Listening to soothing music, customers leisurely sit on black and gold bucket chairs at Breaking Dawn, creating a nightclub atmosphere. But this is not a nightclub, it is a weekend brunch restaurant located in the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The restaurant’s highlight is its Asian-inspired dishes, with names drawn from popular phrases. There is the “Resting Brunch Face,” featuring a green pandan waffle paired with fried chicken and Vietnamese iced coffee syrup. Equally popular is the “FO Sizzle,” a beef teppanyaki dish served with sunny-side-up eggs, roasted tomatoes, and French baguette – inspired by Vietnamese dishes like “shaking beef” or “bò lúc lắc.”
The menu fuses Asian and American flavors, designed by owner Liz Truong based on her daughter’s favorite foods.
“Food can be a warm memory in our minds, food can spark conversations,” Truong said as she watched the bustling restaurant and outdoor patio, “So, I created a place that blends the most important foods from different cultures together for everyone to savor, that’s fusion.”
Breaking Dawn is one of two brunch-focused restaurants that opened last spring in the San Francisco Bay Area. Despite the area already having many satisfying restaurants run by Asian Americans, both of these restaurants are always packed with customers lining up outside.
Nattacha Phin Lerspreuk and her husband Thanasit Toto Nanthasitsira own another new restaurant, Taste and Glory, in San Mateo. Their inspiration came from a trip to Thailand. Lerspreuk mentioned that some new restaurants there had already introduced brunch items like Thai tea and French toast.
One of the best-selling dishes at Taste and Glory is the Thai spicy fried rice, made with sauce infused with lemongrass, galangal, and lime leaves, as well as the croissant sandwich filled with scrambled eggs, Dungeness crab, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and Swiss cheese.
“I just wanted to do something new, something different,” she said.
Chef Francis Ang of San Francisco’s Abacá restaurant has been devoted to brunch since opening his first upscale Filipino restaurant in the city in 2021. His brunch starters include Filipino ensaymada, lumpia, oysters, and wagyu salad. “We think about seasons, we think about people’s preferences, and we also think about the influence of Filipino Americans,” he said.
Jessica Nguyen, 28, just finished brunch at Breaking Dawn and shared that she almost always chooses an Asian brunch over usual eggs or waffles. She is willing to pay for delicious dishes and a great atmosphere.
“When trying out the trendy Asian fusion brunch restaurants, I am excited to see how they create food, how they combine flavors,” Nguyen said.
Co-editor of “Eating Asian America,” Martin Manalansan, mentioned that in many Asian cultures, morning meals are a custom. For example, in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, dim sum is typically enjoyed during brunch hours, with delicacies like char siu bao and shrimp dumplings.
But Asian American chefs are catering to the modern food scene, where hearty meals and cocktails are favored during breakfast hours. He added that they are “reconfiguring food” in their own way.
“Brunch has become very popular. Especially in urban areas, I think it has become a norm,” Manalansan said, “It’s not just about the food itself, but it extends to when to eat and what is best to eat.”
Asian food has had a turbulent history, from the stereotypical Chinese restaurants in 19th-century Chinatowns to the weirdly flavored buffet restaurants a century later. In recent decades, Asian and Asian American cuisine has gained popularity through media and food enthusiasts.
Founder of The Peached Tortilla restaurant in Austin, Texas, Eric Silverstein, added brunch items a few months after opening their first branch in 2014. These dishes reflect Silverstein’s childhood spent in Tokyo and Atlanta, being of half Chinese heritage. Menu items range from steak marinated in chili paste, sake, and fish sauce served with rice and eggs, to chicken curry with fried egg, covering a wide variety.
One of his Asian friends once assured diners that these foods are a “prime gateway to trying Asian flavors.” A decade later, Silverstein continues to hear non-Asian customers trying ingredients they had never tasted before.
“You want to be creative, but at the end of the day, we are running a business,” Silverstein said, “You also don’t want to get too crazy and alienate your customer base.”
He cautions restaurant owners not to solely focus on brunch if possible.
Silverstein’s restaurant also offers dinner. While Truong’s Breaking Dawn operates as a “two-concept restaurant,” transforming into First Born at night with a different menu and chef. She does not view other Asian brunch providers as competitors. In fact, Truong has provided advice and kitchen tours to other restaurant owners.
“All of this is about leaving a legacy. All of this is about sharing my experiences,” she said. “I believe that if they are excellent, they work hard, they should also be supported.”