I get so tired of my usual downtown brunch repertoire, so I headed up north—to the Upper East Side—to meet a good friend for a gourmet, Mediterranean brunch at Fig & Olive, which has become my new favorite brunch spot. It’s such a steal for its a.) fine dining, b.) classy but not stuffy atmosphere and c.) totally legit prices. Win, win, win!
If the bottles and bottles of olive oil on the walls don’t make it obvious enough, this place is big on the stuff and each dish uses olive oil in some way. To top it off, they aim to use local and season ingredients, making for the freshest of meals.
The menus are pretty extensive, and the brunch in particular, offers more lunch than breakfast options, but the well-edited selection of morning foods makes you realize that quality is way more important than quantity at this place.
What’s in it for you: Eggplant, basil and sun-dried tomato crostini; mushroom and truffle soup, fig and olive salad (figs, olives, tomatos, manchego, gorgonzola, olive oil, etc. etc.), fig granola parfait, fig and olive pancakes, French omelet (herbs, chives, scallions, goat cheese, asparagus)
What’s in it for them: Crab, cilantro mayo and scallion crostini, sesame tuna tartar, Mediterranean chicken samosa, shrimp salad with ricotta and marinated salmon, steak tartar tartine, south of France poached eggs with salmon, grilled lamb skewers and couscous
For brunch, I chose the asparagus and truffle oil poached eggs. Sounds amazing, no? Well, it was!
Asapargus and truffle oil poached eggs
The eggs were nestled in a fluffy olive oil bread bowl and accompanied by some “Mediterranean” fries. Besides not tasting completely like junk food like most home fries, I’m not sure what made these Mediterranean except for the smaller serving. I guess portion control is a part of the Mediterranean diet, right?
My friend went for the Italian omelet (she asked for egg whites), which was filled with gorgonzola, figs, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and scallions:
Italian omelet
To round out the meal, we each got a simple salad of greens:
It’s quite a trendy place, which isn’t surprising considering there’s also a location in the Meatpacking District, but if you ask me, stick to the UES venue. You’ll get the same class without the pretentious attitude. And this is a random side note, but I totally loved how bright the restaurant was. Perfect on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
Fig & Olive
808 Lexington Ave. (between 62nd and 63rd St.)
212.207.4555
- 4, 5, 6 to 59th St-Lexington Ave.
420 W. 13th St. (between 9th Ave and Washington St.)
212.924.1200
- A, C, E, L to 14th St.-8th Ave.
10 E. 52nd St. (between 5th and Madison Ave.)
212.319.2002
- E, V to 53rd-5th Ave. or 53rd-Lexington Ave.
- 6 to 51st St.