Uwishunu.com

Philadelphia may not be the city that never sleeps, but most of our chic eateries are spare on the shut-eye. If you can’t get a table at dinner, rest assured that the ever-hopping Tinto will be open for brunch on Sunday. The Rittenhouse tapas bar, of the Jose Garces family, promises to do the dishes after, and these are no ordinary sunny-sides and grits.

The $25 prix-fixe deal sets you up with two courses, a side, and a dessert. A tart Biscay cocktail of blood orange and Rosé made for a refreshing mimosa sub, and the Iraty, a muddle of lemon, aperol, and bourbon, was a steady first move. How exciting can granola be? My parfait glass came packed with estimable layers of the crunchy muesli, yogurt, and fruit. Nearly every spoonful unearthed a blackberry. After consulting my back history of granola rendezvous, I could not recall one more satisfying. I could have stopped there, but then I reached for a hunk of bialy from the cured salmon plate. I was in Jose’s Bialy Shop for half a minute before Course 2 leapt in.

The mushroom is my go-to at a Garces establishment. In this faith, I found the revuelto de hongos, porcinis and trumpets arranged as they should be, with scrambled eggs, truffle butter, and goat cheese espuma, flagged by mini toasts. Get used to the espuma here, as foam is a topper for several dishes. This was rich enough to halt me for a few minutes. Less butter and cheese would allow more of the mushroom’s earthiness to come out. Grilled asparagus was a straightforward side plucked from the lunch menu, a bright green beauty next to a sunny lemon aioli. In the maple grits I discovered a mind-changer, a bowl of comfort that won me over to the side of the widely disputed breakfast dish. I was at Jose’s House of Grits, and I wasn’t leaving yet.

The prix-fixe romance finishes with a choice of gateaux basque or brûlée of grapefruit. Black-cherried cakelets are eye-pleasing, but not tizzy-inducing unless you’re at Spanish tea party. The crackled grapefruit is more a last punch, with crème fraîche gelato shotgunning it. Imagine the lines that a grapefruit and gelato cart would draw at brunchtime.

Tinto
114 S 20th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 665-9150
tintorestaurant.com