by Kara Oppenheim
When one wakes up on a Sunday morning on the Upper East Side, there is really only one thing to do: queue up for brunch at Sarabeth’s. Non-New Yorkers may know the name from the jams sold at grocery stores off of Manhattan Island, but everyone here knows that there is so much more to be had at this haven of homey-ness.
If you’ve had a rough Saturday night and are in need of a little hair of the dog that bit you, you would order the enormous Bloody Mary served in a hurricane glass while you are waiting (they don’t take lunch reservations). Otherwise a cup of coffee or the delicious hot chocolate suffices as you sit in the crowded, sun-filled bakery/bar area, mouth watering with anticipation.
When the maitre d’ calls you for your table, you may feel a little bit like you won the lottery. But you haven’t hit the jackpot until you sit down in the bright and airy dining room. The décor is country kitchen as imagined by a New Yorker, with white, bleached wood and green accents. The weekend brunch crowd is subdued and polite, loafers and Barbour jackets being the uniform of choice.
And then there’s the menu. What a menu! Some restaurants just serve brunch as an aside, a way to keep business up in the off-hours. Most brunch menus have a few typical breakfast items but cannot cater to your every whim. Sarabeth’s raises the late-morning meal to a new art form.
For comfort food there are a variety of oatmeal and porridges, pancakes and French toast. There are eggs prepared in the classic ways and then more inventive dishes too, all with a choice of muffin or scone on the side. The red omelet with gruyere and tomato-and-roasted-red-pepper salsa is refreshing and satisfying at once. The Carolina bacon is a must for all bacon lovers.
Moreover, proving Sarabeth’s mastery of the dichotomy of brunch, there is a full lunch menu for early-risers who may have already eaten their first meal. The famous soups are so-called for a reason. The entrees range from a sinful chicken pot pie to fresh salads. If you aren’t too full yet, the meal might end with a treat from the bakery.
The attentive wait staff keeps the water and coffee flowing and there is a mind-boggling array of teas to choose from. In fact, you probably won’t want leave ... ever. You could actually stay for dinner, which they do serve (and quite well, at that). Although, once you’ve paid your neighborhood-appropriate bill, you might be inspired by the pastoral atmosphere to walk the single block to Central Park and enjoy what green pastures Manhattan has to offer. You could emerge rejuvenated and clear-headed and make your way the short distance to the Guggenheim, the Met or any of the other cultural institutions of the Upper East Side.
Whatever you do after a Sarabeth’s brunch, you will want to come back without a doubt; perhaps every Sunday.