The Calm Before the Storm

         Last week Laura and I had brunch at Harvest in Harvard Square: harvestcambridge.com  It was a snowy Sunday....nothing like the storm we just got this weekend (thank goodness).  It was a magical kind of snow.  The kind of snow that floats around in the air and takes awhile to get to the ground.  The kind of snow that they use in the movies, and it made for a Hollywood back drop to our Sundaylicious day.  We knew the brunch was going to be amazing, just by the way the snow was forecasting it to be...pure magic!
      We arrived at Harvest at 12:30pm, and we had made a reservation so we got seated right away.  The air outside was cold, but it was warm inside Harvest.  A warmth that doesn't just come from a thermostat, but from the ambiance they have created.  When you walk in you see the bar which is made of rich dark wood, and it is inside a room that has a lot of natural light shining in from the windows.  It has a glow about it, and it seems like one of those bars that you can sit at all day and night, and just relax and talk to a special someone forever.  We were taken into the back room to our table, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a fire lit. This was a perfect place for a snowy, winter brunch!!  The room was spot on for the day we were having as it had windows that you could see the snow outside, and the fire gave off an extra warmth inside...it was super cozy.  The music playing was also comforting, and soothed us right into our seats.  It was relaxing, classical, new age music, and it was as if we were in a spa.  Honestly, we could have stayed all day in this place!!!

  

        Harvest has a three course prix fixe brunch menu for $35.  With the choices you get (and the deliciousness of them), this is really a bargain price!!  This price doesn't include an alcoholic beverage or coffee, but we were ready to splurge for those added extras :-)  We ordered a classic Mimosa for me and a "Bloody Harvest" for Laura (which is the coolest name for a Bloody Mary ever!!!) while we looked over the menu to pick our top three choices to enjoy.

It was hard to choose which three dishes we wanted, because they all sounded so good.  For my first course, I went for the honey scented greek yogurt parfait which came with fresh berries, house made granola, wildflower honey and mint.  My second course was the Harvest vegetable frittata which came with tomatoes, herb goat cheese, and fresh herbs inside.  For dessert I chose the apple crisp which came with vanilla ice cream.....I truly can't tell you how good they were in words...but I will try.  The yogurt was the perfect size, and had a nice sweet taste due to the wildflower honey.  I am, however, getting tired of greek yogurt.  I feel like this is the new "IT" thing for yogurt cups...greek yogurt.  I think it is a little thick and bitter, and I don't know about you but I am looking for some regular vanilla yogurt cups out there...just saying.  My frittata was very rich, super flavorful, and filling...and was A-MAZ-ING!!!  The apple crisp was a little luke warm when I got it, which was disappointing...but it still had great cinnamon flavor.

Laura got local oysters with house made "bloody harvest" mix as her starter...and it was so imprssive.  For her entree she chose the farm eggs benedict...and it was oozy and creamy just like she likes it.  It came on top of an english muffin, and had tasso ham, home fries, mixed greens, and a lemon hollandaise sauce. Laura got a dessert (even though it's not her thing), but she enjoyed it.....that's how good this place is!!! It was a Taza chocolate flourless cake and it was very, very rich.  We were stuffed by the time we were done our three courses, so we just sat and drank our coffee and enjoyed ourselves.

       Harvest ended up being one of our top favorite brunch places we have ever been!  We gave it a 10 out of 10 eggs for food, and a 10 out of 10 eggs for atmosphere!  It had everything you want in a Sunday brunch.  The atmosphere was warm and cozy, the mood was relaxed, and the food was absolutely delicious.  There was no rush, and we felt so calm....the calm before the storm.  Thank goodness we had it last weekend because this storm was a whopper, and had all of us here in Boston snow bound the whole weekend!!  I hope everyone stayed safe and warm inside, and once this snow clears Sundaylicious will be back to take on our next brunch spot....Forks up!!