http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/
Une autre revoir à Baker Street Bistro (s'il vous plaît voir: l'entrée d'avril dix-septième). I sat outside in their very large sidewalk patio seating area ~ which is very dog-friendly by the way ~ as today was the perfect day for it. It is officially Fall now and that means the beginning of the San Francisco Summer (for all of the next week or so); the sun was shining and it was probably 75-80° outside this morning. While sitting there waiting for the breakfast to arrive, I first heard and then saw a few of the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill flying overhead, heading out for the morning again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co6WMzDOh1o
Usually when I go here I would normally not even look at their menu and just order the Pain Perdu; however, I had eaten here three times already this year and decided to try one of their Oeufs entries. I went with the Oeufs Baker* Street Bistro: ratatouille**, poached eggs, English muffins (which in French are actually known as "ces stupides anglais porc-chiens muffins"), and tomato sauce. All of their egg dishes come with home fries and a mixed salad. I also ordered a fresh lemonade and cuppa coffee; both of which were very good.
Their version of ratatouille was pretty traditional and (to the best of my knowledge) consisted of aubergine, red and green bell peppers, courgettes, garlic, onions, and herbs de Provence (and surprisingly enough, it contained a minimal amount of actual rat in it). Their tomato*** sauce was a good French version ~ not as good as any home-made gravy Italiana, but still very tasty. Much like their Pain Perdu, this was another "great find"; I love a good ratatouille and this made for a very good alternative to Oeufs Florentine that I would probably have ordered. IF they didn't have the best Pain Perdu I have ever had, this oeuf dish could easily become my standard choice when visiting there; however, I probably would never have discovered it without going there for the Pain Perdu in the first place (would that be known as "une Prise Vingt-deux"?).
I did manage to talk two of the three people sitting at the next table into trying the Pain Perdu ~ the lady also agreed that it was "the best French Toast" that she had ever had; I went on to explain to them (read: bore and interrupt their meal) what exactly "Pain Perdu" meant ~ so, as good as the French Toast is, they may never want to visit this establishment in fear of ever running into me again.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Oeufs Baker Street Bistro ~ 7.5; Lemonade ~ 6.5
*(I assume to be pronounced: "Bake-AIR" Street)
**("Ratatouille" was basically an unknown dish to most average 'mericans before the recent Disney/Pixar movie by the same name came out. The ex-wife of a friend of mine ~ "Hi, Harvey!" ~ used to make a killer ratatouille back in the 80's and it was the first time I had ever tried this excellent Frenchified vegetarian stew myself.)
***(Not-so-boring-for-a-change cunning linguist story of the day:
Sorry, "Greg", this story is just too funny not to retell to the entire World Wild Intro-net.
Several years ago while traveling in southern France on a visit from West Berlin, where we all lived at the time, two friends ~ neither of whom spoke any French ~ were at a restaurant eating and had no idea what the menu said as it was all in French. One of them ~ whom we shall call "Greg" to disguise his true identity ~ actually asked the waiter "Sprechen Sie Englisch?". Now the truly ironic part of this is that "Greg" really spoke little to no German either; why "Greg" didn't just ask the waiter "Do you speak English?" is unknown, or why didn't the other friend ~ whom we shall call "Dave" to protect his identity also, who happened to be a trained Polish Linguist in the United States Air Force and also had a basic knowledge of both Russian and German ~ do all the talking for the both of them?! I am pretty sure that they got the chef's special "la sauce loogie" on their meals at no extra charge.
Now here is the truly funny part of the story:
"Greg" hates raw tomatoes. "Greg" loathes them. "Greg" would never order them knowingly if "Greg" had a choice. "Greg" feels more strongly about raw tomatoes than I do about the vile weed. The only thing on the menu that "Greg" could discern was "Salade de Tomates", which is pretty much what it looks like in English. "Greg" figured: "I can always just pick the tomatoes off the salad and eat the lettuce and other stuff." Little did "Greg" know that when you order a "Tomato Salad" in Europe, that is exactly what you get… and only what you get. I wish I could have been there to see the look on "Greg's" face when the waiter brought out a huge plate of tomatoes with just spices, oil and vinegar, and nothing else. It would have served "Dave" perfectly right if "Dave" had ended up with the "Spéciale du Jour: Veaux Cerveau dans un sauce crème", but I think "Dave" actually lucked out and got something edible and ended up sharing it with "Greg".
Now after relating that story, I will probably have to change my Christmas vacation plans for this year… sorry, "Greg", not all of us can be cunning linguists ~ at least that is what "Cindy" always complains about.)
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