According to Wikipedia, the word 'brunch' was first coined by veteran New York Sun newspaper reporter Frank O'Malley to describe his midday eating habit of eating a late breakfast or early lunch. However, I found a wonderful quote in an 1896 Hunter's Weekly magazine article, "Brunch, A Plea":
Why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well. Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting. It is talk compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings. It sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.
Which is as compelling as anything I could ever write, and insightfully describes the newly introduced Sunday Brunch at the Scarpetta Beverly Hills at the Montage (225 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills (310) 860-7970). For a long time when I was young, I irrationally disliked the word, until many years ago when a new hotel in town introduced a massive buffet Sunday brunch, which swept the town before being discontinued. My readers know that I am a huge fan of the multi-station concept of dining... lots of chef stations where you can order one specific dish, eat it at your leisure, then return to another for a different taste. Mario Batali's grand new Eataly in New York is a fine example of this; many Italian food stations scattered around a central dining room... and I hear that Mario has now found a location in West Hollywood to bring it here. There's also a Todd English food court in Manhattan's Hotel Plaza. It's sheer culinary fun... and as I said in my headline, gourmet gluttony.
So when I heard that Scott Conant's Scarpetta in the newly revitalized Montage Beverly Hills was introducing a Sunday brunch along these lines, I enlisted my new eating buddy, Martha De Laurentiis, and we showed up at that dining room as the doors opened on Sunday at 11 am. The hotel's Food and Beverage Director, Victorio Gonzalez, greeted us by saying we were the very first customers of the new concept. Because it was a glorious, warm and sunny morning we quickly captured a table on the patio overlooking the lovely Beverly Canon Gardens and Thomas Keller's Bouchon in the distance. Martha fondly recalled that her late husband, Dino, had opened his DDL Food Show restaurant/grocery in 1983 right at that far corner on Beverly Drive, a brilliant innovation before its time. I strongly recommend you do the patio thing when you visit here for brunch... as I know you will after hearing more about this bountiful feast. We were seated next to one of the new LavaHeat Italia eight-foot glowing gas towers which have sprung up all over town, throwing off some heat and light and adding a unique, attractive touch to scores of restaurants and hotels here.
Martha spotted Norbert, the cheese guru of the savory Beverly Hills Cheese Shop, who had set up his station in the rear of the dining room at the entrance to the wondrous kitchen. We assured him we would be back, as he handed us a sliver of a French cheese to taste. When we entered the huge kitchen, recently arrived Exec Chef Gabriel Ask greeted us and showed us the eight stations scattered around the room. Oh my, my stomach was rumbling as we picked up plates to attack the first station... the cold-seafood bar. As I told Martha the hoary old saying, "The bravest man in the world was the first man to eat an oyster," she gave me a deservedly scornful look and said, "I love fresh oysters." Piling onto my plate a King crab leg, two large shrimp, a Stone Crab claw and some oysters, drizzled with cocktail sauce, I used a second plate for the attractive crudo there: citrus-cured salmon and yellowtail tuna suschi (the Italian word for 'sushi'). We stopped at the bread and pastry station set against the front wall and took some freshly baked rolls. Montage Exec Pastry Chef Richard Ruskell is a star of the TV food show, and is deservedly considered one the finest bakery mavens in the country.
A complimentary champagne cocktail is included in the cost of the brunch ($68 for adults -- $88 on holidays -- $35 for children under 12, and no charge for kids under five); as my lovely companion said, "This is a real bargain when you consider the quality of the various delicious things you are eating." On my next visit (yes, I will be back many times!) I will start with a mimosa or a spicy Bloody Mary and then see if the bartender can make a decent Ramos gin fizz. (I'm certain he can.) Taking a leisurely pause as we drank and talked, the room was filling up with hungry diners, and I recognized some serious culinary stars being seated. Yes, the word was out. The hotel's general manager, Hermann Elger, stopped by, newly arrived here from a posh hotel in Cancun. A charming, forceful man, he said that the hotel would be scaling up its many activities to attract a new, diverse clientele. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they have sold 10 of the 20 residences there. God, I would love to live in a hotel like this.
Off to the egg station, where a toqued chef waited... omelets to order. I had a cheese, mushroom and herbs one, very soft, while Martha had a plain. Eggs any style were on tap: sunny side up, over easy, poached or scrambled. A friend was ordering Eggs Benedict -- with fresh pancetta, spinach and tomato, hollandaise or citrus-cured salmon and caper hollandaise. A vegetable frittata was on one side, but frankly it looked a little sad and cold. A friendly waiter offered to bring our eggs to the table, so we returned for a cup of hot, fresh coffee.
As we walked by, I made a comment about the pasta station, where two chefs were tending to two pans of already-cooked pasta... one spaghetti with basil and the other raviolini with stewed tomatoes. I did not see the 100-layered lasagna that was mentioned on the menu. When I later tasted the pasta, I made a comment that it was sadly overcooked. Perhaps there is a way to cook it à la minute; we shall see. The same consideration, surprisingly, went for the Waffle/Pancake Station... ricotta lemon pancakes, waffles, Nutella French toast... but all already cooked and somewhat tired even under a heat lamp. Of course I tried them all, primarily because of the six sauces accompanying them: espresso syrup, mascarpone butter, rum zabaglione, berry consommé, orange-campari syrup, fresh jams using seasonal fruits. I suspect that the dishes will be freshly made by the time I return in a few weeks.
Huffington Post readers know of my carnivorous nature, so I was rather impatiently waiting for the opportunity to visit the carving station, but after eating most of the delicious omelet I was fast approaching my culinary dead end... but I bravely forged on. I noticed a whole roasted branzino sitting on a platter, with a garlic vinaigrette sauce near it, but passed in favor of the sirloin and the leg of lamb, the former red-rare and cooked perfectly to my taste, while the lamb was charred and crusty, so I had an end slice of that. Two appropriate sauces were waiting. My companion passed on this, waiting for the cheese course. Did I mention that there was a wall station full of vegetables and salads from our Farmer's Market? Caramelized cauliflower, grilled asparagus, Tuscan bean salad, pickled mushrooms, slow-roasted tomatoes, and a fresh romaine salad that I really liked. I bypassed the fruit station, but Martha selected a few slices of tropical fruits.
We bypassed the Italian meat station: prosciutto, sopressata, mortadella (my weakness and Martha gave up meat for Lent) for another day, and let Norbert show us his amazing cheese assortment. I asked for a triple-crème, yes, and a soft cheese from the Loire, and he said he would send out a nice selection. It truly was one of the highlights of this astonishing meal. Not to mention the dessert selection in the bar. My friend does not indulge in sweets but I made up for her by selecting several chocolate and fruit pastries to finish the brunch.
A cornucopia of amazing food choices... encouraging excess, of course. But life is sweet when you are 'brunching' with friends or family, so I strongly recommend you make a reservation for this Scarpetta Sunday brunch... you will thank me after you recover and take a nap.
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