St. Pat's might be next Wednesday, but the celebrations start now. Which means one morning this weekend (or maybe two), you might not be feeling quite like yourself. And while you have an assortment of ancient cures and modern miracles at the ready, nothing restores you to glory like good old-fashioned meat, cheese, eggs and maybe some more meat. Here, six of the best options in town...
You've never met a hangover that cheese couldn't kill. Foggy Bottom's brunch mecca offers up a three-egg pimento cheese omelet, topped with a scoop of chili, onions...and more cheese. While you're at it, order up a side of thick-cut grilled bacon, glazed with black pepper and maple, BBQ sauce, Buck's hot sauce or sweet and sour. You know, for the extra protein.
The good: chorizo, bacon, fries and a fried egg, all stacked on a bed of truffled mac and cheese. The better: unlimited Bloody Marys or Mimosas for $15. Basically, this one-skillet dish is what an enterprising cattle driver might have cooked up after a night of too much hooch on the trail...assuming he had truffles and vodka on hand.
Amidst all the green beer, you might want to look south, to France. Or north, to Canada. Or to both—at the beer-centric Birch & Barley, they sandwich Canadian bacon and truffled cheese between slices of French toast, and top it with a fried egg. We hear it's Sarko's go-to after a long night out with Carla...in Montreal.
We're not sure what the President has to do with two over-easy eggs, two beef patties and two scoops of rice, all topped with brown gravy. But it sure couldn't hurt his approval ratings. The Southern-fried U Street brunch favorite put this hangover cure on the menu for Obama's inauguration, but it's still available off-menu. And you will be humbled by the task of eating this thing.
We promised never to discuss what happened that long-ago night in the French Quarter, but as you recall, the food the next day really did the trick. In that same spirit, Acadiana brings you two poached eggs over Louisiana crawfish crabcakes, topped with tasso ham hollandaise. Because ham is the one thing your hollandaise has always been missing.
We have it on good authority that meat—in the form of pork shoulder—is currently corning in the kitchen at Vermilion. It makes its brunch debut this Saturday as a hash mixed with potatoes, garlic and spices, pan-fried and topped with over-easy eggs and béarnaise sauce. We suggest pairing it with a creamy stout—it is a holiday, after all.
