Lunch is for Later

The thing about brunch is, some people just want breakfast.

When we'd made these plans, I thought it was for lunch. Turns out my companions had other ideas so we detoured to Perly's instead.

No one was surprised at how busy it was, but it didn't take too long to get seated at a booth and out of the way of the bustling servers.

It was my first look at the morning menu - dubbed "Sunrise" - which offered all kinds of temptations (but no pig products) and after some discussion, we placed our order with our smiling server.

Time to socialize.

The artist in the group shared pictures of some of his latest endeavors, everything from his handmade groovy guitar strap to a recent painting and textile wall hanging incorporating beads and figures.

Meanwhile, the False Cape expedition survivor (humongous horse flies, horrific heat and flying tents) told us about her upcoming trip next week to Yosemite, Tahoe and Sacramento.

The best I could do was talk about the stellar band I'd seen last night at Balliceaux.

We had plenty of time to chat because our food took a while to arrive, understandably given the jam-packed restaurant and the fact that they've barely been open two weeks.

When our server arrived, she had only two plates in hand and put them down in front of my companions; at that moment there was a loud crash from the back.

"Gee, I hope that wasn't yours," she said to me with a slight grimace and grin.

Fortunately, it wasn't and soon we were all tucking in to our breakfasts as a light rain fell outside.

Chocolate babka French toast with banana cream anglaise and blueberries was decadent without being too chocolaty (given that it was the first meal of the day) and got even better with the addition of the salt component in the form of strips of turkey bacon.

Two of us did the build your own breakfast, enjoying kishka - beef sausage with oatmeal- for the first time and debating what makes better toast, seeded rye or challah.

My vote is for the former, slathered with butter and strawberry jam delivered in a ramekin.

People kept arriving as we ate and they ran the gamut, some of them no doubt long-time Perly's regulars from its last incarnation and plenty of others looking more like they'd arrived via the Black Sheep connection since the chef is the same one who launched that brunch mecca.

Boldly ordering a cross between dessert and a drink, the artist got the shickered egg cream (delivered in a miniature glass milk bottle), a compelling combination of bourbon, cream, cream de cacao, Fex's U-Bet chocolate syrup and almond orgeat seltzer fizz.

Because sometimes when you want breakfast, you also want a bit of a buzz.

I think that's why they call it brunch.