Gourmet breakfasts are taking over hotels

The breakfast tasting menu at Äng in Tvååker, Sweden, consists of eight to nine courses, about half the number of items on the evening menu. In addition to classic Nordic breakfasts, there are crispy breads, koji-fermented barley porridge and egg dishes, as well as dishes richly complemented with caviar, accompanied by drink pairings made from non-alcoholic juices.

Breakfast can be booked separately, but many guests arrive the night before, have dinner at the Michelin-starred Äng and then spend the night at the neighboring Ästad Vingård vineyard. For those who come for the gastronomy at Äng, breakfast is a natural continuation of dinner.

Casa Maria Luigia, a boutique hotel in Modena, Italy, with three Michelin stars, was founded by Massimo Bottura and his wife, Lara Gilmore. The multi-course breakfast draws on both Emilia’s rural traditions and Bottura’s childhood Christmas memories. The slow-cooked frittata with caramelized onions, for example, is based on a recipe from the chef’s grandmother.

Breakfast includes gnocco fritto, a light, fried dough with local cotechino sausage, and almond cake with zabaglione cream. Many dishes are cooked in an outdoor wood-fired oven.

For Gilmore, however, breakfast is all about hospitality. That's why he doesn't like the term "breakfast tasting menu": he thinks it's too formal and distant from what Casa Maria Luigia's breakfast represents.

In Girona, the Roca brothers' boutique hotel, Hotel Casa Cacaó, serves a multi-course breakfast on the terrace. The menu includes porridge, local cured meats, artisanal cheeses and huevo villaroy – an egg coated in béchamel and then fried in oil – served with seasonal vegetables.

The sweets come in a separate “tower”: apple crumble with calvados jelly, chocolate xuixo, local filled pastries, and hot chocolate with 70 percent cocoa make up the selection. There is also a chocolate shop on the ground floor, where guests can buy sweets from the Roca brothers.

At the luxury Grand Hotel Principe di Piemonte on the Tuscan coast, chef Giuseppe Mancino has created a breakfast menu so rich that it was voted the best hotel breakfast in Italy by 50 Top Italy 2024.

Guests can choose from a multi-course breakfast, which can include anything from sushi to tableside crêpes Suzette, or they can opt for a generous buffet. In addition to the classic breakfast dishes, many cuisines from around the world are featured: ramen, a special Middle Eastern selection, and even a Ferris wheel made of chocolate.

The three-Michelin-starred SingleThread restaurant and accommodation in California's wine country also operates from its own farm, and its approach is strongly influenced by the Zen philosophy. This is also reflected in the breakfast service: to avoid disturbing guests' peace over and over again, all courses are brought out at the same time, arranged on the table like a feast.

There are two breakfast options to choose from. The more popular Japanese version combines local ingredients with the flavors of Japanese cuisine: local black cod or salmon marinated in miso, rice made with farm vegetables, miso soup, steamed tofu, and Japanese sweets. The other option is a Sonoma-style breakfast, which is based on fresh ingredients from the area and the farm itself.

The multi-course breakfast at the Blue Box Café, located in the iconic jewelry brand's store in Tokyo, is called Breakfast at Tiffany's. Blue Box Café also operates in Hong Kong, New York and Dubai, and the menu varies from city to city. The Tokyo version is helmed by acclaimed chef Natsuko Shoji.

The menu also includes soup made with hidaka kombu dashi and aromatic vegetables, salmon served with sudachi – a green-skinned Japanese citrus fruit – and lemon, and scrambled eggs inspired by traditional Japanese dashi omelets.

Breakfast is increasingly becoming a hotel or restaurant's signature dish - an experience that guests remember long after they check out.

Cover photo: ÄNG restaurant's breakfast tasting menu.