Westchester Breakfast Club

It was Easter and it was time for brunch for the WBC. Our destination was Nessa in Port Chester. Sadly, we did not have any Easter bonnets. Maybe next year…

Attendees: :jump_to_Sylvia:, :jump_to_Reid:, :jump_to_Jeff:, :jump_to_Andrew:

:a_Sylvia:
Nessa is located on the other side of the train tracks from my favorite Kneaded Bread.  A quiet spot which suits the cozy dark interior space.  A space more suitable for a romantic dinner, but not so much a lively brunch…unless you are of the vampire persuasion.

Lack of sunlight aside, it also being Easter Sunday, we were presented with two menus to choose from for brunch.  The regular brunch menu and a special Easter Brunch prix fixe menu.

The special Easter menu was $35, and included a cocktail, unlimited coffee or tea or juice, a salad, short ribs, and mousse dessert.  The short ribs seemed to get everyone’s attention, but not for $35.

Alas, the ribs were not on the regular brunch menu, so we had to make some tough decisions.

I settled on the potato pancakes that were served with spiced apples, whipped ricotta, and a fancy honey.

The pancakes were pretty good.  They looked like regular pancakes (more like silver dollars), but once I took a bite, I could really taste the creamy potato insides.  The whipped ricotta was delicious as well, and I think if given a choice between whipped ricotta and whipped cream…it would be whipped ricotta hands down.  All together, the pancake, apples, honey, and ricotta made for a very yummy meal.

Also to note, coffee was served with frothy milk on the side.  The three of us who got coffee haven’t had milk in our coffees in a very very long time.  Once we heard frothed milk, we all thought the same thing…well if they went through the trouble of frothing it…might as well.

After breakfast, we took a quick walk down to Kneaded Bread for some dessert. In the name of research, I got a chocolate croissant (very good…very flakey) and picked up a loaf of their awesomely delicious cinnamon swirl bread (with raisins!), which all apparently came with a mystery loaf on the house.  It seemed that they were trying to get rid of inventory. No complaints here!

My mystery loaf turned out to be Irish Soda bread.  My love for Kneaded Bread has now grown an additional tenfold.

The Czar says:  Nessa is a great space for dinner, when it is already dark out.  Their brunch, while a bit on a pricier side, flavor-wise was great, but I was still a touch peckish when we were leaving (hence the field trip to Kneaded Bread). What can I say?  I’m a big eater….plus I did run 7 miles right before breakfast…

:back_to_Top:

:a_Reid:

The Case:  Nessa v. the Westchester Breakfast Club

The Venue:  N Main Street in Port Chester

The Facts:  Nessa had a ton of options for brunch, but I found that they almost all had some element or ingredient that I personally find unpalatable.  That’s hardly a crime for a restaurant, given that the list of foods I don’t eat is pretty long, but it explains why I went for the “Battered Cinnamon Toast” despite it already being past noon when we ordered and me not really feeling like eating something sweet.  In order to get some savory fix, I ordered a side of the chicken apple sausage.

As I ate it, I enjoyed the flaky, moist take on French toast very much.  It really wasn’t overly sweet going down, though I had to put the massive dollop of Walnut Butter to one side, and even then, the dollop’s remains threatened to overwhelm the rest of the meal.  However, I found myself getting very full, very fast, and could ultimately only finish about 4/3’s of a slice.  Pretty soon after the meal, I began to feel sick to my stomach, an affliction which lasted most of the rest of the day.  Nothing explosive or debilitating (so don’t think I’m accusing Nessa of any sort of contamination), but that same grossed-out heaviness that accompanies eating too many doughnuts.  As for the sausage, it was fine, but not particularly noteworthy.

The Verdict:  If you order the Battered Toast, get one order and share it with the entire table.

:back_to_Top:

:a_Jeff:

:a_Andrew:

It was dark in Nessa. For regular dinner service, the level of lighting would have been appropriate, but for brunch, let alone Easter Sunday brunch, it was perhaps a tad too dark. I could still read the menu without having to hold the candle up to it (like at Sons of Essex), so it wasn’t that bad, but a little bit more natural light would have been better.

The porchetta poached eggs were just delicious. The poached eggs came out perfectly, and the hollandaise sauce and braised porchetta with cheese worked in concert together giving it a nice deep flavor.  The coffee was good as well and it came with frothed milk, which is a nice touch. Although we ended up getting 3 refills on the coffees, the refills on the frothed milk were not so forthcoming.

There was a prix fixe menu that included mimosa/bloody mary, salad, boneless beef short ribs, and a mousse all for $35. It was tempting only for the short rib, which would probably come out pretty good, but I really couldn’t care for the salad or dessert and the short rib wasn’t on the regular brunch menu.

:back_to_Top: