let's do brunch: kittichai

It's been brought to my attention that people who work in kitchens generally loathe brunch. I've been on the receiving end of a disapproving "Oh, you're one of those people" comments followed up with a self-explanatory picture of some cook's tattoo featuring a popular brunch item and the words "Fuck brunch." I sympathize. I would be pissed off too if I had to drag my hungover ass to work on a weekend afternoon to make other hungover bastards some poached eggs.

But I can't help it. I am one of those people. I like brunch. And if it's a boozy brunch, I might even have to use the word love.

I thought my feelings about the Sunday afternoon we spent at Kittichai illustrate my unconditional love for the boozy brunch quite well. It's certainly not the best meal you'll ever have in your life, but there's just *something about unlimited cocktails, food involving eggs and the company of friends that makes me so happy.

*and by something I do mean unlimited bubbly

At Kittichai, $25 gets you a brunch item and unlimited Bloody Marys, bellinis and mimosas. The brunch choices are:

• Smoked salmon, grilled naan bread, classic accompaniments  
• Asian five spice french toast, thai basil and fruit compote
• Kaffir lime leaf pancake soufflé, lemongrass butter
• Eggs benedict, penang curry hollandaise with morning glory 
• Kittichai omelette, thai sour sausage, jumbo lump crab
• Kittichai Pad Thai, shrimp, garlic chive and peanuts

If your main goal is to day drink and maybe have some eggs, go for this option. The servers are excellent at keeping your glasses filled but the food is pretty lackluster. The most enticing thing on our table were the eggs benedict but since Anthony Bourdain has scared me off hollandaise for the rest of my life, I wasn't having it.

While the yellow curry potatoes on the side were tasty, my Kittichai omelette was frankly quite tragic. I've never seen such rubbery eggs outside of an airplane ...

But by then I'd already swigged a lusciously spicy Bloody Mary and a bellini so I really wasn't too upset.

If you're not feeling like too much of a lush, I would suggest foregoing the boozy brunch prix fixe and ordering a la carte. The chili-smoked hanger steak and eggs plus either a Bloody Mary or a Thai iced tea should be a great combo. We ordered the chili-smoked hanger steak to share and I am still salivating at the memory of it.

To cap off our meal, we ordered the banana spring rolls with burnt honey ice cream, which erases all sadness over inadequate omelettes.

With a few strategic a la carte orders and A LOT of bellinis and mimosas, we ended up really enjoying our brunch. See that's how it is with love: you don't need perfection because you will find a way to make it work.

Kittichai is located at 60 Thompson Street, New York, NY. Phone (212) 219-2000 for reservations.