BRUNCH is a mood, an event, a special time of the week, a nice place to be.
Brunch is an occasion. Sometimes even a spectacle.
But brunch needs to be relaxed, or it is a flop.
Restaurants veer from their regular menus to put out many-splendored spreads that are, by their very nature, diverse -- breakfast, lunch, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, even dessert.
Therefore, everything on a brunch buffet or menu is not for everyone. And every dish is not of equal quality.
It seems, in fact, that restaurants offering brunch buffets often play to quantity rather than quality, but amid 30 or more items, almost anyone can find something to love.
What separates one brunch from another then is not necessarily the food itself, but the atmosphere, the selections, the specialties of the house -- make-your-own omelets, for instance, or steamed shrimp -- the price and whether alcoholic beverages are included.
I look for fruit, fresh and plentiful; for wonderful breads; for strong, rich coffee; and for fancy breakfast items, such as blintzes and waffles. I usually give only cursory attention to the heavier items -- the newburgs, the ala kings and the bourguignons -- before ending on a sweet note.
Buffets seem to be more popular than menu brunches, probably because buffets let diners have the best of several meals. When a person orders from a menu, he pretty well has to cast his lot with one meal.
Buffets tend to be more expensive than menu brunches, and most people probably eat more at buffets.
No one seems to be counting how many restaurants serve brunch. Neither The Restaurant Association of Maryland nor the National Restaurant Association keeps statistics on brunch.
Brunch in Baltimore does seem to be almost an exclusively Sunday event. Most people don't have, or won't take, the time to dine so indulgently on Saturday. Brunch is a staple at most area hotels and at many restaurants near the Inner Harbor and in Fells Point. But you certainly don't have to go downtown for brunch -- the suburbs and city neighborhoods have restaurants that do brunch.
You can dress up for brunch, but you certainly don't have to, as long as you pick your spot.
And that's the point of all this -- picking a few spots. What follows are four snapshots of brunches my family and I have enjoyed during the past two months. These are not necessarily "the best" brunches around; even a month of Sundays would probably not yield the absolute finest. There are just too many to try.
Rather, it is a representative sampling of what's out there for your early Sunday dining pleasure.
The Rusty Scupper, Inner Harbor. Hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Price: $15.95, adults; $7.95, children
The view? Magnificent and soothing. The service? Wonderfully friendly. The selection? Lavish. The quality? Generally high.
You've got it: I like this brunch.
Whether you lean toward breakfast or heavier food, you'll get your fill here. The buffet covers several tables and includes fresh fruit, pasta salads, cheeses, soup, shrimp, bagels, eggs, sausage, bacon and a bevy of hot dishes.
There's also a cook who does made-to-order omelets, but be prepared to wait. This guy plays to a crowd.
One of the clear highlights is the trim-your-own waffles. The waffles themselves are shaped much like large life rafts, but you can sure sink a diet with them. The toppings include butter, syrup, strawberries, blueberries -- even, in mid-winter -- pineapple, raisins, powdered sugar and whipped cream. We saw several people enjoying them as dessert.
But the waffles need not do double duty, as there are several attractive desserts on a separate table. The chocolate mousse was a favorite.
Although the tables by the window are the best and always in demand, there's hardly a bad seat in this interestingly designed restaurant, with its many levels overlooking the harbor.
The waiters and waitresses, who never let your champagne glass sit empty, are most accommodating to children, bringing juice and balloons to the table. And the passing parade of boats and ducks keeps youngsters occupied while their parents go back for seconds -- or was that thirds?
Windows, Stouffer Hotel, Inner Harbor Hours: Noon-3 p.m. Price: $8.95, adults; $4.25, children younger than 12
Considering what you pay for a sandwich or even a cup of frozen yogurt elsewhere at The Gallery, Stouffer's all-you-can eat brunch is a real value. This is not a lavish spread, but the selection is ample and the tastes satisfying.
Again, the view is wonderful, as you gaze over Harborplace's Pratt Street Pavilion across the Inner Harbor. Windows is too contemporary to be cozy, but the sun provides plenty of warmth if too much glare. Our waitress was prompt and attentive and left the coffee pot on the table, a nice touch for brunch.
The cold side of the buffet featured fruit, several salads -- tuna, tossed and marinated vegetables -- croissants, muffins and a nearly tasteless carrot coffeecake.
Across the aisle, the hot dishes included scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, sauteed sliced potatoes with the skins on, green beans and two luncheon entrees, Beef in Bearnaise Sauce and Spicy Buffalo Chicken that was mostly wings, but did include some small chunks of white meat.
Dessert is not included in the price of the buffet, but can be ordered ala carte from a tempting tray. We chose, instead, a couple of very fine fruit-filled pastries from the buffet.
Coffee and drinks are also extra, so depending on what you have in mind, a larger buffet may cost no more.
Ralphie's Diner, Timonium Hours: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Price: brunch from $3.95 to about $7, plus regular menu
This was our first visit to Ralphie's, an art nouveau rendition of New Jersey eateries housed in the ground floor of a posh suburban office building just off I-83. Ralphie's, spotlessly clean and still new, sports a lot of wood, chrome and red leather.
The brunch menu is small, but adequate with omelets, blintzes, waffles and eggs among the offerings. The regular menu, with a wide selection of soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers and even "blue plate specials" is available too, so there is something for everyone. It's the rare brunch that can include a milk shake, but Ralphie's can.
The four of us split over breakfast or lunch, ordering a Swiss cheese and mushroom omelet; a fresh fruit and cottage cheese plate; one kosher hot dog and an order of onion rings, and corned beef and cabbage from the daily specials.
The food was good and plentiful. My omelet ($5) was served with home fries, an English muffin and a complimentary Bloody Mary. The large fruit plate ($5.95) featured several kinds of melon, pineapple and strawberries.
The hot dog ($3.50), with traditional slices of salami on top, was declared "yummy." And the corned beef and cabbage ($7.95) was far above average.
We finished up with a couple of desserts, a large and truly delicious chocolate cupcake ($2.50) that served two nicely and an extremely rich brownie torte with chocolate mousse and fudge ($2.95) that didn't taste as delicious as it looked.
Our service was a little uneven, as our waiter appeared to be getting his Sunday sea legs. But Ralphie's is a pretty relaxed place anyway. There were many children among the diverse crowd, but also a few trendies who looked askance at them.
Alexandra's at Turf Valley Country Club Ellicott City Time: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Price: $14.95, $7.95 for children
If you're coming from midtown Ellicott City or Columbia, perhaps the drive to the Turf Valley Country Club is pleasant, but if you're starting in the city or even at the Beltway, be prepared for a heavy dose of suburban sprawl at its worst along Route 40 before you see any green hills.
Once in Alexandra's, however, there's plenty of green. This curving dining room, with its pastel decor, overlooks the golf course. It is a serene setting for brunch despite the stark modernity of the rest of the building. We left the children home and I was glad; the crowd was quiet and seemed serious about brunch.
Our waitress was attentive and diligent in dispensing the champagne and bringing fresh tableware. The food was served on several tables two steps above the rest of the dining room. Typically, the breakfast items filled half of the hot table and a selection of much heavier, almost dinner, entrees the other. The Pork Picata got good reviews, as did a chicken dish that was reminiscent of chicken ala king.
The blueberry-filled blintzes were wonderful, and worth a second. The Mexican quiche was more like a frittata, but the flavors were delicious and a nice change from scrambled eggs. The sauteed potatoes were unusually good; the strawberries large and very sweet for late winter, and the brie creamy.
There was a man making omelets and for those who like some things cold, there were whitefish and salmon, plus a selection of cheeses. But, the steamed shrimp was all but gone by the time we arrived.
Several of the desserts also disappeared while we were eating other things, but there were several cakes left to choose from. I enjoyed the creamy cheesecake, but probably should have settled for another blintz, the real stuff of which brunches are made.