I looked online this morning for somewhere in the city to have Sunday brunch before taking Alex to the bus station, so the child wouldn't starve on the 8-hour ride. Some place not too dressy, since he'd be in jeans (rules out Grand Concourse). Some place we wouldn't have to mess around too much with parking (rules out most every place downtown). I found a link to this new restaurant on the North Shore (attached to the new SpringHill Suites, right across from PNC Park), and the brunch sounded nice, so we (read I) decided to give it a try.
1) Free on-street parking on Sunday! Although I'm sure this isn't the case on a Steeler Sunday… this didn't happen to be one.
2) Live jazz quartet! Unfortunately I didn't catch the name of the group, but they were good… keyboard, bass, drums, sultry female singer.
3) We were literally the only ones there at 10:45! More people did start coming in by the time we left at noon, so I guess we were just early. But it meant we had the undivided attention of the wait staff and the omelet dude.
4) Great buffet! I chose: smoked salmon (to which I added capers & crumbled egg to make a croissant sandwich), eggs Benedict (very good sauce, just maybe the english muffin was a little tough), a cheese blintz, "breakfast" potatoes, waffle with raspberry sauce, coffee (not bad), and cranberry juice. There was a dessert buffet as well, but I didn't really need that; Alex had a piece of peanut butter pie though. I also guess I didn't take any of the bountiful fresh fruit, not sure why. There were also lots of other things I didn't take: eggs, pierogies, ravioli, carved ham, omelets, pancakes.
5) Personable staff! We learned that the omelet/waffle maker just started working there, and had just started a 16-month program at the Pittsburgh Culinary Institute. His dream job is at a Las Vegas resort. We learned from the waitress that this is the 3rd SoHo in a little chain of restaurants, but she wasn't sure why the name was chosen, since none of them are anywhere near SoHo. I guess just that it's meant to be hip, urban, upscale, etc. Which it is, though still casual.
6) Free mimosas!
Recommended!
Where have the days gone? 