LAS VEGAS — A good brunch is a magical thing.
Jams and pastries alongside big slabs of meat. An assortment of other foods that should have no business being served together, yet somehow work. All of it accompanied by a cocktail — or, as is becoming the case, an unlimited supply of them — as you linger over it with a group of friends.
If done correctly, brunch almost feels like you’re getting away with something.
“Brunch is absolutely having a moment,” says Jessica Somple, vice president of food and beverage for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. “I also feel like it’s continued to evolve a bit. I think what we thought of as brunch has just continued to change, and it’s become so much more of a true social occasion.”
With that evolution has come the theme brunch, which in Las Vegas celebrates everything from drag to butterflies to circus sideshows.
The latest of these, the Riviera-inspired brunch experience at LPM at The Cosmopolitan, opened over Memorial Day weekend and is available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. It’s just the third brunch, following those in Hong Kong and Miami, for LPM, which focuses on international moneyed hot spots, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Mykonos.
The brunch’s live music component, often a DJ spinning up-tempo bossa nova, plays into that feeling of being transported to the Riviera.
As for the food, a la carte options are available, but the highlight is the Brunch Affair shared table experience. The 10-course extravaganza offers fresh breads and pastries, avocado toast, salmon carpaccio, scrambled eggs, lobster eggs Benedict, roasted pee-wee potatoes, Provençal ratatouille tart, charcoal-grilled ribeye steak, mushroom risotto and French toast. It’s $85 per person, with endless rosé and Champagne starting at an additional $75.
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‘BRUNCH OF BROKEN DREAMS’
Hard Rock Cafe, 3771 Las Vegas Blvd. South Singers, dancers and acrobats perform in an hourlong show that pays tribute to ’90s- and Y2K-era grunge and emo, with music from the likes of Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance and The Offspring. “Brunch of Broken Dreams” takes place at 11 a.m. Saturdays. Admission, which includes the Hard Rock Signature Buffet, starts at $59.
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SURF SUNDAY BRUNCH
Red Dwarf, 1305 Vegas Valley Drive Bands including Thee Swank Bastards, Generic Surf Band, Surfers of Mercy and The Eazy perform surf music from noon to 3 p.m. each Sunday. Brunch, consisting of a variety of Detroit-style breakfast pizzas, is served from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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HOUSE MUSIC BRUNCH
18bin, 107 E. Charleston Blvd. The House Music Brunch at 18bin has been so popular, it’s added brunches and open-format DJs to Fridays and Saturdays. With a new menu that includes the likes of a chicken and waffle tower, Philly steak Benedict and Cinnamon Toasties, the House Music Brunch runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays, with live DJs and $25 bottomless mimosas.
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CARMEN’S LOVE BRUNCH
The Composers Room, 953 E. Sahara Ave. Singer Skye Dee Miles headlines this nondenominational gospel experience, complete with an eight- to 10-member choir, three-piece band and dancers, every Sunday in the Commercial Center. The soul food brunch begins at noon and features Southern classics such as fried chicken, catfish, and biscuits and gravy. Miles takes the stage at 1:30 p.m. Tickets to Carmen’s Love Brunch start at $39.95.