405 diningscape will get Scrambl'd on Sunday

Breakfast news abounds and rankings are imminent

Rise and shine is just what the Eastpoint development will do Sunday morning with the addition of a new diner and bar called Scrambl’d.

Local rapper Jabee Williams has partnering with Cordell Love to open the new breakfast and brunch specialty shop that includes a full-service bar and patio dining. But with all things Williams is involved in, Scrambl’d has a higher purpose.

“We believe that hospitality is about more than just great food and service. It's about creating a space where everyone feels welcome and valued,” Williams said in a release.

On Thursday, he and Love were saying “welcome” to a cadre of diners in for one last rehearsal service before the curtain goes up.

For the grand tasting, consulting chef Bryan Wilson, formerly of Magnolia and currently of The Flycatcher Club, and the new staff served five courses family style with cocktails from Quinda Jones.

She started us with an espresso martini that did not disappoint. In fact, kinda made me want another but we had three more drinks to try and an afternoon’s worth of work to navigate.

That’s about the time platters of fried and scrambled eggs arrived with lamb chops hanging from tabletop gallows and bowls of perfectly fried breakfast potatoes. Delicious. Immediately foresaw this being the centerpiece of breakfast served family style amongst friends and family.

Jones paired this course with a Strawberry Lemon Drop desperate for a swimming pool to be served by. The Orange Gimlet offered similar poolside vibes welcome on a hot summer day.

Next up was shrimp and grits, which was promising. Highlighted by a creole-style gravy, this is another dish easy to share. The gravy made everything it touched better for it. Next out were powdered pancakes with fried chicken followed by deep-fried French toast, which was essentially a cruller cut into triangles. More please!

As it turns out, I can get more starting Sunday and so can you. Scrambl’d opens Sunday morning at 8 a.m. with a grand opening then will operate, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends. Address is 1742 NE 23rd St.

Scrambl’d is the newest addition to the 405 diningscape’s breakfast options. Very soon, one of its oldest bacon-and-eggsatoriums will return. The folks at Happy Plate Concepts (Sunnyside Diner, Grill on the Hill, Taqueria El Camino) will return The Classen Grill to life.

With a menu from The Hutch on Avondale’s founding chef, David Henry, The Classen Grill will return later this year. The original building where Northwest Expressway and Classen Boulevard clash originally opened in the late 1970s and served breakfast, lunch and dinner.

When the Holloway Restaurant Group purchased it in the early 1990s, it went to breakfast only and its legend grew on the reputation of custom omelets, Classen Grill potatoes and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Henry told me several weeks ago the menu was written and in testing. He promises a menu that pays homage to Classen Grill’s roots plus some surprises. Now it just needs a completed building some cooks and servers to go with it.

Classen Grill isn’t the only iconic breakfast haunt under renovation. The original Jimmy’s Egg on NW 16^th Street remains a parking lot wrapped in chain-link fence for now. Owner Ban Nguyen still has some hurdles to clear before the city signs off on the construction of a new place designed by one of Nguyen’s sons, who is a New York City architect.

You’ll forgive Ban if the project creeps along because he recently got a new job. He was recently elected captain of United Cup golf team for the amateur Vietnamese Golf Association. He’s got a tournament in Saigon to prepare for next January. That means Ban not only has to play a lot of golf, but pick a team to compete in southeast Asia.

“It’s a lot of fun. Right now, everybody loves me,” he said. “But after January everyone’s gonna hate me!”

Such is the plight of the team captain, but Ban has plenty of experience making tough calls as president and CEO of Jimmy’s Egg.

While you’re waiting for Jimmy’s Egg’s oldest location to be rebuilt and Classen Grille to reopen, drop by Scrambl’d for some lamb chops and eggs and let me know what you think.

I’m now working on my list of best places for breakfast around the 405 diningscape and I need your help. Are you Team Café Antigua or Team Café Kacao? Do you prefer Hatch Early Mood Food? What about La Baguette? Wait, the one in Norman or on May Avenue? Sherry’s Diner anyone? Or Jimmy’s Round-Up? Any Beverly’s Pancake House or Waffle Champion fans out there?

Most importantly, what am I missing? Answer in the comments or email me.

Tune in today

The last episode of “Eat, Drink & be Local” airs on KSBI this afternoon at 4:30. It’s been a lot of fun showing Rick Heath and his daughter Shelby around the 405 diningscape this spring. Our ten episodes are now all available on YouTube.

Here’s the last episode that aired, featuring chef Andrew Black at Grey Sweater. The episode includes chef Black’s full acceptance speech after winning his Best Chef Southwest award in Chicago.

Here’s hoping everyone has an extended holiday weekend planned. I’ll have one more post before the Fourth with the June dining report shortly after.

Stay hungry.