HB Home Bistro

3404 N. Halsted

(773) 661-0299

By Rick Karlin

Staff writer

HB Home Bistro continues to amaze me. The service is always cheerful and casual, yet polished, and the food of chef/proprietor Joncarl Lachman just gets better each time. After a number of dinner visits my spouse and I popped in for brunch one sunny Sunday morning. After sipping some eye-opening joe, we decided to try the huevos rancheros. A huge platter of tortilla chips arrived topped with refried beans and melted cheddar cheese, capped off with a pair of sunny-side-up eggs and a side of the excellent house-made ranchero sauce.

Crabcake Benedict plops a pair of flaky discs of seafood on toasted English muffin halves. Additional layers include two fried eggs and a dollop of hollandaise infused with Old Bay seasoning. The fact that the house potatoes were prepared crispy as I requested was just the icing on the cake—as if we had room for cake after both of those hearty entrees.

If you like your breakfast plain and unadorned, you can get eggs with your choice of brown sugar bacon, smoked sausage or ham steak. For those feeling more adventurous, the Uitsmijter, a Dutch-style breakfast of two slices of brioche toast with griddle-seared ham steak, Edam cheese, sunny-side-up eggs and salad greens is a great option. Braised corned beef hash and eggs provides the perfect “morning-after” meal and the buttermilk biscuit with strawberry butter that comes on the side of many dishes is a nice sweet treat after all that meat.

One of my childhood favorites, matzo brei, presents the traditional egg-soaked matzo crackers in an untraditional style by adding smoked salmon and pickled onions. The side of lemony sour cream seems to be a bit too much, so enjoy it as a mini-dessert. Pancakes, another childhood favorite, are available in your choice of buttermilk, date and oat or lemon-pecan versions, all served with real maple syrup.

Even the omelets are exotic, with such varieties as apple and cheddar, chorizo and queso blanco or collard greens with bacon and goat cheese. If you’re not the breakfast food type, check out the sautéed tilapia or grilled ham sandwiches, served on a toasted pretzel roll with decadent parmesan-truffle fries.

I’d suggest ending your meal with a little more coffee and an order of Café du Monde beignets.

The Bottom Line: Brunch runs about $15 a person, with tax and tip. Since HB Home Bistro is BYOB, mix up a batch or screwdrivers and bring it along.

Tablehopping: Chicago Pizza Company, 1655 East Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows, which features “pizza bowls,” Portofino breads, appetizers, salads, soups, pastas, pizzas and oven baked sandwiches, is offering up some drink specials for football season, from specially priced beer buckets, Margaritas and sangria.

Last May, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea purchased some of the most expensive coffee beans in the world, Hacienda la Esmeralda’s famed Geisha coffee at auction for a staggering $130 per pound, the highest amount ever paid for coffee. On October 1, Chicagoans have a chance to taste the fabled brew and judge whether it measures up as Intelligentsia hosts a preview party and tasting at Intelligentsia’s roasting plant, 1850 W. Fulton Street. Admission for the event is $25.00 and includes hors d’oeuvre, wine and samples of the freshly brewed coffee as well as a quarter pound bag of Esmeralda Especial. Limited quantities will be available for purchase at the event. The coffee will sell for $99 per half pound and $55 per quarter pound. Reservations for the preview party can be made at www.intelligentsiacoffee.com.