622 North now serving brunch on weekends

When I asked around town recently to see what people were saying about 622 North, I was surprised to find that many are unaware of the restaurant’s new weekend brunch.

Apparently, the Saturday and Sunday morning menu at the restaurant, bar and wine lounge is relatively unknown among locals.

My family and I headed over to 622 North about 11 a.m. on a recent Sunday to check it out.

We were greeted by a friendly pair of hosts who quickly escorted us to a table with a view of Main Street . Our host brought a small bin of crayons for my daughters to color on the paper tablecloth and occupy themselves while we were waiting for our food to arrive.

We had scanned the menu earlier (the 622 North website is very complete) to avoid long waits with the children in tow.

The brunch menu is rather non traditional, with atypical dishes such as a pancake club, breakfast pizza and fried trout added to the usual mix of omelets, eggs and pancakes.

We opened our meal with a large plate of fresh fruit ($7) featuring very fresh and juicy cantaloupe, gargantuan strawberries, walnuts and honey-sweetened yogurt. I wanted to order a plate of the homemade muffins ($5) for my daughters, but had to make a substitution for Danishes because the muffins were unavailable. The Danishes were good enough — soft, lightly glazed and centered with an attractive fruit preserve — but they were a poor replacement for scratch-made muffins.

I put an eye to the morning spirits menu of mimosas, “more-mosas” (a mimosa with a shot of vodka) and the like, finally settling on the bloody tomatillo ($7), a drink of pureed green tomatoes, tomatillos, green chiles, herbs and vodka. The bright, peppery drink lends a little vengeance when biting the dog that bit the night before, although the particular blend of herbs and green veggies was slightly bitter.

My wife ordered “green” eggs and ham ($8.50) that consisted of scrambled eggs, spinach and cream cheese atop a spicy bed of lightly fried capicolla ham. The eggs were nicely cooked, and the capicolla lent an exotic anise like heat to the dish, but a heavy hand with the cheese resulted in an overly creamy texture.

The grits in the shrimp and grits ($9) were quite unlike the standard Southern fare of a corn-based warm cereal, leaning instead toward a savory corn pudding. The large, soft corn kernels absorbed the flavor of the shrimp, infusing the entire dish with a welcome seafood essence. Stirring in the ample side of chorizo provided a much-needed infusion of salt, as well as an added spicy kick.

The weekend brunch at 622 North rounds out a fairly robust set of restaurant offerings. The original twist on traditional brunch favorites is in line with the gourmet creations offered in the restaurant for lunch and dinner dining.

Dinner at 622 tends to be pricier than at some other restaurants in the area, but the quality merits the added cost. A warm and friendly staff helps to ensure that weekend mornings can be started right — with good food and good drink in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

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