Does brunch exist for reasons beyond bacon? It would appear so from scanning the new brunch menus that are now being offered at our local stable of restaurants in Los Gatos and Saratoga area. Chefs delight in getting creative with staples like scrambles, and everybody has their own “hangover special,” it seems, but creative local cuisine artists are turning up the heat on old classics with their own personal twists and, air quality permitting, giving local foodies an al fresco brunch experience.
Exhibit A is the new brunch menu at Hero Ranch Kitchen in Saratoga. Here, you’ll find heirloom tomato and burrata with basil buds and balsamic tuille, fresh press melon with feta and flowers, deviled eggs, bananas foster waffles, bacon-wrapped dates with linguica and a seafood platter. There’s a Morning After breakfast sandwich, steak and eggs and a French omelet with goat cheese for more traditional fare.
But there’s nothing traditional about the presentation, says marketing manager Sarah Sotelo, adding that each dish is as perfectly plated as a work of art.
“We have to be excellent right now,” Sotelo says. “There’s no room for error.”
Brunch is served outdoors at Hero Ranch Kitchen, 14583 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, on weekends, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. To confirm they’re open, visit https://www.theheroranchkitchen.com.
Most recently joining Southern Kitchen in Los Gatos for the brunch brigade is Sidecar Modern Tavern. Proprietor Adam Chick and chef Jacob Farleigh have rustled up some fun items as part of what they call “elevated brunch.”
Chick says the hollandaise on the eggs Benedict—available in vegetarian, smoked salmon or ham format—is lemony bright.
“I usually don’t go for bread stuffs,” says Chick, “but our house-made cinnamon roll is hard to stay away from.”
They also have breakfast pizza with soft-poached egg, a stone fruit salad from Andy’s Orchard in Morgan Hill, and a smoothie bowl with hemp seeds, granola and almond oil.
The dish that most exemplifies Sidecar’s ethos of fun, from decor to ingredients to attitude, is the Elvis waffle with bananas, bacon and peanut butter cream. Might have to accompany that with a Bacon and Egg cocktail, a twist on the old-fashioned whiskey sour, which was traditionally made with egg whites for froth. The base here is bacon-infused bourbon. And you can get a handmade Bloody Mary to order.
Sidecar is adding more outdoor seating, including some picnic tables, and upping the ambience with lots of string lights.
Brunch at Sidecar, 25 E. Main St, Los Gatos, is Saturdays and Sundays, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. They plan to serve brunch on Fridays at some point. First come, first served for brunch: reservations are accepted for dinner, which begins service at 4:30 p.m. To confirm operating hours, visit https://www.sidecar7.com.
Chef Daniel Nally of The Basin in Saratoga says that although he enjoys cooking breakfast for his family, as a busy chef, it’s a challenge to do Sunday brunch after the traditionally tough, all-out energy-drain of Saturday night dinner service.
Still, he loves brunch and says, “I’ve been kicking around some concepts for a while. It’s a breath of fresh air, actually. There’s not a lot of brunch in the area. We’re going to stick with Sundays for now and add Saturdays in couple of weeks.
“Our hash browns au gratin are killer good,” Nally says. “We put them in a batter with cream, eggs, parm and cheddar, then cook it down until it has a great crunch and texture.”
You’ll find chilaquiles—his favorite breakfast from his days of living in Mexico—and a Florentine breakfast pizza topped with a fresh pasture-raised egg, the taste of which is remarkable.
“We take traditional dishes, and make them trendy and more aesthetically pleasing,” Nally says.
The Basin, 14572 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, serves Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit https://www.thebasin.com/home.
