God, Help Me! I Joined a Sunday Brunch Club and I Actually Like It!
Everybody hates brunch. The only thing people hate more than brunch itself is the annoying brunch battalion that comes with it.
See, the corny buffet stunts and continental breakfast can be insufferable. We get unnecessarily overpriced drinks that we could've done ourselves at home. With us are the upscale wannabe Chelsea white women who demand too much and get too drunk too soon; the kind who don't know exactly what they want but are there to simply wreak havoc among the poor waiters who happen to take on the Sunday shift. Someone could well have thrown up in the bathroom stall as we take another bite of our waffles. The chunks of egg benedicts and the black parts of toast adorn the toilet. A fresh kind of Sunday hell, really.
Chefs especially hate it. Anthony Bourdain, notoriously, wrote one of the most brutal takedowns of the meal in Kitchen Confidential. "Brunch menus are an open invitation to the cost-conscious chef, a dumping ground for the odd bits left over from Friday and Saturday nights..." he wrote. "...Remember, brunch is only served once a week—on the weekends. Cooks hate brunch."
The Canadian writer Shawn Micallef, who literally wrote the most anti-brunch book ever, argues in The Trouble With Brunch that the meal just brings out the worst of all the parties involved. In 2014, The New York Times' David Shaftel wrote another anti-brunch piece in his column aptly titled "Brunch Is For Jerks." The discourse, in a way, has gotten out of hand in some cases. Brunch, for better or for worse, is divisive.
ALSO READ:
New Brunch Hub on Katipunan Guarantees a Good Meal Post-Drinking
Brunch, According to Bruce Ricketts
But what if the Salcedo Titas were on to something? Maybe there's a version of brunch that really does transcend the gimmick. Maybe there's a version of it where brunchers aren't jerks. Maybe brunch actually fulfills some social need we've been missing over the years. Plus, what if the food is halfway decent anyway? And what if the drinks hit just the right spot?
I've always had reservations about brunch myself. But it's not like I have some anti-brunch extremist views about it. A stint with Swissotel Clark in Pampanga's Ristorante di Verona Brunch Club made a compelling argument for brunch, too. Recently, I joined the club to learn a thing or two about the polarizing meal. The Verona Brunch Club labels itself the best Sunday brunch in Pampanga, after all.
(Sidenote: Now's a good time to say that this isn't a review of the menu as much as a reflection of what a great brunch experience means. I think I get it now.)
Considering I'm skeptical about brunch, I ask: What makes a good brunch on a practical level? It's allegedly the tasteful freshness of the menu. In particular, fruits and pastries, I'm told. The Verona Brunch Club recommends we start off with the classics. We get five kinds of egg preparations, from eggs benedict and poached egg to the humble omelet and scrambled eggs. I'd get my eggs benedict with some prosciutto. Not a bad start.
The Porchetta, served with marble potato, carrots, and green peas cream; and the Risotto ai funghi di mare.
Music is played and some of the guests are already playing limbo. And so my waffles arrive. I get mine with a side of summer fruits drizzled with strawberry compote and chocolate ganache. Picture-perfect browning and just airy. There are, of course, pancakes, on the menu, too. We can get these things with maple syrup, caramelized banana, mascarpone, and more. All are as sumptuous as the next.
Interestingly, the club recommends some oysters (oysters for brunch; what a concept, right?). The La Boudeusse oysters, with mignonette on the side, are perfect for a Pampanga day. I am careful not to go overboard with these things. I am no oyster man, and I don't want to mess up brunch that fast.
We also get the option to order the charcuterie board, a glass of wine included. We get a free selection of reds, whites, and more that date back as far as three decades. Some of the options for the board, on the other hand, include Pecorino Sardo, sweet Gorgonzola, Grana Padano, and Taleggio for cheeses, among others. Brutes like me can enjoy some Nduja and Spicy Salami. How barbaric for brunch. But hey everything is fair game here.
Hashbrowns and some scrambled eggs; and the pan-seared salmon fillet, star anise beurre blanc sauce.
I was told that the Verona Brunch Club, of all things, boasts a customizable eight-course Italian meal. But I was more interested in the mains this day. I'm a simple man and I have relatively simple tastes. I like Porchetta, beef tenderloin, and some salmon fillet. So I order them up with Merlot. I always run out of words when it comes to food. So I'll just say these were exquisite and move on. All these are happening while the third lady to limbo goes down. Nobody is to laugh. It's part of the freewheeling brunch vibe, I suppose.
Bruschetta with bottarga is nice, too. So is the beef carpaccio, elevated by a balsamic lemon reduction. This is supposed to be a starter, I know, but it hits the same as a secondary main. Again, just barbaric.
For dessert, I have some mascarpone cheesecake and candied banana mille feuille. The former is a fresher alternative to other blends. It's rich and creamy, just like how my hypothetical Italian countryside auntie would make it. Meanwhile, the latter is just a slice of paradise. And this is me saying this in the least patronizing way possible: it is sensational, a quintessential summer delight.
The Mascarpone cheesecake; and the candied banana mille fuille.
So what did I learn from all this anyway? Well, apart from the fact that brunch people get too drunk for their own good, they actually know how to have a nice meal. When I say nice, I mean in a way where they don't passively just feed themselves. On most days, we think of eating as a secondary act. Our late desk lunch in front of a laptop or drive-thrus take away the joy from meals. The case for brunch lies in the fulfillment of the meal instead of the pursuit. Maybe this whole idea of brunch as the worst thing in the world stems from the fact that it can be a radical shift from the modern day. You're here to sit down, ease up a little, have a drink with a friend, and say stupid, honest things to each other. And maybe fall down from time to time.
Brunch should be treated like a ritual, I'd say—one that goes against novelty and that puts a premium on an absentee slowness from our hectic lives. This might just be the only meal we're allowed to enjoy without panic. So yeah. I'm guessing I'll be back Sunday.
Ristorante di Verona is located on Level 5 of Swissotel Clark in Pampanga. The Verona Brunch Club is available starting at P3,888+ per person and is inclusive of non-alchoholic beverages. We can upgrade this for P4,888+ to include alcoholic beverages and for P8,888+ to include some champagne. The Verona Brunch Club is open for kids ages 6 to 12, as well, at P1,944+.
