Brunch To Debut at New UWS Restaurant

New York City's ever-increasing roster of internationally oriented brunch options will get a big boost on Saturday, April 26, when the Upper West's recently opened Bustan launches its pan-Mediterranean version with one of the city's largest weekend midday meal menus featuring 51 choices, priced $4.95 to $16.50. The new Bustan Brunch, served Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. , will address a wide-ranging appetite gauntlet from Executive Chef Efi Nahon's typically original multi-cultural take on such breakfast classics as French Toast, house made challah, crème Anglaise, paté feuilletée, crème fraiche to intriguing lunch-like dishes , including the Crispy Chicken D.L.T. Sandwich, sweet Dijon mustard, smoked duck, wilted kale, pickled cucumber, charred onion, buffalo bleu and the Ground Lamb Flatbread, tomatoes, Nazareth tahini, pine nuts and sumac pickled onions.

For egg enthusiasts, there will be an extensive section of 14 selections, the Bustan Benedict toasted homemade challah bread, kale, roasted tomato, avocado and mint yogurt (one of four intriguing Benedict iterations) and Chicken & Fois Gras Merguez Shakshouka, baked eggs with tomato sauce, paprika, garlic and homemade chicken fois gras sausage among them. Like Bustan's dinner menu, the major portion of the brunch dishes will be prepared in the restaurant's one-of-a-kind wood-fired, dome-shaped taboon oven with its innovative rotating base. And, since the debut of the Bustan Brunch will coincide with the opening of the restaurant's captivating brick-walled, umbrella and olive tree festooned garden, they will be available in the latest addition to the city's al fresco dining sites.

Other palate piquing highlights of the brunch menu, divided into Mazettim, Humus Bowl, Small Plates, Salads, Flatbreads & Sambousack (Middle Eastern savory stuffed fried pastry), Eggs, Sandwiches, Sweets and Sides sections, include: Sizzling Shrimp, olive oil, garlic, parsley and lemon juice; Falafel Basket, Nazareth tahini and pickled mango sauce; Taboon Roasted Beet Salad, kale, pomegranate, shaved fennel, celery, pine nuts, nigala, grilled haloumi; Tunisian Sambousack, preserved tuna, potatoes, black olives, harissa, egg and Nazaeth tahini and Nutella Pizza, nutella, ricotta, powdered sugar and banana or strawberry. More traditional brunch dishes also make an appearance. Witness: Homemade Granola yogurt, honey and seasonal fresh fruit; Pancakes, maple syrup and the Bustan Burger Vermont aged cheddar, apple wood smoked bacon, garlic-rosemary aioli.

Bustan, located at 487 Amsterdam Avenue (between 83rd and 84th Streets), will open for brunch every Saturday and Sunday on April 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner hours are: Sunday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Monday thru Wednesday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; and Thursday thru Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight. For reservations, call (212) 595-5050. For more information, visit the website at www.bustannyc.com.