brunchy-brunch-brunch @ theViceroy...

People brunch here in Chelsea like it's serious business--and I've seen menus that offer brunch til 5. I'm okay with that. Sometimes I don't wake til 3 anyway. Or rather, I wish I had that luxury to rouse from slumber at such a gloriously ungodly hour since I work wkds so much.

Anyhoodle, my fave place so far in my hood is the Viceroy (depending who you talk to, pronouced vice-roy or veEs-roy :P) on 8th ave and w. 18th st. I had the poached eggs in tomato casserole & herbs and...comes with toast.

For the brunch prix fixe ($15.00), it comes with coffee. Or a mimosa. Or bloody mary. (or orange juice, but whatever, it's booze in the morning/early afternoon if you're gonna do up brunch right :)) Anyway, no pics of my acquaintance's omellette b/c it was egg whites with asparagus, feta and somethign else but the eggs sans yolk just wasn't as pretty :(it also comes with a breadbasket of corn-cheddar muffin, some other stuff that's really good, and a loose, liquidy preserve dip with citrus zest and what have you...(my memory is FANTASTIC these days if you dont' rememeber my freakish cognitive abilities :( *le sigh*)

I haven't gone back yet for dinner but Albee & I did come for a late lunch--he got a turkey burger I think? (the sirloin supposedly is the shizzzzz) and I had the honey roasted ham sammich with melted brie, arugula & honey dijon on a baguette. YES. ham sammich done in the utmost, exquisite way ^_^ Came with seasoned fries natch pomme frittes. Needless to say, I took quite a long lunch that day.

I play with my food b/c I didn't when I was younger. Not b/c I wasn't allowed to--just b/c i was THAT DULL. I sure made up for it now didn't I?

I've come to realize I have a very quiet, loving, codependency on tomatoes. My mom makes a great shrimp in casserole sauce. I actually had to look up this concept of casserole (which apparently has 4 diff classifications: ragout, carbonnade, hotpot, cassoulet). Mostly just pares down to stewing/braising stuffs in liquids whether provided by wine (e.g., coq au vin) or tomatoes in this case. MEH!! here's a shot of Viceroy (courtesy of Citysearch).

I don't think it's a Hemingway-esque kind of place. Possibly Simone de Bouvier kind of place. I'm totally making ish up but you get the vibe :) Retro, art deco, much bigger in person, stark contrast in steel accents, bright floor, dark aged oakiness evoking a sense of brandy and smoke stained kinda joint w/o the pseudo-intellectualism and pretension :). Nevertheless, hand me a snifter and a smoking jacket--pronto!