Big City Breakfast

Across the country, San Antonio is known as the "breakfast taco" capital. Even John Henderson, a sportswriter from the Denver Post knows that. A flour tortilla stuffed with potato and egg, chorizo and egg, bean and cheese, carne guisada and other assorted breakfast concoctions people enjoy eating on the run.

While I do like breakfast tacos, I am not a fan of flour tortillas, as I prefer a thick, homemade corn tortilla and that can be difficult to find. So if you don't want a breakfast taco or a big plate of Mexican breakfast that features eggs, refried beans, potatoes and tortillas on the side, what is the alternative?

There enlies the problem. There's not a whole lot of breakfast options to choose from in this city, unless you want to eat in a hotel restaurant and we don't enjoy doing that in our hometown. If we are in New York, Dallas, Chicago or even in Mexico City, business breakfasts are the norm for the city's power elite. For example, at the Four Seasons in Mexico City eating breakfast in the restaurant, Reforma 500, is an art form. Located in a courtyard, the setting is sublime. Everyone is dressed to the nines, smells great, looks beautiful and the food and service are impeccable.

But we recently found a solution to this breakfast conundrum that plagues San Antonio. Breakfast at Il Sogno Osteria, Andrew Weissman's Italian culinary creation that has been well-received and has been acclaimed for its lunch and dinner menus. While we have enjoyed dinner there on occasion, few people know that they are open for breakfast and what a glorious breakfast it is! The dining room is fully set and the kitchen staff is quietly at work while they prep for lunch and dinner.

Perfectly prepped dining room

There aren't many people (in fact, we have been the only breakfast guests), so if you need privacy to conduct a meeting, break-up with your partner or even discuss business (or whatever) over breakfast, this is the place. It is totally civilized and you will feel like a million bucks. The service is very attentive, the food is superb and the extra touches--such as fruit slices in your water, steamed milk for your coffee, homemade cookie, assorted sugar options--all add up to a gorgeous way to start any day.

These are some of the special touches I love.

I ordered the frittata of the day which had ham, spinach and cheese, and unfortunately lost the picture I took of this gorgeous plate that came with two slices of perfectly cooked bacon, rosemary potatoes and a slice of wheat toast. David ordered the coddled eggs, as he likes to be coddled. This, too, is served with two slices of bacon, rosemary potatoes and a piece of toast. On previous visits, we have had the omelette with smoked salmon, which was a knock-out.

Coddled eggs

For the toast, they bring two flavors of homemade jam, a chunk of softened butter and a jar of Nutella, an amazingly decadent Italian hazelnut spread. This attention to detail is what has made Andrew's restaurants so successful.

Nutella. Need I say more?

Keep in mind breakfast starts at 7:30 am and ends at 10 am and they are very serious about stopping the breakfast service at 10 am, so we suggest arriving at 9:30 am at the latest. After breakfast, you can stroll the shops at the Pearl Brewery including Melissa Guerra and Adelante, or take a walk along the nearby San Antonio River.

Buen provecho!