Norma’s – Plate 37

I’ve had a bunch of awesome brunches on this tour at spots notoriously known for having brunch items near the top of the gotta-have-it list. I am pleased to announce that at Plate #37, Norma’s is king of my brunchy mountain.

I dine with the beautiful and talented Jenny Miller (link) who freelances for a few local mags and is interviewing me for a story in some big and important publication somewhere. We met a few weeks ago at a DJ’s loft in Williamsburg across the street from Peter Luger’s with a few other food and music personalities. I remember paying $3 to get my picture taken with some kind of 50 year old camera – It was an artsy gathering; I think you know the type. Lots of fun and interesting people to say the least. After the party, we all committed to getting interns.

We talked about the future of the blog, what kind of traffic I was getting, how fun the project was, the great spots and the not so great, and how many pounds I’d gained (only six so far). I am uber-curious to figure out how she does it – my short term goal is to actually make money talking about food (that was one of the motivations for having writers join me on each of these stops). She didn’t give me any hints, although I doubt she fears the competition.

So, the food: I’ve got two words for you in regards to brunch at Norma’s:

1) Wa
2) Za

The Wa-Za’s (top) description on the menu: waffle – fruit inside, fruit outside, crackly brûlée top.

How do you not order that? You don’t like waffles, fruit, or things with crackly brûlée tops? I had a bite of Jenny’s Upstream Benedict (pic) and went right back to the waffle. I stupidly wrote down “Wa-Za” and didn’t include the different types of fruit filling in the waffle, I remember pineapple, might have been a few shreds of coconut for taste, I can’t recall and it doesn’t give you the recipe on their website (curse you, Norma!). I was almost going to ask for whipped cream on this guy, but then thought to myself, “If the chef thought it was going to be better with whipped cream, it would be all up on this piece.” And if you were wondering, yes, the voice in my head is a 14 wanna-be thug white kid from the suburbs.

Let’s be frank for a second. I loved the Benedict Johnny at Jane (link). I loved the Quinoa Hashbrowns and Turkish Eggs at Public (link). I loved the Croissant French toast at Amanda’s (link). The Wa-Za is just in a different class of breakfast deliciousness.

In my tradition of always ordering dessert, we got the Chocolate Crepe (above left). Yet another reason not to neglect that sweet tooth of yours. If I keep getting dessert at every one of these places, I might gain another six pounds … These problems I face are just downright unbearable!

I forgot to mention that we started with a Very Little Hassle Grapefruit (above). On the menu, it’s called No-Hassle Grapefruit, but there were a few seeds in there, so I renamed it. If it was really No-Hassle, it would be spoon fed to me by nubile, ethnic-looking women in the Princess Jasmine-like outfits (coming soon, I left it on a comment card). That flying saucer looking thing on top of is a caramelized grapefruit slice. Jenny and I broke pieces off and paired them with the grapefruit wedges – gorgeous.

Norma’s – eat here. The next time you think about going out for a splurgy meal, consider a brunch. Tell the chef I said Wa-Za.

Our experience on film:

Guest Writer: Jenny Miller

The IRL Arts Foundation and The Wandering Foodie thank Norma’s for providing this meal.

Norma’s
118 W 57th St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 708-7460