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Treat Mom to Golden Girls Brunch at Ada Street ... Duh, There's Cheesecake

 You can't have a
You can't have a "Golden Girls" brunch without cheesecake.
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Facebook/Tori Avey

BUCKTOWN — Quick, match the following dishes to the corresponding Golden Girl: reuben sandwich, gravlax, grits, polenta and cheesecake.

If you answered, in order, Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, Sophia and all of the above, Sunday's "Golden Girls"-themed Mother's Day brunch at Ada Street is totally up your alley.

Ada Street chef Zoe Schor has created four separate three-course menus — one for each golden gal — drawing inspiration from the characters' geographic backgrounds: New York City; St. Olaf, Minn.; Atlanta; and Sicily.

"I made a list of all the food items that resonated with those areas," said Schor.

Narrowing down the options presented by southern and East Coast cuisines was a challenge, she said, as was keeping the food accessible.

Meaning no pickled herring in homage to Rose, whose Norwegian heritage was a constant source of comedic fodder for the "Golden Girls" writers throughout the show's seven-season run from 1985 to 1992.

Rose: I'm making Scandinavia's oldest and most traditional appetizer: cheese and crackers.
Blanche: Cheese and crackers, Rose? Not eggsgeflüffen? Ham and günterhøgens? Pigsusvängeblöten?
Rose: No, but you sure know how to make a girl's mouth water!

The Golden Girls: Cheesecake
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Because Ada Street doesn't normally serve brunch, Schor said coming up with a theme is one way to stand out in a market already crowded with traditional breakfast/lunch spots and it also "works a different muscle creatively."

Why the "Golden Girls"?

"They're my favorite mothers, aside from my own," said Schor, who grew up watching the show with her grandma.

Patty Wetli says the meals are inspired by the characters:

"I was probably 5 years old and didn't understand a lot of the risqué humor," Schor said. "Doing this menu made to want to watch it more. It's such a classic."

Rose: I stopped in a diner and Blanche, there's an egg dish named after you.
Blanche: Really? How are they prepared?
Sophia: Over-easy.

One dish that was a no-brainer for Schor as she developed her menus? Cheesecake.

"It's something I've never made," she confessed — but c'mon, how could she not give it a whirl?

Unofficial estimates have the girls — played by Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty — tucking into more than 100 cheesecakes over the course of seven years, pulling one out of the fridge whenever there was cause for celebration or consolation.

Blanche: Oh my god, here we are in the middle of a crisis and there's no cheesecake.

Diners having a tough time deciding which menu to order might consider which gal they most resemble.

Rose: Dorothy, you're the smart one, and Blanche, you're the sexy one, and Sophia, you're the old one, and I'm the nice one. Everybody always likes me.
Sophia: The old one isn't so crazy about you.

Though Schor said she always had a soft spot for the silly streak of humor in Betty White's naive Rose, she thinks her own personality is closer to the acerbic Bea Arthur's.

"I hate to say it, but I'm definitely a Dorothy."

Ada Street, 1664 N. Ada St., will be serving its "Golden Girls" brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Cost is $35 person. For reservations, call 773-697-7069.

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