Raduno

Photo by Jasmine

Raduno Brick Oven & Barroom, Brunch, Little Rock
July 30, 2016

P:
BISCUITS AND GRAVY - Housemade fennel sausage gravy over a fluffy buttermilk biscuit topped with two sunny-side up eggs
Honey rosemary iced tea

J:
TOMATO MAYO - Two pieces of Boulevard Bread Co. sourdough, a garlic aioli spread topped with heirloom tomato slices, two sunny-side eggs and goat cheese crumbles; served open face


Notes:
Our original destination, a restaurant with a reputation for some of my favorite buzzwords (local, sustainable, community, biscuits and gravy), turned out to be a nonstarter.  The line to order didn't budge in 20 minutes and most of the seating was outdoor, which normally I'd love except we're talking high noon in Arkansas, in July.  Uh-uh.  By this time, however, Patrick had his mind set on biscuits and gravy - thankfully there was a place nearby that could help with that.

I'm not even sure Patrick looked at the menu.  Have I mentioned biscuits and gravy?  He wanted biscuits and gravy.  He did look at the menu, though, the drink menu, and ordered a Honey Rosemary Iced Tea.  It was interesting, in the best way.  The drink only hinted of rosemary and honey, and that slightly sweet herbaceousness was refreshing.  His biscuits and gravy was not the best rendition I've ever seen, but I'm a snob when it comes to this dish.  The biscuits need to be just so, and the gravy needs to be just so, and they rarely are for me (both seemed a little too heavy, in this case).  I think Patrick liked it well enough.  At the very least, he got what he needed.

Eggs and tomatoes and separately, tomatoes and mayo, are a couple of my favorite combinations; two great tastes that taste great together.  I was pretty happy with this dish.  Once I got a knife; for some reason, the table was set without knives and this needed one.  The toast was too hard to cut with a fork and too messy to eat with your hands.  I guess that would have been my only complaint - the bread was a little too dry and tough, perhaps some extra mayo (aioli) would have helped, though the toast did relent a bit after sitting for some time.  The tomatoes were juicy, the eggs were cooked nicely.  The goat cheese was unnecessary, though I think deep down the person preparing my meal knew this because he/she hardly added any to the plate.

Brunch was lovely, but mostly because of the company, I think.  I'm sure there are plenty of other places for us to try, next time we need biscuits and gravy in Arkansas.