One of the consequences of the government shutdown that I didn’t see coming was the closure of National Parks. I totally wasn’t thinking about it when I drove out to Kennesaw Mountain to get a hike in one of those perfect fall days. The good news is, the Atlanta Beltline is NOT run by the government. I’d never been on the Beltline, and was excited to “Brunch the Beltline” when Concentrics Restaurant Group invited me to do just that on a recent Sunday.

The idea was simple: start at Parish for a Bloody Mary and make your way to TWO Urban Licks to try out brunch. The “make your way” part didn’t fully sink in. For some reason I couldn’t get my mind around the fact that we would in fact, walk to TWO from Parish. Note to self: don’t wear heels when brunching the beltline. That 10 minute walk wreaked havoc on my feet, luckily my sweet hubs went and got the car so I didn’t have to walk back.

Parish offers a build your own Bloody Mary. They have mixes like roasted red pepper mary mix, and tomatillo mix. You go the the register (downstairs at the Market) and they’ll give you a plastic up with a shot of vodka. I thought it was pretty weak, but what do you expect for five bucks? You can then mix up whatever else you want in your Mary. We took ours to go and leisurely strolled the beltline.

When we arrived at TWO, we got a proper Bloody Mary. They have some truly creative Bloody Mary’s like the Proud Mary Ma – made with sriracha, hoisin, ginger wasabi, lemongrass or the Caprese with 20 year balsamic, basil, and mozzarella balls. If those aren’t your thing, try the strawberry basil concoction, pictured at the top. It is light and refreshing. We began with the Beignets, but had I known the trio of desserts chef Todd Stein was bringing us, I would have skipped these, though they were fantastic. An entree of poached eggs and crab was a must for me and so was the Brisket Hash.

Brunching the beltline is a terrific way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. And I do mean the afternoon. We arrived at Parish around 12:30 and only left TWO Urban Licks around 3:45. Of course you don’t have to spend quite that much time, but there’s some cool artwork and people watching along the beltline you shouldn’t miss!

Chef Stein, pictured above, gave us a trio of desserts to try. I’m a sucker for a decadent chocolate cake, but it was the lemon olive oil cake that was the show stopper of desserts. If you have any room left after the hearty brunch, it is so worth the calorie splurge.