BrunchCritic - One Stop Shop For Only Brunch Information

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BrunchCritic is your unique guide through New York City brunch restaurants. BrunchCritic offers specific information on brunching in New York City and helps you find the perfect brunch spot to meet your needs. Recently they have announced 3rd Orange Gala party in honor of the Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Below is our interview with Andrea Pappas, Founder of BrunchCritic about 3rd Orange Gala party, brunching in NYC and benefits of using BrunchCritic:

Q: What’s BrunchCritic’s story?

A: My mother made me pancakes every single morning when I was growing up, until the age of 12. Something must have stuck! So, I’ve always been a brunch fan. I like breakfast food, but I don’t like to wake up early or eat alone. Brunch is inherently a social meal.

The idea for BrunchCritic came about when I was living with roommates on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I was always the one picking our brunch spots and they would invite their friends along, I would invite mine, and next thing you know we were having great conversations, really connecting and meeting new people all at one. People knew I had a penchant for pancakes, and they trusted my recommendations, and were always telling their friends to ask me where to go.

I simply saw a need not being met. NYC is a food obsessed town, and there’s definite brunch culture here, but despite all the online dinner resources, there was nothing that helped you navigate where to brunch. I decided to take my massive Excel list where I kept track of my brunch spots and put it online, and BrunchCritic was born.

Q: You’ve recently announced 3rd Orange Gala benefiting Parkinson’s Research; tell us something more?

A: ORANGE Gala is a way to get our community off-line and to experience a special brunch conceived by and curated by BrunchCritic. We will have over 400 people in attendance this year. BrunchCritic and TEAM FOX for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research both have an orange logo (and my father had Parkinson’s) so I chose to make the event in honor of the Foundation. Everyone in attendance will be dressed in something orange– a hat, a scarf, a dress, a bowtie, crazy pants form grandpa’s closet, whatever! People really get into the theme and get creative. We bring in top restaurants from around town to serve their signature brunch dishes, and partner with premium liquor companies to serve signature cocktails. The Blood Mary Bar will have lots of fixings! In a nutshells, bottomless cocktails, a bloody Mary bar, brunch by 7 restaurants, 1 oyster lounge, 2 orange carpets to strut down, 1 band plus 300 people dressed in orange is ORANGE Gala 2016. It’s a hit and 2016 will be our biggest and best yet!

Q: What makes BrunchCritic a good choice?

A: There are no other website and newsletters out there that are a one stop shop for only brunch information. We are solving a need that hadn’t been met before. You can search by your neighborhood and mood, and we’ll pop out recommendations. People tell me that is very useful. Brunch and dinner are very different meals. You can go to a great brunch spot, and it is a terrible dinner spot, or a great dinner spot and it is a poor brunch choice. So, there absolutely needs to be a brunch resource out there.

Additionally, BrunchCritic is an expert analysis of a brunch spots. We aren’t Yelp and don’t strive to be. There is value in being a niche player, and I think people are over the mass reviews of the general public.

Q: What is the motto that guides BrunchCritic’s decisions?

A: People want to know where to go. They want to go to the best places and they don’t want to wast their time and money. I want to solve a need that hadn’t been met before. If I think it will be useful to the user and help be more informed, and help them save time, we do it.

Q: What’s the achievement you are most proud of?

A: Staring any business and running it is a challenge. I am proud that I took on this venture. I am proud that we get to help people navigate where to go in a simple and direct format, so they don’t waste their time and money. And most importantly, I’m thrilled that we have a very successful weekly newsletter. We have a low unsubscribe rate, and people really like the format of the newsletter.

Q: What is the future of BrunchCritic?

A: I am planning on building the best app there can possibly be for brunchers, or what I like to call, brunchies,™ and have plans to expand BrunchCritic to other cities later this year. Brunch is booming outside of New York and people are often writing to me telling me they want BrunchCritic in their city. It’s very exciting.

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