One of the bitches behind Bitches Who Brunch talks pancakes, dance party brunches, and dishes it back to her haters
Brunch. You either love it, or hate it; there really isn’t any room for middle ground. This is especially true for guys as Cori Sue Morris, the co-founder of Bitches Who Brunch, points out as we chat outside Le Diplomate over white wine, razor clams, and British Columbian oysters.
If you’ve never heard of the Bitches Who Brunch, you clearly need to reevaluate your weekends. Started in March of 2010 spearheaded by a g-chat conversation (pretty sure that’s how the iPhone came to be too), Cori Sue and her co-founder Becca Clara Love (who was too busy gallivanting and brunching around Europe to join us), their site Bitches Who Brunch has become the go-to place for all things brunch in the District.
While it was just supposed to be something fun that allowed their creative sides to continue and grow, it has now turned into an almost full time responsibility. They are even expanding to New York and seeking a sassy “bitch” to head things up in the Big Apple. “The inspiration was that we both have editorial journalism degrees and met at a magazine in Southwest Florida – that is equivalent to the Washingtonian – where we both worked,” Cori Sue says. “We then moved to Washington, sold our souls, and are no longer working in the creative side of things. So we wanted to have a creative outlet to write and that’s the inspiration for the site.” I can relate, although I think I sold my soul long before Cori Sue.
But why brunch? It’s been the red-headed step-child in the Christmas picture of the dining scene for years. It’s not really breakfast, or lunch, and there’s booze and dessert – it’s like make up your mind already brunch! Quit tricking me!
Cori Sue explains that the confusion that is, and can be brunch, is actually what makes it so great. “Brunch is sort of like an unnecessary luxury, which is redundant, but it’s very popular in Washington and is a great time to catch up with your friends when you’re not distracted by boys, and at busy bars and is a great way to try restaurants in an affordable way.” I guess she has a point. But going to brunch every single Saturday and Sunday that has to get old right? I mean is brunch really the best meal? “I don’t know that it’s the best meal,” Cori Sue says, “but I think it’s pretty good right? I mean, you can have dessert, and lunch and try dinner entrées and you can have eggs and pancakes all at once.” She is wise this one.
If you want to brunch like this bitch, she has a ritual down pat. “I’ll have pancakes and then some sort of seafood dish, and then something completely ridiculous, and of course alcohol in the middle of the day, so I appreciate that.” I always appreciate day drinking, but you can hold my pancakes and double-down the bacon.
But pancakes and seafood, it sounds like Cori Sue likes breakfast and lunch. Don’t you have to pick a side? She says she sides with breakfast. “I’m the carb queen,” she adds, “Because I’m a pescatarian, I always get stuck with some sort of French Toast or pancake dish, or I’ll order a Benedict, and Becca always orders bacon.” Becca gets a point…we’ll keep working on this seafood thing Cori Sue.
Brunch is mainly about the day drinking, let’s be honest. Cori Sue sticks to a standard rotation. “I always order, water, coffee and a mimosa when I sit down, but I realize it’s my duty to try the best Bloody Mary around, but I never finished one,” she adds. “So I take a few sips to get the flavor, but I can’t finish one, I just can’t. It’s like drinking soup.” Um, yeah, delicious vodka soup!
Some of the best brunches in DC, according to Cori Sue depend on where you are and the mood you seek. “For a dive-bar, hangover brunch that serves really good food, I like Granville Moore,” she notes. “For the best pancakes I’ve ever had I really like Lavagna. They do a nutella ricotta pancake that’s heavenly. Best party brunch is La Boom, Blue Duck does a great brunch….Ben’s Next Door has a good shrimp and grits,” she says.
But interestingly enough, she doesn’t cook. Neither does Becca. “We try to cook…we do not. Lindsey Becker of the Date Dish used to handle our cooking. We help set up.”
There are a lot of people out there who hate on Cori Sue and Becca, and she has a message for them.
“It’s interesting how much the random person feels so strongly about certain things. We both have careers and are successful in day job and we keep those very separate from our brand, so it stabs us in the hearts when people are like, ‘you just write about pancakes’ but we do a lot of things for charity, and other stuff. We know it’s a good blog post when we have hateful comments. I mean, I’ve gotten hate mail from restaurants and am like, ‘sorry, honestly I’m a nice person, I just didn’t like your food.’”
As all good things must come to an end, we close with the Feasting Famously Fast Five, where Cori Sue spits back the first things that pop into her head.
- Champagne – mimosa
- 14th st – best spot in town
- Eggs – Benedict
- Leggings in public – have to be lululemon
- Brunch – always
So, the next time you are seeking a good brunch, get in touch with this Bitch and check out their site. Oh, and don’t send them hate mail, that’s just rude brah.