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Brunch is a long-standing Southern tradition that brings a fun, sociable aspect to this special weekend meal.  Way back in 1895 a British author Guy Beringer was making the case for a post-church Sunday meal, and pushed the words “breakfast” and “lunch” together to form “brunch”.  Well Mary and her good friend Mimosa might have had a little something more to do with it too. 

At breakfast, it’s realistically all about Coffee, tea or OJ – and something that’s relatively quick and easy. Once the Mimosas, Bellinis or Bloody Marys come out then it begins an experience and time to relax and indulge.

As David Fountain of Fountain's Food Adventures and his other foodie followers set out to explore the local brunch options the adventure quickly began looking and feeling very similar to the challenge of searching for Forsyth’s best pizza at the end of 2019 – “it’s complicated, but so much to love!” 

Let's check out what they discovered!

The Best Over-all Brunch

Never Enough Thyme

Trying to keep a business afloat during the pandemic was hard enough, but opening your restaurant at that time? It almost seems impossible, but Michelle Doyle, co-owner was able to do it. “Never Enough Thyme was definitely the most satisfying experience for this adventure.” The environment, food, and people (family) were all right-on. 

Our favorite the Shrimps and Grits with Executive Chef Rob and Chef Michael Hansard’s twist on this southern classic including Andouille sausage giving it an amazing flavor.  Kind of like a creamy soup of shrimp, grits and sausage — that was good to the last spoon-full. 

 The French toast had berries and cream stuffed in between each piece and dusted with powdered sugar for a lovely presentation and great taste. This special Stuffed treat also can be ordered with apples and cinnamon, bacon egg and cheese or how about it with Nutella and bananas — yum!  

Favorite Traditional Brunch

Village Italian

This restaurant you might recall won a spot in David Fountain’s Pizza Adventure in 2019, a Favorite Family Pizzeria. Now they earned another nod, which is all about their Benedetto — a blessed benedict. The Italian twist to the traditional eggs benedict hit the spot with taste and presentation. 

A made to order omelet for the veggie or meatlover and the classic French toast were another picture-perfect meal of comfort.

A made to order omelet for the veggie or meatlover and the classic French toast were another picture-perfect meal of comfort. While for the bacon-lovers, certainly don’t miss a mason jar full of their candied bacon — which is ohh so sweet and spicy. David and the other foodies also were impressed by the breakfast pizza with two sunny-up eggs. The bottomless mimosa, a crafted bloody Mary or a cappuccino are a few other reasons to find a comfortable spot inside or out on the patio. 

Favorite Brunch with Southern Flare

Tam’s Tupelo

David Fountain fell in love with this restaurant for their southern hospitality, inviting environment and the culmination of their Cajun Memphis focused cuisines. The Chicken & Waffles is a favorite. The waffles are topped with pecans, homemade honey butter (from the Tupelo tree), and the yummy pecan syrup and the hand-breaded chicken tenderloins fried to perfection — great honey mustard too! 

Another excellent choice thanks to Chef Michael Hadzmihalis is the Lobster Benedict with a special spiced hollandaise sauce and the dessert like hash browns and bacon. 

The stack of three pancakes with two eggs and bacon is a pleaser or if you’re more like David go all-in for the Tupelo Brisket Burger made with a combination of chuck, brisket, short rib, with fried green tomato, homemade pimento cheese, and David says “please add a couple slices of that heavenly bacon.” 

Most Romantic Brunch

Montaluce Winery & Restaurant

Known for their first-class Tuscan winery and accompanied with an award-winning restaurant, Le Vigne, is perched on top of Montaluce Winery and nestled in the mountains of North Georgia. 

While the menus are seasonal, we found several favorites.

 Like the flavorful and pleasant Pasta Bolognese, with fresh pasta, shredded parmesan, filet meat sauce and crushed red pepper. Or the Tonga Toast, fried banana stuffed French toast, cinnamon sugar, strawberry jam, maple syrup and serving of steel-cut oatmeal. The Wagyu flank steak, fried egg, peppercorn demi and arugula salad or the Duck Confit Gravy covering house-made buttermilk biscuits were a few other treats.  

BRUNCH AT HALCYON

HOBNOB

We were wowed by the Bloody Mary inspiration options, Mosa menu and many other brunch cocktails. David went with Hobnob’s Garden Mary with the addition of two slices of applewood smoked bacon, which was a sight to see!  The favorite brunch fare of our adventure was their 12 Hour Short Rib Hash, with an exciting presentation while also packed with flavor from the beer braised shortrib, breakfast potato, red pepper, red onion, scallions, cheddar cheese and sriracha rem.  The Lemon Ricotta Griddle Pancakes and Million Dollar Omelet paired well for a little indulgence and fun brunch.

Ocean & Acre

A beautiful laid out restaurant, gorgeous dining room inside and relaxing outdoor seating. As you can image, we found that their Crab Benedict, a noodle crab cake, brioche bread, potato hash with ‘nduja oil was our favorite from the sea.  Another with the Smoked Salmon platter with whipped cream cheese, dill, capers, red onion and with a heirloom tomato salad.  

CT Cantina & Taqueria

CT was another Favorite in that February article last year too, a couple weeks before National Margarita Day (February 22 mark your calendar!) Yes, it is hard resist one of those famous margaritas when at a great Mexican restaurant. A frozen Spicy Jalapeno Margarita got David warmed-up before digging into the Chilaquiles.  The platter is filled with fried tortilla strips simmered in red salsa, topped with chorizo, cheese and side of hash browns. Or another favorite is their three red Enchiladas filled with Mexican cheese and onion with a side of Mexican rice and refried beans. 

THE MONTHLY FOOD ADVENTURE CONTINUES: Eating with a Healthy Twist

As you read this David and fellow foodies like you are already looking and tasting those healthier menu items, whether that may help with a New Years Resolution or just balance out some of those eating habits.  We will need your help with this adventure exploring Low-fat, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, non-GMO, Anti-sugar, Farm-to-table or Celiac sensitive kitchens.  So please chime in and let us know of those dishes that work for you or the areas that we can help you uncover better choices.

Fountain’s Food Adventures presented by Financial Consultants Group

You can reach David at Foodie@FountainsFoodAdventures.com or follow the adventure on Facebook and Instagram.