Sunday…Sunday…What was it that you were supposed to remember? [forehead smack!] Mothers day. No brunch plans yet? (Like the woman who spent a decade bugging you to get your homework in on time didn’t see this one coming). Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Brunch Plan #1
Not typically open for weekend morning repasts, Restaurant Kolumbia (which ranked #42 on our list of100 Best Restaurants) is whipping up a $48 ($24 for children) three-course brunch between 11:30 AM and 3 PM. There are still plenty of prime-time tables, probably because it’s downtown K Street location projects a whiff of stuffy power-suit dining.
Not so. This is a mom-and-pop at heart (chef Jamie Stachowski mans the kitchen hile wife Carolyn manage the dining room), and the welcome is always warm. Stachowski is best known for his housemade charcuterie, and there’s plenty of it on the brunch menu, which features.chicken liver butter parfait with fava bean salad; homemade kielbasa with coddled eggs and potato pancakes; asparagus salad with a duck galantine; and pain perdu with country ham and rhubarb marmelade. There’s also shrimp and lobster bisque; prime rib with Yorkshire pudding; white chocolate angel food cake; and an orange-almond tart.
Restaurant Kolumbia, 1801 K St., NW; 202-331-5551; Restaurantkolumbia.com.
Brunch Plan #2
Though many popular brunch place we checked with (Blue Duck Tavern, 2941) were booked all morning and afternoon, we looked on Opentable and found plenty of good spots with last-minute availability (we checked for a table of four). If something strikes your fancy, it's best to book it fast–one minute a reservation is there, the next it disappears.:
Ardeo: 11:30 AM and 1:45 PM.
Bistro Bis: 12:15 PM
Bombay Club: 11 AM and 2 PM
Cafe Milano: 1 PM
Circle Bistro: 12:30 PM
Colvin Run Tavern: 1:45 PM
Dahlia: 12 and 2 PM
Firefly: 1:30 PM
Hook: 10:15 AM and 1:30 PM
Indique: 12:30 PM
Kinkead’s: 2 PM
Lavandou: 11:30 AM, 12, 12:30 PM
Lia’s: 11:15 AM, 12:45 PM
Marcel’s: 12:30 PM
Poste: 1:45 PM
Rasika: 12:30 PM
Rock Creek: 11:30 AM
Sette Bello: 11:45 AM, 12, 12:15 PM
The Oval Room: 11:30 AM, 12 PM, 12:30 PM
Vermilion: 11:45 AM
Vidalia: 12 PM
Viridian: 1:15
Willow: 11:30 AM, 1:45 PM
Brunch Plan #3
Go the DIY route. It takes a little effort, but putting together an at-home spread is sure to impress mom–at least more than those pipe cleaner necklaces you used to make her wear.
A few ideas:
*Pick up some fresh lobsters and make classic New England lobster rolls (we like fish shack king Jasper White’s recipe). Or, take it a step further and make the lobster burgers Michel Richard crafts at Central (click here for the recipe). On the side: Route 11 potato chips.
*Recreate the delicious breakfast chef Andrew Evans creates at the Inn in Easton near the Eastern Shore. We’ve got recipes for his addictive Australian-style sausage rolls and lemon-crunch muffins. Round it out with a big fruit salad made from whatever looks fresh (try a variety of melons with banana, pineapple, mango, and papaya, or with peaches and berries). Toss it with simple syrup and some chopped fresh mint.
*Go the nostalgic route by digging up any old family recipes you know she likes.
*To drink, mix up a batch of the 19th Hole, our favorite brunch cocktail at Firefly. Here, courtesy of mixologist Will Earls, is the recipe:
The 19th Hole
Makes 1
3 ounces of freshly squeezed lemonade
3 ounces of brewed sweet tea (3 ounces of tea with 1/4 ounce of sugar)
1 3/4 ounces Absolut Ruby Red
Combine over ice, stir, and garnish with lemon or fresh mint.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
