Sunday brunch

I love Sunday brunch. There is something incredibly decadent, yet civilised, about staying in your jamies until late on a Sunday morning, then indulging in good food and coffee with friends. One of my favourite brunch venues is Brooklyn Bread & Bagels in College St, Wellington. So why is it known at the Brooklyn Café when it's not actually in Brooklyn? Well, the bakery originally grew out of the kitchen of the Dixon St Deli, a venue in central Wellington whose name has been synonymous with fine food and gourmet delights for many years. The bakery moved to an industrial site in Brooklyn and supplied cafés and restaurants with a range of speciality breads and bagels. In 2001, they moved into town and started selling directly to the public.

Today, I met up with a friend for a late brunch and brought along my new sister-in-law, who moved to Wellington two weeks ago from Ireland via her home in Finland. She describes the café culture in Cork as virtually non-existent, lamenting in the Irish's inability to make good coffee or even to bake! We are sooooo spoilt for choice and quality in Wellington.

Everything about the Brooklyn Café reeks quality. The coffee (Coffee Supreme) is great and always really well made. Their menu includes breakfast/brunch, lunch and a kiddies menu. There is always an interesting and varied selection of counter food, both sweet and savoury, which is also reasonably priced. I enjoyed a chicken, bacon and mushroom filo with a tasty relish, and also sampled some of my sister-in-law's chicken, chili, lime and corriander filo. We topped them off with sweet treats (chocolate brownie, and a double chocolate muffin). She was most impressed, and I was glad to be able to introduce her to a slice of café heaven in her new home. Yum!