Brunch at De Cero

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The scene: De Cero, the almost 5-year-old Randolph Street spot from restaurateur duo Angela Lee and Susan Traina Thompson, always has billed itself as a "modern-day taqueria." What does that mean, exactly? Premium tequilas, avocado crema where other spots might settle for sour cream and, as of last week, a foray into the meal traditional taquerias rarely go: brunch.

By offering Sunday brunch, De Cero’s also a rarity among its Randolph Street neighbors, most of which do enough Friday- and Saturday-night business that just thinking about French toast before 10 a.m. probably seems taxing.

But De Cero is up to the task. The rustic, cantina-like dining room doesn’t suffer in the light of day; in fact, it’s considerably less noisy without the din of evening bar business and Latin beats bouncing off the ceiling. Chef Jennifer Brooks-Stadler’s kitchen, which offers its usual gourmet tacos and appetizers alongside the new brunch menu, ably adapts too. Though they were working out some opening-weekend timing and service kinks during our visit, most everybody seemed perfectly happy to sit back and sip fun brunch cocktails like pineapple-coconut water agua pina mimosas ($9) and fiery cilantro-rimmed bloody marias ($10, pictured) while they waited.

The cuisine: Mexican breakfast favorites such as huevos rancheros and chilaquiles make up about half the menu, but this isn’t all predictable fare. De Cero is, after all, a place that tops nachos with duck and fills tacos with sauteed salmon and ahi tuna. Salsas are house-made, breakfast potatoes get a dash of cumin, and even prosaic pinto beans benefit from a touch of bacon.

More outside-the-box options include horchata French toast ($9.50), two smallish slices of Italian bread soaked in house-made Mexican rice milk, slathered with brown sugar-cinnamon-walnut butter and served with blackberry compote; and black bean cakes ($10.25) topped with chipotle crema, scrambled eggs and pico de gallo.

De Cero doesn’t overlook the details, and you shouldn’t either. Order a side of cornbread ($3), and you get two crumbly wedges flecked with whole kernels and bits of jalapeno, or go for an order of melt-in-your mouth banuelos ($4), impossibly thin silver-dollar sized fried pastries served with the same tangy and sweet homemade compote that completes the French toast.

***

Loved it: Cinnamon coffee ($3)

Hated it: A frequently empty cup of cinnamon coffee

Brunch time: 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sunday

Cost: About $25 per person, with cocktail

Wait: None

M. Kathleen Pratt is the Metromix dining producer. kpratt@tribune.com

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