brunch!

sunday brunch with my favorite couple. and i got to pick today. i have wanted to try nectar, they had a good brunch there once and we need to be branching out of the neighborhood. i have always had an enormous respect=intimidation for julie frances, and haven't made it to this spot (had a wonderful dinner once upon a time at aioli).

so we headed over that way. we peeked into nectar and noticed that it looked pretty deserted, while the cute place next door had some folks eating outside and people coming and going. hmm. but there was a sign out front, so we went in. there was no one to greet us at the door, and after waiting a minute, we decided to seat ourselves at a table in the front window. thought we'd be helping them out with making the place look occupied. and turns out there were some other customers there, behind a wall. hmm. so we sat there for a minute, there was definitely someone cooking in the kitchen, we could see her. so we pulled out the paper and dug in. of course, i called the magazine- the main article being by michael pollan and about food. after realizing that i had gotten thru the start of the mag, and was getting into the main article- and we still hadn't heard a peep from anyone working there, i suggested that we leave. how strange.

we were a little irritated on the way out, i wanted to yell something snarky, like "THANKS!" but i kept quiet. obviously something strange was happening. maybe when i am feeling VERY patient, we will try again. although, hungry and patient are not usually things that happen to me coincidentally.

and then we stumbled upon the best brunch ever. walked right next door to annabel's and were able to score one of two tables out front. turns out we sort of know the girl who waited on us, charming and happy and covered in beautiful tattoos. we got coffee and jen had some berry iced tea. the menu was great, all the things that you would want to eat if you wanted to make yourself brunch and happened to have croissants and lots of fresh fruit and cheese and eggs. i couldn't decide because i was so happy about it. the place is decorated with colorful food photos, from travels with bette, it says on the menu- charming charming charming. i think jenna and i both wished we were named bette right then.

i ordered corn cakes with blackberries and bananas. jenna got lox, which she loves but feels she must gamble on because it is so often not delish at honey. and timmy got some egg "love" and i was so into my cakes that i have no idea what the love was. but it came with a croissant and fruit. the pancakes had the fruit mixed in, soooo good. soft grit of the corn, there was a honey/orange zesty marmalade on top and some really fresh fruit on the side. whoa. we were all so happy. and then i had to go pee after coffee and there was a world map and gerber daisies in the bathroom. i am such a sucker for that shit. annabel's wins.