Boozy Brunching, West Village Style

Weekend brunch in NYC might as well be its own local holiday. People flock to brunch spots at all corners of the city from around 11am and until we can pour ourselves out of our mimosa glasses. New Yorkers love our booze, and that is probably the reason why the moment a suburb-style Denny’s debuted in Manhattan, the headline made sure to focus on the fact that draft beer would be served. Brunch is just about the greatest combination of meals that a person can consume. You have the comfort of breakfast food, the hours of a late lunch (4pm is still fair game), and the glory of a plentiful supply of refreshing specialty cocktails. In fact, many city spots center their entire experience around those cocktails, because what is truly better than sipping fruit-infused bubbly over your egg frittata on a sunny day? Or a rainy day? Or a snowy day?

Sotto 13

140 West 13^th Street, between 6^th and 7^th avenue

This West Village, NYC gem boasts a perfect combination of creative drinks and amazing plates of food. It’s casual enough for a girl’s day out, but classy enough for a birthday or other celebration. The two main selling points are the “Boozy Brunch” and the “DIY Prosecco Bar”, and I have had the luxury of experiencing both (twice). If you choose to brunch at this rustic, cozy eatery, be sure that you book a table as far in advance as possible, as they fill up quickly. It’s popular, and for good reason!

The Boozy Brunch includes two options. For $29 per person, you get 1 liter of your brunch drink of choice along with a designated number of shared plates, thin-crust pizzas, and sides, based on the number of people at your table (full table participation is necessary). For $39 per person, you get the same amount of food plus unlimited alcohol for 1.5 hours (obviously, my recommendation). The Prosecco bar will run you an additional cost, but it comes with a variety of fresh fruit purees (with unique options like passion fruit), assorted berries, and flavored liquors for a crafty and interactive mimosa-creating experience.

My table selected the jumbo lump crab scramble with mascarpone and lemon, the skirt steak hash with a fried egg and hollandaise, and the pork and fennel sausage pizza. For a party of 3, this was more than enough to fill us up. The food is unique, full of flavor, and super fresh. You can even see pizzas cooking inside a wood-fired oven right in the middle of the restaurant. The pizza, by the way, is fantastic by NYC standards—thin, chewy, seasoned crust and hearty toppings. The scramble was light and fluffy, with delicate bits of crab wrapped inside each creamy bite, and the hash felt like a classy version of a typical steak-and-eggs, with tender strips of meat and the added dimension of the hollandaise.

The waitresses are not stingy with their attention to your Prosecco glass, and by the end of our 1.5 hours, we were eagerly finishing off the last drops of our mimosa mixers and scraping the bottoms of our plates. All that’s left to do is digest the cocktail of happiness inside your stomach while you gaze out the skylight overhead and savor your final moment of brunching perfection. Try not to stumble as you leave.