Hi ho the Derry -oh! The Bachelor Farmer hosted it’s first public brunch Sunday, so obviously we had to go. We got there before the doors opened, but got to catch up a little with Steve Holt at the bar. The Dayton boys were at the bar, keeping an eye on their kingbrunchdom, and likely enjoyed my morning witty repartee.

As the song goes, the farmer takes a wife (didn’t happen), the wife takes a child (definitely not at brunch), and the kid takes a cow. Or something equally reasonable. Our version of the song would go like this: the table takes one of everything. (It’s just not quite as catchy.) Everyone started with a Red Snapper, the BF version of a bloody mary. It’s made with gin, fresh tomato, cucumber and horseradish. It’s equal parts refreshing and refreshing. So nice, you gotta say it twice.

We started our eating bonanza with a few items from the pastry cart. I chose a sensible cinnamon roll, while the boys chose brioche with either Nutella or vanilla cardamom. YUM! I had trouble sharing.

It was about this time that things got cray cray. Somehow we channeled our inner John Madden, and took to circling areas of the menu rather than ordering individual items. “Now, now, what you’ve got here is, uh, is a whole bunch of food that that looks really good.” *circle motion* Let’s start with the “sides” we ordered. First up, we got deviled eggs and salted strawberries. The heavy mustard flavor in the eggs was cut through with the light tart of the strawberries. Suddenly, the conversation turned to “the best thing I’ve eaten” and “the most full I’ve ever been”.

The next section of the menu that we Madden circled was the smorrebrod. I’ll just go in the order that they are on the menu. Assume all delicious- themed comments apply to the next 4 pictures:
English pea purée with roasted asparagus and aged goat’s cheese (which did not stand alone, btw). Enough asparagus to make your pee smell funny.

Roast chicken salad with radish, capers, celery and rooftop chervil (in case you don’t know, the restaurant has a garden on the roof!)

House cured salmon, sweet mustard, chopped egg, cornichon, dill (we got an extra ramekin of cornichons. C’mon. It’s me.)

Bacon confit, baby lettuces, tomato, bacon aioli (even delicious for people who don’t really get into bacon)

OMG- we haven’t even gotten to the ENTREES yet! I told you, we lost our minds. Which lead to a conversation about losing our minds in different ways. Notably that the wiry guy told a tale of working in a restaurant that Mike Tyson walked into, and thought “he’s not so big- I can take this guy”. Clearly not a rational thought. He could barely take his coat. BAZINGA!

Moving on to the tale of main course- yes- we kept eating. Forks were flying furiously around the table onto other peoples’ plates. (We’re down with OPP).  The dish that everyone was eager to try was the Rye spaetzle pyttipanna, smoked pork shoulder, poached egg, savoy cabbage, caraway hollandaise. And for good reason. It will knock you down and catch you at the same time. Smokey and stout, creamy and grounding. I will be getting this all to myself next time.

Next up- the Egg sandwich, roasted asparagus, oyster mushrooms, camembert. Somehow the bun was like a buttery flakey croissant, and the eggs, well, “I’ve never had eggs have this much flavor”. Filling and savory.

Baked eggs, venison sausage, crispy reds, and grilled bread was plated in a fun way, and the iron skillet was great to keep the eggs warm. The only comment that is slightly negative about the entire brunch is that the venison sausage lacks some zing. I’ve had some experience with venison sausage growing up in WV, and adding some spice would really bring this up to speed with the rest of the dish.

I ordered the soft scrambled eggs, smoked steelhead trout, green onions, and crème fraîche. It was hard to distinguish between the soft eggs, butter, or possibly tiny soft bunnies. Seriously the softest, most delicate eggs ever. The trout was not overwhelming in flavor, and actually could have been one or two puffs smokier. The greens on the side were nice and vinegary- a great compliment to the creamy eggs.

Whew- I’m getting tired and full just typing all of this! But wait- there’s more! Since Marvel is downstairs, and known to sling some delicious cocktails, we couldn’t pass up a second round. You know, to aid in digestion. The gin and tonic #3 was decided to be the “wake up and do the crossword puzzle on the deck” drink. My caraway shandy was deemed “I’m drinking this all day on the boat”, and the breakfast bourbon is a great sidekick for “roasting things at a bonfire”. Before we knew it- OOPS there’s fried dough with a rhubarb compote on the table. (But not for long)

The final word(s): Atmosphere: A. Serivce: A. Food: A. Drinks: B+ (put something pickled in the Red Snapper, Pip!) Price: A.

Hey diddle diddle- we ran away with so many dishes and spoons that the cow is entirely too satiated to even consider jumping over anything. Much less the moon.

SPOILER ALERT- we’ll be back. There were at least 3 things on the menu that we didn’t eat!!