03.27.05
For the last year and a half, I've really wanted to have brunch at Orange.
I read about it in a Chicago Magazine supplement, and was intrigued by the idea of green eggs and ham, gourmet pancakes, and frushi. Plus, made to order, freshly-squeezed juices in a wide variety of flavors! Who could resist?
Normally, my family would spend Easter brunch with their adoptive family/neighborhood friends, but instead they decided to visit me for Easter weekend. Since they had no specific brunching plans for today, I talked them into going to Orange.
The place was cute. A little noisy from the juicebar grinder thingy, but homey. Plus, they were playing No Doubt, which is even catchy at its lowest point.
The server brought out the frushi to show us, which was very cute. Kiwi slices neatly placed atop sweet, coconut-infused sushi rice, etc. Despite the allure, we passed on it, partly suspicious of the pricetag of such a thing.
As it would turn out, I would much later discover that it was only $2.50 for the plate of goodies, plus $1 for each additional person. We've spent much more on a less-appealing appetizer at a lunch or dinner.
They had a Brazilian-themed "pancake flight" that I thought sounded interesting, so I ordered it and a small glass of orange juice. My sister ordered the same flight and a large glass of strawberry mango orange juice (I'm not entirely certain about the orange part, but there was a regular juice in there somewhere). Mom ordered huevos rancheros or something like that, and coffee. And Dad had grilled oatmeal cakes and a big glass of grapefruit juice..
Somehow when I read the description of my order, I thought it would be more exotic. Pancakes with tapioca and some topping I don't recall, pancakes with coconut and a nutella drizzle, pancakes with grilled bananas and candied pecans, and pancakes with vanilla-soaked something and a vanilla syrup should have been exciting.
I was expecting a tapioca-based-batter pancake with stuff on it, a pancake with coconut bits inside it and drizzled with stuff, pancakes with bananas in them and then covered in nuts, and pancakes made with whatever the last thing was on the inside and drizzled with syrup. You know, like how blueberry pancakes have blueberries in them. Or like how lemon-ricotta pancakes have ricotta and lemon zest in the batter.
Instead, my sister and I each got a platter divided into four sections, with a short-stack of regular old silver dollar pancakes nestled into each division, all topped with a blob or smattering of whatever it was that made them different from each other.
The coconut pancakes were pancakes with coconut sprinkled over them, and then drizzled with warmed nutella. The banana pecan thing was pancakes with a slice of sauteed banana and a sprinkling of sugared pecans over top. As you can imagine, the rest followed suit.
I can make that kind of thing at home -- hell, I make more exciting "crepe flights" when I get a craving. Blintzes, nutella and banana-filled, lemon curd and strawberry-filled, etc.
It all tasted okay, but my sister was very very disappointed and mostly picked at hers until Dad cleaned it up for her and the server whisked the emptydish away. I managed to enjoy most of mine, but I quickly hit my pancake tolerance, and ended up eating only the top pancake and the toppings of the last 2 stacks.
Mom seemed very pleased with her dish, and I tasted Dad's, which was delicious.
The juices were quite yummy, too.
I don't know. The place wasn't bad. I guess I had just overly romanticized it in my mind, expecting it to be as wondrous and delightful as eating in a cozy little bistro with the same sort of atmosphere. Like Sweet Thang or something.
Since moving to Chicago, I've been horribly spoiled with gourmet goodies, and expected manna from heaven and freshly-squeezed ambrosia. Instead, I got a nice breakfast.
The place is very clever, cute, and has a varied, interesting menu of what appeared to be delicious and interesting entrees.
It is some place I can imagine going to on some morning that I don't have to work, for a lazy breakfast and a newspaper to read.
I think I'll give it another go some time, but this time I'll get the frushi, the green eggs and ham or pan-seared oatmeal cakes, and a big glass of juice made with at least 3 kinds of memorable fruit.
What's in your head?