Sunday, June 3, 2012

Plow







(I think Linda Ronstadt had it right, Mr. Plow is a loser and a boozer; Ian Anderson was a bit of one, too.)


Congratulations, Lizzie, on 60 successful years! 



(So what if it's Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, this happens to be my 250th 'blog-entry; now that really is an amazing feat.)


I had breakfast this morning at Plow on Potrero Hill, on the corner of 18th and Texas Streets. It is always nice to see a semi-posh place that opens early (in this case 8:00am) for Sunday "Brunch". For such a small neighborhood, this part of 18th Street has several restaurants all within just 3-4 blocks: Hazel's Kitchen (breakfast and lunch);  Farley's (coffeehouse); Chez Papa Bistrot (sic) (lunch and dinner); Café Chez Maman ("Brunch", lunch, and dinner); Pera (lunch and dinner); Rocketfish (lunch and dinner); Goat Hill Pizza (lunch and dinner); Aperto ("Brunch", lunch, and dinner); and Sunflower (lunch and dinner).

Plow's "Brunch" menu really isn't all that extensive, but you would never know that from the line of people waiting to get in this morning before it had even opened. I was thinking about getting the farro salad (grilled summer squash + spring onions, shaved fennel, arugula, parmesan, fava bean, toasts) and a side of crispy potatoes, as someone recently commented to me that my cholesterol level must be very high as I usually have egg dishes on the weekends (not really, though, as my normal weekly cholesterol intake would only be from eggs on the weekends or cheese during the week ~ one of the perks of being a vegetarian, not so much cholesterol unless you are eating the dead, decaying animals). Even so, I decided on the less cholesterol-laden lemon ricotta[1] pancakes ~ with pure Vermont maple syrup, and a cholesterol-free side order of crispy potatoes (because you can never get enough carbohydrates). I also had a cuppa Equator coffee (but I didn't ask which blend, and, hopefully, it contained no cholesterol, too).




These were three medium-sized, thick pancakes; they were very good. The ricotta (yes, I know that is also a source of cholesterol, Mrs. Huneycutt) makes these very moist, if not a bit heavy. I had a thought that some fresh chopped basil would have been a nice addition in these even; not that they needed any extra flavour, but a savory-sweet pancake just sounded nice. Not that I could really tell "pure Vermont maple syrup" from the fake stuff, but it's nice when they have it and don't charge extra for it (you'd be surprised how many places do). The crispy potatoes were very good; fried and then roasted with large slices of onions; they almost seemed as if they were lightly battered (they weren't, as I had asked and was told how they were prepared).

Plow has as a condimentary supplement solely Youk's Hot Sauce; now, this was a nice surprise, as I have only ever had it at Kevin Youkilis' brother's restaurant, Maverick (see 'blog-entry from July 24th, 2011). I didn't use any while there, but I did buy a bottle to take home (it's not as if I really need yet still another hot sauce, but this is also a collector's item for any Boston Red Sox fan; plus, I have already tried all of Big Papi's hot sauces, so it only seemed fair). I did use a little HP Guinness® (Thanks, Cindy!), which is brand new (as in I just got it yesterday in a really cool swag/C.A.R.E. package) to my collection of sauces, on the potatoes.




 
Glen Bacon Scale Ratinglemon ricotta pancakes ~ 7.0


[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numero uno:

"Ricotta" simply means "recooked" in Italian, which comes from Latin "recocta", feminine of "recoctus", past participle of "recoquere" meaning "to recook".

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Velo Rouge Cafe

"Je veux faire de mon bicyclette…" ~ Frédéric Mercure et Reine




(This is their official website, but I had problems loading it. It might still be a valid/working website, but I can't tell for sure.)




(Do I really need to explain the connection between today’s EweToob video selection and the restaurant?)


For some time now, I have been meaning to get to Velo[1] Rouge[2] Cafe, which is located in the Richmond District over on the corner of Arguello[3] Boulevard and McAllister[4] Street (just one block north of Golden Gate Park), and I finally got there this morning for breakfast. They have been open for about five years now and are basically a corner neighborhood coffeehouse. Due to its proximity to Golden Gate Park, this seems to be a very popular spot with bicyclists (and all their stupid, healthy ilk); plus, they are a bicycle-themed joint (hence the café name) with many bicycle posters and photos on the walls, as well as some pretty cool chairs and tables made from old bicycle parts.




Velo Rouge Cafe does not have a very extensive breakfastary menu, but what they do offer all looks pretty good. I thought about getting the Mt. Ventoux[5] sandwich or Leipheimer[6] Breakfast Burrito, but ended up going with something I could pronounce: McAllister Scramble sandwich ~  three eggs scrambled with bacon (skipped the dead, decaying porky-flesh), grilled onions, mushrooms, spinach, and Feta cheese on an English muffin; served with roasted potatoes (which they do not state anywhere on the menu, but I was very happy to see on my plate). I also had a cuppa mighty fine Blue Bottle Coffee Co. Mexico - Chiapas PROISH (each cup is personally made as a fresh-drip for you).




This was all simple enough, but very good. This was served as an open-faced sandwich (à la Oeufs Benedict); I was not expecting that at all, but was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it very much. Plus, I am always a sucker for anything that has both spinach and Feta in it.

Surprisingly for "just a coffeehouse", Velo Rouge Cafe has a pretty selective condimentary supplementation: Tabasco® (the standard red); Tapatío®; and Pico Pica®. I was not figuring on them having more than the ubiquitous Tabasco® red, so I used some of my own collection with which I had come prepared:  a little Cholula® (Thanks, Brian!) on the sandwich and a little Cherry Republic® KaBob‘s Kick‘en Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy!) on the potatoes.

 

Glen Bacon Scale RatingMcAllister Scramble Sandwich ~ 6.5; Blue Bottle Coffee Co. Mexico Chiapas PROISH ~ 7.0


[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro un:

 
"Vélo" (avec accent aigu, which is the correct spelling; I am not sure why a Frenchy-named place would omit it ~ as well as in "Café") simply means "bicycle" in French. It can also be called "vélocipède" or "bicyclette". "Vélocipède" word roots comes from Latin "velox" (the genitive* is "velocis") meaning "swift" (as in "velocity", etc.) and "pes" (the accusative* is "pedem") meaning "foot" (as in "pedal", etc.)

*(One of these days I probably should explain the different cases of nouns used in some ferren languages: i.e. Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Ablative, Accusative, and, most importantly, Guitarative.)

[2] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro deux:

 
"Rouge" in French simply means the colour "red/rouge". Now did I really need to explain that?

 
[3] You may be asking yourself: "Just who the hell was this 'Arguello' guy and why the hell did he deserve a street/boulevard named for him in San Francisco?”

 
José Darío Argüello was the founder of Los Ångeles and twice the Spanish colonial governor of Alta California.

 
After reading that, you may still be asking yourself: "But why the hell a street/boulevard in San Francisco?"

 
I don't have an exact answer for that. Sorry.

 
[4] You may also be asking yourself: "And just who the hell is this 'McAllister' guy and why the hell did he deserve a street named for him in San Francisco?"

 
(And I would really hella appreciate it if you would just stop the using the word "hell" so much in my presence.)

 
This street was named after the McAllister family. Apparently, they were some prominent (read: snooty-assed white folk) San Francisco family in the 19th Century.

 
[5] As far as I can discern, this is some little hill that is prominent in a stupid little annual "bicycle race" in France.

 
[6] Levi Leipheimer is some stupid 'merican that likes to participate in the same stupid little annual "bicycle race" in France.

 

Monday, May 28, 2012

Just For You Cafe

Luke's Diner would be proud of this place, Li'l Abner.








 
(As I really couldn't locate a decent Memorial Day song on EweToob, I went in another direction. Here's a little known Cliff Clavin Factoid: The original title of this song was "Give Peas a Chance".[1] John Lennon was commissioned by the British Agriculture Board to do a song to get people to try and eat a bit healthier; despite what Tony Blair said, everyone knows that the National Dish of England is Fish 'n' Chips.)


I four-footed it way over to Dogpatch this morning to have another Memorial Day breakfast (I happened to notice that I went there last year on this day, too) at Just For You Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from December 27th, 2011). I was sure glad that I had left my mobular device at home today, as I would hate to have wasted a perfectly good cuppa coffee on it (see above sign for stupid reference). There is one question I would still like to find out one of these days: "Who is 'Mabel'?"

As it is a holiday weekend, they still had their Weekend "Brunch" specials available. I had to try Nery's Vegetable Hash Omelet! (They added the exclamation point, not me.) ~ A fluffy omelet filled with butternut squash, roasted white onions, red and green bell peppers, sage, parsley (apparently, Rosemary didn't get the memo in thyme), and Sonoma goat cheese. Choice of bread (which is fresh-baked on the premises; I chose the cinnamon-raisin toast again). I also had a cuppa their damn fine N'Orleans-style chicory coffee.







The focus here was on the butternut squash (which I had forgotten was one of the ingredients and was wondering why the sweet potatoes had a strange texture and flavour, until it dawned on me) and the goat cheese. I think that turnips, rutabagas, or parsnips might have been a nice addition, and would have added a nice spicy bite to it, too; however, most 'mericans can't tell a rutabaga from a "Norwegian" turnip (that is a little humour that only my British readers might get), and probably think that "Rudy Bega" was John Travolta's little brother in "Pulp Fiction".

Like Dottie's True blue café, Just For You Cafe offers a pretty decent selection of condimentary supplementation: two types of Tabasco® (standard red and green Jalapeño); Tapatío®; Cholula®; Crystal®; a Sriracha-style hot sauce; and sometimes a few other brands. I went with a little Cholula® (Thanks, Adrienne!) on the omelette (butter was fine on the toast). Cholula®[2] is probably one of the better mass-produced/readily-available bottles of hot sauces; it is made with a nice blend of both Arbol and Piquin chili peppers, plus it has some nice spices added to the ingredients.

http://www.cholula.com/


I don't know who this Nery guy is, either, but he can feed me this hashish omelette any weekend.


Glen Bacon Scale RatingNery's Vegetable Hash Omelet ~ 7.0; Coffee ~ 6.9


[1] I also have a 75-year-old orange bridge that I can let you have for a song.

 
[2] Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-historical/pseudo-geographical pointer of the day:

 
"Cholula" is named after the 2,500-year-old city of Cholula, Puebla (the oldest still-inhabited city in Mexico). The name "Cholula" is derived from Nahuatl toponym "Chollollan", meaning "the place of the retreat".

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Memorial Day 2012


This is the fourth year running that I have posted these two links together.

The article was written by Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona*, U.S. Air Force (Retired). Rick is a well-known Military and Middle East analyst. He was also a former member of my old Air Force squadron back in Athens, Greece (6916th ESS); he was stationed there a few years before I got there, and I have never had the pleasure of actually meeting him in person.

The "Green Fields of France" is sung by the Boston (technically, Quincy) Irish-American Punk Rock band Dropkick Murphys ~ best known for their Red Sox anthem "Tessie". I have never met them in person, either.


http://francona.blogspot.com/2012/05/memorial-day-2012.html





The truly sad thing is that all of the people we are honouring on this holiday cannot be here to celebrate with us.

Have a safe and "rememorable" Memorial Day, everyone.


*(Thanks once again this year for the loaner, Rocco.)



Dottie’s True blue café

"What a difference a breakfast makes…"





(Just a little Sunday morning jazz with breakfast, Ladies.)


As it is another holiday weekend, I figured special measures needed to be taken, so I "did the needful"[1] and went back to Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from April 1st, 2012) once again this morning for a specially measured holiday weekend breakfast. Parking in this neighborhood early on a Sunday morning is pretty easy, it's just a bit iffy wherever you park. Dottie's rooftop deck is still not open yet (well, seeing as it's on the roof and in the open air, technically it is always "open"; they just haven't seen fit to open it to the public for dining yet). I also found out this morning that their bakery is located downstairs/in the basement of the building; I didn't ask for a tour, but I can only assume it's much more spacious than the cramped kitchen/bakery at their old location.

Here is some exciting news:
Dottie's is now open for business at a second location in Scottsdale, AZ, so anyone traveling that-a-way, stop on by for a great breakfastary experience (well, it's operated by Kurt's brother, so I can only hope the culinary expertise runs in the family). I know it's a bit of a journey from Tucson to Scottsdale, but those of you living in the Tucson area (I will not name any names, Karl) should really try to get up there for a weekend breakfast or lunch.

As always, there was some great old Jazz/Blues music playing on the house stereo while I was there (well, I suppose they play the same music if I am there or not, I just can't confirm this). I was glad to see that they brought this old picture over with them from their Jones Street location:




Now, I understand the Billie and Sarah pictures (Billie Crystal is from New York City where lots of great jazz singers came from, and Sarah Palin can really belt out them Alaska Blues), but I wouldn't really categorize Dinah Shore as a "Great Lady of Jazz"… maybe she finally embraced her African-American heritage.

I am happy to see that the Specials Board once again had the most excellent Zucchini Cakes on it this week. I pushed them on some stupid, unsuspecting touristas (well, they were leaning towards that choice, anyway, I just tipped them over completely). I probably would have had this great dish again if I hadn't had it the last time I was there, and my breakfast yesterday morning was very similar with the poached eggs and green squash thingy (which I hear was the original title of that classic children's book by Theodore Geisel, Cassy).

I opted for another one off the Specials Board: Avocado, Tomato, Corn, Jalapeño, Scallion, & Feta Frittata; served with toast and (home-fried) potatoes. I subsidized this with a large glass of grapefruit juice and a cuppa good commando-style[2] coffee.





Now, I don't know what's not to like in this one: avocado ~ good; corn ~ good; Feta ~ good; and I am happy to announce that these were all in large amounts… because everything counts (in larger amounts), Mr. Gahan. Lots of fresh ingredients is always a good thing.

I didn't sit at the counter (with a stage front seat) this morning and I was a little disappointed to find that the salt and pepper shakers on most of the regular tables are just plain ol' salt and pepper shakers, nothing quirky or kitschy like they used to have at the old place on all the tables.

As I have stated many times in the past, Dottie's offers a pretty decent selection of condimentary supplements: three types of Tabasco® (standard red, green Jalapeño, and Chipotle); Tapatío®; and Frank's® Red Hot® Chile 'n Lime. This might not seem like a such big deal, but most places will just have one or two choices, and not usually three different flavours of one brand plus a few other brands. I used some of the Chipotle (Thanks, Kurt!) on the potatoes , and just a little of the Frank's® (Thanks again, Kurt!) on the frittata to give it just a little more perk.


Glen Bacon Scale RatingATCJS&F Frittata Special ~ 7.4


[1] Not really a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, more of a confusing English-Hindi translational thingy:

Like a lot of 'merican businesses today, the company that I work for has outsourced most of their accounting functions and some of its customer service functions to India. We generally communicate with them back and forth via electronic messages (colloquially known as "e-mails" by those of  us in the know). There is one particular phrasing that those in India use when replying back to us and requesting something to be done on our end: “"Please do the needful".

I am not sure where they learned this particular wording. Technically, I suppose it can be considered correct English, but it looks very strange in print. We all just assume they mean "Please do what is necessary to get this done". It's just a pretty humourous way of stating it.

[2] That would be a "bottomless" cuppa.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Tangerine

"Eating reflection from a dream…"



http://www.tangerinesf.com/
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ_JAgHxR14

 
(Today's EweToob selection brought to you by the colour tangerine. For some reason, it won't let me link the actual video here as it has done for the past few weeks. What do you want for nuthin'? Rubber biscuits?)


I went back to Tangerine (see last 'blog-entry from January 29th, 2012) this morning for breakfast (and this time it was my planned destination, Eric). They are located on the corner of 16th and Sanchez[1] Streets in the Castro. I ate al fresco this morning (and mostly da solo, as I was the only al stupido enough to sit outside at one of the several tables on the sidewalk, as it was still a bit cool and shady yet).

After having their unbelievably good (but completely idiotic sounding) Macaroni & Corn Pancakes the last time I was there, I knew I had to get back there again to try some of their other equally-as-interesting sounding (and idiotic) breakfast dishes. There are several omelettes that I would like to try: e.g. Artichoke & Roasted Pepper Omelet, Shitake[2] & Asparagus Omelet, and Sweet Corn & Sauté Leek Omelet; as well as Coconut Pancakes with Ginger Syrup ~ that has to be good. I specifically went back today to get Zucchini Latke[3] ~ Home-made scallion-potato pancakes with 2 poached eggs, choices of bacon, spinach, or smoked salmon, topped with a spicy hollandaise sauce; served with organic greens (which is just a fancy name for plain ol' salad stuff). I also ordered a side of roasted potatoes (because a main dish made mostly from potatoes is never enough carbohydrates) and a large glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice (but they do not offer tangerine juice, for some reason; I asked).





I can only think of two words to describe this one: "Wow!" and "Wow!" Now this wasn't quite as great as the Macaroni & Corn Pancakes, but it was still great. That is a rather unfair assessment, though; as that is like saying which of the Marx Brothers were the funniest (everyone knows that was Gummo, of course). This was basically a large potato pancake with eggs on top à la Oeufs Benedict. The "spicy hollandaise sauce" really wasn't; or it may have been, but after all of the stupid condimentary supplementation (see below) I added, who could tell. This came with at least a ton of spinach piled on top (okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration; there really was only 1,999 pounds of it on the plate), which is always a good thing with me. It was made with lots of julienned[4] zucchini and shredded potatoes; I can't be sure, but they may also include some kind of noodles in their latke recipe, at least I thought I saw some in there. Like the Macaroni & Corn Pancakes, there is a  ring of puréed spinach around the plate again; even more spinach-y goodness still, Elzie.

As for the orange juice, it was actually fresh-squeezed, and not just out of a bottle labeled "fresh-squeezed", as it was still frothy when they brought it to me.

Before heading over to Tangerine, I stopped at Castro Coffee Company and had a cuppa Organic Road Warrior (which they state is the "Dark Roast #2" of the day, Mel). This is only a few blocks away from the restaurant, right on "Main Street" of the Castro (Castro Street, between Market and 18th Streets); just two doors down from the historical Castro Theater. Like Bettys, they also offer a Jamaica Blue Mountain, at $45.00/pound. However, they have an even more expensive coffee, Kopi Luak, at $695.00/pound (that is not a typo; but after seeing the price I coulda used a good Type-O transfusion); I think "Kopi Luak" means "You have to be f*ckin' kiddin' me!" in Malay (you can consider that a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, or not); for $695.00/pound, it's cheaper to fly to Sumatra and just grow your own beans to roast.

http://www.castro-coffee.com/Default.asp


As for condimentary supplementation, Tangerine only offers Tabasco® (just the standard red). I brought a few of my own collection and went with some Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys!) on the latke, Oaxacan Hot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the potatoes, and a little Blair's Sudden Death Sauce with Ginseng[5] (Thanks a lot, mom! See, Cindy, you are not the only sadist in your gift-giving.) on the salad (I really just added 2-3 small drops at most, but it was still pretty darn nookular; it didn't make much difference as I wasn't planning on eating all of it, anyway; it was just stupid ol' greens).

Even if I hadn't tried the Macaroni & Corn Pancakes on my first visit, I am sure that I would have come back to try more of their food, anyway, after today's meal.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating Zucchini Latke ~ 7.45; Castro Coffee Company, Organic Road Warrior ~ 6.4


[1] Just who was this Sánchez guy you ask, Jonathan?

 
The street was named for Antonio Sánchez, a one-time commandante of the San Francisco Presidio. His family once owned a 15,000 acre ranch running from today's South San Francisco to Burlingame (for any of you out-of-towners, that is basically from San Francisco southward, past the airport, and then some).
But, I bet he never pitched a No-No (and a 28-Batter Game at that) in his life.

 
[2] This is how they had it (mis)spelled on their menu. I have mentioned before that the correct spelling/transliteration should be "Shiitake". You'd think a place that specifies that they are a "Pacific Rim Restaurant" would get the correct spelling/transliteration for a Japanese word. Luckily, no GBS points are ever taken off for spelling.

 
[3] Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinary pointer of the day,
номер один (или номер два), Mr. Gravas:
 
"Latke" comes from Yiddish, from Russian "латка
" meaning "pastry", literally "patch".

Extra added bonus information from our friendly friends at Wikipedia:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latke

I wonder what a breakfast with Freddie Blassie would have been like?


(Now it is letting me link an actual video here. Go figger.)


[4] Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinary pointer of the day, numéro deux (ou numéro trois):

"Julienne" comes from French, probably in reference to the proper name of Jules, Julien, or Julienne, Mr. Lennon.

 
[5] As if adding ginseng to this devilry is going to make it any less deadly. "Hey, look, it has ginseng in it. It must be healthy and good for ya!" The two main problems with this hot sauce is that it is an oil-based one and it is made with extract of peppers; so, not only does it have extra added heat, it will stick to your tongue with the oil ~ you can't rinse this stuff off easily with a quick sip/gallon of water. They should rename this evil stuff Blair's Witch Project Sauce.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Bistro Restaurant @ Cliff House

Breakfast on Geary, finally Finale






(I really wanted to finish up this series with a local version of "On The Street Where You Live", but, try as I might, I still could not find a version of the song on EweToob sung by a true San Franciscan… like Tony Bennett or Frank Sinatra.)


With today's 'blog-entry, I conclude my "Breakfast on Geary" series. While the Bistro Restaurant @ Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from January 2nd, 2012) is not technically on Geary, if you followed the logical progression of Geary Street/Boulevard westward all the way to Ocean Beach, this is where you would finally end up. Surprisingly, this was only my 15th stop along the way; I was really expecting about twice that amount of places to eat breakfast, or at least into the twenties.

I wouldn't normally walk all the way to the Bistro Restaurant (it's about twenty blocks away), but it was a gorgeous sunny morning and I first walked to Golden Gate Park to catch some of the craziness known as Bay-to-Beer! (see photos below). I figure if 100,000 idiots and weirdos (in all manners of costume, and sometimes none at all) can run 12K on a Sunday morning, I am good for a two mile walk (round trip) for breakfast.

The Bistro Restaurant's breakfastary menu really isn't that extensive and I have already had most of the items a few times over. This morning I once again had Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ Scrambled Eggs, Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Scallions, Button Mushrooms, & Melted Goat Cheese; served with roasted potatoes and, of course, Popovers(!). I also had a large glass of orange juice with the meal. On my way to Golden Gate Park, I had stopped at Simple Pleasures Cafe and picked up a decent cuppa coffee to drink while watching the festivities pass me by; so I really didn't need to order another at the restaurant.

http://www.simplepleasurescoffee.com/



This was the same meal I had ordered the last time I was there, so you can re-read that 'blog-entry if you want. Today's fresh fruits were: cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew melon, strawberries, and grapes.

Knowing full well that the Bistro Restaurant just has Tabasco® (the standard red) for condimentary supplements, I came prepared and used a little of my own Oaxacan Hot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the scramble and a little Cholula® (Thanks again, me!) on the potatoes.

As I sat (or was seated) in one of the booths this morning (and not along the window-side overlooking the Pacific), I didn't have a wall of Hollywoodland photos above my table. So, I walked around the corner and took these pictures of local San Francisco Bay Area Sports and Rock-and/or-Roll figures:




(Picture 1, top to bottom)

Art Howe, Oakland AAA's; Greg Norman (okay, he's not a San Franciscan, but I was told he is a friend of the owner's; besides, isn't Australia just a little west of San Francisco?)
Ronnie Lott, San Francisco 49ers; Bill Walsh,
San Francisco 49ers
Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants; (from the 1961 MLB All-Star Game: back row, left to right) Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins; Jim Gentile, Bal'more Orioles; Norm Cash and Rocky Colavito, Detroit Tigers; (front row) two of the bat-boys for the game



(Picture 2, top to bottom)

Grace Slick; Herb Caen
Carlos Santana (from the 1988 Haight Street Fair?)

As always the food was fine. Heck, they could serve me S.O.S. and as long as I get my helping of Popovers(!), I would never complain and still keep coming back for more.


101st Annual Bay-to-Beer!




Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: If you saw this horde of crazies coming at you, would you stand still?

(Of course, the chicken had to wait for over two hours for a break in the traffic to do so… and by then the egg had already beaten her to the other side.)


Glen Bacon Scale RatingSautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ 6.7; Simple Pleasures Coffee ~ 7.0; Popovers(!) ~ 8.2; Bay-to-Beer! ~ 7.9