brunch for ROYALTY: Bottega Louie

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Big open spaces made brunch diners feel like royalty. The pure white walls, intricate molding on the ceiling, and simplistic luxury of the café décor, allowed the impenetrable morning bright light to reflect and amplify the space to gargantuan proportions.

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Pretty sweets, delicate and colorful as pictures lined the limitless display cases in the front of Bottega Louie in Los Angeles. Reds, pinks, peaches, soft greens and decadent chocolates danced through extravagant and detailed pastries reflecting the hyper vivid rainbow of macrons for purchase.

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Passed a little café area and an open kitchen framed with glass, a tall wall divided the enormous space, slightly separating the dining room, vast and refined.

The quick weekday breakfast menu was short and sweet. Along with breakfast staples like omelets, breakfast sandwiches, parfaits and French toast Bottega Louie added a little breakfast luxury to its menu, introducing the day with decadent prosciutto and burrata, lemon ricotta pancakes, and a smoked salmon Benedict.

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The beautiful presentation of the prosciutto and burrata mimicked an opening flower, fresh and blooming. The salty meat woke the taste buds, while the creamy burrata melded with the warm and spicy potato pancake.

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For a twist on a Benedict, the smoked salmon variety came with a base of tiny flavorful potato pancakes at its base. The salty salmon was brought together with moments of spicy red onion and earthy sautéed spinach, a vivacious crème fraiche and just enough hollandaise and smooth runny yolk. The combination was a riot of flavors, mixing breakfast and lunch elements to make for a lovely Benedict.

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A pretty slide of four large pancakes dusted with powdered sugar was served on a bed of fresh blueberries. The blueberries matched the syrup with a tart sweetness and violet hue. These pancakes were airy and light, moist, just sweet enough and hinted at lemon and summertime.

Vaulting ceilings and saturating sunlight made flavors fly and colors blush, fostering moments of happy breakfasts and delicious bites. A splendid start to another day.

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BRIGHT and delicious : Zuni Cafe

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Zuni Cafe in San Francisco offers bright light and even brighter service. The glass façade let the light in, and it swelled brighter, freed by high ceilings. Though at some tables everything was washed under a golden yellow hue, immutable sunshine.

The menu is packed with fresh, classic and classy bites, reflecting the bright light strolling in. A wide range of delightful items erring on the side of heavy and savory, filled the page. Along with the refined flavors and seasonal favorites, Zuni infuses comfort and familiarity with wood-fired pizzas, grilled sausages and artisan burgers, fresh salads and hearty mains.

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Starting with salty prosciutto, tangy and creamy spreadable goat cheese and smoky charred grilled green padron peppers to mix and match, created a personalized kind of balance curated by the kitchen. Roasted heirloom tomato soup warmed with a sweet and tart resonance, cooled with yogurt drizzled in a “Z.” Sharing a Zuni pizza, thin and flat, light and bright with slivers of red onion, hunter green sorrel, thin pancetta and hot disks of pepper, made for buttery memories and a great pillow to appease.

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Continuing with linguine zinging with tart Meyer lemon, silky chanterelles, green chard and nutty parmesan satiated with a bright familiarity. The pasta swirled and twined in the sunlight, ushering in the season. For something heavier, a solitary sausage, tender flavorful and robust, served with round chickpeas and green greens. The beans were meaty and mealy, playing with the textures of the crumbling sausage and swaying greens. And for the lunch traditionalist, a fat house ground hamburger, capped with cheese, aioli, Zuni pickles and a grilled rosemary focaccia.

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Dessert can be a dark and dense chocolate Gateau Victoire, or a cheese plate with salty cheese and sweet juicy fruits. Or it can be a beautiful tower constructed of sticky meringue discs layered with fancy cream and served with dripping stewed figs and savory walnuts. Light as clouds and bright as the airy eatery…

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