Spiced-up Southern brunch

Morrison Healthcare Corporate R&D Chef Jeffrey Quasha is planning some new, cutting-edge breakfast pop-up concepts. One item that’s caught his eye recently is the cathead biscuit, a Southern specialty that measures—you guessed it—the size of a cat’s head.

Southern biscuits are part of a larger brunch boom that’s happening across the dining world, with Mintel reporting a 22.1 percent increase in breakfast sales in the past year. 

Left: A mint julep mocktail from Georgia State

Southern hospitality and big, bold, spicy flavors are elements Morrison already taps into with other concepts, like Southern Bayou, where hearty gumbo and jambalaya star on the menu. Signage at a newly designed Morrison chicken concept, The Roost, reads, “Where summers seem endless…gentlemen hold the door for ladies…strangers say hello…and the chicken is downright tasty.”

Bringing savory items like chicken sandwiches, jambalaya and even gumbo to the table punches up brunch in a memorable way.

Who says "Southern" and "vegetarian" are mutually exclusive?

"Our biscuits with smoked carrot and parsnip gravy is a vegetarian alternative that has the same taste and texture of a classic sausage gravy," says Matt Del Regno, executive chef with Levy at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

Southern-style shrimp 'n grits is served at North Carolina State's Terrace Dining Room on the Lonnie Poole Golf Course on campus. Cheese is mixed into the grits, and peppers, onions and andouille sausage make it a hearty brunch item.

UNC offers a variety of grits dishes: fried green tomatoes, fried egg and pimento cheese; beef brisket, sweet potato hash, egg and tomato gravy; country smoked ham, fried egg, tomato, sausage gravy.