Ella’s Tho’*

(Come here… to eat)


Ella’s ~ "Neo-classical American Cooking".
I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, but I just know I like their breakfasts.

http://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/

Ella’s is located in the Laurel Heights neighborhood on the corner of Presidio and California Streets. This is a kinda upscale place ~ almost a Brunch-y type place ~ but they do open up at 8:30am on Saturdays and Sundays, so I will let it slide; plus, their breakfasts are always great: very interesting with fresh, tasty ingredient combinations. Their weekend “Brunch” menu varies weekly depending on what fresh ingredients are available/in season.

I had the Potato Scramble: asparagus, shiitake**, grilled red onions (and these were actually “grilled” not sautéed ~ a small point, but makes a lot of difference in the flavour), and Havarti. I had them add a couple of eggs to the mess to make it a complete breakfast (or even a “compleat breakfast”). The Potato Scramble is my normal fall-back, but the extra added benefit of fresh asparagus was the clincher; and this bad boy had lots and lots of fresh asparagus, Gus. Always a plus and determining factor with me when having to choose from a number of good breakfasts.

I also had a glass of their Ginger Orange Juice Punch (today made with Blood Oranges ~ looks bizarre, tastes great). This is a drink concoction that I have not seen anywhere else in San Francisco. It is made with fresh-squeezed (because unfresh-squeezed would just be wrong) orange juice and ginger juice. It has a bit of a bite to it, but in a nice way.

For my toast choice I had the Honey Oat Raisin bread. All of their pastries and breads are baked fresh daily on the premises. Sitting at the counter, you actually get to see the bakers preparing the breads and baked goods. No extra charge for the show while eating. Their toast is thick-cut slices, and they have four types of bread from which to choose or buttermilk biscuits. I really can’t comment much on the other breads as I always seem to stick to the same one… if it ain’t broke already, don’t bother asking maintenance to try and repair it.

Unlike most restaurants, their coffee was actually not that bad for a change. I meant to ask which brand they used, but forgot. All it says on their menu is “Ella’s AM Blend”.

Unfortunately, as condiments they only offer the Regular and Green Tabasco® sauces; because of which, I came prepared this week with a couple of my own hot sauces: Cholula® and Trees Can't Dance “Tree Fire Sauce”***.

http://www.cholula.com/

http://www.treescantdance.co.uk/



Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Potato Scramble ~ 7.5; Ginger O.J. Punch ~ 7.0; Toast ~ 7.0; Coffee ~ 6.3


*("Έλα εδώ" in Greek, pronounced "ella etho", simply means "come here". It was one of the first phrases I learned when I lived in Greece; that, and "Εγώ χορτοφάγος", pronounced "Ego khortofagos" = "I am a vegetarian." which was very handy at the local, sketchy tavernas.)

**(Minor point, but it was "mispeled" as "shitake" on the menu, as it was at the "Flower Market Cafe" recently; I pointed this out to the waitress and she agreed with me. Just a little note about the word: it is already a plural and the word mushroom after it would be superfluous, as the word in Japanese "shii" = "oak" and "take" = "mushroom". So to say "Shiitake mushroom" would be akin to saying "the Sahara Desert" ~ you could say it, but you'd be wrong. What is the opposite of an oxymoron? "Large Jumbo Shrimp"?)

***(For Christmas this year I was given three different flavours from this English hot sauce company: "African Hot Sauce", "Belizean Habañero Sauce", and "Tree Fire Sauce". Thanks, Greg and Cindy!)