Mangia Mornings set to open in Saratoga March 16

A little taste of Italy is coming soon to downtown Saratoga. Owner Nicholas Miller hopes to welcome guests to Mangia Mornings on Big Basin Way, next to the Echo Shop, by the middle of March. The grand opening is set for March 16.

Mangia Mornings will serve breakfast and lunch with an Italian-American focus, offering up classic breakfast dishes, specialty sandwiches, salads and freshly baked bread and pastries, along with coffee drinks made with a special blend of Guatemalan and Mexican beans from Coffee Dudes in Atwater, CA. Full-service and grab-and-go options will be available.

“We have several coffee shops in Saratoga, but no place to get a real breakfast,” says Miller, who was raised in Saratoga.

Miller quickly names all the restaurants he and his parents loved to frequent while he was growing up, among them Little Amsterdam, Mouton Noir, Sent Sovi and Casa de Cobre. After graduating from Bellarmine, he studied chemistry at UC Merced and worked in the diagnostic field for 10 years.

Determined to pursue a career in hospitality, he attended the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts based in Boulder, CO. Both he and his wife have Italian roots and can trace their ancestry back to Sicily. As a result, he has many cherished recipes that he’s eager to share. With his love of baking, he plans to make all the breads and pastries.

The breakfast menu leans to classic omelets with local flavor, including the Saratoga, which will pack in avocado, bacon, onion, mushroom, tomato and cheddar cheese, while the Wild Cat mixes it up with avocado, mushroom, jalapeno, sausage and jack cheese. Meat lovers will gravitate towards the Big Basin, loaded with sausage, bacon, ham and cheddar cheese, or the Supreme, with skirt steak, gruyere, onion, pepper and mushrooms.

Benedict fans will find traditional offerings like Canadian bacon and Florentine, or they can go for the Double S Benny, decked out with marinated skirt steak, butter-poached shrimp, mushroom and avocado, and topped with Hollandaise. There’s stuffed brioche French toast with custard and topped with berries and whipped cream, and the Loaded Croissant Sammy, with ham steak, bacon, egg and crispy melted cheddar cheese, topped with chipotle aioli. A savory egg custard frittata, filled with bacon, sausage, onions and mushrooms, is also on the menu.

Vegan options include avocado toast on sourdough bread topped with arugula and a vegan bowl with brown rice, grilled veggies (zucchini, bell pepper, onion, mushroom and tomato), topped with avocado, guacamole and a light chipotle style sauce.

Miller is planning a daily assortment of pastries, including cannoli, bomboloni, maritozzi, sfogliatelle and croissants.

Lunch will include bruschetta; fresh-baked focaccia with olive oil dipping sauce; caprese, Caesar and panzanella salads; and sandwiches like chicken parmigiana on French roll; burrata and crispy prosciutto with marinated cherry tomatoes on ciabatta; pesto grilled cheese with bacon and marinated cherry tomatoes on grilled French; and roasted veggies on focaccia.

In the burger department, the classic patty will be topped with the usual plus cheddar cheese, the bacon burger adds fried onion rings, and the Royal will be topped with fried egg, grilled onions and sauteed mushrooms.

Mangia Mornings is located at 14554 Big Basin Way, suite A, Saratoga. Regular hours will be Wednesday-Sunday, 6 a.m.-3 p.m.