Monday, June 02, 2008

Daily highlight #12: nightmare for the cook, day dream for the bruncher - restaurant: Canoe

According to Bourdain, brunch is every cook's worst nightmare. If this is true at Canoe, then the cook's nightmare translated into some day dream worthy stuff on our plates.

J and I used to be brunch people back in the big apple. It was a precious time to catch up with friends, of which we were blessed with many. Because everyone we saw tend to eat late, we had plenty of time to get to where we needed to be all over the city. In fact, the meals were timed more in the manner of what we called lunner (lunch and dinner) than its much earlier namesake.

We are no longer brunch people. Luxury of cooking space and reduction in friends who want to brunch (as opposed to have dinner) have turned us into home breakfasters. Now I rise before seven and hit the farmer's market on most Saturday mornings. But once in a while, J will wake up, as he did on a recent Sunday morning, just when I am about to prepare lunch, and say "let's go for brunch." Since I could never refuse a suggestion to get out of the house for food, we went for brunch.
This time, our Sunday drive led us to Canoe, an old favorite. I had forgotten how perfectly the eggs come out. Both J's pheasant and eggs (top) and my smoked salmon benedict (above) got to the table with yokes wobbling. My hollandaise dripped off the eggs slowly into a pretty little pool, never showed any signs of developing that deathly congealed look. Seasoning came through every element, but managed to stay shy of being too much in combination.

Also impressive was the she crab soup. It threatened to put us into a Sunday stupor. The viscous spoonfuls comforted with plenty of sweet cream. The awesome shot of good cream sherry on the side changed the taste profile entirely and sent the already decadent treat over the top.

Canoe
4199 Paces Ferry Road, NW
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-432-2663

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