Photos by Justin Fox Burks
We went to a surprise birthday brunch at Ecco on Overton Park recently and immediately wanted to go back on our own the following weekend. On our second visit, nothing we ate for Saturday brunch was more than $5, which is pretty amazing these days. Even cocktails and mimosas were in the five-dollar range.
In fact, we ordered and shared nearly everything on the menu that caught our eye and only spent about $40, or what a typical composed brunch plate would cost almost anywhere else.
To start, we ordered coffees, an Americano and a cappuccino. Both were expertly prepared on a Lavazza espresso machine that we coveted and wanted to sneak out the door with us.
The vegetable frittata came next, filled with onions and peppers with a garnish of pretty spring micro-greens and a drizzle of olive oil. There were sweet and savory crepes, but we stuck with the buttery apple, raisin, and cranberry chutney. Thicker and heartier than you would imagine (about the size of a big burrito!), the crepe had a natural sweetness, so it didn’t seem like dessert.
Overall, the herbed potatoes were an easy brunch favorite. We shared a bowl of these crispy wedges that were covered in an herb mix with lots of green onion and what we surmised was a generous hand with pepper and possibly paprika and garlic. We also tried a beautifully presented seasonal fruit bowl with thinly sliced apples, blueberries, and strawberries and a big bowl of polenta, which was long-simmered, creamy, and tasted best with a good bit of parmesan on top for a salty kick. We took half of the polenta home.
If you haven’t been to Ecco yet, Saturday brunch would be an excellent introduction to the restaurant’s well-executed bistro-style food. We also look forward to trying Ecco’s lunch and dinner offerings soon, because it’s a great place to soak in an authentically European vibe and to experiment with something new.
Ecco on Overton Park, 1585 Overton Park (901-410-8200). Open for brunch Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Photographer Justin Fox Burks and food writer Amy Lawrence live in Memphis, where they publish a popular blog called The Chubby Vegetarian. The couple, both enthusiastic home cooks, also are the authors of The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook, published in 2013 by Thomas Nelson.
The apple, raisin and cranberry chutney crepe, pictured above, is part of the Saturday brunch menu at Ecco on Overton Park, pictured below.
Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence
