A brunch to celebrate Mom

Last week, my mom was in town for the weekend, so naturally we went out for a celebratory Mothers' Day brunch. And, of course, so did everyone else in the world. Since we didn't have a reservation (and all those other people did, it seemed), we were stuck with our less-than-first choice eatery: Nizza. I'd been to Nizza when it first opened and absolutely hated it, so I didn't exactly have high hopes.

But fortunately, those hopes were far exceeded. Service this time was friendly, courteous, and prompt. Bread arrived quickly, and lots of it-- a curious hybrid of cake, cornbread, and focaccia that my mom loved.

Almost a whole loaf here

And our entrees arrived quickly after that. Mom had gone for the grilled shrimp salad, which had chopped romaine, anchovies, pickled onions, croutons, pecorino, and garlic vinaigrette. The shrimp were warm and freshly cooked, their fragrance wafting across the table. The portion was large, and Mom was highly satisfied.

Big bowl o' stuff

My choice was the bowl of seasonal fruits, sans the accompanying Greek yogurt. I was suitably impressed by the small bowl-- the fresh was uniformly fresh and sweet, and the chefs didn't cop out with a lot of rock-hard cantaloupe and sawdust honeydew; rather, this was a melange of pineapple, mango, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. It hit the spot.

Little gems

You all know I'm not a brunch person, but when it has to happen, turns out Nizza isn't such a bad choice. As a result of its solid brunch performance, Nizza earns a huge upgrade to Three Offset Spatulas.

Nizza
630 Ninth Avenue, between 44th and 45th Streets
212-956-1800