Marmalade

About once a month, on a Saturday morning, I am in Ravenswood to volunteer.  After we finish we frequently go to Glenn's Diner which has become a favorite for brunch.  I was in the area recently and we were again scheduled to go to Glenn's, but circumstances were such that we had to change our plans, and subsequently, the restaurant that we were going to.  We decided to go to Marmalade which I had seen several times and had heard was pretty good, but I had not yet dined there.  Located on a corner, Marmalade had windows on two sides and the look of the place kind of reminded me of a 1960s style diner.  The dining area was built with two tops and larger parties were served by pushing tables together.  The walls were light and from where we sat, there were two chalkboards, each with a different set of specials.  There were several items that would look right at home at a Greek or Mexican diner.  In any case, everything on the menu, both printed and written on the chalkboard, looked amazingly good and it took a little time to make a decision.  There were many versions of many breakfast standards, Omelettes, French Toast, Pancakes, and Eggs Benedict, I decided to start with a side of Applewood Smoked Bacon.  I was given three thick slices of crispy, bacony goodness.  It was sweet and meaty with just enough smoke and was something that I could eat all day except that I also had one of their signature dishes waiting for me.

For my main course, I had Chef Efrain's Texan Bennie, which I (correctly) took to be a Texan-style Eggs Benedict.  It contained Potato Rosemary Flatbread, Potatoes, Slow-cooked Pork Shoulder, marinated in Marmalade’s own secret-recipe House Brine, topped with Pineapple Chutney and Poached Eggs, drizzled with Pesto Hollandaise, and garnished with a slice of Orange and Pineapple.  Everything about this was very flavorful.  It was both sweet and spicy (as in spice flavored, not hot) and everything was cooked perfectly.  The pork was very tender and pulled apart very easily.  While I did like this, I will say that the rosemary flatbread was a little much on it's own.  The fact that it would have been extremely difficult to eat it on its own because it was buried by everything else was undoubtedly by design because it added a lot of flavor to whatever it was eaten with.  I really enjoyed brunch here.  The food was good, the service was very friendly, and I would be happy to return.