Elate

In general, I would not recommend a restaurant located in a hotel. There are exceptions, but a hotel restaurant, having to serve three meals a day for a wide variety of patrons, will have to generalize. When you are located in a boutique hotel aiming for a niche audience it is easier to focus your cuisine. Elate, located in LEED certified boutique Hotel Felix has been on my radar since it opened but when an opportunity to come out for brunch availed itself, I dived in. The dining area is laid out like a lounge. The space is very open and high ceilinged with window walls on two sides. The ceilings are unfinished and have an industrial look about them with big, black iron I-beams in the overhead with hanging lights also made of black iron and having a kind of unfinished, industrial look. There was a hostess station at the entrance and a big, heavy looking wood bar behind that ran most of the length of the dining room. The center of the room was divided by banquette seating on three sides which is covered with black leather. The tables used by the banquettes are wooden black two tops which can be pushed together for larger parties and there are several larger round six top tables outside the area surrounded by the banquettes. I was by myself so I got a two top and sat at at one of the very comfortable banquettes looking out on the street. I looked at the menu and saw many things that interested me. I decided to start with something at least slightly healthy because whatever I was going to have after was decidedly not going to be. I got a bowl of mixed berries which were really good. It contained strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and some blueberries. The presentation was simple and it didn't seem to have any extra sugar sprinkled on it which was fine because I thought that the fruit was good enough and could stand on it's own. It tasted very fresh and the strawberries were slightly crisp. It was a very good start because what I decided on next was a bit on the decadent side.
While I have heard before of a breakfast pizza, I had never had one. I like pizza and with the ingredients offered on this pizza, it sounded like a home run so I ordered it. As one might expect for something labeled breakfast, it had a fried egg on it which was very good but it also had, smoked ham, caramelized onions, truffled potatoes, and aged gouda. This pizza was ridiculously good. All of the ingredients had very prominent flavors which went together very well. They also announced themselves with every bite. The aroma of truffles was immediate when the plate was served but the flavor while prominent, didn't overwhelm the rest of the ingredients. The most subtle of the ingredients were the caramelized onions but they were very tasty when they were bitten into. On top of that (or underneath it as it were) the crust was thin and very crisp and didn't crumble when bitten into or cut. It held together very well.

It was kind of funny to find another such good breakfast place so quickly after my last one, both of which feature seasonal and organic food. While they are both very good, they are decidedly different and there is very definitely room for both of them. I will have to return here sometime for dinner because the dinner menu also looks very appetizing and after the great breakfast here, I am sure that the dinner is at least as good.