Praise the Lard

So exclaims the sign at Victory 44 "Coffee Bar & Provisions", even though the place has the vibe of a gastropub. The dining room has many large format photographs of pigs, very cute pigs. Which a) implies to me that this restaurant has a pork fetish, and b) makes me feel guilty about eating such adorable [and smart] creatures or maybe the photos are just making me hungry, I can't tell.

Since it's a coffee bar, ordering coffee from the waitress isn't just a simple "with milk and sugar" deal. Choices abound. Once we'd decided on regular coffee instead of an espresso based beverage, we had the option of Drip, French Press, Chemex, Clever, or Siphon. Betcha haven't even heard of some of those brewing methods. We chose the Chemex, for no discernible reason. And then what Central/South American country would you like your beans from? Guatemala? Colombia? We selected Honduras [from Dogwood Coffee].

Onto the weekend brunch menu, while we wait for our coffee [and trust me, I mean wait]. A three course brunch is only $20, one can also order all menu items à la carte, but why would you? A three course brunch is only $20. [See what I did there, Jamie?] Despite all the pigs on the walls, there weren't an unreasonable number of pork items on the menu. For firsts, Jamie had the Devils on Horseback, bacon wrapped dates with blue cheese foam; I got the Roasted carrots, with pecans, parsnips, cheddar crisps, raisin puree.

Roasted carrots, beautifully presented on a slate plate

Oh, I forgot to mention the coffee, probably because we were under the impression that they forgot about our coffee. It took... maybe 15 to 20 minutes for it to arrive, in a beautiful hourglass handblown coffeemaker. Sure, it was good coffee, but was it worth the wait? Probably not.

Second course, we both got The Perfect Burger. Because it's a burger [yum], and with the bodacious claim of perfection, how can one refuse? The brioche buns are from Rustica, with a smear of Dijonnaise on the underside of the top bun, the patty consists of 20% pork belly and 80% beef, and is topped with two slices of American cheese, crisp bacon, sweet pickles. All served with a large pile of bacon fries, slightly mushy [just the way I like 'em], sprinkled with finely chopped fresh herbs, and a dusting of bacon powder and grated Parmesan cheese. And of course the ketchup is house made. It was pretty darn close to perfect.

The Perfect Burger, tasty and succulent

We were already stuffed at this point, but there's always room for dessert, right. Jamie had the Apple Compote, Pecan Streusel, Cheddar, and I had the Chocolate Pudding Rocky Road, house made marshmallow, chocolate dirt, brittle.

Chocolate Pudding Rocky Road, another artfully composed slate plate

We left Victory 44 with our bellies full and completely sated, it was one of the better brunches we've had, in terms of satisfaction and value, slow [and somewhat pretentious] coffee service aside. The contemporary menu changes often, we'll be back soon to sample the tasting menu at some point in the near future.