Brunch: The eternal day-drinking, hangover-curing pastime of New Yorkers. For many restaurateurs and chefs brunch is not taken that seriously — it’s a shift for new servers, novice cooks and those trying to work their way up the hospitality totem pole. Slinging hollandaise and pouring mimosas has long been recognized as the poor man’s shift in the food and beverage world. It seems this attitude may be changing, though; recent New York Times article discusses the rise of brunch among some of New York’s most prominent and creative chefs.
Momofuku is noted for using brunch as a creative outlet for bourgeoning chefs, with dishes such as buns filled with smoked salmon instead of bagels and lox, grilled duck hearts and broccoli salad with smoked bluefish vinaigrette and crisp duck skin. Even more than utilizing this meal period to broaden chefs’ culinary horizons, brunch is being viewed in a larger way from a business perspective.
We decided to utilize our restaurant software and take a collaborative look at overall brunch sales in New York to analyze this new trend. Our data indicates that brunch has been drastically outperforming dinner and late-night dining, as New York brunch sales are up 9.5% overall compared to the year-to-date sales last year.
