The Origin of Brunch and What Actually Makes a Great One

 Brunch is everywhere now. Every neighborhood in New York has a dozen spots claiming to do it well — the bottomless mimosas, the avocado toast, the two-hour wait on a Sunday sidewalk. It's become so ubiquitous that most people never stop to ask where it came from, or why some brunches feel like an event and others feel like an overpriced plate of eggs.

The answer to both questions is connected. Understanding where brunch started reveals what it was always supposed to be — and that's the key to understanding what separates a great brunch from a forgettable one.

A British Writer, a Hangover, and a Manifesto

The word "brunch" first appeared in print in 1895, coined by a British writer named Guy Beringer in an essay called "Brunch: A Plea," published in Hunter's Weekly. Beringer's argument was simple: the traditional heavy Sunday dinner that followed church was miserable, especially for anyone who'd been out late the night before. His proposal was a new meal — served around noon, starting light with tea and coffee before moving into heartier dishes — designed specifically for people who wanted to sleep in and ease into their day.

Beringer wasn't just naming a meal. He was describing a mood. He called brunch "cheerful, sociable, and inciting" — a meal that "puts you in a good temper" and "sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week." That's not a food description. That's a philosophy.

From Victorian Hunting Parties to Manhattan Hotels

Before Beringer gave it a name, meals resembling brunch already existed in Victorian England. The upper class would return from early morning hunting expeditions to a lavish spread of meats, eggs, pastries, and alcohol — what was known as a "hunt breakfast." The format was similar to modern brunch: late morning, generous portions, drinks included.

The concept crossed the Atlantic in the early 1900s and landed in the cities that would shape it — New York, New Orleans, and Chicago. By the 1920s, brunch had become a fixture of upper-class urban life. Hotels were the early adopters, serving elaborate late-morning meals for travelers arriving on overnight trains. A 1939 New York Times feature noted that Manhattan restaurants were offering variations under names like "bracer breakfast" and "hunt breakfast," complete with live music, themed décor, and menus featuring dishes like kidney sauté, lamb sausages, and corned beef hash.

Cocktails were part of the equation from the start — but New York City's liquor laws at the time prohibited alcohol service in restaurants before 1 PM, so many brunches were timed around that restriction. The Bloody Mary, the Mimosa, and the Bellini all emerged as signature brunch drinks during this era, cementing the idea that brunch wasn't just a meal. It was permission to drink before noon with zero guilt.

The Democratization of Brunch

Through the 1930s and 1940s, brunch expanded beyond hotels and the elite. The middle class adopted it as a Sunday ritual — bacon, homemade jams, donuts, orange juice, and coffee became the standard home brunch spread. It was economical (two meals for the price of one) and social (a reason to gather without the formality of dinner).

After World War II, church attendance declined, and brunch filled the void. As one Stanford professor noted, the rise of married women entering the workforce also played a role — Sunday brunch at a restaurant became a relief valve, a meal that didn't require hours of home cooking on the one day meant for rest.

By the 1980s and 1990s, brunch had gone fully mainstream. Restaurants started offering it on Saturdays as well as Sundays. Bottomless drink packages became standard. Chinese dim sum gained recognition as its own form of brunch, connecting the meal to traditions that predated Beringer by centuries. And chefs began experimenting — putting eggs on everything, fusing breakfast and lunch conventions, and turning the meal into a creative playground.

So What Actually Makes a Great Brunch?

If you strip away the Instagram aesthetics and the hour-long waits, a great brunch comes down to a handful of things that Beringer identified in 1895 and that still hold true today.

It has to feel unhurried. Brunch was invented as a rejection of obligation — the obligation to wake up early, to eat heavy food you didn't want, to follow someone else's schedule. A great brunch respects the customer's time by not rushing the experience. The kitchen opens early enough that there's no pressure, the service is warm without being intrusive, and no one is hovering to flip the table.

The food has to reward you for showing up. Brunch isn't a meal people need. It's a meal people choose. That means every dish has to justify the choice — not just fill a plate, but deliver something that feels worth the trip. This is where most brunch spots fall short. A poached egg on toast isn't a brunch experience. A poached egg with homemade hollandaise, fresh arugula, and a sauce that someone spent weeks developing — that's a brunch experience.

The menu has to have range. At any brunch table, someone wants eggs, someone wants something lighter, someone is vegan, someone just wants a really good sandwich, and someone wants all of the above. A great brunch menu doesn't force anyone to compromise. It gives every person at the table their best possible version of the meal.

The drinks have to be part of the story. Beringer included beer and whiskey in his original brunch proposal. The Bloody Mary and the Mimosa became icons because they turned brunch from a meal into an occasion. A great drink menu doesn't just offer alcohol — it offers pairings that elevate the food, non-alcoholic options that feel just as intentional, and something unexpected that gives the table a reason to try something new.

It has to have personality. The worst brunches are the ones that feel like they were designed by committee — the same safe dishes, the same generic décor, the same playlist. The best brunches have a point of view. They reflect the chef's background, the neighborhood's character, and a specific idea about what a morning meal can be.

How UT47 Approaches Brunch

UT47 Kitchen & Bar opens at 8 AM and serves brunch until 4 PM — an eight-hour window that removes any pressure to rush. The menu is organized around five sections: UT Signature, Comfort Food, Korean Fusion, Vegan, and Brunch Cocktails. Each section is a full menu in its own right.

The Signature section is anchored by six different Eggs Benedict preparations — Smoked Salmon with Avocado, Turkey Bacon on Butter Croissant, Sweet Baked Bacon on Waffle, Chicken Sausage, Avocado & Tomato (vegetarian), and the Zesty Butter Waffle with fontina cheese sauce. Every one is built around homemade hollandaise and poached eggs, but each has a different character. The Penny-Benny series takes the concept further — melty pressed paninis with poached eggs and hollandaise, available in Sweet Baked Bacon, Chicken, and Tuna Melt variations.

The Korean Fusion section brings Chicken Mandu and Kimchi & Veggie Mandu — fried dumplings that connect the menu to Chef Mia's Korean roots. These aren't token items. They're the dishes that make UT47 different from every other brunch spot on 9th Avenue.

The Vegan section is where the kitchen's commitment becomes clearest. Five different vegan Eggs Benedict options — including Vegan Salmon glazed with Korean BBQ sauce and Vegan Tofu Bacon with coconut hollandaise — plus salads, toasts, and a full vegan Penny-Benny series. Every dish is also gluten-free adaptable. A table of four with completely different dietary needs can all eat well without anyone settling for the one sad vegan option at the bottom of the menu.

The drinks follow the same philosophy: Aperol Spritz next to Makgeolli. Kangnam Mule next to Dry Riesling. Korean lagers next to Brooklyn Lager. Every glass has a dish it was meant to sit beside.

Beringer Would Approve

Guy Beringer wanted brunch to be cheerful, sociable, and inciting. He wanted it to sweep away the worries of the week. He wanted it to be a meal that makes people satisfied with themselves and the people around them.

A hundred and thirty years later, the best brunch spots in New York are still chasing exactly that. The ones that get it right aren't the ones with the longest lines or the most photogenic plates. They're the ones where the food has a point of view, the drinks have a purpose, every person at the table is taken care of, and nobody wants to leave.

That's what brunch was always supposed to be. And at UT47, that's what it is — every morning, seven days a week, from 8 AM until the last table finishes.

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UT47 Kitchen & Bar is located at 683 9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. Brunch served daily, 8 AM – 4 PM. Follow @ut47kitchenandbar for the latest from the kitchen.