New brunch spot ready to sizzle downtown

The downtown restaurant scene has been booming of late, with one notable exception: few places offer a hearty breakfast seven days a week.

Chef Mike Rakun wants to change that.

Next Monday, June 24, Rakun will open Benedict’s restaurant in the recently-completed Hilton hotel project, 10 East Center Street. The dining room will be located on the second floor, above Pittsburgh Blue.

This will the second location for the concept. The first Benedict’s opened two years ago in Wayzata, a western suburb of the Twin Cities. Rakun also owns Mercy Bar & Dining Room on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.

The Rochester Benedict’s, like the first location, will offer up breakfast and lunch daily from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu, Rakun said, will include a modern twist on a lot of the classics, such as steak and eggs and huevos rancheros. As the name suggests, there will also be a gamut of Eggs Benedict dishes to choose from, including “The Nordeaster,” which is made up of butter-poached lobster and old bay hollandaise.

Speaking to us Wednesday, Rakun said the restaurant will feature a 100 percent scratch kitchen. Many of the ingredients, he emphasized, will come from the area, including Amish brown eggs and locally-raised pork.

“It’s a good chance to really start someone’s day off right,” he said.

That last quote was punctuated by the fact that Benedict’s will have a full liquor license. The drink menu, he said, will include a range of bloodies and mimosas, along with the “best Irish coffee you have ever had.”

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.