Biscuits and Brunch at Buby’s in TriBeCa

Long ago–maybe in August–I met my friend Dana for brunch at Buby’s in TriBeCa. She had heard good things about it and we both enjoyed our meal there. The basket of biscuits brought by our waiter had a passing intrigue–after all I had just left Atlanta, and biscuits weren’t a novelty. But they were good biscuits. Then life moved on.

Now, in January, with my friend Alex visiting and Lisa along for the ride, we were looking for a place to brunch on Friday. I suggested Buby’s—and the prospect of biscuits and brunch food excited everyone. We are all Atlanta emigres–Alex lives in Chicago, Lisa and I live here (New York). Back in our Atlanta days we brunched frequently and eagerly at brunchy bastions like The Flying Biscuit and The Crescent Moon. Here in New York, we haven’t brunched that much–and certainly there haven’t been biscuits. Off to Buby’s we went:

This place is a yuppy brunchy bastion. It’s sleek and metallic. Trendy music plays and the host regards with you with mock interest in your brunching experience. Soon you are seated. And then the magic happens. The biscuits arrive. Biscuits and jalapeno cornbread. And jam. Here’s Alex eagerly displaying them:

I was so happy to eat biscuits and cornbread I nearly yelled “Yeehaw!” but I didn’t because my mouth was full of biscuits and cornbread. We all devoured them greedily. They brought more. We devoured those.

It’s funny—I was so happy to eat biscuits as if they’re this rare exotic food you can’t eat north of the Mason Dixon. Of course I can always make them, like I did that time I made biscuits (if I were less lazy I’d make that statement a link to my biscuit post, but instead you can just type “amateur gourmet biscuits” into google and I’m sure something’ll come up). But, anyway, it doesn’t feel right to make biscuits in New York. That’s an Atlanta thing. It’s like making cheesecake and matzoh ball soup in Alabama. Ya know?

Anyway, the rest of the meal was pretty good. I had scrambled eggs and lox and home fries:

As a point of interest, a side of home fries at Buby’s costs $5.25. That seems outrageous for potatoes and onions and whatnot, but as it stood they came with my eggs.

We all agreed that the best part was the biscuits and the cornbread. Our waiter, as it happened, had a bad attitude. He seemed irritated when we ordered our food. I ordered coffee at the beginning and when Lisa ordered her dish–some kind of special that came with eggs, french toast and potatotes and coffee–he wouldn’t let my coffee count towards her free coffee, even though Lisa doesn’t drink coffee. “I already rang it in,” he said.

But that aside, Buby’s is a fun place to go for brunchy biscuit ***

I’m looking for a word here.

Beauty?

Bounty?

Beatification?

But I think you now what I mean. Yeehaw!