Mother's Day is coming sooner than you think. And if you're not cooking for mom, you'd better snag reservations before everyone else does. We searched high and low for the most innovative, inspired, and inviting Mom Day menus. Our picks are below.
Austin:
Uchi
Moms who want to explore their "gastronomic boundaries" should head to Uchi, a Japanese restaurant that combines local seasonal ingredients with imported fish from the Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Executive chef Tyson Cole will be offering dinner guests a shared ten-course omakase extravaganza ($75-100 per person), which includes dishes like the Hamachi cure (sugar-cured applewood-smoked baby yellowtail, Korean pear and yucca chips).
(801 South Lamar, Austin; 512-740-1584; uchiaustin.com)
Boston:
Rialto
James Beard Award-winning chef Jody Adams is known for serving Italian cuisine with a New England twist at Rialto, inside the Charles Hotel. But on Mother's Day she's offering a motherly three-course dinner (from 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m.) featuring her own mom's dessert: Po's lemon meringue with raspberries. $40 per person.
(Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St., Cambridge; 617-661-5050; rialto-restaurant.com)
Chicago:
Pops for Champagne
Come celebrate your moms at Pops. This year, the acclaimed 26-year-old champagne bar and jazz venue in Chicago will be celebrating the "Mothers of Champagne" aka the women behind three famous sparkling wines: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, Louise Pommery, and Camille Olry-Roederer. Guests can toast with premium glasses of Veuve-Cliquot Gold Label ($20), Pommery Brut Rose ($20) and Louis Roederer Brut Premier ($18), carefully selected from the 100 or so bubbly varieties available.
(601 N. State St., Chicago; 312-266-7677; popsforchampagne.com)
Boulder:
St. Julien Hotel & Spa
It's tea time for mom: The Honey Onyx Room at the hotel is offering a $24.95 per-person special tea menu of fresh homemade scones accompanied by creme fraiche, lemon curd and jam; petit fours; and bite-size tea sandwiches. Treat her to Teaforte's Chamomile Tisane, African Solstice, White Ambrosia or Oasis tea, along with a glass of bubbly. Seatings will take place at noon and 2:30 p.m.; both times feature live music by Ralph Sharon. Remember the special day with a complimentary snapshot to mark the occasion.
(900 Walnut St., Boulder; 720-406-7399; stjulien.com)
Houston:
Rainbow Lodge
Located in a renovated, 100-year-old log cabin overlooking White Oak Bayou ravine, Rainbow Lodge is the ideal home away from home. Open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., the lodge will be offering a special a la carte brunch menu featuring house-smoked ruby trout cakes over spring fava bean succotash for $12, among other delicacies. Guests will have a choice between 99-cent mimosas and champagne for brunch, as well as half-price wines by the glass come dinnertime.
(2011 Ella Blvd., Houston; 713-861-8666; rainbow-lodge.com)
Los Angeles:
Amaranta Cocina Mexicana
A recent mother herself, executive chef Sarah Rocio Gomez of Amaranta Cocina Mexicana will be sharing her childhood favorites (recipes that have been handed down from the women in her family) with diners. Whether you order the spinach and Panela cheese salad with candied pumpkin seeds and piquini pepper vinaigrette ($13), or the stuffed corn dough tamale with Mayan style marinated shrimp ($18), you can be sure that the dish was made with motherly love.
(6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park; 818-610-3599; amarantarestaurant.com)
Silver Spring:
Mrs. K's Restaurant
It is hard to believe that this 78-year-old establishment, presently nestled amongst herb and butterfly gardens, used to act as a tollhouse along a busy highway. From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mother's Day, Mrs. K's will feature a four-course herb-garden-inspired menu with corn and crab chowder and blackened Rockfish served with heirloom tomato basil salsa, all for $60 a pop. Upon leaving, moms can take home a potted herb plant for their own personal culinary endeavors.
(9102 Colesville Road; Silver Spring, 301-589-3500; mrsks.com)
New Orleans:
Commander's Palace
A jazz-filled brunch should bring a smile to a mom's face. Listen to the Joe Simon Trio play between 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the legendary Commander's Palace, built in 1880, while sipping the Commander's mimosa and feasting on crabs and eggs, Ponchatoula strawberry salad, and frozen brandy milk punch (Mother's Day special is $42 per person).
(1403 Washington Ave., New Orleans; 504-899-8221; commanderspalace.com)
New York:
Dell' anima
Chef Gabe Thompson (formerly of Le Bernardin and Del Posto) clearly is no amateur when it comes to luring in moms for Mother's Day. Brunch includes choice of ricotta pancakes, Anson mills polenta, and scrambled eggs, among other things, plus a little something extra: a specially prepared tea cake made by pastry chef Katherine Lahr. No reservations; walk-ins only.
(38 8th Avenue, New York; 212-366-6633; dellanima.com)
Charleston:
Tristan
To add even more pleasure to the act of drinking Champagne, executive chef Aaron Deal is offering a free glass of Rose Champagne to moms during both brunch and dinner and he's donating $5 to the local chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which supports programs that raise awareness and prevent breast cancer.
(55 South Market St., Charleston; 843-534-8666; tristandining.com)
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