There’s enjoying the occasional brunch and being a full-blown brunch connoisseur. Khara Connor aka the Brunch Belle is firmly entrenched in the latter category. Her torrid love affair — as she describes it — with the breakfast and lunch hybrid began when she moved to the Washington, DC area from Anguilla to complete her undergrad degree at the University of Maryland in College Park, followed by law school at William and Mary. According to Connor, the brunch spots in the DMV are unmatched.

“There are very few restaurants here that don’t offer brunch,” Connor told Travel Noire. “It’s like the possibilities and options for brunch are truly endless. I honestly dare anyone to name me a city that brunches harder. It’s a full lifestyle here. You can go to brunch and literally leave at dinner time. I’ve done it several times. It’s like an all-day affair. It’s literally like a marathon.”

In fact, Connor takes her brunching so seriously that for the past five years she has been pursuing a personal goal of dining at 100 different brunch spots in the DMV. So far she is at 95 and is hoping to meet her mark later this year if not by the end of this summer. As a mother and life partner, brunch is also her best bet at maintaining an active social life.

“Somewhere along the way I became a mom. So that took up a lot of time and switching gears, changing focus, and balancing life. But yeah, I’m at 95. I’ve definitely eaten more than a hundred brunches because I’ve gone to several places multiple times.”

She added, “I can go with my significant other on a date. I go with my family, and we bring along my son. I go with my extended family because I have a sister and a cousin in the area. We do a lot of brunches together as well. We have a tradition of brunch every New Year’s Eve. That’s something we do together as a family. And I go with girlfriends.”

With years of brunch expertise under her belt, Connor was more than qualified to curate a list of the best brunch spots in the DMV for Travel Noire. Her selections include Peruvian, French, and Mediterranean style fare, Southern comfort foods, and sorbet mimosas.

“You probably might notice there might be some spots with a little international flavor on my list because that’s kind of my way of escaping a little bit through brunch,” she admitted. “Even though I’m still in DC I kind of seek out restaurants with an international feel as well.”

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