Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
An old-school diner breakfast
Upscale brunch spot Java and Jam opens in Fort Lauderdale.
Tim Petrillo hasn’t opened an all-breakfast eatery before, but he had a good feeling his newest restaurant, Java and Jam, would go over easy with the Las Olas crowds.
The Fort Lauderdale restaurant at 301 E. Las Olas Blvd., the latest venture from the Restaurant People (Township, S3, and YOLO next door), quietly debuted on Monday with little fanfare, replacing TRP’s clubby Vibe Las Olas lounge in the same location.
Petrillo, co-founder of the restaurant group, says he decided not to post announcements on social media ahead of the opening. Still, curious passersby saw the lights on and “just decided to come in,” he says.
An upscale breakfast-andbrunch spot with an oldschool diner vibe, Java and Jam caters to the early-to-rise business-casual set and power-lunch diners, Petrillo says. Instead of designing a menu stuffed with trendy brunch fare — already found on countless downtown menus — Petrillo says he opted for hearty diner staples, such as corned beef hash and eggs, three-egg omelets and buttermilk pancakes.
“People usually have in their mind what they want for breakfast before they even arrive,” Petrillo says. “We didn’t want to stray too far from that. It’s not like a steak you can order medium or rare for lunch. People want lots of breakfast sides and customizations.”
He says he conceived Java and Jam five years ago, but the recent trend of all-day breakfast restaurants hatching in South Florida convinced Petrillo that downtowners — like himself — needed a new morning hangout. So last September, instead of upgrading Vibe Las Olas for its 10th anniversary,
he started to convert it into Java and Jam.
“Vibe was an outdoor venue, and we were having complaints about noise from the residents. Now we have 10,000 more units coming to downtown, and there’s hardly any place to walk to get breakfast,” Petrillo says. Yes, the Floridian diner is nearby, but it’s too far for downtowners living west of Federal Highway, he says.
The java comes from nearby Flagler Village roaster Well’s Coffee Company, and the bagels are baked fresh daily at Family Bagels of Long Island in Cooper City. A coffee counter frames the bar, where patrons can order hot sandwiches and bagels to go. There are brick accents over old-fashioned redleather booths, along with white-tiled walls decorated with black-and-white portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Grant and Naomi Watts sipping coffee.
Menu standouts include the corned beef benedict with two poached eggs, Gruyère and hollandaise sauce on a toasted English muffin; taco eggs, with eggs sunny side up, bacon, avocado, queso fresco and salsa verde in a white flour tortilla; and a choice of four protein bowls ranging from vegetable hash to egg whites. The menu also includes an assortment of orange juice and teas.