Brasserie Azur Brings Mediterranean-Fusion Brunch to Midtown

Some brunches go heavy on eggs and bacon, while others veer far into lunch territory, forgoing favorites such as pancakes and omelets. Midtown's Brasserie Azur, the sister restaurant of South Beach's Villa Azur, is a balance of both.

The brasserie-and-rotisserie concept — known for its casual atmosphere featuring a foosball table — brings a fusion of French and Mediterranean dining to Miami. Many restaurants in France are known for eclectic menus, often blending fried-egg concoctions and steak frites with more elaborate dishes such as escargots and foie gras. Brasserie Azur channels that French inspiration into its weekend brunch, offered every Saturday and Sunday.

Brunch at the midtown eatery is immediately followed by a weekend happy hour, giving diners a chance to snag a few items off both menus.
Start your meal with a pizzetta — a small flatbread pizza — to share at the table. There's the stracciatella ($14), which is topped with fresh tomatoes, basil, and stracciatella cheese, commonly found in southern Italy, or truffle ($12), which smears a creamy truffle cheese atop a thin crust sprinkled with more truffle shavings as a finishing touch.
For something breakfast-inspired, opt for the omelette ou oeufs brouillés ($7) — an omelet or scrambled eggs that can be filled or mixed with a range of ingredients such as tomatoes, mushrooms, chorizo, and Parmesan. There's also a Benedict ($14) — bacon or smoked salmon on a toasted English muffin with hollandaise sauce.

Consider a bowl of greens mingled with goat cheese and diced pork belly, such as the salad de chevre chaud ($18), or an artichoke mix ($16) with lemon, extra-virgin olive oil, and shaved Parmesan.
As with the restaurant's lunch and dinner menus, rotisserie chicken gets its own section on the brunch list. A whole bird to share starts at $33 for a plain farm-raised chicken and climbs to $38 for a truffle-marinated variation. Roasted for about 32 hours, each chicken is served with fingerling potatoes; sides include homemade French fries (which can be drizzled with truffle oil), roasted mushrooms ($8), and sautéed spinach ($8).

To wash it down, there's rosé, as well as bottomless mimosas ($25) and prosecco ($35) for up to two hours.

Specials continue through happy hour, which begins at 4 p.m., including $1 oysters and $5 cocktails. Brunch starts at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, visit brasserieazur.com.

Follow Clarissa Buch on Instagram and Twitter