Petra and the Beast's New Brunch Is an Elegant and Distinct Feast

Petra and the Beast, chef Misti Norris’ rightly acclaimed culinary creation, has gone through some changes as of late, starting with a move to a new location last August. This spring brought the advent of a new Sunday brunch service. We’re always keen to try out whatever new project chef Norris has going, whether it be temporary residencies at various restaurants or new menu options, so we headed to Lakewood recently to try the new brunch.
The space is much larger than the old location, with a large horseshoe bar on one side and several tables and booths on the other, along with a few seats at the counter that provide a close-up view of the goings-on of Norris and her staff in the kitchen and prep area. It's not as eclectic in its décor as the old location with its sleeker and more modern look, but some touches did carry over, such as the collection of bones and animal skulls that line shelves like a Georgia O’Keeffe painting come to life.
The old location was BYOB (save for an occasional palate cleanser if you were at the tasting menu), so we wanted to take full advantage of the available cocktails. We started off with a Silly Wabbit and a Mornin’ Sunshine, breaking one of our cardinal rules about not ordering anything that requires uttering a silly name (we still have never had a Rooty Tooty Fresh N' Fruity breakfast, for example). It was a good move.
The Silly Wabbit was expertly mixed with vodka, apple brandy, carrot/turmeric/ginger shrub, lemon and orange bitters. It was probably the best cocktail we’ve had this year and an absolute steal at $10. The Mornin’ Sunshine was almost as good, composed of peach-infused rye, amaro crème de pêche, orange dry curaçao and ginger ale. It took some willpower not to order a second round.
Our starter was the smoked redfish dip with dragee pecans and little dollops of candied hot sauce, which helped to counter some of the smokiness. This was dressed with fresh nasturtium and dill and served with large pieces of refrito celery seed chips for dipping.
For our mains, we shared an order of gnocchi French toast and the allium-fried chicken thigh; both were fantastic. The French toast used a gnocchi base instead of traditional bread, lightly sauteed and topped with whipped ricotta, dill pollen, mint leaves, Texas honey and the star of the plate, several thin slices of house-made shoyu smoked ham. It was a good mixture of sweet and savory, with the mint accentuating the best of both.

If you missed out on an earlier iteration of Norris’ koji chicken at her limited-run restaurant Stepchild a couple of years ago, you’re in luck. The fried chicken thigh was one of the best things we’ve eaten this year. A perfectly cooked thigh was both juicy and so satisfyingly crunchy, the flavorful skin crisped to perfection, the fermented shio koji intensifying the experience. Along for the party was some smoked shallot gravy liberally dressed with crispy shallots that also kicked up the texture profile a notch. Oh, yeah, all topped with a fried egg. Wow.

As a side we went with some smoked Berkshire pork jowl, which stands in admirably for bacon on this menu. Thickly sliced and fatty (in a good way), it was a perfect accompaniment to the rest of the meal.

We were going to forego dessert, but the server told us that sticky toffee pudding was available that day, so what are you going to do? You are going to order it and finish it all — that’s what you’re going to do. It was rich but not too sweet, believe it or not, topped with whipped and roasted nuts, with just a bit of caramelly warm sauce surrounding it all.

It was a great brunch, if not as typical as the mimosa-and-omelet versions so prevalent in the area. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with Petra and the Beast’s creative and caring take on the meal, either.

You should go.

1901 Abrams Road. Wednesday – Sunday, 5–10 p.m.; Brunch: Sunday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.