Brunch Like a Boss at Hotel Duval

​​The Tallahassee Food Blog is no stranger to Hotel Duval. For years the hotel has been a go-to for special nights out and some of the best steak dinners you can find in Tallahassee. But while most of us think of the hotel as a date night steak place, there is a new side of Hotel Duval which is redefining the most important meal of the day.

Launching about one month ago, HD opened for an all new Sunday brunch service with a primary focus on quality products from local producers. We finally got to check out the brunch this past Sunday and were blown away by a whole new Hotel Duval.

First Impressions
Walking into the dining room at 10AM is a totally different vibe than dinner and drinks at night. The space is bright, full of light, and the windows open up to the early morning traffic on North Monroe Street. The atmosphere is calm and inviting, and even though we had just driven in for the meal, it felt like we were waking up at the hotel and had come down for breakfast before check out. The staff was attentive and friendly, and we could tell from our conversations with each of them how excited the whole team is to launch the new menu.

The Concept
Brunch is a Southern tradition and Hotel Duval has raised the bar by building a menu around locally sourced ingredients. Partnering with Bradley's Country Store, Orchard Pond Organics, Sweet Grass Dairy, and Lucky Goat Coffee, Hotel Duval is making a statement, and now you can find the best our region has to offer all in one place. The menu offers something for everyone from traditional country breakfast to lionfish with grits and, of course, a full slate of specialty cocktails and mimosas which no brunch would be complete without.

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The Food
We started off with the Sweet Grass Dairy cheese platter and “Spudnutz.” The platter was a generous portion of aged cheddar, smoked gruyere, and artisanal Brie and Boursin cheeses. Paired with an assortment of nuts and berries, it’s a great start to the morning and perfect to share.
 
The Spudnutz gave us a sweet contrast to the cheeses and were a fun and original starter. Picture Chinese donuts tossed in a bag of sugar and cinnamon served with an espresso laced chocolate ganache dipping sauce. Together the two were a great combination to start the meal and the perfect segue into our liquid course.

Drinks
Hotel Duval's signature brunch cocktail is their Tomatillo Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary’s can be a bit of an acquired taste, but if you don't like Bloody Mary’s, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try. The Tomatillo Bloody Mary is a departure from the strong tomato flavors of a traditional Bloody Mary.  The drink lends itself to a cool, peppery flavor, and is well complimented by its garnish of fresh olives and Bradley's Smoked Sausage.

For the purists, they also have a traditional version… and yes, that’s bacon in there.
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If this isn't your thing, not to worry, they have an assortment of specialty Mimosas and craft cocktails to meet anyone’s taste.

...Back to the food!
While the menu has all the staples of a great country breakfast, including cage-free eggs, locally sourced meats, and specialty cheeses, it features some very exciting signature dishes too.

Executive Chef Nic Delmonego crushed it with his steak and eggs. Now mind you, this was not just any steak; it was an Orchard Pond Organics herb butter rib eye. And these were not just any eggs, these were three enormous, locally-sourced, cage-free eggs.  And as for the technique, just click here to see how perfectly he nailed it. This dish was the essence of great Southern cooking: outstanding ingredients, simple techniques, flawless execution.  We were floored, and you will be too.

When we ordered the Fried Chicken and Johnny Cakes, we were sort of expecting something along the lines of chicken and waffles. What we got instead was a knife and fork version of a honey butter chicken biscuit. The airline chicken breast is battered and smothered with a semi-spicy honey maple sauce. It was not the syrup we were expecting but we sopped it up with the cornbread Johnny cakes just the same. It was a great dish, and each bite left you wanting another.

Our favorite dish of the meal was a very cool take on a classic shrimp and grits. Hotel Duval revamped this brunch staple, substituting the shrimp with pan seared lionfish fillets over a base of Bradley’s sausage cheese grits.  
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If you've never seen a lionfish, now you have… and despite the way it looks, it is an incredibly tender fish. A bit of an oddity, and a relative newcomer to most menus, lionfish are a venomous predator which have been popping up more frequently as local fisheries have been working to deal with this invasive species. In short, the dish was a delicious first time experience we can't wait to try again.
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Of all the items on the menu this dish really defines the whole experience and what the new menu represents. Brunch isn't meant to be boring, it’s a time to gather together with friends and family and share a meal that is exciting, exotic, and at the same time feels like home.

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Brunch at Hotel Duval runs every Sunday from 8AM-2PM. 

Check them out soon, tell them we sent you, and let us know what you think on Twitter with the hashtag #BrunchLikeaBoss

Be sure to like our Facebook page and help spread the word.

Comment below and let us know where you’d like to see us eat next. ​Stay hungry Tally!

TFB