Elite Event: Wine Country Brunch

What an awesome brunch! Everything about this event was great.
The service was so good. The servers were nice and friendly, and super helpful.
The food was oh so delicious. The biscuits with butter and jam were a yummy start to our meal. I then got a Caesar Salad, which was good. The smashed O’Brien potatoes were way too good. It was like crack, hehe. For my main entrée, I got the filet mignon eggs benedict. The filet mignon was perfectly seasoned and cooked and it paired nicely with the eggs, the hollandaise sauce, and the English muffin. For dessert, we got a cute box of Petite Fours. Omg, they were sweet little perfect bites of deliciousness.
And, I can’t forget about the drinks. We had a variety of drinks to chose from. And it was pretty much unlimited for a while, although none of us drank too much. I chose a mimosa and a Sparkling Farmer’s Daughter as my drinks, and both were great.
I also enjoyed meeting new people. I ended up sitting at the table which Katie named the «Girl’s Table». Everyone at my table was super friendly and nice, and we all got along well. Yay for cool new Unilocal friends!
Thank you Unilocal,Flemings, and Katie for organizing such a great, fancy, and yummy event!

What an amazing experience! Thank you Katie for keeping the Unilocalers past the 605 in mind! I really do enjoy these intimate assigned-​seating events. I rarely spend time at Victoria Gardens, but when I do, I’ll definitely come back to visit Flemings and their superb Sunday Brunch. Their service was great, the food was amazing, I was not prepared to eat so much. Their drinks cart looked amazing (:
I had the French Toast, which was amazing.
Everyone at my table had and raved about their Sonoma Sparklers (mimosas with passion fruit juice instead of orange juice)

When can I enjoy my next wine country brunch? Katie, applause all around for such a fun event! This was my first elite event that didn’t permit plus-​ones and so, I was (begrudgingly, just kidding!) forced to talk to strangers. I ended up walking out with some new friends who could relate with all my random Unilocal tendencies (e.g. taking pictures of food before touching it, checking in on Unilocal,adding tips on Unilocal,uploading pictures before/​while eating, and being, well a bit opinionated). The food was great, although coma-​inducing. I was also pleasantly entertained by the variety of drinks. I tried the fish and chips margarita (sort of scary because you can’t really taste the alcohol but you know it’s there) and the passionfruit mimosa (delish!).
Thanks Katie and Flemings (shocked that I never knew the restaurant existed at Victoria Gardens even though I’ve been to VG at least 30 times).

Amazing brunch!
From start to finish, the service and the food was incredible. I ordered the bloody mary with the prawn on top (yum!) and also tried the blue cheese and bacon bloody mary. I was not a fan of the bacon (it was chewy) but the bloody mary mix was just the right mix of spicy and salty.
The drink cart was amazing. I wish I had one. It was a full bar on a cart complete with the glasses, the garnishes and the liquor. I wanted to roll it out to the parking lot for one last cocktail!
The light fluffy biscuits to start were heaven. Served with butter and apricot jam.
I ordered the fresh fruit to start. Seasonal fruit with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. It was very good, but I had to admit that I was envious of the caeser salad someone else had ordered.
Ordered the prime rib eggs benedict. The eggs were cooked through, so I didnt get that yummy yolky-​goodness, but it was still very good. The side dishes of country potatoes and asparagus were seasoned perfectly.
And the ultimate finales! The truffles. Amazying! My favorite was the carrot cake truffle. Although it was hard to imagine a more perfect chocolate truffle. It seemingly melted on my tongue. Too bad it doesn’t melt on my hips as easily!
Thank you Flemings for a memorable brunch!
And thank you Katie B. for arranging this!

OMG!!! We were soooo pampered and treated like kings and queens!
Major props to Katie B for organizing, and the staff at Flemings for the great service!
The food was AMAZING!!! 4 course brunch meal made with the best ingredients, that tasted so good that I was seeing stars! The variety of tasty drinks made the meal even more memorable! And to top it all off, we got desert in a beautiful box tied with a ribbon.
Princess Dani is conceiving a food baby. :) So happy!

First off, thank you very much to Katie B and to Fleming’s for this awesome event!
It was my first small setting, intimate Unilocal Elite event and I loved how it was in a back room. It was a pleasure meeting fellow Elite-​rs and spending the afternoon getting to know more about each other.
Fleming’s was introducing their wine country brunch (prix fixe). We started with their homemade biscuits with butter and preserves.
Numerous kinds of Bloody Mary’s were served right there in front of you from the mobile bar cart. Toppings to the Bloody Mary’s include fish & chips, blue cheese & bacon, and etc… Most of us decided to try the Bloody Mary’s but the Sonoma Sparkler Mimosas (passion fruit juice with champagne, instead of orange juice) were the winner at our table.
Even with the 100+ heat outside, I was one of the few who braved it and ordered the french onion soup for my starter. The cheeses were plenty, so ooey-​gooey! Just the way I enjoy it. Soup was not too salty, just perfect.
I think a majority of us in the room chose the Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict. With trying to keep the food coming out all at once, some of our eggs benedict was not as runny as we had expected but overall, the taste was still wonderful. The English muffins were toasted perfectly and not too airy. Sides of Smashed O’Brien Potatoes and Sauteed French Green Beans were also provided to each table. The meal was really filling and we had not even gotten to the desserts! A majority of us took the rest of the food home as to not waste, especially the sides.
The dessert of Petits Fours looked more like truffles than Petits Fours. Our servers were so thoughtful that they had them wrapped already in boxes for us to take home since we were all so stuffed with the generous portions given.
The service, Cassie and Art, was amazing and the manager was very attentive. She always came by to check in and see if we needed anything or if everything was great.
Wonderful food (check) + Sonoma Sparkler Mimosas (check) + awesome company (check) = very wonderful Sunday afternoon
Great way to start off the week!

No doubt 5 stars.
Katie B. is AMAZING. I don’t know how she pulls off these intimate events, let alone take care of all her Unilocalers by having Flemings pull out all the stops. appetizers, entrees, side dishes, and dessert. Free flowing mimosas, 4 kinds of bloody mary’s, napa refresher? AMAZING.
I loved the menu where it said, «We welcome Unilocal!» or something like that. Definitely a nice personal touch and I’m sure if anyone wanted to celebrate an occassion here they can personalize your menu.
Been to Fleming’s many times but this is one of the best experiences. I usually get the french onion soup and the rib-​eye, but this time I tried the fruit plate, and of course the filet mignon (who knew that this location and the one in Newport? are the only locations that serve brunch like this)? The petite fours were definitely a nice touch.
Service was amazing and impeccable. Couldn’t have asked for a better waitstaff who were excited about the food and drinks as much as we were. They were happy to be serving a bunch of people who were getting free meals, and I have to give them mucho props. especially when our table asked for.2 more bloody mary’s, let me try a couple of passion fruit mimosas, and can I get another strawberry thingy?
Thank you Flemings for having us. And a big thank you to Katie B. who put everything together to hang out with her Unilocalers on a Sunday afternoon!

YUM! First, I would like to thank Katie B. for these fantastic events in the IE. FINALLY!!!
This event was a small & intimate affair. which was pretty nice after the awkward introductions ^_​^ But after we all settled and had a sip of alcohol, it was all gravy B)
I have to say, I came to this Fleming’s location once and probably had the worst experience. But I wanted to come to this event and give them another shot… because they probably wouldn’t have treated me the same way as before. Sat in a table of 6… but KATIE B FORGOT TO MAKE MY NAME BADGE :(So i had a red-​penned name on my badge… but all is forgiven, Katie ;)
We started out with little tiny biscuits with butter & preserves. They weren’t the BEST of the best… but they were still really delicious and had me reaching for a second one. Then we had a little bar-​on-​wheels. They had 3 choices of bloody mary cocktails (bleu cheese&bacon, fish&chips, and el fuego). I chose the bleu cheese & bacon cocktail. I’m not a big fan of bloody marys but I wanted to give it another try. It was really spicy, which I loved. But still. the tomato-​y drink is not my cup of tea. It kind of was disappointing because I barely tasted the alcohol, which is understandable because it was free. There were also other choices of carbonated cocktails, which they carbonate right there while making your drink. Pretty cool. Didn’t get to try it :(but I heard it was delicious. THEN… we ordered some mimosa’s. Usually mimosa’s are champagne+orange juice, but they had a choice of this passion fruit juice. called the SONOMA SPARKLER! SO good… Even though the champagne could’ve been a little tastier. I had 4 glasses: x
Anyway, we finaly got to order our food. We had a choice for appetizers… Caesar salad, french onion soup, or the fruit salad. I really wanted to try the french onion soup, but I was still trying to hydrate from the disgusting heatwave in Rancho Cucamonga. So i went for the caesar salad. The croûton had a great crunch and the caesar salad was refreshing :) Just what I needed. It was slightly overdressed for my taste, only because I’m a no-​dressing type of gal. Then the main course, which were choices of Steak Egg benedict, french toast brioche, or some salad I forget (no one got it at my table lol) I chose the steak benedict… which was the obvious choice to get IMO. It was a little disappointing :(My steak was well done & the poached egg was… well… all the way cooked lol. I can’t blame them though, they did have to mass cook for our whole event so understandable.
AND THEN finally, our dessert. We all got a box of 4 truffles (I said probably because they wanted to kick us out… jkjk hehe) which was great… becasue by this time we were all dying from overstuffed stomachs and food coma. Nonetheless, it was a great small event. This was my 2^nd Unilocal event and I was blessed with a GREAT table. They were all so friendly and easy to get along with… everyone had great stories to tell. Thanks to Trina D., Yvette T., Brian C., Lesley C., and Grace C. I have horrible memory, but I totally stole all the names from Trina’s review! :) I hope to see you guys in future events.
OH and I had to magically digest in time for the Slaters ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ event in just a few short hours after… :(Food-​filled day indeed.

Okay, this event was, hands down, the best food event in my two years in CA. I’m not sure what Fleming’s could have done to make us feel more welcome, though I do firmly believe that if there were something they would have figured it out and done it.
The food was insanely good. The servings were generous enough that no one at our table finished everything. It was sad to see some of those green beans and potatoes abandoned in their dishes. I had the Caesar — they had their own style with it — and the filet eggs benedict. My mouth is watering just remembering… Anyway, I also had either four or five drinks. I can’t remember the name but they had vodka, cranberry, muddled strawberry and basil. The folks at Fleming’s were considerate and put the petit fours in a box for us to take home — a good thing because we were really full.
The service was incredible as well. We wanted for nothing. The managing partner (I’m embarrassed to say I can’t recall her name — see liquor count above) gave us a demonstration of their wine list. That sounds odd but — OMG THE WINE LIST!!! — is beyond imagining. First off, they have over 100 wines by the glass which is unheard of. More importantly, their list is now an interactive program on an iPad which sits at the table for your use. IT does everything you can imagine — okay, not quite everything, I wanted to be able to search by winery. I suspect that feature will be available in the next iteration.
Lastly, Katie B. Katie B has a genuine knack for making everyone feel welcome. She has a talent for greeting each person so warmly that it’s easy to feel that she was hoping that you, specifically would show up. I always feel so warm and included at every event she hosts. And she hit it out of the park with this one — with the help of her friends at Fleming’s.

An Elite event on Sunday out in the IE? Sure, why not? My parents live close by so I went to visit them for the weekend and was treated out for brunch by Unilocal at Fleming’s Steakhouse. Thanks again to Katie B., Unilocal,and Fleming’s for putting together such a lovely meal. They are one of two locations of Fleming’s that are doing the Wine Country Brunch currently. We started off with cocktails. They can do in-​house sparkling water! I tried the Farmer’s daughter which was a strawberry basil vodka drink that had some carbonation added. It was really good. They also had 3 types of bloody Marys offered: fish & chips, el fuego (tequila-​based), and the blue cheese & bacon. We also had mimosas. The Sonoma sparkler has passion fruit juice in lieu of orange juice.
We had a prix-​fixe menu consisting of French onion soup, Moscato d’Asti fruit salad, or Caesar salad to start. For our entrees we were able to choose from Filet mignon eggs benedict, brioche French toast, or a burrata mozzarella, tomato, & beet salad topped with chicken. Most people went with the eggs benedict. I mean, it’s Fleming’s, why wouldn’t you order steak? Grace C. and I ordered different items just so we could share. Although I didn’t get to try her Caesar salad, I was perfectly happy with my Moscato soaked fruit with mint. The filet and eggs was tasty but I wish that the poached eggs were runnier. They were too well done. The steak was also cooked beyond medium rare which is a shame really. The French toast was really good, and very dense. The blueberry syrup was delicious and sweet. It also arrived with some sausage so there was another savory element to it. We were really full by the end and totally expected not to eat the petit fours that were for dessert but luckily they packaged them in pretty boxes for us each to take home. It was great to share a table with Yvette T., Brian C., Michelle H., Lesley C., and Grace C. Hope to see you guys at another event.
I have to say that there were a few no-​shows at yesterday’s event and that’s disappointing especially since I’m sure there might have been others who were waitlisted and didn’t get to attend. So if you RSVP and are confirmed, don’t no-​show. It looks bad on you and on Unilocal

Thanks to Katie B. and Unilocal for giving me the opportunity to pop my Flemings cherry! I had a great time enjoying conversation and libations with my fellow Unilocalers!
This was such a great way to promote Flemings new Wine Country Brunch. The name comes from Flemings promotion of the fact that they are one of the only restaurants to offer 100 wines by the glass. They even have a snazzy iPad wine menu that allows you to choose wine by your mood, food or wine type. Pretty snazzy!
COCKTAILS
So if you want a place to enjoy a brunch of alcohol or perhaps fight off that hangover with the hair of the dog, Flemings has you covered with not only a variety of wines but with an array of cocktails as well! At this particular event they offered a bloody mary/​cocktail cart (they have 3 kinds of bloody marys!). Table-​side cocktail service? Genius.
I’m not much of a bloody mary person (that horror of saying it three times in the bathroom and the stories of «bloody mary» were particularly scarring) so I opted for their other cocktails:
Sonoma Sparkler:
Passion fruit juice and champagne??? YUM. This was by far my favorite drink. I wish I had asked for it in the beginning!
Napa Refresher
A blend of vodka, pineapple juice, lime and basil, this was a bit sour for my taste but definitely refreshing, cutting the heaviness of my food.
Farmer’s Daughter
A delightful blend of strawberries, vodka and basil, this was sweet, light and refreshing. Definitely good for those who are looking for something light on the alcohol.
FOOD
Appetizer
Biscuits: I found the biscuits to be fluffy, but a tad salty. It was great with the peach jam!
Starter
French Onion Soup
This was so delightfully cheesey, oniony, and savory! Definitely a meal in itself.
Main
Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict
Oh my goodness, why isn’t this at more places, and kudos to Flemings for a great take on a brunch classic! Who doesn’t like steak and eggs in the morning??? The filet mignon was tender and juicy — the perfect medium rare. Paired with poached eggs, spinach and an English muffin — it was absolutely to die for.
Sides
French Green Beans
These were perfectly cooked and served with yummy mushrooms.
Smashed O’Brien Potatoes
Smashed, baked then fried, these were crispy and yummy!
Dessert
A darling gift box with a bow of Fleming Petit Fours was given to everyone. Awww, Flemings you shouldn’t have! Inside were two cake-​pop sized rich chocolate truffles and two cake-​pop sized carrot cakes. I particularly enjoyed the carrot cake which although rich, had the most depth in flavors.
Thanks again to Katie B., Jillian for partnering with Unilocal to allow us to try out the Wine Country Brunch and our servers Cassie and Art. You guys rock!

Wow an elite event in the IE. Thanks to Katie B and Fleming’s for this fantastic event. I loved that there was a back room that they put us in. It made it very intimate.
We started off our prix fixe brunch with some biscuits with butter and orange marmalade. Yum.
Then the ladies with the mobile bar cart came in to make a variety of bloody mary’s and a few other drinks. They even had some drinks of the non-​alcoholic variety. We had all these champagne flutes at the table they were starting to take away and then we piped up with, mimosas? So the servers told us there were two options — the traditional and the Sonoma Sparkler which was with a passion fruit juice mix with the champagne.
The menu had a few options for us to choose. Three appetizers to choose from — a traditional Cesar, a fruit salad and french onion soup. Being that it was SUPER hot outside, I chose the salad. It came with some fried capers and a nice large toast crisp as the croûton. It had the right amount of dressing, especially for the hot day we were having. The fruit salad looks amazing with all the fresh berries that are in season right now.
The entrée options were as follows: filet mignon eggs benedict, french toast, and a heirloom tomato with whipped burrata salad with chicken. I think I only saw the benedict and french toast come out — mostly the benedict. The french toast was really good but the portion was rather large. Trina D and I decided to order two different things and then share, so she got the benedict. I have to say, I was kind of disappointed with the benedict. The steak was cooked to the level that I normally get it (medium well) when I know that most people like it more rare, so I was surprised. and the eggs were way well done for some poached eggs, even for me who doesn’t like a ton of runny yolk. The two sides, green beans and potatoes were brought to the table for everyone to share. The potatoes were great — like smaller pieces of potato skins, and the green beans were still crisp but tender.
The dessert was a 4 pack of petit fours — two chocolate and two carrot cake. They already prepackaged everything in a pretty box for us to take home.

Sunday Brunch?
Win.
Sunday Brunch with Sonoma Sparklers?
Über win.
Sunday Brunch with the fabulous Katie B and Unilocal crew?
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious win.
(Yep, it’s possible.)
If you ever find yourself at Fleming’s for brunch, get the Sonoma Sparklers (passion fruit juice with champagne). The bloody mary bar may lure you with its fancy fixings (bacon, olives, shrimp, chips, etc), but the simple Sonoma Sparkler was the clear favorite at our table.
Over the amazing food, our table shared puppy stories and pictures – what you would expect at any normal brunch! I always favor the intimate dining experiences because that’s when you really get to know people who share your passion for delicious food.
Thanks to Katie B and Fleming’s for showing us how Sunday Brunch should be done!

Wine country, steak, mimosas, filet eggs benedict, lots of drinks and @YelpLA ‘s Katie B!
As if that weren’t enough it was the inaugural wine country brunch for @Flemings and we got a great demo of their iPad app for their wine selection… very cool!
This was a great sit down event… did I mention a roving wet bar?!
Outstanding service and food all around!

Delicious sit down intimate meal with fellow elite Unilocalers at Rancho Cucamonga! Prefix Meal with appetizer and entrée selections, three choices for each. Check the photos out for the menu!
They made quality cocktails for us with their roving wet bar. One of their stars is their Bloody Mary with either Shrimp or a nice small skewer of Maple Bacon and Blue cheese Olive. PS Mimosa included!
Thank you Fleming’s for hosting and Katie for organizing this wonderful brunch event.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with franchises, as long as the standards are high and there is very little variability in the quality and service between locations. The 3 different organizations that come into mind that embody these ideals are (1) Jetblue Airlines, (2) The Cheesecake Factory, and (3) Flemings. Throughout every Flemings location I have visited, the food has been exceptionally high and the service has been phenomenal! They really do a thorough job training their staff on customer service and their cooks on the food.
With that said, I want to thank the staff and Katie B. for inviting the 20 or so of us to this intimate gathering where we got to try the wine country brunch!
Cocktails!
— There were so many! They even had 3 different kinds of bloody marys. I got the «fish and chips» a shrimp cocktail/​bloody mary concoction that is perfect for Sunday brunch! I also got the napa valley cooler, a really refreshing clear drink that was sweet and perfect on such a blistering day like this.
— They also had mimosas where you can pour your own level of champagne and orange juice.
Appetizer: Homemade Biscuits
— Fluffy, buttery… they hit the spot. Especially with the peach marmalade!
Starter: Modern caesar salad
— The best thing about this dish was that it came with this amazingly delicious cripsy bread and prosciutto. Love the fact that the hearts of romaine was very fresh!
Entrée: Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict
— Holy crap. This is amazing. I’ve had eggs benedict before, but not with two exquisite slices of fatty beef. This was the star performer of the 4 courses!
— The main entrée also comes smashed potatoes and sauteed french green beans. The smashed potatoes were cripsy, which is the way I like it! Green beans were fresh and perfectly cooked as it was crisp but not too oily!
Dessert
— Love the fact that they packaged the desserts as all those cocktails and food really made my stomach full. There were two pieces of rich chocolate truffles and two pieces of carrot cake. I loved the carrot cake! One of my pet peeves is when you cannot taste the carrot in a C-​Cake, but this one had big strips that perfectly complemented the other components of the cake. NOM.
AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!
The most hilarious thing is I’m going to the slaters ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ elite in a few hours.
#fattycentral

«This is my first Elite event, I’m a virgin»
OK, its been so long since Ive said that last part I almost got teary eyed. But I digress. So I was pretty stoked when I saw Unilocal was FINALLY having an Elite event in the IE. Between work and school, its hard to make it to LA during the week. So I RSVP’d with the quickness. As you can tell, I got in. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops… but I kept my composure.
Elite Event: Wine Country Brunch @ Flemings —
:LOCATION:
Flemings is located at Victoria Gardens
which is normally a wonderful location, but due to the heatwave going on… the outdoors aren’t too friendly. Flemings, is nice (and cool) nonetheless.
:SERVICE:
5 Stars!!! Our waitress Cassie and Server Art were Amazing. Sidenote: Flemings has the most handsome servers EVER. Every man that came to our table was HOT. I was having a hard time concentrating on what they were asking me, but I managed.
:EATS/​DRINKS:
Flemings had a nice selection for their new Brunch and it was hard to decide, BUT somehow there was a consensus…
Modern Cesar Salad — Really good. Not overdressed or soggy, expertly wilted. The crunchy bread was interesting. I’m not a fan of crunchy bread, but I actually liked this,
Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict — Yum! I am not a fan of runny eggs, but these were good. Paired with the well-​seasoned filet on a muffin. I really enjoyed this.
Smashed O’Brien Potatoes — AMAZING. They were crunchy and seasoned well.
Sauteed French Green Beans — I hate limp veggies, so I was glad when these had bite. No one wants a sad vegetable.
Petite Fours — By the time these came out I was full to my eyeballs. I’m glad they packaged them for us. But I had to try one… The one I had was covered with toasted coconut (which I thought was cheese at first) and tasted like carrot cake.
Mimosa — Passion Fruit Mimosa, who would have ever thunk. I never want a plain old OJ Mimosa again (unless I’m forced, and by forced I mean asked…).
Black and Bleu Bloody Mary — 5 Stars!!! A nice Bloody Mary with a kick of spice and an abundance of Smoke flavor. I was so surprised. There was Maple Glazed Bacon and Bleu Cheese Stuffed Olive to accompany.
Mary en Fuego — This Bloody Mary was made with Tequila, rimmed with Chipotle and more spice. Very good.
The «Refresher» tasted like Thai food, and the Farmers Daughter was good also.
:LADY’S TABLE:
I had a blast meeting the Lady’s at my table. We had a good time, and got along really well. Laughs and stories are always great. I’m glad to have met and made new friends… See you Ladies at the next event.
:KATY B.:
I got a famous Katy B. hug!!! Jealous? Thanks so much for putting together this fabulous event. I had a blast.