Brunch, SoCal Style

I'm driving down 3rd Street today in the Farmer's Market/WeHo part of town and I'm greeted with the usual early afternoon scenery...crowds of people waiting for tables at the popular brunch places: Toast Bakery & Cafe, Doughboys, Quality Food & Beverage. Just like the hot clubs around town, these types of joints are the places to be seen in daytime-LA. That's why you HAVE to go in your best casual couture--Juicy sweats, Ugg boots, Seven jeans, Prada sunglasses--but look just un-polished enough to make it look like you had a fabulous time out the night before, a-la-Paris Hilton. And there's always at least a 30 minute wait for nothing-to-rave-about food.

So why is it that I sometimes feel like I'm missing something by not partaking in brunch, SoCal style? Like I'm somehow that much more un-cool. It's 'cause I used to think like this. Back in the day when I had less self-esteem, when I had a crappy retail job and when I made it a requirement to head to a crowded cafe to have brunch whenever I had the weekend off just to make myself feel more important than I really was. I used to think that hanging out in places like these, the whole experience of waiting endlessly on the sidewalk for a table and being surrounded by beautiful people scarfing down egg-white omelettes, was the perfect way to actually enjoy the day.

Today, you'll never catch me at Toast or Doughboys at 1pm on a Sunday. Now that's not to say that I'll never set foot in one of those places again. Sometimes I will be in the mood for a spinach, sun dried tomato and feta omelette, y'know. But you'll more likely find me there at 8am, or on a weekday when I've chosen to play hooky from work. 1pm on a Sunday? I've got better things to do.