Like many New York traditions, Sunday brunch is an event in its own right – an affair to be missed only if you are deathly ill or if you have found yourself naked, lying in a pool of your own vomit, below 14th Street (and even that excuse is questionable). It is the single person’s opportunity to re-connect with the urban family, the drunkard’s chance to have an early mimosa without any judgment, and an occasion for couples to live vicariously through the sordid weekend tales their single friends are destined to tell over eggs benedict.Manhattan brunch starts at 1:00 (yes, people that’s PM) and ends by 4:00. Arrive any earlier and you will be seated next to couples with walkers and hearing aids or tourists from Alabama who are complaining about the absence of “moons over my-hammy” on the menu. Any later, and well, you probably fall into one of the two categories mentioned at the beginning of this post. Who isn’t up and ready for brunch by 4pm? Really hung over people, that’s who.
The key to a successful brunch is location, location, location. There are literally thousands of brunch spots in the city to choose from, but you must select carefully. Some restaurants try to lure you with tales of all-you-can-drink mimosas, though often these “mimosas” are nothing more than glasses of Tang with a splash of white wine spritzer. These restaurants are to be avoided at all costs; you must do thorough research on any establishment offering this type of incentive. Good, dare I say great, ones do exist but they are few and far between.
Also key to your dining experience is your attire. I know it seems like this shouldn’t be important, but it is Manhattan after all. Under no circumstances should you wear fleece to brunch. Instead, you must find clothes to wear that are both fashionable and extremely casual. It shouldn’t look like you spent time getting dressed up to eat your $20 plate of eggs and toast. No, it should appear that you rolled out of bed, picked your designer jeans, Diesel shirt, and Prada sunglasses up off the floor and sauntered to the restaurant without giving a second thought to you hair. (Of course we all know that you spent 15 minutes in front of a mirror styling those golden locks, and that you used half a bottle of Bed Head to make them look just the right kind of messy, but that’s beside the point). In short, you should look just like a modern fashion ad.
The most important part of the brunch experience, however, is the people you choose to dine with. Brunch is a meal to be shared with close friends, not just a random acquaintance. It is to the Manhattanite what Sunday dinner is to Middle America: a chance to re-connect, to talk about the previous week, and to look forward to the next. And, if you’re very lucky, it provides an opportunity to sit back and realize how fortunate you are to live in a fabulous city and to be with people you love.
Life is good.
