Daniel B.
Yelp
Cupanion's Kitchen + Coffee is a breakfast, brunch, and lunch restaurant and cafe that opened October 2018 in the Fountain Oaks (Kroger) shopping center on Roswell Rd inside the perimeter. It replaced longtime tenant Cafe Posh. Cupanion's is the creation of husband and wife Rob and Patricia Homma Kapusta. Rob and Patricia have worked at various high-end establishments and as personal chefs for A-list movie stars (Tom Cruise, Chris Pratt, and Mila Kunis among them).
We visited for Sunday brunch and really enjoyed the the food, drinks, and service. We showed up around 11am and the place was already pretty busy. The restaurant isn't very big. I guesstimate there's seating for maybe 30 customers, mostly at tables plus some countertops against the storefront windows. The setup is fast-casual; you order and pay at the counter. There are coffee, tea, and grab-and-go items as well. I was told business picks up at 11:30am, but it looked pretty popular the day we came. There was a steady stream of customers the entire time we were there. Some parties had to wait for a table.
The interior is simple with a clean, fresh look. It reminds me of a contemporary cafe more than anything.
Cupanion's serves breakfast all day. Breakfast entrees (about $8-15 each) include items like quiche, omelets, and pancakes and sides (about $3-4 each) such as cage-free eggs, chicken sausage, and different kinds of breakfast potatoes. Lunch, starting at about $8-17, consists of various soups, salads, and sandwiches plus entrees like fried chicken and grilled salmon. There are $9 kids meals too.
On the beverage side (about $2-5 each), they serve espresso drinks, a decent selection of small-batch drip, cold brew, and pour over coffee, and various teas including organic Tea Forte brand teas.
Here's what we had:
Breakfast items:
* Charred corn on avocado toast ($9)
* Cowboy Benedict, braised beef, corn bread, guajillo hollandaise, poached eggs ($14.90)
* Fried chicken, sweet potato biscuit, honey butter, pimento cheese grits, asparagus ($14)
* Challah bread French toast casserole ($10.50)
Coffee and tea:
* Iced caramel macchiato ($4.95)
* Rakhi's chai tea latte ($3.30)
* Pour over coffee ($4.25)
In general, both the food and drink were good to great. The ingredients were fresh and high quality. Everything was presented beautifully with a fine attention to detail. Each plate/cup had a handcrafted look to it.
Along with a generous avocado spread and charred corn, the toast came with (what I believe was) cotija cheese, slices of radish, and sprouts. I love sprouts and thought they were a nice touch. The toast was delicious. My only knock is there were only three slices of toast and I think there should've been one more.
The Cowboy Benedict was excellent. This might be the most hearty and filling breakfast item on the menu. It was a colorful dish served in what looked like a black cast iron mini server. The eggs were perfectly poached. The chunks of braised beef were tender and savory. The guajillo hollandaise, presumably made from guajillo chilis, packed a flavorful punch. A whole, cooked jalapeno was also served with this dish.
The fried chicken biscuit was very good. The use of a sweet potato biscuit made it unique. However, I think the biscuit could've been better as it was a tad too dry and crumbly. The bottom half of the biscuit fell apart as soon as I picked it up to eat. The fried chicken was tasty, appetizingly crispy on the outside with good flavor. Along with a side of honey butter, the biscuit also came with side of sweet pickles (I think they were bread and butter pickles). The honey butter was terrific.
The pimento cheese grits that came with the biscuit were wonderful. You can get these as a side on their own ($4) and I highly recommend them. I can't recall having pimento cheese grits before and these were well done. They were smooth, creamy, flavorful, and very satisfying.
The Challah bread French toast casserole was outstanding. Wow. The French toast was topped with fresh, ripe, sweet fruit (banana, blueberries, strawberries) and powdered sugar. On the side were syrup and (I believe) crème anglaise. When everything was combined, the casserole was delectable; sweet and rich, pretty much like a dessert.
Something else that was pretty much like a dessert was the iced caramel macchiato. It was made with two shots of espresso, milk, whipped cream, and caramel sauce. So good (and very sweet).
Rakhi's chai tea latte was fantastic (they should really just call it a "chai latte" because "chai tea" translates as "tea tea"). This one was served hot, but it can also be served cold. It was topped with cinnamon and decorated with a mint leaf. Like the other food and drink here, it was photogenic.
Service was stellar. The chef-owner Rob took care of us. He even brought us a bottle of his homemade Tabasco sauce to try. I put it on my fried chicken biscuit and it was yummy. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.