There’s a long history of brunch eating on this spot—through the decades it’s been home to Elm’s Tea Room, Grove’s and the Commons Grill. Now it’s gleefully updated with cranberry juice and fair trade coffee. The biggest brunch seller is eggs benedict with smoked salmon on a sweet potato biscuit (the biscuit recipe is from Jane Wright’s best friend’s mother). Also very popular: ricotta pancakes with fresh banana and real maple syrup. It’s casually elegant. Wear whatever you want, but know that a reproduction of Lucas Cranach’s Renaissance-era Venus oversees the hubbub of folks smacking their lips in happiness.
Runner-up: 44 North, 1919 Upper Water, 428-7852
