One of the few good things about working on a show that was cancelled is all the fun that can be had when you reunite with old coworkers turned friends. Sure, we spent a year and half all working together, traveling to random locations with little-to-no warning, and go drinking together occasionally after a particularly rough (or wonderful!) story. But there’s something about getting us all together now that we’re all scattered around and working at different places that makes me realize what a really great group of people we had assembled, and how grateful I am to have been a part of it. This particular get-together was a girls-only reunion (with one very delightful exception). We started with a Soul Cycle class and then headed to De Santos in the West Village for bottomless brunch.

This place has group brunches down pat. Before we even ordered carafes of mimosa, bellini, and bloody mary appeared on the table. No one ordered them. It was just assumed we’d all be drinking and the best way to keep a large group happy during a busy brunch is to quickly fill their glasses. Score 1 for De Santos.

The menu was pretty standard – lots of omelets and of course eggs benedict. I opted for the portobello burger without cheese and I asked for added avocado. It was good (pretty hard to screw up a mushroom) but there was some sort of aioli on it that was not on the menu. Had I been a bit more inquisitive with the waitress I may have found this out. But there was a large group of us, and I felt bad being even more difficult. (Do other vegans feel this way? I always think when it’s my time to order I’m the difficult one at the table). The sweet potato fries were soooooo good and I could have made an entire meal out of them.

All in all, the service was good. They were packed, it was Saturday brunch after all, but the drinks kept flowing and the food was prompt and good. What more could you ask for? There aren’t a lot of places that can handle big groups (ours was not the only one) and we were obnoxious and late for our reservation, and they were more than accommodating. The moral of the story? Totally will keep this place in mind when looking for somewhere with a group. Not extremely vegan-friendly, but definitely do-able. Especially now that I know of the sneaky aioli. Next time I’ll order better. But the best part of it all was the company. Isn’t it always?