Wide variety makes for a great brunch

Source: Detroit Free Press
Whether their tastes run to pancakes or roast beef, bacon and eggs, or bagels and lox, true brunch lovers have one thing in common: They're always looking for new places to try.

And they'll drive miles to get there.

Here are glimpses of five metro-area spots chosen to represent a range of styles, prices and geography. Vignettes are based on visits from Free Press reviewers and are arranged in order of price, from least to most expensive.

Beverly Hills Grill
If big crowds and the overkill of a massive buffet aren't your style, brunch cooked to order from the menu of a neighborhood cafe is the way to go.

The ever-cool Beverly Hills Grill offers a daily-changing blackboard list of over-the-top egg dishes like lobster scramble with tomatoes, hot peppers and mozzarella or tenderloin scramble with herbs, green onions and havarti; the combinations on Saturday and Sunday are especially decadent.

But regulars -- and there are legions of them -- find it difficult to pass up the house signature items. Try the Bananas Foster French Toast with sauteed bananas and roasted pecan halves, the corned beef hash with poached eggs, classic eggs Benedict -- or its rich sibling, jumbo lump crabmeat Benedict. After 11 a.m., creative salads, sandwiches and entrees are available for diners who want more lunch-like fare.

The orange juice is freshly squeezed, the English muffins are Wolferman's and the waitstaff is prompt and professional. Reservations are not accepted, but you can pass the time with a bloody Mary at the bar or come in and wait-list your name and then go browse at Borders bookstore across the street.

The often-high noise level is about the only downside at this sunny, stylish little bistro.

Beverly Hills Grill, 31471 Southfield Road, north of 13 Mile, Beverly Hills. Weekend brunch menu served 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Average brunch check $10-$15 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations not accepted. Call 248-642-2355, 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-midnight Friday, 8 a.m.-midnight Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.

Fox Hills Golf and Banquet Center
You don't have to have a country club membership to dine with a view of the links. Several public courses in metro Detroit serve holiday brunches at their banquet centers, but Fox Hills in Salem Township (northeast Washtenaw County) is one of the few that does so every Sunday.

Fresh flowers and white linens top the tables, and wide walls of windows overlook the greens. The pleasant staff is one reason Fox Hills has so many fans in the Plymouth-Ann Arbor area; the service is friendly and efficient.

Servers keep the coffee hot and whisk away dirty plates when guests leave their seats to revisit the multiple hot and cold buffet tables, three- to four-item carving station, made-to-order fresh omelet and Belgian waffle centers, and the vast dessert table.

The variety of items is mind-boggling. Guests can choose everything from pastries and traditional breakfast items to a wide selection of hot entrees and side dishes. On a recent Sunday, entrees ranged from make-your-own gyros to Shepherd's Pie and mako shark; chefs were carving roast beef, turkey and ham; and the cold tables held more than a dozen salads plus fresh fruit and berries, cheeses, cold cuts, pate, smoked salmon and more.

Most breads and desserts are commercially made, but everything else is prepared in house. And yes, bloody Marys are available after noon.

Reservations are a good idea; 300 to 400 people dine here most Sundays, and holiday crowds approach 1,500. Mother's Day has been sold out since March.

Fox Hills Golf and Banquet Center, 8768 N. Territorial, Salem Township. Brunch served 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays; holiday hours vary. Adults $15.95, children 3-12 $5.95; free for younger children. Price includes juice, coffee or tea. Soft drinks, mixed drinks, tax and gratuity are extra. Reservations recommended; 734-453-7272, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday.

Parkway Grille
Find a deluxe hotel and you'll often find a deluxe Sunday brunch buffet; the new Marriott Centerpoint hotel off I-75 on the southern edge of Pontiac is no exception.

The hotel's Parkway Grille emphasizes high-end, high-quality selections rather than the sheer number of dishes; even so, there are more choices than one could possibly sample.

Cold offerings include cut fresh fruit, plump berries, salads, cheeses and an impressive selection of seafood -- a side of poached salmon, luscious house-smoked salmon, several kinds of smoked fish, chilled crab and a bounty of plump, peeled shrimp, the latter presented in a huge ice-sculpture boat.

Fluffy omelets and inch-thick Belgian waffles are prepared to order and brought to your table by servers. A carving station, a selection of hot entrees and sides, myriad breads and a decadent dessert selection complete the lineup.

Refreshing orange mimosas, served in crystal champagne flutes, are served with the meal, but the most memorable touch is the mellow sound of saxophonist Herbie Russ, who plays in the lobby just outside the dining room. The brunch is a new addition and crowds haven't found it yet, but that's likely to change.

Parkway Grille at the Marriott Centerpoint Hotel, 3600 Centerpoint Parkway at I-75 and Square Lake Road, Pontiac. Brunch served 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sundays. Adults $22.95, children 5-12 $14.95, free for younger children. Prices include beverages and champagne; tax and gratuity are extra. Reservations suggested; 248-253-9800 anytime.

Dearborn Inn
Combining brunch with some backyard tourism is a fine way to spend a Sunday, even when you don't have out-of-town guests.

Located minutes from Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village -- among Michigan's top tourist attractions -- the 70-year-old red brick Dearborn Inn is part of the Ford Motor Co.'s business campus and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The buffet-style Sunday brunch in the Early American Room has all the amenities you expect: chilled fish and seafood, including crab claws; creative salads; cheeses and fruit; chafing dish items such as roulade of chicken and escalopes of veal; desserts, and made-to-order omelets and saute or carving stations.

The dining room is decorated traditionally in soft shades of rose, cream and green, and tables near the tall windows have pleasant views. With a harpist playing by the door and formally dressed waiters serving coffee and champagne, the atmosphere is gracious but not stuffy.

Because the inn on weekends hosts many family gatherings such as weddings and reunions, you're likely to see many guests -- and their children -- in casual but neat attire.

Dearborn Inn, 20301 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn. Brunch served 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays. Adults $25, children 6-12 $12.50, free for younger children. Price includes beverages, champagne after noon and tax, but not gratuity. Reservations suggested; 313-271-2700 anytime.

The Whitney
Sunday brunch is everything you'd expect at the beautiful Whitney, whose food is repeatedly ranked among the best in the area.

The setting is excellent -- the restored David Whitney mansion has walnut-paneled walls, sunlight filters through lace curtains and a trio plays classical music. The place may be jammed, but it's free of din and crowding because tables are scattered in small parlors. Service is quick and attentive.

The food, though, is always the star, and brunch rates among the best. On a recent visit, it drew five "Oh my's."

Brunch comes as four courses, each excellent. First, as you sit to peruse the menu, you're served a small noshing selection -- a basket of excellent sweet rolls, muffins and scones, plus mini bagels served with herbed cream cheese, chicken mousse and house-made gravlax.

Courses two and three have several choices each, most equal to a lunch. Recently, second-course choices included an eggplant and asparagus quiche with asiago cheese, and mixed-berry crepes marinated in Grand Marnier with maple syrup creme fraiche. Three other choices also were on the menu.

Recent third courses included soy-seared salmon in citrus-coconut broth, roast pork tenderloin with basil-chive spatzle, and beef tenderloin with blue cheese butter. More choices also were available.

Dessert is equally fine. Stuffed brunchers may want the fresh fruit and sorbet; lusty eaters may still have room for treats like flourless chocolate gold leaf cake or poppy-seed pound cake. Coffee or tea and fresh juice are included; mimosas are extra.

The Whitney, 4421 Woodward at Canfield, Detroit. Seating for brunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays. Adults $24.95, separate menu for children 12 and under $12.95; price does not include tax or gratuity. Reservations strongly recommended; 313-832-5700, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday.
Source: Detroit Free Press