Fleet Street), a fairly new restaurant in Harbor East, Baltimore. The main thing I heard about was their .1 bottomless mimosas…yes one cent! This Sunday I went there with my best friend to check it out.

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The weekend bottomless brunch is from 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, so we knew we had to get there extra early or a little late to beat the crowd. As my best friend and I pulled up to the restaurant around 2:00 pm,  we noticed there was a small crowd of seven people outside. Inside all tables and booths were occupied.  I overheard the host ask a party of five if they had reservations and there would be a 30-40 minute wait. Because it was just us two, the friendly host advised us that there was seating space at the bar. We actually prefer the bar seating because you get better service and a faster return on your requests because the bartender is in eyeshot. If you are coming with a party of three or more, I would suggest making reservations.

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We went to the bar and was greeted by a the bartender, he began to tell us the deal with the bottomless brunch and mimosas.  The brunch is a $30.00 flat fee and it’s all you can eat, you can choose whatever you want from a menu of 21 items. The items are served on small plates in smaller portions, perfect for sharing. The mimosas are .1 if you purchase the brunch option and they are also bottomless. If you don’t want the all-you-can-eat brunch,  the mimosas are $5.00 each. They also offer $2.00 Bloody Mary or Sangria with the bottomless brunch option.  I ordered an orange juice mimosa and my best friend ordered a grapefruit juice mimosa.

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We chatted with two young ladies sitting beside us at the bar and they had already ordered six items and gave us their suggestions.  Needless to say we went to town with out brunch choices…

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MINI CAVA BREAKFAST – fried egg, potato hash and bacon
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BREAKFAST BURRITO – chicken sage sausage, eggs, feta, tomato, onion, harissa topped with Greek yogurt
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SALMON BENNIE – hickory smoked, dill, hollandaise and capers
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CHICKEN SAGE SAUSAGE- house made chicken sausage and sage
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GRILLED CHEESE- tomato, aged barrel feta, oregano and olive oil
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NUTELLA WAFFLE- walnuts, nutella, bananas and cream
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SKILLET CAKE – pancakes with chocolate chips, powdered sugar and whipped cream
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VILLAGE FRITATTA- spinach, egg, feta, leeks and green onion
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FRENCH TOAST- thick cut challah, honey, berries and cream
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BANANAS FRITTERS – honey, walnuts and powdered sugar
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CRISPY PORK BELLY- Berkshire pork, thyme and honey

The food came out really fast, maybe 10 minutes after we ordered it. I would suggest ordering items in sets of three or four because it can get cold fast if you aren’t eating it right away.

Everything that we ordered was delicious.  I especially liked the meats and the sweets.   The chicken sausage with sage was so good that we ordered another serving.  The bacon that came with the Mini Cava Breakfast was think and filling. The Crispy Pork Belly was excellent and the honey added a sweetness to the savory pork. All of the sweet items were great. The Banana Fritters were my favorite, they remind me of the apple fritters my grandmother makes and my best friend especially liked the Nutella Waffle.

This restaurant atmosphere was chill and relaxing, letting all the light come in from the large open windows at the front.  They played 90’s music and kept the mimosas coming.  When the weather breaks I know this will be a popular brunch location in Harbor East.

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Have you been to the Bottomless Brunch at Cava Mezze? What did you think?

Be sure to follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on Instagram.com/Arlisappetite and twitter.com/ArliBaby.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Frittata

If you read my blog regularly I’m sure you’ve gathered that I love breakfast and brunch food. Recently I visited Dovecote Cafe in Baltimore, MD and I sampled a delicious sweet potato frittata – so delicious I decided to add sausage and recreate it.

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Sweet Potato and Sausage Frittata  

8 Eggs
Salt & Pepper
1/2 Cup of Grated Parmesan
1/2 Cup of Grated Cheddar Cheese
1 Onion Sliced
1 Sweet Red Pepper sliced
2 Sweet Potatoes Cubed
1 Cup of Spinach
2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Onion Powder
2 Tbsp. Goya Sazon Seasoning
4 Cooked/Browned Sausage Patties or 1 Cup of Sausage Crumbles

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Preparation : Preheat oven at 400 degrees. In a large deep cast iron skillet over medium heat, cook/brown sausage.  Remove from pan and add sliced onions, saute for 5 minutes or until brown.  Place cubed sweet potatoes in a microwave safe dish, top dish with two wet paper towels and microwave for 5 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and spinach to sautéed onions and cook for an additional 10 minutes over medium heat.  Whisk Eggs in a bowl or large dish, add cheese and all dry spices.  Once the spinach wilts add cooked sausage and egg mixture to the skillet.  Place skillet in oven for 25 minutes.

A quick and easy breakfast dish for one, two or a family meal.  I’m thinking the next time I’ll make a Greek Frittata or a Seafood Frittata.  Do you have a favorite Frittata recipe?

 

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