Beauty & the Brunch

Historically speaking, brunch has gone through three phases— it began in Britain as a privilege for the wealthy, moved to the US as a way for Hollywood stars to eat glamorously after early morning plane rides in the 1930’s, and was known as the “varsity” meal for its association with hung-over college students. All of this is according to sociologist Farha Ternikar, author of Brunch: A History.

However, the most contemporary form of brunch is a glamorized social gathering, a midday meal full of eggs, toast, frittata, truffles, mimosas, bloody mary’s… hungry yet? Today, brunch is the meal that you envy on shows such as Sex and the City, the meal that you gather your very best group of girlfriends and hangout for half the day at. Brunch is no longer a convenient meal, but a glamorous (and delicious) excuse to catch up with the people we love.

This week was an exciting week, two of my best friends and I were in the same place— for the first time in a few months. Though we thoroughly missed the fourth edition to our crew, who was traveling the west coast, the three of us decided that a much needed catch-up brunch was in order. As per the usual with us, we underestimated the amount of time it would take for us to catch up, and in approaching the parking meter found ourselves on agreeing that two to three hours should do the trick. (We returned to the car four and a half hours later and not nearly done swapping stories of our time apart).

We adventured to one of my favorite brunch spots in NJ, the Mojave Grille in cute downtown Westfield. Despite one of us oversleeping and one of us having car trouble, we made it to the restaurant still in time for the brunch menu, which featured entrees such as a mushroom frittata with truffle oil and adorable mini steak tacos (all fresh ingredients, yum!)

In my opinion, brunch is a meal meant to bring people closer together. Whether or not you choose a place with bottomless mimosas, that time of day is one that is beautiful, the sunshine is at its peak, and the hang overs are coming to their ends. My friends and I sat in the sun for hours, talking about summer travels to Spain and Panama, the struggles of long distance relationships, the struggles of the single life, and planning the rest of our exciting summer together. Despite being overly glamorized by television shows and celebrities, brunch truly is necessary meal of extravagance and relaxed conversation— something that we all need to pencil in every once in a while.

Stay classy! xx