“First Watch’s light and airy, made-to-order Belgian waffle is easily the most delicious I’ve ever tasted, and a delicacy I’ve ordered dozens of times,” says Brooke Brown. | Photo by Stacey Angel

By Brooke A. Brown

The Charleston breakfast scene that slowly rises and shines every weekend morning pretty much consists of your standard run-of-the-mill A.M. fare: biscuit sandwiches, omelets, salt-cured meats, pancakes or some unruly combination of all these things (the Paul Bunyan sampler?). This conventional selection is probably a good thing considering most of us don’t have the wherewithal to fully appreciate a deconstructed donut – its decadent accoutrements (sprinkles, glaze, jelly and/or cream fillings) served artfully and separately from the naked pastry – before reaching maximum caffeine intake, if ever at all. I mean, why would you mess with the perfection that is a donut?

The point I’m attempting to make is that with these traditional breakfast offerings, the extraordinary items truly shine. Take for instance the “Tri-fecta” at First Watch, at 164 Summers Street in downtown Charleston. The menu describes the selection as such: ‘A light and airy, made-to-order Belgian waffle, with two eggs cooked any way you like and your choice of thick-sliced bacon, turkey bacon or sausage.’

“Any way I like” sounds quite ideal, but what could possibly be more commonplace about this breakfast dish? Perhaps if they L’Eggoed an Eggo, I suppose. But the First Watchers are not in the business of toasting frozen wafflesicles. No siree, Robert. The “light and airy, made-to-order Belgian waffle” they proudly serve is easily the most delicious I’ve ever tasted, and a delicacy that I’ve ordered dozens of times.

The lightness and airiness must certainly come from the gentle folding of whipped egg whites into the batter (a sure-fire method of achieving such a feat in the home kitchen). Sometimes, the First Watch waffle is crispier than previous dining experiences, but it’s never been too flimsy or crunchy to necessitate a return to the kitchen for an extreme waffle makeover. Maintaining whatever level of crispiness it might have is the result of proper syrup application. But before we go there, what to do with that huge scoop of butter precariously plopped in the middle of the waffle?

No worries, fellow foodies. There’s no risk of complete waffle annihilation due to attempted cold butter spreading at First Watch. They smartly provide warm, whipped butter, and it spreads easily into every nook and cranny of that Belgian beauty. Of course, you could remove the butter completely, but you’re still eating a waffle, so what’s the point?

Now, looking at the freshly ironed and buttered disc, one notices it has four quadrants. My syrup delivery method is divided into four separate, quadrant-based applications. I slowly – it is syrup, after all – fill each square of the quadrant at hand with even pools of sugary sap. Then, upon completion and with fork in hand, it’s goodnight, Irene! Not only does this style of consumption protect the crispiness-factor, but it also allows you to enjoy the delicious thick-cut bacon and incredibly edible, over-easy eggs (the way I like) in perfect harmony with your waffle. It is the Tri-fecta, after all, and this trio of plate-mates is definitely the company you want to keep.

IF YOU GO: First Watch, 164 Summers St., Charleston, W.Va. Online menu.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 7:59 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.