I know many of you think that I eat all my breakfast meals at Cast Iron Kitchen. That is just gossip; there are several other good breakfast/brunch places in Wilmington that I visit regularly. One of these is the Eternal Sunshine Cafe.
The Eternal Sunshine Cafe is owned by Michael Pellegrino. Michael is quite an experimental chef, and some of the dishes he creates there are quite extraordinary. I have attached their February specials menu. Each month he has both a sweet and a savory special and I highly encourage experimentation.
The restaurant specializes in eggs Benedict. And, they don’t just have eggs Benedict on the menu; they have something like 12 different options for eggs Benedict. He designs Benedict recipes with different meats, differently spiced hollandaise sauces, different breads (including gluten free) and different vegetables. You really must try their eggs Benedict if you have never been to the restaurant previously.
On this day I opted to try their short rib Benedict special. This is possibly the best eggs Benedict recipe Michael has ever invented. It consisted of beef short rib with poached eggs over bread that was infused with polenta. Then, to take it to the next level, there was a layer of bone marrow with cherry bordelaise spread on the top of the bread. The spread really set this dish off as unique. When a dish is really good, you don’t just say “wow, that was good”. It literally bursts with flavor, and for a few moments, you focus on nothing else but the flavor party going on in your body. I had it with a side of black truffle grits (which are possibly the best grits in Wilmington) and I threw in a side of fruit for fun.
Because Michael knows I’m a foodie, he brought out a lightly sweetened slice of pork belly to try that they were considering for a future recipe. Once again it was perfectly balanced like all of Michael’s dishes. Sure, some places will serve Maple bacon or some sort of sweet sausage, but they always overdo the sweet. If I wanted a dessert, I would order a dessert. But when I’m eating breakfast, I only want lightly sweet, and this Maple pork belly found the balance. I look forward to trying it in a future recipe.
If you go on the weekend, make sure you plan because there is likely to be a wait. However, if you go during the week not only will you have a shorter wait, but you can add a pancake or slice of French toast to any Benedict for $2.00. Then you get to try both sweet and savory on the same day.
