Brasserie Beck

This is not something I'm going to get into the habit of posting about, but I couldn't resist. I love french food -and apparently...now..I also love Belgian food! I'm not quite sure where the difference lies, though. Well the restaurant I'm talking about is Brasserie Beck ( http://www.beckdc.com/ ). The restaurant is charming and only a few blocks from my home. It has a Vienesse / hoffmanesque feel to it - a real charming bistro from Vienna in the 1920's transplanted to Washington, DC! Beautiful woods, high ceilings, large windows with a modern lace covering, white marble and blue upholstery complete the looks.

The food was a heartattack on a plate -but it's worth it. I had poached eggs over gruyere cheese over serrano ham with a light hollandaise sauce and some mesclun greens on the side. Now - grueyere cheese, poached egg yolks and Ham are probably my favorite foods, but I've never had them THIS GOOD before. The portion was small but very filling but unfortuantely I think I could have had about 6 more plates worth.

The most charming part was the copper pan it was served in, similiar to the one seen below! BEAUTIFUL presentation! I read that they serve a lot of their entrees in copper - purely for presentation -not the pans that are actually used to cook the food with. I really have a thing for copper pans and wish I hadn't already started my collection of the stainless all-clad. Too late to switch now ( besides, copper is a lot more expensive and high maintenance!) My mom used to polish her copper pans with ketchup, I guess the acid takes away the tarnish? I always thought it looked really gross though, like giving birth to a shiny copper kettle.

Back to brunch and away from births. Of course, the best part of brunch is generally the cocktail (no disapproving looks, please). Insead of the obligatory mimosa, I tried a Crevecour which is champagne (naturally) with citrus chamomile tea. It was really delicious - a great way to start a Sunday!

their famous pea soup

If you live in the DC area, check out Brasserie Beck. I can't wait to go for dinner now! I generally like to test out a restaurant with something hard to mess up like brunch - they passed with flying colors!