For one glorious day this summer, Geoff Hopgood is doing brunch again

The Hoof Café used to serve up one of the most decadent and innovative brunches in town before it shuttered in 2011. From a “breakfast-appropriate” charcuterie platter to bone marrow beignets to French toast covered in foie gras, The Hoof Café, courtesy of East coast wonder-chef Geoff Hopgood, was a premier destination for nose-to-tail breakfast.

After The Hoof Café closed to make way for the never-to-appear Black Hoof and Company (it became Cocktail Bar instead) and Hopgood departed to start his own restaurant — the much beloved but sadly brunch-free Hopgood’s Foodliner — it looked like Hoof alumnus were definitively saying goodbye to brunch.

Well, good news for early-risers: for one day only, Hopgood’s Foodliner will be serving up a brunch extravaganza from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 12.

Hopgood tells us that the brunch will be reminiscent of The Hoof Café’s brunch, with items like foie gras and smoked pig tail croquettes likely to appear on the carnivorous side of the menu. But the new brunch will also stay true to Foodliner’s East-Coast-inspired menu: expect to see seafood such as shellfish, oysters, lobsters and crab.

While brunch fanatics may be crossing their fingers for a weekly event, Hopgood explains that his eponymous Foodliner will retain its focus as a dinner-centric establishment, with the possibility of brunch now and again.

“What I would like to see happen is an annual or bi-annual type of brunch that we make very, very special,” Hopgood says.

He still hasn’t decided on the reservation procedure — knowing the modus operandi of many of the Hoof alums, it’ll be a first come, first-wait-for-three-hours system — but it’s safe to say it won’t be easy getting a table.

Hopgood’s Foodliner, 325 Roncesvalles Ave., 416-533-2723

[h/t Toronto Life]

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