I’m not sure how I’ve missed out on the Patachou phenomenon until now.  Captioned as “A Student Union for Adults,” this Indianapolis-based mini chain features seven different dining locations, each with a slightly different focus.  We headed to the Pennsylvania Street location to check out some fancy French and American brunch offerings.

We were concerned about parking in this area as well as having a long wait at about 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning.  In the end, we lucked out on both fronts, and only had a few minutes delay before being seated.  The space at Cafe Patachou is pretty sterile and almost warehouse-like, as I suppose befits a “student union.”  The tasty and healthy food offerings, however, make the experience worth the trip.

Each of my dining companions ordered a three-egg omelet with some combination of “stuff” inside.  Options include cheddar, bacon, salsa, tomatoes, herbes de provence, cream cheese, feta, avocado, etc.  One thing I did find a little chintzy was that every filling after the first costs $1.60 extra, while most brunch joints throw in two or three.  The final verdict?  These $10.00+ omelets were good but, in the words of my husband, “a little too healthy-tasting.” 

In contrast, the sourdough toast served with the eggs was a unanimous hit, as such toast tends to be.  Something actually worth paying extra for is the “all berries” fruit cup filled with fresh raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and the like.  Delicious, and nice to have an option besides bland melon and overpowering pineapple.

After much debating, I passed up the croissant french toast in favor of a “loaded bagel” with herbed cream cheese, arugula, red onions, cucumbers, and very fresh tomatoes.  Patachou really got this one right.  The bagel was huge and crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside.  The veggies blended awesomely with the soft cheese.  Plus, I felt virtuous with every bite because I basically had a salad for breakfast.

At about $45 before tip for three people without mimosas, Petit chou is too expensive to be a daily breakfast stop, but is perfect for a leisurely, indulgent weekend brunch with friends and family.  Next time, though, I’m going to have to get some of that french toast!

You can see all of Patachou’s locations here.

My little sis recently moved to Louisville for work and school.  While I miss her, I appreciate that the move adds this fun, funky city to our weekend road trip rotation because it rocks!  Louisville is chock full of great food and interesting attractions, so you can expect more than a few blog entries about our past and future journeys there.  I’ll kick things off with a quality breakfast joint – a must-do in any city. 

Toast on Market is located in Louisville’s trendy downtown area, just blocks from numerous art galleries and museums.  The clientele when we were there included couples, families with children, and groups of friends.  Most diners seemed to be locals.  Like many other shops and eateries in this area, Toast on Market has a “warehouse” feel with exposed brick walls and high ceilings.  The decor is relatively low-frills with just a few pop art paintings for color. 

We arrived at Toast on Market at around 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning and were seated immediately.  However, the restaurant really filled up shortly after this, and folks were standing, sitting, and wandering around in the available waiting room.  No one seemed to mind, probably because these seemed like regulars and free coffee was available. 

Toast on Market has all the breakfast stand-bys at reasonable prices.  I ordered two scrambled eggs with cheese, white toast, and hashed brown casserole ($4.75).  This was just about the best breakfast ever.  The hashed brown casserole had a delicious crumbly coating and the bread tasted homemade.  I was definitely a member of the clean plate club!

As usual, my mom wanted something relatively healthy so she ended up with a modified version of my entree – two eggs over hard, a fruit cup, and toast (also $4.75).  She, like me, was pleased with her order her order.

  The hubby cares little about healthy when we’re on the road.  He ordered this gorgeous brioche French toast dish with strawberries and whipped cream ($7.50) and a scrambled egg on the side ($1.50).  I’m not a big fan of brioche myself, but he loved this super-sweet dish. 

Service was speedy and we completed our meal in about forty-five minutes.  Overall, we left Toast on Market happy and our total bill for three, including tip, was right around $25.00.  This is not bad at all for brunch in a big city.  I would return to this restaurant in a heartbeat for its amazing hash brown casserole, reasonable prices, and friendly neighborhood vibe.

I’m feeling a wee bit “tapas’d out” at the moment, having had quite a few meals of the small plate variety in recent history.  For this reason, we opted to visit the highly rated San Chez Tapas Bistro for its larger-portioned breakfast menu instead. 

San Chez is just a five minute walk from most downtown hotels, including the JW Marriott, Amway Grand Plaza, and Courtyard.  The restaurant and surrounding neighborhood were pretty sleepy at 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning although with all the bars nearby I imagine the scene would be very different on a Saturday night.

As you can see, we did not require reservations.  The restaurant wasn’t totally empty though – there were four or five full tables clustered against the windows behind where I stood to take this photo.  This relative emptiness worked to our advantage as we received prompt and friendly service throughout our time at San Chez.

At the suggestion of our server, we started with a “breakfast appetizer” of a cinnamon pecan roll with orange cream cheese glaze.  It was great, if a wee bit heavy on the icing, and a good way to keep hunger pangs at bay while we waited for the main event.  Other pastry options I would have liked to try included Morroccan m’hancha and an almond croissant stuffed with marzipan. 

The menu contains a wide variety of American and Mediterranean-inspired dishes.  I picked the “traditional breakfast” but spiced up the eggs with cheddar and manchego.  They were perfectly cooked – fluffy and smothered in cheese!  The bacon was good too and the sourdough toast was probably the highlight of the meal.  The only disappointment?  The home fries, which were overcooked and fairly bland.  I had been seriously considering a dish centered around these potatoes and I’m glad I changed my mind.

The hubby picked the cinnamon French toast, which as you can see came in a skillet.  It was basically still cooking when we got it and was really, really hot initially.  Once the toast cooled, he liked it a lot.  It was definitely much more moist than regular French toast.

Our meal for two cost around $20.00 before tip.  We were in and out in an hour and could have been through sooner.  Overall, I would say San Chez Bistro is both a safe bet and something a little different for brunch in Grand Rapids.

I love a good brunch on occasion, and I’m pleased to announce that Rooster provides a truly excellent one within walking distance of many downtown St. Louis hotels and attractions.  This charming cafe specializes in crepes and mimosas served in a no-frills, brightly-colored dining room.

Here’s a view of the room we ate in.  There was no one there when we arrived at 8:30 a.m. but the place rapidly filled up!  Another seating space has a giant rooster painted on the wall, hence the name. 

I picked a S’mores crepe with a side of bacon.  It was AMAAAAZING – a perfect blend of chocolatey, marshmallowy goodness with the crepe itself substituting for the graham crackers.  The bacon was perfectly cooked. 

  The hubby opted for a savory crepe – bacon with baby arugula & carmelized onions.  The flavor combination was interesting but I think he was jealous of my sinful dessert crepe as he said he would opt for sweet instead of salty on a future visit.  Other sweet options included Nutella, roasted apple, and peanut butter cup (yum!). 

We were in and out of Rooster in about 30 minutes, which was important because we had a full day of sightseeing.  Our total bill with sodas was under $20.00 for two.  Overall, this St. Louis eatery is highly recommended!

As a loyal Marriott rewards club member with a particular penchant for Renaissance properties, I have been looking for an excuse to stay at the Renaissance Indianapolis North since it opened about a year or so.  I got my chance last week when visiting the city for a meeting. 

Overall, we had just an okay stay.  The facility was nice but the service was really crappy from check-in to check-out.  Our room was large and clean but oddly arranged so we actually had very little floor space.  We also had an exceptionally terrible breakfast buffet experience that set us back over $30.00. 

Here’s the exterior view.  Fairly ho-hum, but I still had high hopes for what was inside.

The lobby is decorated in the bright, modern style typically used in Renaissance hotels, but the atrium ceiling is lower than usual so the hotel lacks that “grand” feel.

The Renaissance is full of little nooks and crannies like this where people can sit and play cards or have a drink.  Unfortunately, the lobby was occupied by a large group reception for the whole evening on the night of our stay.

The pool isn’t the most exciting in the world, but at least it was clean during our visit. 

Here’s the gym, which is small but pretty fabulous.  The wall not pictured was lined with brand spanking new treadmills.  Marriot hotels almost always have this very nice brand of exercise equipment, but I can’t remember what it’s called.

This is the entrance to the hotel restaurant, Grille 39.  I had high hopes for this restaurant because we’ve had some really fabulous meals at other Renaissance resorts.  In fact, breakfast here is when our stay really began to go downhill. 

The buffet line was pretty barren by the time we visited at 9:30 a.m., but I managed to fill my plate as shown above.  While the food looks pretty good, most of it was not.  The bacon was oddly seasoned and cold.  The pastries were dry and flavorless.  My strawberries had mold, which you can actually see if you look close enough.  The only really yummy dish in the bunch was the cheesy potato casserole pictured at 3 o’ clock on my plate.

Here’s a photo of the hubby’s plate, with more dry pastries and some bland pancakes. 

The grossest part of the meal, by far, was the “made-to-order” eggs.  I asked for scrambled eggs with cheese.  Twenty minutes later, I finally received this half-cooked mess that looked like the beginnings of an omelet.  I couldn’t eat more than a bite or two.  YUCK!  At the end of the terrible meal, we couldn’t even manage to flag down our server so a manager finally ended up bringing us the check. 

Overall, breakfast was a very disappointing end to a somewhat disappointing stay.  The Renaissance Indianapolis North simply failed to “wow” us, so I will likely be heading back downtown on my next trip to Indy.