Complete your favorite hybrid meal with local picks that take brunch from standard to stellar. Serve these at home or gift them to brunch hosts.
Raw Missouri Honey
Honey is the secret ingredient in many of our favorite brunch dishes. Drizzle over roasted Brussels sprouts, mix with vinegar for salad dressings or dollop over bananas and yogurt. Caruthersville, Missouri harvester Sam Crowe can hook you up with the good stuff.
$12. The Heirloom Room, 2116 Cherokee St., St. Louis, 314.772.8000, theheirloomroom.com
Bagels and Lox
Few things in life outclass a good bagel and lox. Kohn’s Deli does it right with cold-smoked nova lox and thick, chewy bagels. Purchase enough for a platter (think three to four slices of lox per bagel) and serve with cream cheese, tomato, red onion, capers and lemon wedges.
Lox: $24 per pound; Bagels: $1 each. Kohn’s Kosher Meat and Deli, 10405 Olive St., Creve Coeur, 314.569.0727, kohnskosher.com
Lochhead Vanilla Extract
The three-generations-old Lochhead vanilla extract recipe is made using a cold-extraction process. With a rich, smooth flavor, all your holiday sweets deserve a heavy pour.
$11. Available at Straub’s locations, straubs.com
Seasonal Oysters
Oysters for brunch may seem odd in a landlocked state, but Bob’s Seafood brings them in fresh enough to transport you to the Pacific Northwest. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to offset that sea brine and pair with a stiff bloody mary.
Price varies. Bob’s Seafood, 8660 Olive Blvd., Olivette, 314.993.4844, bobsseafoodstl.com
314 Hot Sauce
Eggs without hot sauce? Blasphemy. 314 Hot Sauce is perfectly proportioned to give any dish a kick without searing off tastebuds.
$6. Sweet Boutique, 8115 Maryland Ave., Clayton, 314.932.1222, Facebook: Sweet Boutique STL
Geisert Farms Sausage Patties
Not everyone loves bacon as much as Jim Gaffigan. Offer some variety with Geisert Farms sausage patties – which should be pan-seared and finished in the oven. Pork from happy, pasture-raised pigs just tastes better.
$8. Freddie’s Market, 9052 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314.968.1914, freddiesmarket.com
This article appears in November 2015.