Firefly: Breakfast At Firefly

Last weekend, to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, my husband and I stayed in Dupont Circle at Hotel Madera. When my husband sent me the link to the hotel after he made the reservations, I was excited to see that this was the hotel attached to Firefly. If you follow any big DC bloggers like I do, you'll see them routinely check into Firefly on Twitter or Instagram for brunch, and I couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about. Firefly is located on New Hampshire Avenue in a trendy and busy area filled with hotels, gorgeous apartments, restaurants, and bars. It's a couple blocks away from the Dupont Circle metro stop, and has street and garage parking nearby.The decor of Firefly is very creative. It's meant to make you feel as if you are in your backyard, surrounded by trees alight with fireflies. There are few restaurants that I can think of with such a solid theme. Generally a "theme" restaurant comes across as cheesy and low quality, but the decorations here are so well done and so creative that it makes you excited to come in and see what else is in store from this restaurant.We came for brunch and were pleasantly surprised to be told that, among other things, brunch includes $2 mimosas and Bloody Mary's. For a restaurant with such an impressive bar, this was a pretty great deal. Firefly's menu is seasonal, local, and a good mixture of the unique and classic. You start your meal with a bread basket including various breakfast breads. These were delicious and perfectly sized to only whet your appetite, not fill you up.I ordered a Blood Mary and the kale-n-eggs that included a grilled polenta cake, braised kale, charred tomato vinaigrette, and a poached egg. I'm a big fan of savory breakfasts and this one really hit the mark. My poached egg was cooked perfectly and the vinaigrette mixed with my egg yolk was just the right amount of sauce for the large polenta cake underneath everything. My polenta was just cooked enough to be firm, but still retained the soft texture you want from polenta. My only complaint with this dish was that the kale came in really large bunches and was too tough to cut up so you ended up shoving long lengths of kale into your mouth in a very unladylike fashion.My husband ordered a mimosa and homemade almond granola with dry fruit and yogurt and a fruit bowl on the side. He loved his yogurt and granola and was especially delighted at the dried figs included with the yogurt and fruit. His fruit bowl was pretty to look at and was overflowing with fresh fruit.The wait staff was very friendly and checked on us consistently throughout the meal. After trying out Firefly for brunch, enjoying the quirky ambiance, cheerful staff, and delicious food, I definitely understand why so many of my DC blogger crushes are checking in here regularly. For such a good price, we were really happy with the quality of food and drinks we received and we would love to come back for lunch, dinner, or drinks!