Brunch Alert - Chocolate Fashion

Today El Hombre and I woke up to very little food in our kitchen, a stormy morning and hungry.  We are in the finish stages of remodeling our kitchen and are getting a new fridge tomorrow, so we didn't want to risk losing groceries.  Plus we have both been fighting colds and the concept of fighting crowds at Publix is frankly not that enticing.

So I hopped online to try to find a new spot for breakfast or brunch, and the Chocolate Fashion popped up in the search results. It was new, it was close and it's called Chocolate Fashion, so you know we couldn't go wrong.

The Chocolate Fashion is a small French deli-like restaurant, tucked away on a back street in downtown Coral Gables. They recently opened a second location on 72nd in South Miami, which El Hombre and I visited for coffee a few months back.  

I had heard of this place before, but always assumed it was just a patisserie. I was wrong.  We ran through the rain into Chocolate Fashion to wait in line - every seat was taken and more people kept crowding in. Today was a horrible rainy day, with a tropical low sitting over all of South Florida, so I wasn't expecting so many people to be headed out. 

Rather than waiting for a table, we grabbed seats at the bar. We chatted over random things while cupping delicious coffee and staring at the crazy tropical downpour going on outside. The coffee was delicious. I had my doubts because of the old-school glass coffee pot, but it was rich, warming and flavorful. 

For breakfast, I ordered the eggs florentine - poached eggs with creamy spinach, parmesan cheese, paprika and hollandaise sauce over an english muffin.  I actually ordered the hollandaise on the side because while I like it, usually eggs florentine and eggs benedict is smothered in sauce and loses the flavor.

I was not disappointed.  The spinach was cooked perfectly - it didn't have that bitter flavor of non-blanched spinach. The eggs were perfectly poached and the paprika and parmesan rounded out the savory flavor.  The hollandaise sauce was perfect and not too heavy - one of my chief complaints.  And when I cracked the yolk over it all - pure bliss!

By the time I was done eating, I was truly disappointed that my meal ended.  El Hombre took a bite and  loved it, and he typically hates all things spinach.  I will be back and I will have a hard time trying to order something new... But there are definitely crab cakes benedict with my name on it.