Kouzzina by Cat Cora -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Boardwalk
*Note: This review includes a gluten/dairy free review and a gluten/dairy/soy free review.**This dining experience took place in summer 2011. I've been interested in Kouzzina for a long time. I am a big Food Network fan, so I was intrigued by Cat Cora's (Iron Chef) restaurant. I've always been on the fence about the menu. I wasn't sure if it would be easily catered to food allergies and honestly, it hasn't appealed to me that much, food wise. However, my friend who is gluten/dairy/soy free said they did a great job for dinner there and that it was very good. So, we decided to check it out for breakfast. Boy, am I glad we did! This is a new favorite for breakfast! My whole family (allergies and otherwise) loved it! Surprising flavor combinations and tasty food. Plus, it was very calm, quiet atmosphere, which was nice.We were greeted by Chef Brad (who I swear I've had at another restaurant), who was just great. He was really very helpful. We did another customizable menu. I ordered scrambled eggs (which are all cooked in Greek extra virgin olive oil already, a plus!), roasted potatoes, bacon, and a side of Mickey Waffles, with pecans and honey. Boy, was this to die for. I literally scarfed it all down, and I usually don't eat my whole meal. The eggs were the best I've had on property. I loved the flavor of the evoo, and you could tell it was a very high quality evoo. The roasted potatoes were cooked with rosemary and sea salt...they were addicting!!! My mom and step-dad both snuck some of these from my plate (without contaminating it, of course). The bacon was nothing special, but good. Now onto the waffles! Gotta love Mickey Waffles. However, the addition of the pecans and honey were awesome. The pecans are a new must. I would actually probably just do the pecans and get regular maple syrup, but it was a nice twist. I ate everything except for a few potatoes and half a mickey waffle (and Chef Brad gave us four each!!!). Wow, stuffed and very happy! Oh and did I mention they had Earth Balance here! Soooo happy! (note it was not the soy free Earth Balance)
Mickey waffles with pecans (before the earth balance butter and honey added)Now my friend ordered something similar. He got a customized meal. Eggs over easy, sweet potato hash, and bacon. The chicken sausage has soy in it, so he was not able to get this. He also go the mickey waffles, with pecans, but no honey. He had sugar free maple syrup. He like everything except the hash (which looked different from my step-dad's sweet potato hash) and had a combination of potatoes and a lot of red peppers. He really loved his meal. Another clean plate!!
On a side note, my folks really enjoyed their meals--the Stacked Kouzzina breakfast (they loved the kalamata olive bread) and the waffle w/pecans, honey, and marscapone cheese.A definite 9 out of 10! Awesome place--we'll be here again! Highly recommended.