The Foxy Brown – Brunch of the Illest

I know it’s cheesy, but I just had to make the reference to the female rap icon who shares this restaurant’s name. Not sure if they’re in any way related, but I found the name kind of funny and random.

We trotted (again, sorry for the bad reference) upon this place while vacationing in Fort Lauderdale with our friends Matt and Kate who live there. They’ve been there on a number of occasions and are big fans. Particularly praising the brunch, we looked forward to trying this “little hidden gem,” as Kate called it.

Atmosphere:
Set at the edge of Downtown Fort Lauderdale and Victoria Park, a residential neighborhood, the Foxy Brown is easy to miss. I imagine Matt and Kate stumbled upon it, when driving through their neighborhood, or others may know it through its sister location, Coconuts, right by the beach.

Foxy’s interior is warm and inviting, with a brown and red color scheme, and its signature cartoon fox that adorns the walls. When we walked in at just before 11 a.m. it was already buzzing with brunch-goers, who for the most part were young thirty-somethings.

There’s a cute little outdoor garden in the back, which is where we sat, and it was nice and quiet. Although it didn’t exemplify the energy of the interior, it was relaxing and a nice way to enjoy a leisurely Sunday brunch.

Food:
The brunch menu was impressive and boasted a variety of pancakes and waffles, egg dishes, bigger entrees, salads, sandwiches and some inventive appetizers. The morning cocktails were exciting as well and we just had to get a little bit of everything.

BLT Sake Mary – This sounded too good to pass up, and three out of the four people in our party ordered it. It came with a big piece of bacon that also served as the stirrer, which was perfectly crispy and smoky. The most interesting part of the drink was the green celery/lettuce ice cubes that not only made the drink look beautiful, but that gave it a hint of earthiness.

Southwestern Pancake – The day’s special pancake was also intriguing, and I didn’t regret my decision to get it. Boasting a beautiful soft texture, the pancake was on the savory side, as it was made of cornmeal, which was further studded with pieces of chorizo. Further topped with some mild cotija cheese, guacamole, pickled onions and a runny egg, it was an inventive spin on a Mexican brunch entrée. I appreciated how whimsical it was, making it clear that the chefs had a lot of fun coming up with it.

Philly Pretzel Bread – Being a huge fan of pretzel bread, Dan chose this as something to share with our friends. We were impressed to see that the pretzel bread came out piping hot and was accompanied by a variety of interesting spreads such as a beer cheese and a smoked whitefish spread. There were some cornichons too, which paired nicely with the saltiness of the pretzel bread, and the whole thing reminded me of something one would have at a German beer hall.

Other Brunchies – While I didn’t try it all, everyone ordered something different and they all seemed to enjoy it. I had a bite of Dan’s savory waffle, which was marbled with ham and then topped with some melty cheese and an egg. The ingredients were simple, but the preparation was once again interesting and unexpected. Matt and Kate both got egg-based dishes, including the Short Rib Benedict and the bangers and eggs, which they devoured. Kate mentioned that the short rib dish is something they’re known for here, and I just may have to get it next time.

Service and Cost:
Given that it was Sunday morning and a holiday weekend to boot, the service was impressively on-point. Our waitress was more than attentive and totally on the ball with everything. She was pretty communicative with us, and I appreciated her honesty in letting us know when our respective dishes would come out.

Even though the food here is great, I think the costs are quite expensive, especially since you have to order everything a la carte. The entire brunch set us back about $30/person including tax and tip. Costs aside, it was so yummy, that I’d definitely go back in a heartbeat. 

3 Mmmms

The Foxy Brown – 724 East Broward Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
754.200.4236
www.thefoxybrown.com

Q'in it up in Florida

Currently vacationing in Florida, one of our favorite rituals is hanging out with friends Matt and Kate for the weekend and the best part is that we always cook out.  Meaning literally for the entire day.  It's an awesome experience, as we do it from step one all the way to the sweet finish of enjoying all our food.  

Starting off at Fort Lauderdale's gourmet market, The Fresh Market, we load up on only the best ingredients, supplementing from other more common supermarkets as well for those hard-to-get-in-a-gourmet-market items such as plum jelly, anchovy paste, etc.  It's really quite amusing how you think you can get almost anything in one of those fancy places, only to find that they're sometimes lacking in the most simplest of things.  Anywho...we got all we needed and proceeded on our all-day cooking extravaganza.

On the menu...
As is customary, Matt and Dan take care of the meat - Matt cooking his 7+ hour gargantuan beef ribs that you see above.  We joked around that they looked like something that came out of the Flinstones, but boy were they great.  All the wait was worth it, as Matt glazed them with The Neely's style BBQ sauce, which contained brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, mustard powder and some rum as well that we added.  The sauce is what totally made these amazing ribs, as it added nice caramelization on the outside that juxtaposed beautifully with the tender inside.  Each bite was pure heaven, and since I couldn't get enough of the sauce, I scooped up an extra helping that I kept dipping the meat into.

Other yummies we enjoyed that day included Dan's wings with spicy buffalo sauce, looking oh so professional, as well as two sides that Kate and I put together, using recipes that I've tried before for Mango-Orange Cole Slaw as well as my Crab Boil Potato Salad.  

I even whipped up some apple-pear crisp at the end that we ate too fast for any pictures, but all in all the day was a huge success and so were our tummies (huge).  

If you'd like to try the BBQ sauce recipe, you can use this one or email me and I'll get you Matt's exact proportions.  Mmmm mmmm good...