I can appreciate any restaurant that offers pitchers of bloody marys and French toast casserole for Sunday brunch.

Selland’s Market Café opened the doors at its new El Dorado Hills location on Jan. 30. The restaurant combines family-style seating, shelves of pre-packaged goods and fresh ingredients in all its dishes to create a deliciously streamlined dining experience.

White and a muted lime green dominate the color palette and imbue a clean, sophisticated vibe into the airy space. Diners choose their own seats from a variety of tables – some have eight or more chairs to reinforce the family-style idea of eating with others not in your party – and either a waiter brings the order to the table or, if diners choose food from the ready-made cases, they carry the plates themselves.

Selland’s runs a special most days of the week, including a dinner special that changes weekly. Customers can get two entrees and a bottle of wine for $25 or order a la carte for dinner. There is also a Sunday Brunch special that includes two full-size portions plus two pints of bloody marys – more than enough to get the juices flowing.

Sunday brunches at Selland’s do not fit into the typical brunch idea of overcooked eggs, floppy bacon and watery quiche. Walking through the door, you are greeted by a waiter with a menu as well as the sight of three display cases full of different soul-satisfying food options.

On the regular brunch menu are 11 different breakfast options, including crab cakes Benedict with hollandaise and sour levain bread and a breakfast pizza with mozzarella, prosciutto and farm-fresh eggs.

That morning, I decided to pass up the brunch special of French toast casserole in favor of something a little more savory: the eggs Benedict and a tall bloody mary. After paying for my food and selecting a table, I placed my number and settled in with my dining companion to wait.

The first to arrive – happily – was the bloody mary. It was chilled and spicy, garnished with a lemon wedge, celery stalk and a basil leaf and rimmed with a slightly spicy celery salt. Sometimes bloody marys can be watered down, but this one was full of tomato flavor and not overpowered by vodka.

The next to arrive was the eggs Benedict.

Let me amend that: the best eggs Benedict I have ever eaten.

The hollandaise was buttery without being broken and tangy without being tart. Poached eggs are difficult to get right, and while these were slightly underdone for my taste, a poke of the yolk sent it trickling over the edge to mingle with the hollandaise to create – in two words – breakfast heaven. The prosciutto was soft, not stringy, and combined with the sharp, buttered levain and yolky hollandaise made for the perfect bite. The fried potatoes on the side were merely average, but a trip through the leftover hollandaise improved their aspect immensely. The star of the plate was the Benedict, and rightly so; I could not have made it better myself, which is my main criterion for eating out.

Prices are a little high for the average college student – averaging between $12 and $14 for entrees – so it may be worth the while to wait it out until there is a little more cash in your wallet before making a visit. However, the weekly dinner for two specials, the Sunday brunch specials and amazing food could make you a Selland’s regular in no time flat.

Alex can be reached at [email protected]