Mid-City: Brunch by Chef Ricardo Zarate at Smoke.Oil.Salt
Bloody Mary
Recently Smoke.Oil.Salt‘s opening chef left and now Chef Ricardo Zarate (formerly Picca, Mo-Chica, Paiche) is consulting on the menu. SOS just launched Sunday brunch and I headed over to check it out.
It’s still beer and wine but that doesn’t mean you can’t have brunch cocktails. Check out the Bloody Mary made with cava. There’s also an all-you-can-drink version so get on it!
blood sausage
One of my favorites from the menu was the crostini con moreilla (blood sausage toast). The blood sausage was topped with a beautiful sunny side up egg. The picon bechamel sauce was also delicious. We were tempted to get the serrano benedicto (eggs benedict) but I’m glad we got the blood sausage. It felt just a bit more Spanish.
uni tomato toast
Chef Ricardo does a spin on the traditional Spanish tapas, pan tomate (tomato toast) by adding in some sea urchin. The result is this incredibly fluffy urchin with soft scrambled eggs.
steak
If you want to get your meat on, go for the churrasco y huevos which is a play on steak and eggs. The eggs portion came in a form of a vinaigrette, a great sauce for the perfectly grilled flat iron steak. We even ate up the cabbage the steak rested on for maximum flavor.
smoked bonito
On the lighter side, try the mar ahumado, the smoked bonito with whipped cream cheese and shaved onion salad. It reminded me a bit of smoked fish and bagels but without the carbs.
mushroom toast
The crostini con angos or mushroom toast out like a mini forest. No need to go foraging with this toast! And if you like marinated or tart things, this is the toast for you.
frittata
I did wish the frittata was served on the warmer side. The vegetarian egg dish comes with charred salsa and cheese.
French toast
Or if you’re more a sweet breakfast person, go for either the torrija, a Spanish style French toast with vanilla bean whipped cream and mixed berry compote or the brazo gitano, the rolled sponge cake.
sponge cake
The sponge cake comes with dulce de leche and passion fruit curd. On its own, it’s a pretty light breakfast so I treated it more like a dessert to my wave of protein and eggs.
Did I already mention the all-you-can-drink Bloody Marys? Get on it.
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