Sometime during every Easter season I dye eggs with kids, leaving the stiff habits of adulthood behind in favor of the simple spontaneity of children. They inevitably find 20 ways to spill dye all over themselves and me, drop whole cartons of eggs on the floor and come up with startlingly original creations. When they're done, bits of shell cling to their clothes and smears of colored-dye stain their hands and faces. But they proudly display a cache of eggs in every hue to celebrate the holiday. The unencumbered joy etched on their faces as they depart is my most treasured Easter gift.My duty done for another year, I remove my soiled apron and survey the kitchen floor, spattered with every shade imaginable. Then I contemplate something soothing: an elegant brunch somewhere with a dignified, grownup waiter who does not have egg breath or need help tying shoes.
This year, I treated myself to the excessive Sunday brunch at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club, the salmon-color queen of the St. Pete waterfront. Emanating a starched grace from every turret, she was built in 1925, immediately attracting some of the nation's wealthiest and most influential guests, like President Calvin Coolidge, New York Yankees' slugger Babe Ruth and writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The hotel did well through the 1950s, but eventually its age caught up with it and it had been closed 18 years when the Stouffer Hotel Company rescued it with a $93-million renovation. The company saved its glazed quarry tile floor in the lobby, original pecky cypress beamed ceiling, Italian marble front desk and tenciled borders on the walls of the dining room. The Vinoy reopened in 1992 and is now owned and managed by the Marriott Corp. as one of only 167 hotels listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The hotel's classic beauty is part of the charm of its weekly Sunday brunch, which takes place in the exquisite main dining room. A fancy rectangular bar anchors the middle of the room with French doors along each side. There is a big, shapely window at one end with a view of the park-like grounds. High, smaller windows bathe the room in light, even during rainstorms.
Because the dining room is so spacious, all the stations loaded with food did not seem overwhelming; but the brunch could fairly be termed "extravagant," as I counted 64 different dishes. The place is so gorgeous, you don't even mind waiting: we sat 10 minutes before anyone noticed us. Though our meal was marred by uneven service, we felt better once the waitress brought a showy silver tray of pink champagne — a bubbly, festive reminder of the pleasures of adulthood.
We sat near the Harry Galloway Trio, which played nostalgic, jazzy standards for a mixed crowd of couples, singles, families and parties of 10. The bar was a popular spot, busy with people sitting behind loaded plates and downing Bloody Marys. Brunch dishes change every week, and chefs are encouraged to be creative in their offerings. "We're getting away from the old-fashioned way of offering Sunday Brunch with a new approach that has a sort of international market feel to it," explained restaurant manager Rolf Visser. Among the nontraditional brunch items were sesame-crusted chicken; artichoke rosemary salad; plum barbecued duck breast; grenadine-infused pears and a champagne, orange, wild berry and melon soup; stuffed grape leaves; paella; pesto-marinated scallops; exotic caviar and crab-stuffed mushrooms served with vodka creme fraiche. Traditional choices like bacon, sausage, waffles and pastries were also available. Also, the hotel has just introduced a "Mediterranean Market" theme designed to showcase a wider variety of cuisine, such as tapas (Spanish-style small dishes), fruit and cheese and a better selection of breads.
The wild berry fruit soup, thick almost like a shake, was my favorite, along with a tropical-tasting pancake sweetened with pineapple and coconut and topped with steaming hot, banana-maple syrup. I also found a tender piece of garlic-rubbed lamb delightful with its flavor underscored by a snappy yogurt sauce. I found the paella bland and a frittata uninspired.
One item the brunch seemed to lack was a few more varieties of green salad, of which I am very fond, maybe with fancy veggie or fruit accoutrements and a good selection of homemade and low-fat dressings.
The heavily laden dessert tables bore chocolate cheesecake, carrot pineapple cake, creme brulée, peanut butter brownies and sugar cookies made with M&Ms. I used to love any pastry that came out of the Vinoy kitchens, but while the desserts were certainly acceptable, they seem to have lost their edge in the last few years. I chose the simplest one — a tray of fresh strawberries double dipped in white and dark chocolate to end my meal — and left happy.
Food critic Sara Kennedy dines anonymously, and Weekly Planet pays for her meals. She can be reached at sara.kennedy@weeklyplanet.com or 813-248-8888, ext. 116.
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2003.