The Weekend Buzz: Brunch Without Borders
Plus intel on doughnuts, bagels and more.
This week I’ve got a few fun news items to share before we get to my Guide to Brunch without Borders — where to eat beyond your tradish French toast, eggs benny and the like – weekend breakfast ideas that go to Japan, Lebanon, Georgia, Thailand, the Philippines, and more.
But before we get there, I wanted to let you know that Voodoo Doughnut, the Portland favorite, is coming to Union Square this June! I, for one, am ready to line up. I’ve been a fan of these donuts for nearly 20 years when I first started going to Portland to visit my sister-in-law. The shop is legendary; it was opened two decades ago by two friends and Portlanders Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson and Tres Shannon, who realized their beloved hometown lacked a good doughnut shop. They rented a small storefront situated between two nightclubs in Old Town in 2003 and began their quest to achieve “world doughnut domination” with Voodoo Doughnuts in homemade flavors like Blueberry Cake, Buttermilk Bar, Glazed Old Fashioned, Raspberry Romeo, Sprinkle Cake, Maple Old Fashioned, and now a more expanded roster that includes Churro Cheesecake, Banana Cream Pie, Your Cap’n My Captain and more. If you haven’t had these yet, you’re in for a treat.
Also, the beloved Whitestone bagel shop, Utopia Bagels, is opening next week at Third Avenue and 52nd Street. They’re hosting a F&F pre-opening bash this Saturday May 16 from 11am-4pm; it should be a fun afternoon with bagels, a DJ, bagel beer (!) from Evil Twin, and fresh-sliced lox from Acme.
Utopia bagels is a mom and pop founded back in the days of Prince and Madonna, 1981, in Whitestone, Queens. This is their fourth and latest location in midtown Manhattan, an expansion led by co-owner Jesse Spellman—whose father, co-owner Scott Spellman, worked with founder Anthony Pantaleo and helped grow the business—and partners Angelo and Jimmy Tsoulos of Avra. Their bagels are hand-rolled, kettle boiled, and baked in a vintage carousel oven that gives Utopia’s bagels their distinct crisp texture and soft interior. Check it out over the weekend if you can.
Finally, on Bon Appetit this week, I wrote a cool story about a group of the city’s most acclaimed Korean chefs, including Chang-ho Shin of two Michelin-starred Joo Ok, Hoyoung Kim of Michelin-starred Jua, Ok Dongsik of Okdongsik, and JP and Ellia Park, the husband-and-wife team behind two Michelin-starred Atomix, and Atoboy, Naro, and Seoul Salon, who have started First Hand Farm, a one-acre farm in New York’s Hudson Valley devoted to growing foundational Korean crops: perilla leaves and namul-like island spinach, naengi, butterbur, gomchwi, daylily shoots, jeonho, bujigaengi, and wild garlic. Check it out if you have time.
Brunch without Borders
Brunch can go in a variety of directions. You could always go the classic Americana route – bacon and eggs, pancakes, waffles, and the like, or dip into French fare – pain perdu, omelettes, croques and the like, or go Mexican (my fave) for huevos divorciados, breakfast tacos, rancheros, or some marvelous take on chilaquiles. But there’s a wider world of breakfast out there. Today, I’ve put together a list of less usual suspects with brunch ideas from Japan, Georgia, Sri Lanka, India, The Philippines, Lebanon, and Thailand. Read it and Eat!
