Eating Past the Point of Enlightenment: Rowland Brunch

When Rowland Fine Dining announced that they were starting a Sunday brunch service, I felt like I needed to try it out ASAP, before it got overrun with foodies. I mean, Rowland's dinners have been pretty awesome in my experience. Brunch would probably be stellar as well. Well, weeks passed without my paying a visit and I haven't heard a peep about the Rowland brunch. Until today...

At about noon, Karen and I walked up to Rowland, with Jasper in tow. We were braced for a throng of diners. To our amazement, the place was empty, save three tables. We got a secluded corner booth/table and started looking over the menu. Maybe I shouldn't have had a preconception in my head, but I was a little disappointed with the lack of egg dishes on the menu. You know that list of fancy sounding food that comes along side the egg/french toast section of the brunch menu? The Rowland menu is mostly that stuff (more on that in a bit). However, right off the bat, we were served three great surprises that made us swoon and will surely bring me back.

Surprise # 1: Lavazza coffee. By noontime on Sunday, I NEED coffee. This stuff was strong and smooth Italian brew and it was refilled three times during my meal (for $1.50).

Surprise # 2: Instead of bread or biscuits, every table got a plate of mini banana nut muffins dusted with powdered sugar. Sublime, with the coffee. Virginia Rowland is known for her deserts and it showed with these light and tasty treats. We'll be back for more, but as bakers like to try different things, I wouldn't be surprised to find another flavor next time.

Surprise # 3: I asked to start with a side: Potato latke with scallion creme fresh. For four bucks, this thing was bigger and tastier than it had any right to be. AND, here were my eggs. It looked like any shredded potato pancake with a dollop of creamy stuff in the middle, but the texture was very eggy and the potatoes were undercooked to perfection, just the right amount of crunch, and the seasoning... I dunno what it was, but please give me more. Jewish treats like these willl make me happily convert.

By this point, we had about reached nirvana. The satisaction we experienced was that euphoric (probably cuz the baby was still asleep). And we hadn't even been served our entrees. Maybe this is how Buddha got so fat, eating past the point of enlightenment. Speaking of knowledge, the list of entrees was unfamiliar brunch territory for me: mostly southern and cajun accented dishes. I was tempted by the shrimp po boy and the butterbean cakes. Karen was on the verge of ordering the skillet fried chicken with summer squash casserole (and pan gravy). Ultimately we steered toward the seafood; BBQ shrimp over creamy polenta and tuna cakes with pico de gallo.

Do those things sound fancy? Well, the fine-ness of the dining is mostly in the accents. Fried egg and prosciutto sandwich with pomme frites, apple wood bacon, Mongolian hangar steak. We'll see how they rotate their menu when we head back. By the way, the shrimps were good, slathered in a cajun gravy that was an interesting take on BBQ sauce. The tuna cakes were filled out with some corn and rice and surrounded by a crunchy crust. On top, was a very fresh salad of toms, diced red onions and jalapeno slivers (pico de gallo, but tastier, as the menu described).

Obviously, the highlights for us were the first three rounds. I don't think we'd go for those two entrees again, but we had plenty of other interests on the menu. Oh, and they do serve french toast, as it turns out. If you're smart, you'll split an entree, pile on the sides, and save room for desert.

Rowland Fine Dining is located at Main Street and Shields. Brunch goes from 10-3 on Sundays and entrees range from $7:50-13. They've also got some cute looking patio tables out front that you might like to try.

Bodacious Brunch at Bacchus (on a budget)

Since moving to Byrd Park in 2004, I assumed that the closest restaurant, Bacchus, was an overpriced eatery intended for young aristocratic swilling and $25-30 entrees. The cheap half-portions of pasta almost inspired Karen and me to walk the seven blocks for dinner, but something about the place just turned me off. Maybe it was the knowledge that one of the worst restaurants in Richmond had flourished in that Main and Meadow location before graduating to Broad Street bistro status. Surely, more overpriced underachieving had followed in its place.

Last week's Style noted that Bacchus is now offering Sunday brunch. Our recent weekend morning stroll to Cirrus was sorta underwhelming. But this trip was shorter and it gave me an excuse to peek inside an eatery that I've always found foreboding. I just hoped that this treat wouldn't be too expensive. The day after our babyshower, Karen and I walked to Bacchus for Sunday brunch (they don't do Saturday, btw). (it turns out that Style broke the news after 7-8 weeks of Bacchus brunches)

First of all, I don't consider myself a brunchaholic. I don't muncha buncha bruncha while downing bloody maries. Hair of the dog? No thanks. But I do jump at the chance to eat fancied up eggs in a relaxed setting. In my opinion, most Richmond brunch menus consist of the same boring line-up and feature unadventurous flavors. One exception is Kuba Kuba, and another is... of course, Millies. While I'm not ready to rank Bacchus with those two, I do think the brunch scene just gotten a little more interesting.

The mouth-watering 34 entree menu begins predictably with four varieties of eggs benedict, a simple dish that's too labor intensive for most of us to make at home. These feature a variety of meat and seafood that help justify the $10-12 price. From here, the fare launches into the Mediterranean with a list of inspired flavor combinations and very affordable prices. Read that last line over again, please. It's the one thing I want you to take away from this story and probably what's going to lure me back into Bacchus.

The next section of the menu involves polenta; with eggs, or sausage, or shrimp, all between $5-9. I had to try it. Luckly, polenta can also be had as a side, with marinera, for an extra $2. So, despite my curiosity, I kept looking. Below the polenta is a curious heading "Egg dishes with breakfast potato." What the heck is a breakfast potato? Well, they're homefries spiked with fennel, but the real excitement is generated by the additions to the eggs: gorganola, spinach, saffron, or olive oil fried (from $4-6). Karen got the eggs carbonara with basil: creamy, meaty, herby eggs. She loved finding something on the menu that she hadn't heard of and plans to roll her leftovers in a tortilla for the next day's breakfast on the go. For an extra two bucks, she got a side of perfectly cooked asparagus.

I chose from a list of eight delicious sounding frittatas ($6-9). These things are big and pretty and it had me wondering if there was any difference between the Italian frittata and the Spanish tortilla. They don't come with breakfast potato, but there are usually spuds embedded. The wild mushroom and ricotta frittata sounded good, but I had a lot of trouble choosing. One of them simply says "spaghetti". Chef Chris (who looks familiar, but I'm not sure where from) says it's eggs, potatoes and spaghetti. Maybe one of you will have to order it and leave a comment to clue the rest of us in. I got the smoked salmon, roasted red pepper, and cream cheese frittata and I was very pleased to see that it was wearing some tasty saffron creme. Before I was halfway done, I was full and picking through the potatoes and egg for the remaining salmon and peppers.

For many, brunch doesn't stop at eggs, and at Bacchus, there are a dozen or so salads ($5-7), pancakes ($6-7), a steak ($12), seafood dishes ($12-16), and an Iron Chef impressing Kobe beef burger ($12). Some of these incorporate eggs and all of them sound like a good way to start the day. Can you tell that I lifted one of their menus?

A note on the eating environment. Karen and I had a some time to take in the surroundings because we got there just as they were getting slammed. Chef Chris may have been in the weeds, but you wouldn't know it. His kitchen sits in plain view of the diners and the dude looked stoic. It also seemed that help was on the way, as another employee seemed to be apprenticing - watching his every move. Meanwhile, our server answered my every question, keeping us supplied with cornbread and butter and always refilling my coffee.

Along the bar sit a row of posh looking cushioned high-backed bar stools. I could see why people flock to this place for a cocktail on a cold night, because it does look like a comfortable setting. Personally, I'll probably stick to the brunches, but you never know. For me, there's more to Bacchus than I would have predicted. You can bet I'll be trying the saffron eggs or the fried goat cheese salad on my next visit.