Red House Cafe
662 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove (831) 643-1060, redhousecafe.com
This is why the space shuttle never launched on weekends: The country’s best minds didn’t want it to interfere with the brunch hours at the Pacific Grove gem. Here’s hoping, unlike NASA’s shuttle program, this mission never gets mothballed. The solar system needs the cinnamon brioche French Toast, crab cake Benedict and smoked-salmon potato pancake as much as oxygen.