Live a little: Make time for brunch

Yes, Easter is coming. And with it, the inevitable question: Where to brunch? But Easter is only one day out of the year, and brunch is a year-round way to celebrate the weekend. Something I plan to do very soon. As soon as I get done reading the newspaper, unloading the dishwasher, stocking up at the supermarket, dropping the kid at a birthday party at Pump It Up, making a big pot of Bolognese sauce and taking the dogs for a walk (they're old and infirm and my husband swears that if we don't keep them moving they're going to die — and you know whose fault that will be).

Maybe you're like me: someone who remembers the days when weekend brunch was a frequent event. Ah, brunch! A time to sip a bloody mary and chat with a close friend or get together with a group of pals to waste a few hours over coffee, lox and bagels. Those were the days — before I was a middle-age mom. Back when leisure time was something other than a luxury.

Taking a walk down memory lane, I recall many brunch hours spent at restaurants dearly departed (A.Jays, the Beeliner Diner and Matzoh Mamma's come to mind). And I rue the day certain restaurants, still going strong, put an ixnay on their morning repast. (Yo, Brad Inserra! I can still taste the fabulous huevos rancheros at your Swingside Cafe). If you count dim sum as a brunch-time possibility (I certainly do), the closure of the funky stalwart King Café in the Chinatown International District was an emotional loss. And you can rest assured that it's déjà vu all over again on those infinitely rare occasions when I brunch at Etta's Seafood, nee Café Sport, where I ate countless brunches before and after moving to Seattle 20 years ago.

But that was then and this is now.

Casting my eye upon today's brunch scene I find that changes are afoot, the lineup's getting longer and the possibilities are, as ever, endless. Those changes make me think it's time to fold up my Sunday paper, leave the dishes and dogs where they lie, phone-up a friend or two and say, "Want to go to brunch?" Here are some options I'd consider:

Jeff "Jefe" Birkner is religious about his feelings for the great state of Texas, and he's proving it by giving us another reason to check out his tiny Ballard cafe, Austin Cantina (5809 24th Ave. N.W., Seattle, 206-789-1277, www.austincantina.org). At Weekend Gospel Brunch the classic and contemporary hits (courtesy of recording artists like the Soul Stirrers and CeCe Winans) praise the Lord at modest decibels. Meanwhile, I can imagine myself whooping it up over a bowl of creamy grits ($2.95), breakfast tacos ($6.50), migas (a Tex-Mex scramble) with chicken-fried steak ($9.50) or a pulled-pork sandwich ($11.50) knocked back with a bloody maria ($6.95).

How about brunch as a cultural endeavor, followed by my own private artwalk? Among the possibilities for edible enlightenment are a couple of relative newbies: TASTE Restaurant at the Seattle Art Museum (1300 First Ave., Seattle; 206-903-5291 or www.tastesam.com) offering local ingredients like Uli's hot Italian sausage topping an herbed pizza ($10), or local greens braised with bacon and polenta ($8). And Volunteer Park Café & Marketplace (1501 17th Ave. E., Seattle, 206-328-3155, www.alwaysfreshgoodness.com) near the Seattle Asian Art Museum, where weekends bring yeast-raised waffles ($6.50) and apples and brie paninis wear a lavender-honey drizzle ($4.95).

If I were suffering from the urge to splurge, I'd do it at Waterfront Seafood Grill (2801 Alaskan Way, Pier 70, 206-956-9171, www.waterfrontpier70.com), which recently added Sunday brunch to its repertoire — with live musical entertainment and a stellar view as accompaniment. El Gaucho's waterfront sibling is offering everything from steel-cut oats with fruit and toast ($9) to such indulgences as a $115 "Brunch Bacchanalia" (with beef tenderloin, Alaskan salmon, lobster tail, eggs, breakfast meats, pancakes and hash browns for two). But what price art? Waterfront's an Oyster Rockefeller's toss (yes, they've got that, too, $16) from the Olympic Sculpture Park, where admission is free.

Waterfront's not the only high-end dinner house to get on the brunch bandwagon. Year's end saw the unveiling of a weekend brunch menu at Veil (555 Aloha St., Seattle, 206-216-0600, www.veilrestaurant.com), where lavender infuses the brioche French toast ($12), duck confit comes with poached eggs ($16) and Lucky Charms ($4) will charm the kidlets while you enjoy a lychee-stoked mimosa ($9).

Veil's neighbor, Moxie (530 First Ave. N., Seattle, 206-283-6614, www.moxieseattle.com) made its brunch debut in February. Catering to the condo-dwellers? Absolutely, says co-owner Peter Morrison — and catering to everyone else who's been begging for weekend brunch since he and chef Lauri Carter opened their lower Queen Anne bar and bistro two years ago. Describing the menu, Morrison says "it's not on the Veil level," but it hits the spot for those who aren't heading to nearby Ozzie's for eggs and hash browns or Peso's for Tex-Mex. Brunch treats include potato pancakes with Gerard & Dominique's smoked-salmon ($13) and Oaxacan chilaquiles with roasted chicken ($12).

So, maybe you've noticed that the price of the cornfed Nebraska-raised steaks at JaK's Grill isn't as modest as in days of yore. Quit your bellyaching and go for brunch — now served weekends at each of JaK's three locations (Laurelhurst: 3701 N.E. 45th St., Seattle, 206-985-8545; Issaquah: 14 Front St. N., 425-837-8834; West Seattle: 4548 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, 206-937-7809; www.jaksgrill.com). Grab a steak knife and slice into JaK's Southern steak hash (made with New York steak, $10.95), a "JaK bene" (with filet mignon, $15.95), or country-fried steak (breaded top sirloin with country gravy, $14.95).

A couple of local restaurants have recently undergone a face-lift, and brunch might be just the excuse to check out the new scenery. At Sazerac in the Hotel Monaco (1101 Fourth Ave. Seattle, 206-624-7755, www.sazeracrestaurant.com), Southern comfort extends to Eggs in Hell Over Easy — with housemade andouille and sauce Creole ($10) and pain perdu with bananas Foster sauce ($10). 13 Coins (125 Boren Ave. N., 206-682-2513, www.13coins.com), where breakfast fare is served 24/7 and the cooks are part of the show, is just the place to get a Joe's Special fix ($13.50) followed by eggs for dessert (Marsala-sweetened zabaglione, $6.50).

Last week, New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni introduced his readers to Seattle's Tilth (1411 N. 45th St., Seattle, 206-633-0801, www.tilthrestaurant.com, naming Maria Hines' organically certified Wallingford bungalow among his "top 10" new restaurants nationwide. What do I think about that? Poor Bruni! He missed the boat. Having eaten a single meal there (dinner), he failed to delight in Tilth's brunch-hour charms. And having reviewed the place myself, I can still recall my wide-eyed impressions of smoked sockeye-salmon hash stoked with capers and red onion and a side of raisin toast spread with fresh huckleberry jam ($13), and a towering croque madame layered with ham, gruyere and béchamel crowned with a farm-fresh egg ($14). I'd go back in a New York minute — as Bruni no doubt would — for those mini duck burgers with fingerling chips ($18).

Nancy Leson: 206-464-8838 or nleson@seattletimes.com.

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