Bacon, Bread and More at Brigitte's of Merivale

There’s no doubt that the well known lines “we seek him here, we seek him there” apply to the quest for good coffee in Christchurch as so many of us seek to rescue ourselves from the guillotine of caffeine deficiency most mornings of the week. May I suggest that we in Christchurch are blessed with more than anyone’s fair share of excellent coffee houses, constant supplies of superb coffee beans and some of the world’s best baristas. It is, however, a constant dilemma as to just where to take one’s coffee on any given morning and the perfect espresso has thus far eluded capture. Choices, choices!
As luck would have it I found myself on an insanely early Papanui Rd perambulation a few mornings ago and was more than surprised to find nothing in the way of open eateries. Why should there be? Everyone in the area has a kitchen and a coffee maker…of the highest quality! However, I kept walking and as we all should know – time solves all of mans’ problems – and by 9am I was back in Merivale passing the doors of Brigittes in Aikmans Rd. Voila! The doors were open, the espresso machine whirring, spluttering, hissing and spitting and customers were filing in. After the pleasure of ambling through the quiet, manicured streets of St Albans, Fendalton and Merivale I was counting on Brigittes to deliver to my table nothing less than a supremely drinkable coffee and a shockingly unhealthy breakfast to complement my bad habits.
And so it was…..
The long black with its thick, luxurious crema beckoned with aromatic confidence, its taste comfortably within the zone of satisfying acceptability; the full breakfast, astonishingly, set my heart racing as, after the night before (you all know the feeling) I was in the market for fatty Kransky snags, cheap, packaged hash browns and the more uplifting spectacle of beautifully poached eggs, quality bacon rashes, large, red, grilled tomatoes, earthy, charcoal-coloured flat mushrooms(flats) and a side of fresh spinach.
Not quite reeling with ecstacy but nonetheless rather relaxed and happy, I tucked in to my hearty portions, enjoying it all on what was a beautiful, clear, warm and sunny Christchurch morning in Brigitte’s sheltered courtyard. There’s something about these big breakfasts that always seems to appeal on a weekend morning. Maybe it’s the sensation of all the textures and flavours – meats, fungus, greens, eggs, bread, fruit. It seems to work for me….
For all of that let’s not wax too lyrically about something as culinarily challenged as a basic big breakfast as there’s nothing inherently special about throwing all the aforementioned ingredients onto a plate. However, tis the combination that makes it what it is and it is essential to ensure the eggs are poached with skill, the tomatoes grilled just right, the mushrooms moist and retentive of flavour, the sausages fatty and oozing and we won’t mention the hash browns…or should that be ‘harsh browns’. Brigittes did a good job.
Now, where to tomorrow?