Alchemy: Modern American Eatery (Hampden)

The super short version? 4 (crispy) strips of bacon out of 5.  They only bottomless option is Mimosa, but trust us, they are worth it!

Want more details?

Color of Mimosa: 5 
Flavor of Bloody Mary: 0!
Yumminess of Screwdriver: n/a
Server Recommended Entree: 4 (Avenue Benedict and Breakfast Crepe both earned 4s)
Crispness of Bacon: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 6 (yes, we are aware it's out of 5)

      
This place is classy!  As Shannon says, "It's not the type of place where you can reek of ale with sunglasses still covering your eyes."  Also, the chairs are higher than the booths.  We don't know why, but it was mentioned several times from the people around us. Everyone was warm and friendly when we arrived and we were seated right away.  While we did make reservations, the place did not fill up until after 1:00PM.

If you want to guarantee some... let's say "afternoon delight", this is definitely the place to take your special someone.  Shannon said that she felt like she couldn't be her most silly self, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing because she needs to be reigned in at times.  The occupants looked to be anywhere from 20s to 40s, but no children until later afternoon. 



Let's talk about our server for a moment.  Travis, you now have two new best friends.  Being able to discuss the right shade of mimosa, the recommendation of the chocolate chip zucchini bread, and the fact that our mimosa glasses were never empty?  You get super star status for that!  Plus, the shade on that last mimosa you made for Shannon?  Priceless.  
At Alchemy, they make the mimosas at the table by adding the champagne and orange juice right into your glass.         

Shannon's favorite shade!

Alright, now that I have waxed poetic about our beloved mimosa, I'll tell you about the food.  We started with the chocolate chip zucchini bread.  Heaven, pure heaven.  It was warm, buttery, and homey.  And disappeared quickly.  

Before

2 minutes later

On the recommendation of Travis, we ordered the Avenue Benedict, the Breakfast Crepe, and of course, a side of bacon. 

The Avenue Benedict inspired a new term - "farmy fresh."  The hollandaise sauce had mustard seeds in it, but you couldn't really taste them.  The Breakfast Crepe was savory and delicious.  Shannon would have preferred a little more sauce, but it was still great.  Our only compliant about the bacon was when we ran out!  It was crispy without us having to specify.            

The people around us all cleared their plates, and we would have too, except for our brush with heaven (aka Zucchini Bread).
   

We had this wonderful meal full of yumminess, and decided that true brunch professionals would need to sample the Bloody Mary. <cue the suspenseful music...>


  
Gorgeous aren't they?  Unfortunately, that's where the happiness ends.  Now, I will put the disclaimer out that Shannon and I don't like crabs.  Blasphemy in Maryland, I know.  However, neither of us are native to Maryland and feel we deserve a free pass. 

Our two words to describe this drink are "Fish Guts."  We tried to like this, we really did.  Shannon was a champ and finished her half; I wimped out after a couple sips.  We tried adding Sriracha to it, because Sriracha makes everything taste better.  Nope, then it was just spicy fish guts.

As we stated earlier, we had a really good meal there and next time we will just stick with the mimosas.  Or maybe those amazing looking dessert martinis the table next to us had.

Until next time,

Your H&H Girls