Love Brunch? Join Brunch & Bubbly Event Hosted by Lansing 5:01

While breakfast might be the most important meal of the day, for many the most preferred meal is in fact – brunch. 

A new event, Brunch & Bubbly, is celebrating the late-morning breakfast/lunch meal with a lineup of five local restaurants, live entertainment and photo opportunities on (Saturday) Feb. 24. Brunch & Bubbly, hosted by Lansing 5:01, will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the new MSUFCU building, 311 Abbot Road, in downtown East Lansing.

Early bird tickets are $45 until Friday (Feb. 16). Tickets for the ages 21 and up event are available online. 

Lansing 5:01 has a mission of wanting to showcase the best of Lansing.

Josh Holliday, director of festivals and communications at Lansing 5:01, spoke with ELi about the mission of the organization.

“Lansing 5:01 was started in 2015 by a group of young professionals that really wanted to showcase the best of Lansing,” Holliday said. “I was really grateful to be one of the founding members, and I’ve been involved ever since.”

The organization works to highlight restaurants, events, amenities and offerings across the Greater Lansing region, marketing especially toward young professionals. In the past, Lansing 5:01 has hosted familiar festivals and over 30 well-attended events, including Lansing’s Dam Jam in Old Town.

“Just this past year, we launched a new event, The Best of Lansing, which was at Jackson Field,” Holliday said. “It’s really a showcase of the creators, makers, shakers, and movers that are all doing their part to make sure Lansing is a cool and vibrant place.”

Holliday said Lansing 5:01 is a regional talent attraction retention agency serving Eaton, Clinton, Ingham and Shiawassee counties. 

“There are so many things in every corner of the region and they all have their own very distinct identities,” he said. “Our festivals and events truly showcase that.” 

Brunch & Bubbly will feature foods from five area restaurants, mimosas and more.

Lansing 5:01’s latest event is all about a fan favorite meal. Brunch & Bubbly is inspired by some of the area’s best brunch hotspots and most-voted-for destinations, including two local East Lansing favorites.

“Everybody loves brunch,” Holliday said. “Particularly young people love to go to your favorite brunch place on a Saturday or Sunday, have a couple mimosas and just enjoy the greatest culinary treats that you can find in your community.”

The MSUFCU venue is across the street from Beggars Banquet, a local legend when it comes to its award-winning brunch menu. The brand new credit union building features a community space on the second floor, overlooking downtown East Lansing.

Each attendee will receive five small plates in total, one from each participating small business, to enjoy the sweet and savory dishes, four mimosas, complimentary coffee and a souvenir mug.

Participating restaurants include People’s Kitchen, Beggars Banquet, Groovy Donuts, One North Kitchen & Bar, and Eaton Rapids Craft Company. The event will also feature live drag performances from Lansing’s own Asio Aviance and a photo booth.

Groovy Donuts owners see this event as a good fit for East Lansing. 

Groovy Donuts founder and co-owner Andrew Gauthier is excited to participate in another Lansing 5:01 event. 

“We really enjoy what they do as an organization and their mission to make Lansing a really cool place to be, especially for young people, and bringing people into town,” he said. “We’ve attended their events as guests and have been invited to attend as vendors. We’ve had a great time on either side of the counter.”

Gauthier said he was interested in participating in the Brunch & Bubbly pop-up event, and considers it a really good fit for the East Lansing doughnut shop. 

“It gives us a little opportunity to bring out our creative side, put together some unique doughnut offerings that we wouldn’t have every day at Groovy Donuts,” Gauthier said. “A lot of the time, when we have a little bit of fun that way, it creates something that ends up being something we put on rotation at the shop as well if it gets a good response.”

As for their small plate offerings at the event, Gauthier said they wanted to test out a few flavors that give an ode to brunch items. 

“One of the doughnuts we’re putting together is like a mimosa doughnut, with sparkling wine flavor on it, and a fresh-squeezed orange icing or glaze to pair with that,” he said.

Other options include coffee-based vanilla and chocolate doughnuts with espresso glaze, and a blueberry cake doughnut with fresh lemon zest glaze.

“It’s a really good combination and is really tasty,” Gauthier said. “It has a slightly different texture, a little bit more scone-like texture to it, which we think is great for the brunch concept.”

The business co-owner hopes the event can be an introduction for new Groovy Donuts customers who haven’t yet heard of or made time to try out their products. He enjoys participating in events like this as a way to help break away from normal routines and the four walls of the store. 

Gauthier co-owns Groovy Donuts with his wife Monica Gauthier. The pair recently won the Greater Lansing Entrepreneur of the Year Award. 

“It’s still hard to put into words how that impacted us, but we really felt a lot of validation of what we’ve done as a business and how we’ve tried to make it community-focused,” Gauthier said. “To be recognized for that on that kind of stage was really something we appreciated a lot. It’s something we’re going to appreciate and be proud of for a long time to come.”

Tickets are capped so organizers suggest purchasing tickets in advance.

Holliday said the Brunch & Bubbly tickets are capped, and encourages people to purchase tickets in advance before they sell out. 

“We’re thrilled with the response that we’ve already seen, so people should get their tickets sooner than later,” he said.