At some point, what was once a word to describe a meal that combined breakfast and lunch, became a verb used across twenty-something’s everywhere to describe an afternoon of indulging in comfort food and day drinking. Although I’d hate to admit the term brunching is part of my vernacular, I am quite fond of the action myself.
Brunching, the activity, usually consists of 3 key features.
- Bottomless something. Brunching means mimosas and bloody marys are prominent, and ideally endless.
- A group of people. Sure you can have a brunch date, but the true act of brunching usually involves a least a few guests ready for a good time.
- Instagram worthy dishes. You’ll be sure to find plates of outrageously delicious dishes that usually include ingredients along the lines of nutella or fried chicken.
On one of the first warm, sunny, Saturday’s I found myself brunching at Risotto in Albany. I will tell you that I sought out Risotto after perusing the interwebs and discovering their bottomless mimosa was only $12, a steal in comparison to some of the other bottomless options in the Capital Region. But I had little to no expectations when it came to their food, as I had only eaten dinner at the restaurant once many years ago. I was simultaneously surprised to see that the restaurant was so busy, and grateful to have had a reservation.
Since my voyage into “food blogging” and the “instagrammer” world, I have found ordering meals to be extremely difficult. Torn between what I actually want to eat and what is going to look best on the ‘gram, I often flip back and forth, usually ordering something I don’t actually want. That wasn’t a problem at Risotto, because I wanted everything!
If you’ve been following along for a while you might already know that I am quite fond of eggs benedict, and boy was the crab cake option hard to resist, but I knew that if I was going to order one thing at a restaurant called Risotto, it was going to have to be just that. So naturally when our waitress arrived and took my order first, I requested the steak and eggs risotto, only to second guess my decision and switch my order to the bacon, sausage and cheese risotto before she walked away.
I won’t bore you with the details of how delicious the combination of cheesy rice, spicy sausage and a perfectly runny egg was, because you’re better off just seeing for yourself. But I will leave you with these photos to get your mouth watering and remind you that there really is nothing like an afternoon brunching with your friends.
Do you enjoy “brunching”? I’d love to hear your favorite spots! Let me know in the comments and as always, follow along on Instagram!