Hamilton Herald Masthead

Editorial


Front Page - Friday, August 5, 2011

River City Roundabout


Brunch on Broad



The Broad Street Grille’s brunch buffet offers not only breakfast selections such as farm fresh eggs, smoked bacon and fresh fruit, but also there are chef specialty lunch selections like crayfish etouffée with smoked chicken and sausage. - Erica Tuggle

Brunch is defined as a meal that serves as both breakfast and lunch. As such, one would expect this meal to provide both an array of breakfast and lunch selections. Although this is not always the case with some eaterie’s, brunch offerings. Yet, I think the Broad Street Grille’s Sunday brunch has got the definition down pat.

The Broad Street Grille already offers wonderful menu selections for their breakfast, lunch and dinner patrons. They operate under a field to table concept, using local, fresh produce to provide “a more nutritious and scrumptious meal.” Their executive chef, Matt Pinner, and his culinary team make sure guests of the Chattanoogan Hotel (in which the Broad Street Grille is located) and other visitors are well fed and wowed with cuisine that incorporates local products into elegant dishes. The Sunday brunch buffet at Broad Street Grille keeps these concepts in mind, and then takes them to the next level, earning them praise as one of the Tennessee Valley’s most loved Champagne Sunday Brunches.

The Sunday brunch at Broad Street Grille is a fine way to treat oneself at the start of another week. The restaurant is very spacious, offering seating for a large number of guests in its elegantly furnished dining room. Reservations are recommended, but our party of two had no problem getting a table without a reservation at noon on Sunday.

Once guests enter and are seated, they can make their drink selections. The Sunday brunch offers all the normal accompanying drinks as well as a milk bar with three different kinds of milk, a make-your-own Bloody Mary Bar with over 27 toppings, plus unlimited champagne and mimosas.

When guests are ready to check out the food options, perhaps they (like myself) are blown away at the number of choices they have in building their brunch. First, there is a wall of breakfast food. On our visit this included: scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, sausages, buttery grits, oatmeal, mixed berry French toast, cheesy hashbrown casserole, biscuits and gravy, fruit, and cheese blintzes with a variety of toppings. There is also a chef-manned omelet and waffle station. Along another row, the more lunch-oriented dishes are featured. These dishes by themselves in some restaurants would cost more than $20, but here at the buffet, guests can have as much as they like, all included in the brunch buffet price. One of the dishes I encountered was the crayfish etouffee with smoked chicken and sausage. Add this to the creole style rice and beans for a complete Cajun dish. There was also a carving station with horseradish-garlic crusted beef top round.

The final row of selections is the dessert choices. During our dining experience, there was a creamy and delectable banana pudding, filled with vanilla wafers, banana slices and sweet whipped cream. There was also a hot and juicy dessert dish of peach and blueberry cobbler. These were choices among the cheesecakes, dessert bars, canolis, and other sweet treats. One of the best parts about the Broad Street Grille brunch, besides the amount of selection they provide, is that their buffet style dining offers no wait, an ability to try a bit of everything, and the guarantee that you can leave full. The food on the buffet differs from buffet food, though, in that it is seasoned well, made from fresh local ingredients, and developed with style and elegance in mind.

The servers at Broad Street Grille excel at making your brunch dining experience a pleasant affair, whether the guest is dropping in for a quick bite or meeting friends for a more lengthy visit. The beauty of the restaurant matches the style and sophistication of the Chattanoogan Hotel, and offers the guests a special presentation and dining experience. The Broad Street Grille Sunday Brunch is available from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Once guests have tried a Sunday Brunch, they will no doubt be intrigued by this location enough to explore the Broad Street Grille’s dinner options. Here, guests can try appetizers like pan seared day boat scallops with smoky tomato marmalade, petite herb salad and pea tendrils as well as the famous BSG’s Shrimp and Grits. Along with seafood, sandwich and meat main courses there is the popular experience of trying the nightly field to table tasting menu. By choosing this menu selection, guests experience the chef’s regionally and seasonally inspired three course tasting menu that has been prepared by working closely with local farms and producers to deliver the highest quality products available. There is much to experience at the Broad Street Grille, from an out of this world Sunday Brunch to a refined dinner experience. I offer my complements to the chef on making my dining experience worthwhile and satisfying.

Email Erica Tuggle at reporter@hamiltoncountyherald.com