Chapter One: the modern local - Santa Ana

Yesterday a buddy and I went to brunch at Chapter One: the modern local, located in the Artists Village in Santa Ana.  They call it their "Sinatra Sunday Brunch" Sounded good to me!  This was my first time here and I had been looking forward to it after hearing a lot of good things about it.  I would describe Chapter One as a hip and modern gastro pub with an Old-World/European feel.  They have a large VERY well stocked bar as well as a dining room side to the restaurant.  We sat on the dining room side next to a window looking out to the street.  One of the things I immediately liked about this place was their drink menu.  They have A LOT of specialty cocktails that they make listed in it, but what made me really like it was that they list all the different types of alcohol that they have.  I wish more restaurant and bars would do this that way you know what your choices are.  They have a very large selection of alcohol to choose from :)

To drink I went with their Moscow Mule.  This drink is served in a traditional copper cup and made with spicy house made ginger beer, Russian Standard vodka, and lime juice.  As many of you know, I am a big fan of classic drinks from years past, so when I found out that one of their specialty drinks was a Moscow Mule (which I've wanted to try for years), made famous in the 50's and actually responsible for America's vodka craze in the 50's, I WAS IN!  I would describe this drink as both refreshing and spicy (ginger spicy, not hot spicy)  The combination of the ginger and lime creates a taste that develops in your mouth after you take a sip.  It was good, but since I'm not a ginger fan I don't think I'll be ordering one again.  Nothing against the drink or the bartender, it just wasn't for me. 

My buddy decided to get their Sinatra Mimosa Flight.  Now this isn't your usual brunch mimosa.  At Chapter One you get endless champagne and several different types of juices all for $5!  Pretty cool!

To start with we went with the scones.  Seemed like a good brunch starter.  The scones have almonds and cranberries in them and are served with strawberry preserves.  These were very good.  The scones were just the right amount of flakey, fresh, and lightly dusted with powdered sugar.  The strawberry preserves seemed house made and were the perfect thing to compliment the scones.

For our main courses we both went with their dish called the S.O.S.  This dish is filet mignon tips, au jus gravy, Texas toast, a fried egg, and just a small amount of hollandaise sauce.  This dish is excellent!  The filet tips and the brown gravy go very well together as does the hollandaise and fried egg, but when you combine all of these over the Texas toast, you have a GREAT combination of flavors.  Both gravy and hollandaise are traditionally heavy sauces, but somehow Chapter One has managed to make these sauces not quite as heavy as you'd normally expect them to be and still make them delicious!  I highly recommend this dish.

I really enjoyed my first visit to Chapter One and hope to return soon to try it out at night. This place is known to be a hot spot at night and I can't wait to check it out!