Gourman: ‘Brunch’

The brunch popularized in the United States. It apparently started, conceptually at least, at the beginning of the last century in England.

The word is born from the combination of breakfast Y lunch, which denotes a mix of breakfast and lunch. Typically it is a meal designed for Sundays, as it is sumptuous, thus reserved for family or leisure days, and today it may be the closest thing you can find to a glamorous feast in which you will spend two or three hours at the table.

It is normally served between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., always in a buffet, and is made up of breakfast dishes and many proteins usually served at lunch..

There are brunches famous, like the Palm Beach Breakers Hotel or the one of the Hotel Waldorf Astoria In New York. As part of the buffet of these brunches We can list Belgian waffles, sausages of all kinds, eggs Benedict, omelets made at the moment and to the taste of the diner, all kinds of fruits, honey, caviar, nigiris, lamb chops in different rooms, prime rib, Maine lobsters; the oysters are inevitable, shrimp and pangora, escargots and more than 50 different desserts and cheeses; accompanied by appetizers, such as a Bloody Mary or champagne and wine. Of course, to enjoy this buffet, you are going to have to spend between $100 and $150 per person.

Famous restaurants, with more modern cuisine, such as Eleven Madison Parkthey will offer you sophisticated sophistications, with more technique, such as cubes of foie gras with chocolate.

In Ecuador there is no custom of brunchperhaps because our breakfasts are very substantial, with the omnipresent green in the form of bolón, tigrillo or cakes. A few years ago, Balandra had a very good brunch of shellfish in which crustaceans and bivalves stood out, but his offer added no more than a dozen different options.

The only place where it has become a custom or tradition to brunch is he Union Club. They have a proposal that has been improved; There are also breakfast dishes and a typical lunch, together with local proposals, such as humitas, baked, hayacas or fried. The shrimp soupy rice was very good. The rolls and the dim sum of this buffet maybe they were for the best. It is an art to ensure that proteins, especially meat, remain fresh and juicy, that is, that they do not dry out after two or three hours of service. Two or three inevitable dishes were present in a brunch, such as oysters and eggs Benedict. The cost with taxes is $40 per person.

The Club de la Unión is not a brunch Lavish like the ones mentioned above, in the United States, but it is a good offer, perhaps the only one in the city with this type of service. Will there be a void? Will there be demand in this market that can be filled by more players? (EITHER)