Cosmos Bistro, an upscale casual dining spot at 101 S.E. First St. on the first floor of the McCurdy building, credits much of its adventurous vegan and fusion offerings to chefs Madison Venecz and Abbey Vinson. But the full English breakfast served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sunday brunch? That’s all Scott Anderson.
“It was an idea I got from when I was an exchange student in England during college,” says Anderson, who opened Cosmos Bistro in 2022. “When you’re in London, their full English breakfast is on most menus. When we were opening Cosmos Bistro, we wanted to offer different options, things that you can’t find around here. A full English breakfast was one.”
The English breakfast is served with a winking promise to give diners as much time as they need to finish it. And need it, they will: Plates come loaded with a traditional “banger” (sausage), two strips of thick-cut bacon, two eggs served sunny-side up, baked beans, a grilled tomato filled with pesto, mushrooms, and a slice of toast with butter and orange marmalade.
“Our English breakfast is reasonably similar to a traditional English breakfast,” Anderson says. “The baked beans are a little different, and we serve American-style bacon. British bacon is more like Canadian bacon, like a thinner piece of the jowl instead of a strip.”
Other differences are rooted in cultural preferences.
“The English use bacon fat and pan fry their toast in that, but we don’t,” Anderson says. “And there’s no blood sausage” — a high-fat link containing cooked animal blood. “I envisioned most blood sausage would come back when we’d collect the plates after the meal.”
Anderson says the kitchen plans to cook and serve about a dozen full English breakfasts during each four-hour brunch service. Testifying to its popularity, the $16 special frequently sells out.
