Republique.

I love everything about France, especially the cuisine. So when I heard about Republique and its French inspired bakery and architecture I knew I had to see it for myself. I came here for lunch with my brother and was immediately mesmerized by the rows and rows of pastries next to the cashier.

After ordering our lunch (and a bunch of pastries), we sat at our table, which was lit by the sun beams coming in from the skylight windows from above. It was a bit of a cold day, but the natural lighting made it feel like we were sitting outside.

The design and decor of the restaurant also was reminiscent of Paris and some of its Gothic architecture.

I'm a sucker for glass door refrigerators. I love seeing the products available at restaurants!

When our food was brought to us, I couldn't wait to start eating. I know it was lunch time, but Croque Madame's are one of my favorite French treats and I couldn't resist. Meanwhile, my brother ordered a burger that had dry aged beef. The drinks vary each day based on seasonal items available. We ordered a delicious grapefruit lemonade. The Croque Madame, by the way, was spot on!!

I was loving this wine tower where the bottles were used serve us water.

I have this thing with floors and their beauty. I was loving this green, white, and black tile!

We took our yummy pastries home to enjoy. My favorites were the glazed and chocolate donut like bombolinis. Pictured are also a chocolate bundt cake, banana Nutella croissant, and a coffee cake.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.

Last year, I ate at a cute little bunch spot in Santa Barbara called Scarlett Begonia and had the best lemon ricotta pancakes. Since then, I've been trying these pancakes from other brunch spots and I have yet to find one that was as good. Obviously, I can't be going to Santa Barbara every weekend for brunch so I decided to try to make these pancakes on my own. My lemon ricotta pancake recipe was so delicious and I'm very excited to share it with you all!

These are the ingredients I used. I like using Kodiak Cakes pancake mix because it has a hint of honey in it, which just adds a little extra flavor to pancakes. I also like using fresh blueberries rather than frozen, I think it makes the pancakes taste fresher. Most recipes suggest using whole milk ricotta cheese, but let's face it...summer is coming and even though I'm eating pancakes, a girl's gotta cut calories somewhere, so I used low fat ricotta cheese.

When adding the ricotta cheese, the batter will look a little curdled. Do not panic, this is normal! The cheese makes it a little lumpy. It's important to not mix the batter too much to make it smoother.

A griddle is the best way to get the perfect pancake.

Short stack of delicious lemon ricotta pancakes!

Ingredients:

Makes 6 pancakes

• 1 cup of Kodiak Cakes pancake mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of low fat ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest 
• 2/3 cup of blueberries

Directions:

1. Mix 1 cup of pancake mix with 1 cup of water.
2. Then, mix in 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese. Do not over mix it. The consistency should be a little lumpy.
3. Wash and fold in the blueberries.
4. Heat a griddle to 325 degrees and butter the griddle. I like using cooking spray instead, but either one works. 
5. Ladle a spoon of the batter onto the griddle. Let it cook until bubbles start forming at the top (about 1 minute).
6. Flip the pancake and let the other side cook for about another 30 seconds. 

Voila!!

Terrine.

If there's two things I love in this world it's brunch and anything French! Last week I visited this new restaurant in LA called Terrine with my girl friend, which was both of these things and it was so cute and yummy.

Terrine prides itself on cooking up French classics with a California twist. And the same goes for the delicious drinks that are made here. The atmosphere is warm and romantic, it's a really cute date spot. My favorite part of the restaurant was the beautiful dining garden, where we sat and dined among the trees. I really felt for a minute that I was eating brunch in Paris.

The beautiful dining garden. 

Bloody Mary made with heirloom tomatoes and a Mimosa with prosecco. 

My absolute favorite dish, Pain Perdu. Vanilla battered french toast with sea salt caramel frosting. 

Mushroom, truffle, and sage pizza with a fried egg on top. 

The beautiful floor tiles in the restaurant. 

Dinette.

A couple weekends ago, my girl friend and I went to the Renegade craft fair in Downtown LA and afterwards we went to brunch in a little pop up place called Dinette in Echo Park. From the owners of Bar Stella, I had heard about it and how they had great brunch dishes so I decided to try it out. 

The food was really yummy! If you're looking for a type of place that you sit, have your order taken and food brought to you, this isn't the place for that. Dinette is a place that is outdoor. You order at the counter and all the tables are outdoor on the sidewalk. They have a menu which you order from, but also pre-made pastries and quiches that they heat up for you. Everything we had that day was delicious, but I definitely need to come back for their Croque Monsieur next time!

This is the little counter you order from. 

Various quiches.

Sweet pastries and Croque Monsieurs. 

Rose soda pop. 

Our yummy brunch. 

Avocado toast here was perfection. 

Breakfast pizza, white sauce, Parmesan cheese, ham, and an egg on top...not that amazing to be honest, I'd go for the breakfast sandwich or Croque Monsieur instead. 

Eveleigh.

I'm still on an LA brunch tour finding the best places to go to brunch, and Eveleigh was on my top 5 places to try. I was actually debating on celebrating my birthday there this year. I went to Eveleigh with a couple of my friends for brunch and I was very pleased with the food and the ambiance there.

Outdoor patio seating. 

It's located on the infamous Sunset strip in LA and has such a cute little garden patio. You almost forget your in the city when you eat here...almost.

My friend and I were meeting our other friend there, but we arrived a little early so we had a drink at the bar while we waited. I started with their Bloody Mary, but my second drink, the Eveleigh Lemonade was my favorite. It had chamomile infused tequila, lemon, and honey.

Floating bones at the bar.

Our Bloody Mary's. 

For my meal, I ordered the Baked Eggs with prosciutto, heirloom tomatoes, chevre cheese, and arugula. It was SO good. The Avocado Toast was delicious too.

This was a cute spot for the occasional brunch. It's a good spot for brunch with girlfriends. 

Camilo's California Bistro.

Yet again, I am on a constant search for the best brunch spots in LA and I came across Camilo's, which definitely ranks high on my list! Camilo's is local, found in Eagle Rock on the main street, Colorado. It's very homey and has a clean, classic atmosphere.

I am a huge fan of Eggs Benedict in general, and the "bennies" here really good. The hollandaise sauce is really lemony and adds a really complimenting flavor to the dish. 

My boob shaped Eggs Benedict :P.

My girlfriends I came here with ordered sweet breakfast dishes, which included Bananas Foster Waffles and French Toast dipped in Grand Marnier. This isn't your average IHOP french toast and waffles! 

Bananas Foster Waffles.

I loved the selection of AM drinks here too. My go to drink is a Bloody Mary and I liked that Camilo's kicked it up by adding soju instead of vodka.

Array of brunch cocktails. 

There is an entire section of the menu dedicated to Mexican style breakfasts like Huevos Rancheros and Chilaquiles. I really need to come back here to try these...I couldn't help but glance over to the other customer tables to look at these south of the border dishes and they were all mouthwatering. Needless to say, it may take a while for me to go through my list of hot brunch spots, but I will be coming back here!

Canelé.

Over the weekend, my friend Natalie and I decided to hit up one of the brunch spots on our list of restaurants we must go to, Canelé in Atwater Village. They open at 10am and the wait was already a bit long so while we were waiting, we walked across the street to a local farmer's market, which had the most delicious looking things. I was extremely tempted to start eating here.

But I had to control myself because we were off to brunch, which was crazy delicious. This place is know for their "egg in hole" and bowl of berries and créme fraiche. I'll have to come back for the berries, but the eggs were amazing! The French Toast was unfortunately nothing to write home about, but still a good basic brunch meal.

Egg in hole.