Breakfast Special

Oh, the beauties of breakfast! The sizzle. The steam. The fresh eggs. Hot toast. Good coffee. Buckwheat pancakes. Corned beef hash. Delicious surprises. They're some of the best reasons to get out of bed. And when you treat yourself by going out for breakfast, the world can be a wonderful place. So we've made a documentary that celebrates breakfast.

Rick Sebak

Yes, chef Jodee Sadowsky can make a great breakfast sandwich, but at his place called Breakfast Club on Tybee Island, GA, there are specials too!

Breakfast Special is a public television project that features some wonderful places across America where you can get a memorable morning meal. We travel from St. Augustine, Florida, to Portland, Oregon, tasting old favorites, exotic options and new twists on standard breakfast fare.

We talk to many people about what draws them to these places. We talk to owners, cooks, servers and regulars, and their comments tell the tale.

Along the way, we find amazing all-you-can-eat buckwheat pancakes in rural New York state at a place called Cartwright's Maple Tree Inn where the family makes the real maple syrup downstairs in the restaurant building. The place is open only about two months every year, when the maple sap is running, but the all-day breakfast is unforgettable.

On Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, there's a popular spot called The Breakfast Club where Jodee Sadowski and his staff serve up some amazing breakfast specials, superb breakfast sandwiches, and eggs Florentine that will remind you how scrumptious eggs and spinach can be when steamed together and topped with hollandaise.

Then, breakfast blogger Nick Dekker leads us to two places in Columbus, Ohio: first, to Skillet (where the Caskey family is teaching new tricks to traditional breakfast ingredients) and then, to The Best Breakfast and Sandwiches (where the Spanglers serve up some impressive fresh food to their enthusiastic clientele).

We visit a Cuban café in St. Augustine, Florida, where Manuel and Janett Herrero serve scrumptious breakfasts, luscious homemade desserts and café con leche worth traveling for. Manny makes us a guajiro too!

Rick Sebak

Two generations of buckwheat pancake masters! Virginia Cartwright and her daughter Rhonda Cartwright Amidon at the Maple Tree Inn in rural NY.

One morning we check out the Hing Lung restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown, and we learn a bit about "jook" or "congee," the rice porridge that gets most of its flavor from the savory ingredients that you choose to have added. You can try pork bones or thousand-year-old eggs or fish or chicken or whatever strikes your fancy. Owner Mei Gong prepared us a big bowl of lobster "jook" that was beautiful and delicious.

Then there's Portland, Oregon, where Paul Gerald has put together a guidebook to local breakfast spots called Breakfast in Bridgetown. We have breakfast with him at Tin Shed, a landmark eatery with funny names for its dishes and with an outside area where you can bring your dog for breakfast too.

Then we also met Paul on another morning at a nearby spot called Helser's On Alberta where we chowed down on Scotch eggs, Dutch babies, eggs Benedict with homemade crumpets and unforgettable salmon hash. Good stuff.

The beauty of breakfast is there are so many places where care is taken, where you can live outside a cereal box, where you can start a day with a memorable meal in an interesting spot. And if you're lucky, like us, you'll strike up a conversation and be part of the breakfast scene yourself.

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© 2010 WQED Multimedia Pittsburgh. All Rights Reserved. Text by Rick Sebak. Photos courtesy of Rick Sebak.