In New York City, crocus sprouts are beginning to line the sidewalks and the sun is staying above the horizon past dinnertime. After a particularly brutal, frigid winter, New Yorkers are emerging from hibernation; we're dusting off our light jackets, renewing our Citi Bike memberships, and—my favorite harbinger of spring—making brunch plans (Second Winter be damned).
As the designated reservation-maker of my friend group and family, I took it upon myself to prepare for brunch season by revisiting a few iconic New York City dining spots. Are the places we once clambered to get into still delivering good vibes and great food?
Because no one wants to be the person who books an old standby for Easter or Mother's Day brunch only to end up with soggy eggs and goopy hollandaise, I made reservations to check in on Locanda Verde, Sarabeth’s, and Lafayette. After eating all the pastry, pancakes, and quiche my stomach could handle, I have some thoughts. Read on for where to go, what to order, and what I’d skip.
Watch my video review
Locanda Verde (Tribeca)
Located on the corner of North Moore and Greenwich, Locanda Verde is a stone’s throw from Bubby’s, another longstanding brunch hotspot. But unlike Bubby’s, which is as famous for its waits as it is for its pancakes, Locanda takes reservations for weekend brunch—a must when you’re the one in charge of making sure your group can be seated before anyone gets hangry. Inside, the restaurant is well-lit and spacious. Its high ceilings made the space feel grand, but the tufted leather banquets invited us to get comfortable and stay a while. Service was friendly and attentive during my visit.
Because brunch is only offered on weekends and we dined at 10:45 a.m. on a Friday, we technically ordered off the breakfast menu—but brunch has many of the same offerings. The menu is full of classics, many with an Italian flair. We ordered the signature pastry basket, frittata caprese, lemon ricotta pancakes, Anson Mills steel cut oats (available only on the breakfast menu), and a side of breakfast sausage, all of which arrived at our table in record time.
The pastry basket had a nice variety of items (like a pistachio coffee cake and some sort of truffle-scented scone), but if you're craving a sweet shareable dish, you're better off ordering the lemon ricotta pancakes. The pancakes were fluffy on the inside and lacy at the edges, topped with a generous dollop of Meyer lemon curd and a handful of gloriously plump blueberries. They hardly needed syrup, but we doused them in it anyway.
The steel-cut oats were cooked in whole milk (you can get them cooked with water, but why would you?) and topped with a stewed fruit compote and bits of streusel. The frittata caprese resembled a flat, open-faced omelet with chunks of buffalo mozzarella, roasted tomato, and basil leaves strewn throughout. It was flavorful and fresh-tasting, though a bit under-salted, which was easily solved by pairing each forkful with a bite of breakfast sausage.
Now, I need to talk to you about this breakfast sausage. It was the sleeper hit of the items we ordered: deeply charred on the outside, juicy on the inside, and studded with fennel seeds. A must-order!
This was my first time at Locanda Verde, but I’ll definitely be back—hopefully when the weather’s warm enough for a post-brunch stroll along the West Side Highway.
Sarabeth’s (Greenwich Village)
Since its founding in 1981, Sarabeth’s has solidified itself as an institution in the New York brunch scene and now operates four different locations across the city. The Greenwich Village outpost was booked and busy on a recent Saturday: There was a gaggle of people waiting outside for a table when I arrived, and every corner of the two-level restaurant was bustling with diners eager to kick off their weekends. Each table was adorned with a small bouquet of red roses, white carnations, and baby’s breath, which felt very “classic Mother’s Day brunch” to me.
After cheers-ing our peach Bellinis, my friend and I were excited to dig into the towering basket of blueberry popovers we ordered. To our disappointment, they were cold and dry rather than fresh, tender, and eggy. Their saving grace was the Earl Grey cream cheese frosting served on the side, which I would’ve happily eaten with a spoon.
I ordered the farmer’s omelette as my main, which came filled with leeks, potato, and Gruyère and served alongside a simple green salad. The flavors were well-balanced, but the omelette itself was soggy, as if the ingredients hadn’t been sufficiently cooked out before being added to the eggs.
My friend’s power bowl was much more successful. A hearty mix of Tuscan kale, quinoa, pistachios, apples, beets, and goat cheese dressed in a sherry shallot vinaigrette, the portion was generous, and the added grilled salmon fillet was well-seasoned and cooked nicely.
In a city of a million restaurants, there are better places to dine and imbibe on the weekend. But with locations both uptown and downtown, all of them with (relatively) easy-to-get reservations, Sarabeth's a fine option if it’s the most convenient one for you and your party.
Lafayette (NoHo)
I first heard of Lafayette when its round, filled “Suprême” croissants went viral a few years ago, but I’d never actually been until this week, when I met senior editor Olivia Tarantino there for a pre-work breakfast. It’s conveniently located in NoHo and has a spacious, airy interior with soaring ceilings and massive windows that makes the dining experience all that much more enjoyable.
Quiche is one of my favorite brunch orders, but I’ll only get it if I’m reasonably certain it’ll be good (there’s nothing worse than flavorless filling and a gummy crust). I took a chance at Lafayette because it operates as both a restaurant and a bakery. Thankfully, I was right: This was one of the better quiches I’ve had, a tall slice packed full of spinach and encased in a beautifully buttery, tender crust.
Olivia ordered the smoked salmon eggs Benedict, which we both agreed was an excellent version of the brunch classic. The Hollandaise was rich and luscious without being gloppy or overwhelmingly heavy, the eggs were perfectly poached, and we loved that they were served atop fluffy crustless circles of brioche rather than the traditional English muffins, which made the whole thing much easier to eat.
You can’t order the famous Suprême croissants to your table (though you can—and should—get a basket of assorted other pastries), but we couldn’t leave without trying one. We chose the pistachio cream flavor, which was flaky and delightful, if a touch too sweet for my taste.