Syracuse, N.Y. — The thing we liked best from our dinnertime visit to Oh My Darling three years ago was how the kitchen made the most from simple flavors by pairing them together to create a complementary finished product.
We recently returned for Sunday brunch and found the same story at a different time. Take the lemon ricotta pancakes ($16), for instance. The stack of three cakes was fluffy and dense with slightly crispy edges. Though the batter is merely a blend of dairy and flour, there was a richness to each bite. Homemade lemon curd painted across the top of each pancake offered a tangy brightness, while fresh berries brought color and a hint of sweetness. Ramekins of syrup and butter sat untouched, as the blend of flavors was just right.
Ryan and Leigh Ann Benz opened the restaurant, and its accompanying speakeasy-style bar The Fitz, in March 2019 as part of their redevelopment of the Whitney building on South Salina Street in downtown Syracuse. It remains a highly-regarded spot at recommendation websites and earns high marks and praise from commenters at syracuse.com’s Where Syracuse Eats Facebook group.
Demand for brunch was so high on the particular Sunday morning of our visit that there was a line about 10 parties deep at the door when we arrived approximately 15 minutes before the restaurant’s 11 a.m. opening. So much for getting there early.
The restaurant only takes reservations for groups of eight or more and when it was our turn at the hostess station, we were quoted a 30- to 40-minute wait. With bar seating an option, we bellied up to the corner of the large bar in the main dining room and noticed that only about three-quarters of the tables were in use. Like many restaurants, Oh My Darling has been hit by a staffing shortage and reduced its seating to alleviate pressure on the kitchen and waitstaff.
As a result, the speed of the front-of-house team and the pacing of dishes from the kitchen were not impacted.
One bartender mixed drinks for table service and the bar traffic, assembling mimosas and bloody Mary’s ($9 each) as quickly as they came in. Oh My Darling’s mimosa is made with cava, a Spanish sparkling wine, which provided the same bubbly contrast to orange juice as champagne or other sparkling white. We were somewhat disappointed to find out that the bloody Mary mix was a premade foodservice blend. It was absolutely fine, if not a little too spicy, but we figured a bar emphasizing crafted cocktails would have its own signature blend.
The bloody Mary provided a sharp contrast to the chicken and waffles ($16). Served over two waffles, the fried chicken breast was candied with either maple or brown sugar and topped with a maple aioli, ensuring sweetness in every bite. Rather than being a forgotten accompaniment, the waffles could have been their own feature. They were crispy and airy, strong enough to undertake the weight of the chicken breast without being too filling.
The menu offers four styles of eggs Benedict ($15). We opted for the classic version, with poached eggs served over grilled ham—not Canadian Bacon—on Portuguese muffins and topped with hollandaise sauce. Portuguese muffins are larger, softer versions of the standard English muffin. They are more filling, but also more difficult to cut with a butter knife. We persevered.
The combination of hollandaise and broken egg yolks from cutting flooded our plate with creamy, viscous liquid that begged for a second order of muffins. The sauce was spot on in flavor, complementing but not overpowering the eggs or salty ham. We were sure to mix in the side of homefries to help mop up the accumulated sauce. It would have been wrong to let it go to waste.
Most brunch dishes at Oh My Darling come with mixed greens, which we largely ignored, and homefries. The potatoes were grilled with onions and seasoned with what tasted like a dash of smoked paprika.
Dessert is available at brunch, but we skipped it. Cheesecake or a chocolate chip cookie sundae before noon would have been consumed without question when I was younger, but it’s the type of thing that slows a body down for the remainder of the day as a person in their mid-40s.
Instead, we left brunch at Oh My Darling sufficiently filled and with a better understanding of why people line up before opening to snag a table.
The Details
The Restaurant: Oh My Darling, 321 S. Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13202; (315) 290-3330.
Takeout/Delivery? Takeout and delivery are available through the major delivery apps.
Reservations? Reservations are only available for parties of eight or more. This applies to brunch and dinner service.
Credit cards? Yes.
Outdoor seating? Limited streetside seating is available.
Noise level: Loud. Unforgiving acoustics and a crowded dining room created a noisy bar area.
Access to the disabled: Entry is at parking lot level and there is plenty of room to move inside the restaurant.
Parking: On-street parking is your best bet, though you may want to try a private pay lot nearby.
Special diets? The menu can easily accommodate vegetarians and those following dairy-free diets. We didn’t notice any gluten-free options.
Children’s menu? Yes! See the heading for Oliver’s Corner, which has a handful of dishes priced at $8.
Hours: Brunch is served Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The restaurant’s hours are available at its website.
Cost: Most brunch items are $17 or less. We ordered as many items as was reasonable to showcase the menu. Brunch for two with beverages, entrees, tax, and 20 percent gratuity was $84.60.
Jared Paventi is a restaurant critic for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. You can reach him at jaredpaventi@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Sign up for our free weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.
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