It’s a gray Sunday morning. You’re starving. There’s a steady April drizzle falling outside, and the last thing you want to do is scrape yourself together for a lengthy brunch wait. No worries, though — you’ve planned ahead. Ten minutes later, a van pulls into your driveway. Orange-aproned servers present you a hot gourmet brunch, plated beautifully and ready to eat. If this sounds like your dream brunch, rejoice – Nikki Stoughton has made this a reality.
Stoughton, a former marketing manager, formed a draft of The Breakfast Club during a business pitch assignment at Northwestern University. The assignment (which earned an A), ended up taking on a life of its own. She took the summer to research the Columbus market, eventually honing her business to a custom-cooked breakfast service, delivered fresh and hot to your home.
Executive Chef Josh Truex supported the concept and jumped on The Breakfast Club train. Former executive chef at Hocking Hills bed and breakfast Glen Laurel, Truex earned a degree from the Columbus Culinary Institute. He divides his time between cooking at Spagio and The Breakfast Club, and has helped develop the menu into a balance of sweet and savory dishes. Stoughton and Truex cook at The Commissary, then move the food to their delivery truck’s holding oven; they then drive to the house, and plate the hot food on the truck’s expo line. They ran their first soft opening in mid-March, and a second on Sunday, April 12. They’ll host a third on April 19, when they’ll technically be open for business.
“The menu has been a series of brainstorms,” said Stoughton. “It’s important for us to add touches that surprise people.”
The menu currently has eight regular dishes, along with a weekly special. Focus is on dishes customers wouldn’t typically make at home, like eggs benedict – the notoriously finicky hollandaise sauce is easy to bungle. Their french toast is topped with truffle honey and sweetened with goat cheese, and the griddle cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd and fresh blueberries. Truex has a good amount of creative freedom – the first specialty consisted of a a smoked salmon and brie crepe topped with brandied cherries. Other dishes include make-your-own omelettes and crepes, shrimp and chorizo grits, and a variety of side dishes.
A bag of The Breakfast Club’s signature doughnut muffins is included with each order – a sort of cake doughnut rolled in cinnamon and sugar that can be eaten day-of, or saved for tomorrow’s lunch. The Breakfast Club doesn’t serve drinks at the time, but may expand to drink service later if liquor license acquisition doesn’t prove too difficult.
The club currently serves Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff, and several West side areas. One of the key offerings they have is Breakfast of the Month Club, where customers can buy a weekend breakfast for either three months, or half a year.
The Breakfast Club will deliver every remaining Sunday this April. Beginning in May, they’ll be open every Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. They can currently make about four deliveries an hour, and hopefully up to six with practice. Meals are all-inclusive, with custom plastic plates that look like china and imitation silver utensils. Four orders is the minimum, 20 is the maximum.
For more information, visit www.thebreakfastclubdelivery.com.
