Mother’s Day, COVID-style: Show your love with takeout or a sweet treat from these spots
In normal times, more Americans go out for brunch on Mother’s Day than any other weekend. Only Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve compete for this restaurant crown.
Of course, 2020 is no normal time.
Brunch can’t happen. Not only might that sadden you and your mum, but it also dampens the day for restaurants, already suffering huge losses from more than six weeks of shuttered dining rooms.
“It’s huge, and brunch is our biggest thing regularly,” said Brittany Erwin, head chef at Cooks Tavern in Tacoma’s North End. The restaurant, which retained its core of salaried staffers after the shutdown order, has been offering curbside pickup of its comfort food, as well as a few favorites from past menus.
According to OpenTable, brunch reservations jump to more than three times their usual Sunday level on Mother’s Day, and groups tend to be larger than other holidays. About three-quarters of diners choose a new restaurant to mark the occasion, too.
And sorry, Dad: We make 60 percent more reservations for this Sunday in May than we do for you in June.
Thankfully, restaurants in Tacoma and across the South Sound continue to serve takeout throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and many have specials up their sleeves to doll up Mother’s Day at home.
Brunch kits are the new reservation, it seems.
Cooks has a $60 strata package that includes the shareable baked egg dish (easily re-heatable, says Erwin), a cherry crumble coffee cake, and both a fruit salad and mixed greens. It’s a verifiable brunch spread, with an optional mimosa kit of fresh-squeezed orange juice and house sparkling wine for an additional $25.
Erwin describes the strata as Cooks’ “version of a quiche,” with homemade buttermilk biscuits and a custard that retains moisture when reheated once or twice. It’s even better the next day, she added.
In reconfiguring the restaurant’s brunch menu for takeout, she turned to “an egg dish that would travel well.”
“Everything on our regular menu, we’re doing fresh scrambles or poached eggs,” she said, both of which lose their luster unless enjoyed straight off the griddle.
“That’s something we’ve been struggling with,” continued Erwin. “We want to make sure we’re still putting out good food, but not too complicated that it won’t relay at home.”
In Puyallup, Toscano’s Italian Grill, which has perfected family meals to-go during the COVID-19 crisis, also has a strata and mimosa deal for $69, with a bouquet to boot.
For a little treat, Anthem Coffee is accepting pre-orders for raspberry-swirled croissants from The Workshop Bakery in Pacific. Tease Chocolates has a Mother’s Day truffle box with flavors like orange blossom, lavender and violet, and Johnson Candy Company has some creative packaging.
Treat the whole family with a cake from Pasteles Finos del Angel or customizable petits fours from Celebrity Cake Studio.
To mark the occasion with a restaurant-worthy meal, consider ordering from any of the businesses open for takeout. Many also offer family meals on the regular, making Sunday dinner an option, too.
Pair it with a bottle of wine from the restaurant, if available, or head to a wine shop ahead of time for expert advice.
Tacoma Wine Merchants co-owner Rob Richards recommends crisp, dry wines for this mid-morning meal. The 2018 Gaspard Sauvignon Blanc ($19) carries “lots of classic Touraine minerality,” he said, with notes of citrus and lemon verbena.
For the rosé drinkers, try the “customer favorite” 2019 Lu + Oly Flowerhead from Mark West Winery ($19), or the Lelievre Leucquois Gamay Noir ($20), “a great sparkling wine with your Mother’s Day brunch” that lends both raspberry fruit on the palate, enough acid to counter that rich strata, and a dry finish. He calls it “crushably tasty, and an extreme value for biodynamic pink fizz.”
No matter how you celebrate Mom this year, the good news is you need neither a reservation, nor must you wait for a table.
MOTHER’S DAY SPECIALS
Cooks Tavern
▪ 3201 N. 26th St., Tacoma, 253-327-1777, cookstavern.com
▪ Details: View menu online, call ahead for Saturday pickup; limited kits available on Sunday, May 10
Toscano’s
▪ 437 29th St., Puyallup, 253-864-8600, toscanospuyallup.com
▪ Details: View menu online, call through Saturday to order for May 10
Anthem Coffee
▪ 210 W. Pioneer Ave., Puyallup, 253-446-7941, anthemcoffee.com
▪ Details: Order croissants online by noon Friday for Saturday morning pickup
Tease Chocolates
▪ 610 N. 1st St., Tacoma, 253-327-1860, teasechocolates.com
▪ Details: Order online by Wednesday for Saturday pickup, or choose from other treats
Johnson Candy Co.
▪ 924 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253-272-8504, facebook.com/johnsoncandyco
▪ View specials on Facebook; call to order; Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pasteles Finos del Angel
▪ 5102 S. Washington St, Tacoma, 253-448-2649, pastelesfinosdelangel.com
▪ Details: Order online or call for custom cakes; Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Celebrity Cake Studio
▪ 314 E. 26th St., Tacoma, 253-627-4773, celebritycakestudio.com
▪ Details: View options and order online; Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tacoma Wine Merchants
▪ 23A N. Tacoma Ave., Tacoma, 253-779-8258, tacomawinemerchants.com
▪ Details: Shop in-person, or order pickup online or by phone; Tuesday to Saturday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.