Ella’s

Neo-Classical American Cooking



http://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/


I revisited Ella's (see 'blog-date April 3, 2010) over in Laurel Heights (and, Nick, I had a very "hearty" meal ~ so I guess you could say it was a "Laurel and Hearty" meal). I remember seeing a review of Ella's a long time ago that described the crowd waiting outside to get in as "looking like a 'Friends' casting call" ~ which seems about right for this upscale neighborhood. I still don’t know who "Ella" is, but I like her restaurant (even on their website they never mention just exactly who "Ella" is supposed to be; so, I am choosing Lady Ella Fitzgerald, just 'cause she is my all-timey favouritest female singer ~ that li'l ol' white girl sure had some great pipes!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYPoEGAttB8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DGDuW2TN_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRyDB4RWJdw

Today I sat at the counter that overlooks the bakery/kitchen area. They make all of their pastries and breads fresh every day (and all day long). And no extra charge for the free show!




Their weekend brunch menu changes every week. I love their combinations and how they always use fresh, available ingredients. I had their Potato Scramble ~ with grilled fennel, roasted beets, roasted carrots, and Havarti (to which I had added two eggs over medium laid on top). I was not disappointed and it was excellent, once again. It was a virtual (or actual, even) root vegetable cornucopia (which ties in very nicely to yesterday's mention of Miss Millie's old Roasted Root Vegetables dish.)




I was thinking about going with the Folded Omelette with grilled squash, arugula, lemon roasted onion, fresh thyme, and Goat cheese; but Beets ("Meatloaf, beetloaf! I LOVE beetloaf!"; sorry, Randy) trump arugula any day; however, if the omelette had included Asparagus, it might have been a toss-up. The grilled finocchio would probably have been the deciding factor.

I also had a glass of their excellent Ginger Orange Juice Punch (it was extra spicy today) and their Honey Oatmeal Raisin toast ~ which came with homemade (restaurant-made) Nectarine jam.

As I knew they only carry the two types of Tabasco® sauces: Original red and Jalapeño green, I came prepared with two from my own collection. I noticed that I brought the exact same (as opposed to the dissimilar same?) two hot sauces that I brought back on my original visit back in April: Trees Can't Dance ~ Tree Fire Sauce (Thanks again, Greg and Cindy!) and Cholula®.

http://www.treescantdance.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?ID=8

The only thing that might have made this dish even better would have been a nice formaggio* italiano instead of the Havarti; perhaps Fontina or Asiago even. I will still be going back again to Ella's, tho’**.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Potato Scramble ~ 7.6; Ginger O.J. Punch ~ 7.2; Toast + Jam ~ 7.2


*(No relation to the great Boston Red Sox player, Dominic DiMaggio; and I think his older brother, ?John or Jim?, even played some Baseball, too.)

**(See 'blog entry from April 3, 2010 to get that lame-o joke.)