Brunch at Juicy Wine Company

Brunch time: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday

Cost: All entrees and cocktails $5

Wait: None

The scene: It seems like every place with a chef and a kitchen is launching brunch these days. The thing is, Juicy Wine Company (click for details) lacks both. So naturally, we were curious when the River West wine bar debuted a weekend brunch two weeks ago. We were even more curious when we learned that—get this—everything would be just $5. (The exceptions: Intelligentsia coffee and fresh-squeezed orange and grapefruit juices, which are $3 each.) How do they do it? To put it bluntly: Cheap labor. Students from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC) dreamed up the menu, and they also cook and serve. We were worried that the dual chef-server role would hurt service, but the CHIC crew proved us wrong. Juicy’s smaller downstairs room is the only part of the bar that’s open during brunch, and since the students work in a makeshift kitchen within full view, we never felt neglected.

The cuisine: You might wonder just how far a couple of CHIC students with a waffle iron and a portable stove can take you—we certainly did. Wisely, Juicy keeps it simple. There are only five items on the menu. Then, as if to head off any doubts, the menu drops some big names. The Boca Raton, a salmon plate served with a New York-style bagel, makes use of Charlie Trotter’s citrus-cured salmon. The house omelet is filled with salumi from Armandino Batali (father of Mario). And the Sweet and Sticky, a collection of brunch pastries, comes from pastry chef Mindy Segal (Hot Chocolate). The selection changes daily, but we couldn’t have been happier with our trio: a piece of cinnamon-banana coffee cake, a little cube-shaped lemon-ginger scone with sunflower seeds and a gooey poached-pear ricotta danish. The coffee cake might have stolen the show were it not for the citrus-scented Orange Crush Waffles. Ours were cooked to a deep brown and topped with an oversized pat of herbed butter, slivers of candied orange peel and—the coup de grace—two small pieces of Harold’s Fried Chicken. Brilliant.

Better than a bloody mary: Harry’s Bellini, a lovely classic brimming with sparkling wine (this is a wine bar, after all) and white peach puree.

Loved it: The beer back—a bottle of Miller High Life—that came with our bloody mary

Hated it: Mushy tomatoes in an otherwise tasty omelet

M. Kathleen Pratt is the Metromix print editor. kpratt@tribune.com