tuna tostada
I might have been rewatching The Bear last week (to get ready for the second season drop on June 22) when I remembered the heartfelt exchange in the back alley between Carmy and Sydney that amounted to: F#ck Brunch. It's a tough gig on the other side of the pass, usually rolling cooks in a few hours after the busiest night of the week to cook a completely different menu. And yet: Damn, we love a Bennie.
We're seeing a bit of a new push for brunch in town, Blondette just rolled theirs out, Young Joni did too, and now Petite León is throwing open the morning doors starting on June 11. I got a sneak peek at the coming menu and boy howdy. But first, I asked chef/owner Jorge Guzman why he was rolling with it.
"Well, I think because Blackbird [the former tenant in the space] did a massive brunch, like it was their big service, bigger than dinner," Guzman told me, "we knew we'd almost have to do it one day. But Covid, and staffing, and then getting busy, plus the New York Times thing, and then we were just underwater for a while. But we started closing on Mondays and that seemed to level us out. So we've been doing pop-ups and our Friends with Benefits dinner series, but Ben, my co-owner always makes a really good point that at brunch you're offering something a bit different than who you usually are, so it brings people back. And in this neighborhood, everyone is ready for it. It's just time."
Guzman also noted that his staff is pretty mature, and they're not as likely to head out after service on Saturday and report back for Sunday having "not slept." The challenge is the flow. "It's just an added service that has different food so I'm trying to streamline it, but have it still be different. It's not like we have a lot of space here. And waking up at 7 a.m., that's a thing, because I'll be working brunch. But it's not going to be a have-it-all-ways brunch spot, like we don't have a bunch of two eggs options because the menu is tight. We're trying to hit all the marks while not taking ourselves too seriously, we want to have really grub food, but have it well-thought out."
I would bet that the Petite crowd is ready for some fun new things. And they are getting them. While the menu is still being finalized I got to taste a few plates that show what's coming.
Let's just start with the Bennie, because you brunch fiends HAVE to have a Bennie. This Tamale Bennie is made with a crazy dense-but-light masa panisse. "It's chickpea flour with masa flour, but the flavor is all masa," said Guzman, "then it's Mexican chorizo, poached eggs, and a chipotle hollandaise sauce." Woof, if you are hungover, this is the foil.
egg benedict
Chilaquiles plays that perfect and simple note between comfort and fun. Two sunny side up eggs rest on ancho doused tortilla chips with crema, queso fresco, and pickled chilies. Your egg nachos are ready.
chilaquiles
For all the humans who can somehow pull off fresh AND sexy on a Sunday morning, welcome to this Tuna Tostada. So simple, with bright cubes of fresh ahi dotted and those bird's beak peppers, sitting atop a mash of avocado and purple potato on a tostada. Not everything has to have eggs, friends.
tuna tostada
And not everything has to have meat. This reads as Toast on the menu, but it's a hunk of brioche topped with mushroom conserva, poached egg, requeson soft cheese, and hot honey. Fully flavored, all of the unctuous, none of the flesh.
mushroom toast
Yes, the burger will be on the menu. But branch out for St. Breakfast's sake and perhaps do a morning bird. The Bomba Pollo Torta is a fried chicken sandwich with green onion slaw and salsa macha for a morning mouth kick. You had the burger last night anyway.
chicken sandwich
Other menu items could include a wedge salad, a classic l'omelette, as well as some eggs and hashbrowns for the Gringo at your table. Look for corn cakes, smoked bacon with habanero honey, and those goat cheese stuffed piquillo peppers too.
Brunch will be first-come-first-serve on Sundays only, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., starting June 11. Get in line.
