A Sunday Sin
It would be nice to be able to afford the tastefully appointed brunch at Benton’s (see Cafe Review) every Sunday. But some luxuries are best enjoyed at infrequent intervals, like exotic vacations. I enjoy eating out on Sundays, but the brunch concept gets on my nerves. Still, my friends love it — particularly one former party boy who has given up all his vices from the 1990s. “Brunch is the last act of ridiculous self-indulgence that I have left,” he says, “and, damn it, I’m not giving it up.”
If I do go along for the ride, I try to impose my ideas, of course. A couple of Sundays ago, I realized it had been ages since I had eaten at Three Friends Restaurant (2461 Prospect). That used to be a place I loved, with an inexpensive buffet on the second floor, its steam tables piled with rib tips, fried chicken, turkey and dressing, macaroni and cheese, and wonderful corn bread.
The restaurant has new owners, and I’m not sure what’s going on with the place, but something’s definitely amiss. That much was clear when I phoned ahead to ask what was on the buffet and how much the restaurant was charging for it.
The person on the line said, “I’m not sure what’s on it yet, and I’m not sure how much it costs.”
But it was already after noon! We drove over anyway. The next red flag was the fact that only a couple of tables were occupied on the first floor. Then there was the weird response that we got when we asked about the buffet. “It’s not ready yet,” an employee told us. “Maybe in 30 minutes or so.” Then I asked the waitress for a glass of iced tea. She sent a manager over to our table. “We don’t have any T-bones today,” she said.
I felt a hunger-induced migraine coming on, so we made our apologies and hurried out to the car, noting the “help wanted” signs taped to every window on the building. They want it, all right, and need it … desperately.
We wound up at a place that I used to hate, the Union Café in Union Station, which until recently served a pretty lousy brunch. Amazingly, there’s been a complete turnaround. The food is now attractively displayed, the assortment is bountiful, and a few offerings — the tomato-basil soup, the Café salad, the smoked trout — were terrific. I can quibble with a few annoyances (for starters, the chafers should be kept hotter), but the service is improved and so is the food quality. At $17.95, its not cheap, but I’ll pay dollars to make sense.
