Sunday Brunch Traditions in Chicago
Breakfast memories have a way of sticking. Growing up, I didn’t have the all-American spread of cereal, pancakes, or orange juice. Instead, breakfast was café con leche—sometimes a straight espresso latte—and a piece of Cuban bread slathered in butter. That simple pairing was the start of my mornings, and while I often skipped the bread, I never skipped the coffee.
Those breakfasts weren’t fancy, but they were ritual. In my 20s, I rediscovered that same feeling when my best friends John and Louis and I would meet for Sunday brunch in Chicago. Rain, snow, or shine, we’d connect at at place called Ooh La La — over coffee, food and perhaps a bloody, catching up on the week — no matter the weather.
How Breakfast Looks in My Kitchen Now
These days, breakfast memories are still being made, but they look different. At home, it’s usually eggs, some type of “bread” like croissants, biscuits, toast, bacon or fruit with yogurt.
Sometimes, on Christmas morning, there’s orange juice and a coffee cake we only bake once a year. Breakfast is sometimes the time where it feels like a fridge cleanout moment too, not fancy, but still intentional.
It’s not the same kind of event it was in my 20s. Now it’s quieter — sitting with my other half, chatting about the day ahead or just watching the morning news. My go-to drink at home? Always a black plain coffee or an Americano.
Why Breakfast Memories Still Matter
Breakfast memories aren’t just nostalgia. They’re grounding. I know people say, I’m not a breakfast person, but I feel breakfast shapes the day. It’s like making your bed — you could skip it, but the day feels off somehow.
Even the most devoted, I never eat breakfast person, if on vacation with friends and heading to a café, would probably sit down and eat. And maybe that’s the point.
Breakfast doesn’t have to be a spread worthy of a food magazine. It just has to be intentional.
Breakfast is a pause. A reset. A moment before the day takes over.
Even if it’s just a café con leche and piece of bread with too much butter.
Especially then.
