Brunch

I went to brunch this past weekend on state street. When deciding on where to eat brunch my friends all looked to me to choose the place. My friends here DO NOT brunch. It is not something they do voluntarily as a social thing. I however, brunch hard. I have been brunching since my freshman year of boarding school when it was normal for us to go stay a long weekend in a hotel in Boston or Manhattan unsupervised, and how did we start everyday while we were there? Brunch. Crepes, Eggs Benedict, a cheeseburger, whatever looked good was paired with champagne or a mimosa and we brunched. But now I am back home in California and have brunched with my friends from the bay when I’m home because they love it like I do, but had never until this point attempted to get my UCSB friends into one of my favorite activities. Although it is not one of the big cities I am used to brunching in, downtown Santa Barbara seemed like a decent place to give it a try. 

I had been downtown a few times prior to this and during my trips had very consciously scoped out places I thought would be good for brunch and places I thought would be good for dinner. In most cases a good brunch place will also be a good place for dinner but in downtown this did not seem to be the case. All the places that looked like they would serve a good dinner did not look like they would serve a good brunch. Nevertheless, I settled on this little danish bakery and patio restaurant called The Andersen’s. 

We called ahead of time to make a reservation, as there were ten of us that needed to be seated. Upon arrival we were instantly greeted with kind service. The atmosphere of the restaurant was quaint and everyone seemed excited to see what brunch was like. First thing  we did was order drinks and everyone was handed two menus, one for lunch and one for breakfast, something I was not accustomed to seeing for a restaurant that serves brunch (usually restaurants will have a separate 4th menu for brunch specifically especially on a Saturday or Sunday). Everyone browsed the menus for a bit and we all debated on what everyone should get. The waiter came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. He got mixed reviews, so I told everyone what to do. Since the left side of the table was ready to order and the right was almost there I told him to start on the end with everyone who knew what they wanted and to work his way down to the undecided. I then told the undecideds to read faster and make up their minds. I was hungry. Everyone was hungry. Our reservation was for 1:15pm and no one had eaten a thing all morning. 

The orders were finally in and everyone was excited in anticipation of the first food of the day. I ordered the chicken in basil curry with a side of garlic mashed potatoes. Other than my order thinly other order I cared about was what Alex got. He asked the waiter for a recommendation upon ordering. He told the waiter that he eats a lot, and needs food options to feed his massive appetite. The waiter looked at Alex and said, "I know just the dish, but you are gonna have to trust me." Alex looked skeptical, but after I called for a vote on whether or not Alex should order the food not knowing what was to come, it was a unanimous yes. Eventually the food came and we were all in shock when Alex's plate finally arrived, last of course. 

Everyone stared as the waiter came around and placed Alex's plate of food in front of him. It was two halves of a giant Belgian waffle, forming a half sandwich with giant pieces of fried chicken in the center. On the sides were strawberries, eggs, and bacon, and hash browns. Syrup was then drizzled over the entire thing. It was magnificent. Alex looked up at the waiter, "Wow man, you really came through for me. You are a real homie." The waiter looked back, "I know."