La Cucina of Union Street

(No website available, still.)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN9vdliZymQ


Sono tornato a La Cucina of Union Street (see 'blog-entry from February 19th, 2011). Well, it was not raining this morning like my last visit back in the wintertime, but it may as well have been with the way the fog was hanging around thickly. They even had four sidewalk tables set-up outside (well, that only makes sense as "inside sidewalks" aren't really available), but there weren't many brave takers yet this early in the morning (9:00am).

They have a pretty decent breakfast menu selection and offer a few weekend specials, too. (Here is where it would be handy for them to have an official website with a menu listing.) I was debating on the Italian Omelette, but ended up going with: California Omelette ~ Avocado, artichoke*, jack cheese, onion, and tomato; served with cottage fries (and for Mrs. Huneycutt's edification, that would just be home/house fries, but on a smaller scale) and choice of toast. I also had a large glass of orange juice. As I got there a little earlier than they opened, I went and got a cuppa coffee from Union Street Coffee Roastery on the corner.

(No website available for the coffee shop, either; however, they do have a defacedbook page. Really?!)



I went with sourdough toast ~ it seemed to make sense with the omelette choice. And once again I substituted the cottage potatoes for their weekend special cheesy hashbrown potato thingy (that is the official terminology) that I had on my last visit. The omelette had lots of artichoke quarters and avocado in it; this is always a good thing, Martha. I was not disappointed in my choosing the side of hashbrowns ~ it was very tasty again.

La Cucina offers only Tabasco®** (the standard red) and Tapatío® as condimentary supplements; I did come prepared with a few from my own collection and used some Sylvia's Restaurant® Kickin' Hot ~ Hot Sauce (Thanks, Sean!) on the omelette and the very last drops of my Trees Can't Dance ~ Belizean Habanero Sauce*** (Thanks again, Greg & Cindy!) on the potato thingy.

While walking around waiting for the restaurant to open, I saw a pair of Wild Parrots of San Francisco flying overhead.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: California Omelette ~ 6.6; Weekend Special Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Thingy ~ 7.0; Union Street Coffee ~ 6.9


*(Artichokes are probably one of my favourite fruits. I have been eating them ever since I can remember. It may be an Italiano thing; I don't know, I just know I like 'em.

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

About an hour and a half south of San Francisco is Castroville, in northern Monterey County. They call themselves "the Artichoke Capital of the World" ~ I always say they missed a great opportunity to call themselves "the Artichoke Heart of the World". They hold an annual artichoke festival, usually in May now; Marilyn Monroe was even named as the festival's first "Artichoke Queen" in 1948.)

**(It may seem like I'm constantly picking on Tabasco® brand hot sauces by always mentioning that they are carried at most restaurants and then I go and use my own hot sauces instead. This really isn't the case, though. Tabasco® products are definitely good, as their ubiquitousness would attest. It is a very viable condimentary supplementation; and their Chipotle and Habanero versions are actually mighty tasty. I just prefer hot sauces with a little more depth of flavour.

Besides, with all the mentions of Tabasco® in my stupid 'blog, they ought to be paying me some kinda royalty.)

***(This was a very tasty salsa/hot sauce; I really enjoyed using it up. I still have another bottle of their African Hot Sauce left. I also had another different style that has been used up a while back now.

Who knew that a British hot sauce company could make a product that has so much flavour? But I suppose even the French are capable of making a decent Beer once in a while, too.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg8h2hzY8IA )

Straw

"I could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers…"




http://strawsf.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yc-kDJUw3k 



I went back to Straw ~ Carnival Fare (see 'blog-entry from April 23rd, 2011) again this morning for breakfast; however, I am sorry to say that I didn't even encounter any witches (neither wicked, nor good), tin woodsmen, talking lions, tigers, or bears… Oh, my! on my way there, Lyman Frank. I have eaten at this cool little Hayes Valley spot for dinner several times since they opened at the beginning of 2011, but this was only my second breakfastary (not a real word, but it works for me) trip.

I knew that Straw offers a very decent cuppa coffee from a local roastery called Bicycle Coffee Co, but I also knew that just a few blocks away is one of the best places to get a single, fresh-dripped cuppa in San Francisco: Blue Bottle Coffee; Chiapas (single blend coffee beans from Mexico) is what they had a-brewin' today. So I got there a little earlier than Straw opens (10:00am, Saturday & Sunday only for "Brunch") and got me one of them and walked around the area a bit.

http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/

I really like this neighborhood that runs along Octavia Boulevard as there are lots of fun things to do and always new and interesting places to eat popping up. Just recently, a very cool (no pun intended… well, maybe just a little) ice cream shop called Smitten Ice Cream opened across the street from the mini-dog park*/playground on Octavia. Smitten makes every bowl of ice cream fresh for each person individually. This has to be witnessed to really get the full effect ~ the contraption that they have developed to make this actually uses Liquid Nitrogen to freeze up your ice cream in about a minute. They only offer four flavours a day: Chocolate, Vanilla, and alternate two other flavours ~ usually changing them every week or so. I have already had (the great pleasure to have had): Olive Oil (yes, actually made with EVOO, Miss Ray) and Red Plum.
 


http://smittenicecream.com/home/Home.html


Along several blocks of Octavia Boulevard there are these little kaleidoscope** thingys, which the San Francisco Art Commission calls "Transcopes" ~ you say "potato", Dan Quayle say "potatoe"… The last photo was me trying to be artsy-fartsy and taking a picture through one of the transcopes.






Anyway, back to breakfast and Straw, this was a breakfastary entry about Straw after all. Straw has a good breakfast/"Brunch" selection that they call "Eggs with Greg" (I think they missed an opportunity there for a corn-bally, Joycean joke and should have called it "Eggs with Gregg" or "Egs with Greg", even). I had the baby needs milk ~ cinnamon toast bread pudding/whipped cream (which they forgot, oh well), a side of cheesy home potatoes (which really weren't on the menu, but they threw together for me, anyway ~ more than making up for the absent whipped cream), and a nice, cold glass of "eliminate", Chico.
 



This came as a HUGE bowl of bread pudding! It was very good, and way more than I could finish (especially with the extra added carbohydrates from the side order of home potatoes); this would be a great starter to share between two people and maybe split another of Gregg's Egs dishes. I liked it a lot, but I think it could have used something else: sliced apples or raisins, possibly?

Straw only has as condimentary supplementation Tabasco® (the standard red). I used some of my own Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce Original Mild (Thanks again, Kerry!) on half of the home potatoes and a little HP® Brown Sauce on the other half.

With the check today, they provided me with a Mango Dum-Dums®***. So I have that much going for me.

I am sure this will not be the last time I go to Straw for breakfast, broken camel's back notwithstanding…


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: baby needs milk ~ 6.5; Blue Bottle Chiapas ~ 7.3


*(What I mean by this is that it is a rather tiny area for locals to walk/play with their dogs, not that it is exclusively for ankle-biters. Though, I did see a Dachshund, a Shiba Inu, a Basset Hound, and a few other small breeds frolicking around.)

**(Pointless cunning linguist pointer of the day:

Kaleidoscope comes from three Greek words: "kal(os)/καλ(ός)" ~ meaning "beauty"; "eitho(s)/εἶδο(ς)" ~ meaning "form/shape"; and "skop(io)/σκοπ(έω)" ~ meaning "to look at/watch". Hence, it means "beautiful form to look at".

Hmmm? "Kaleidoscope" must be Nicole Kidman's nickname.)

***(This is not a fruity reference to the upcoming Republican National Convention. It is just the name of a candy/lollipop company:

http://www.dumdumpops.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhjRUKCKIG4 )

Boulevard Cafe

Do you know the way to Daly City*, Fielding Mellish?



http://www.theboulevardcafe.com/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqWt49o7R-k&feature=related

(You try finding a song that references Daly City; besides, anything south of the City is San Jose as far as most locals are concerned.)


On the recommendation of a co-worker, I had breakfast this morning at Boulevard Cafe. They are located in the old Lyons restaurant building in the Westlake neighborhood of Daly City along John Daly Boulevard; and while their address is not technically on John Daly Boulevard, calling it (Poncetta) Drive Cafe may have confused many people.

They have a pretty extensive breakfast menu selection from which to choose, but as soon as I saw this entry I knew what I was going to get: Bananas Foster French Toast ~ Texas French toast, caramelized bananas, and fresh cinnamon cream. I also ordered a side of Yukon Gold Hash Browns (because you can never have too many carbohydrates) and a cuppa coffee.



The meal comes with three thick slices of French toast, lots of bananas, and the large dollop of cinnamon cream was very good, too. Now this was not quite as good as Merchants Way version of their Bananas Foster French Toast, but seeing as they have been a defunct restaurant for several years, I would highly recommend this place instead, and it is definitely worth a return visit.** The only minus I can think of was that they did not provide any (extra) maple syrup to use on it; however, this really didn't matter as it was very tasty on its own and especially with the cinnamon cream on top (there may have been some maple syrup in the caramelized bananas sauce, though). The Yukon Gold*** hash browns were very good, too. I doubt I would have known they were "Yukon Gold" other than the standard "Russet potatoes" if they hadn't noted it on the menu.

The condimentary supplements at Boulevard Cafe are just Tabasco® (the standard red) and Tapatío®. So I went with some Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce ~ Monster Double Medium Hot (the green one) on the hash browns (Thanks, Kerry!).

Note: no actual bananas were harmed in the eating of this meal… well, some of them did get their egos bruised a bit, though.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Bananas Foster French Toast ~ 7.0


*(Daly City is known as "the Gateway to the Peninsula". I am just assuming that is the San Francisco/San Mateo Peninsula and not the Yucatán Peninsula.

http://www.dalycity.org/

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

People call San Francisco "Fog City", but both Daly City and Pacifica ~ just to the west of Daly City and due south of San Francisco ~ are really much foggier all year long, Mr. Tormé. As San Francisco is peninsular-based, I always tell people it is almost impossible to get lost in San Francisco: you just drive until you either hit the water ~ in which case you are either at the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Bridge, or the San Francisco Bay ~ or the fog ~ and you are in Daly City. However, I did know of two Air Force buddies that actually got lost in West Berlin, and this is when it was still a walled city…

Some notable Daly Citians: John Madden, NFL Coach and NFL Hall of Famer ~ "Bam!"; John Robinson, NFL Coach; and Sam Rockwell, actor.

Here's a little known fact: John Daly was actually from Maynila, Republika ng Pilipinas; his real name was Juan Dalycito, he just anglicized his name when he moved to 'merica.)

**(It just goes without saying that this wasn't as good as the Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro, either, but that comparison is unfair to most French Toasts and breakfasts in general.)

***(Yukon Gold info/link:

http://potatoassociation.org/Industry%20Outreach/varieties/White%20Rounds/yukon_gold.html

This is the "official" information from the Potato Association of America… Really?! Who knew such an organization existed? I wonder if this is where Dan Quayle went to work after his political career ended.)

Chow

… arrivederci!



http://www.chowfoodbar.com/ 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBZ8ulc5NTg
 
(Ignore the idiot at the end of the video, I have no idea who he is or how he got in there.)


Chow Church was my intended destination this morning when I headed over to the Castro for breakfast (see 'blog-entry from May 8th, 2010 to understand that, if you care to). Chow Food Drink has four locations in the Bay Area: one in the Castro District (on Church Street); one near Golden Gate Park (in the Sunset District on 9th Avenue); one in Lafayette; and one in Danville. The Church Street restaurant is the original location ~ operating there since 1997. The really neat thing about all four restaurants is that they all have "patio seating" areas available, so you can enjoy dining al fresco all year round ~ weather (or whether) permitting.

The menu at the Church Street spot seemed about the same as the one at Park Chow. They offer several breakfast items from which to choose. I went with Quesadillas* (Cheese), salsa, avocado, scrambled eggs. For those of you meatatarians out there, this can be ordered with some dead, decaying animal flesh, too. I also had a side of home fries, cuppa Thanksgiving Coffee, and a glass of fresh "squeezed" (organic) apple juice.

http://www.thanksgivingcoffee.com/




This was all a pretty simple idea, which made nicely for a lighter breakfast. I thought at first that it was going to have the scrambled eggs inside the tortilla (which I was interested in seeing), but this way worked out fine, too. The quesadilla comes with a nice pico de gallo and fresh guacamole; the idea seemed to be to cut a little piece of the quesadilla and top it with some scrambled eggs, pico de gallo, and guacamole … and enjoy. The coffee was good and strong; local, Fair Trade, and organic, too (I have found this brand to be either really good or not so good, depending on where it is brewed; they do a decent cuppa here, better than my normal swill). The fresh "squeezed" apple juice was very refreshing still; not sure what kinda apples were used in making it, though.

Chow offers as condimentary supplementation Tabasco® (standard red), Cholula®, and Pickapeppa Sauce®. The Cholula® would probably have gone very well with this meal; however, I used the last of my El Yucateco® Chipotle Habanero sauce on the quesadilla and eggs, and some Trees Can't Dance ~ Belizean Habanero Sauce (Thanks again, Cindy and Greg.) on the home fries.

Of note, while crossing Market Street on my way to the restaurant, one single pair (one single pair?) of Wild Parrots of San Francisco flew overhead.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Quesadilla(s) ~ 6.5


*(They had this as plural on the menu, but you really just get one large flour tortilla/quesadilla cut into four triangles, which was more than sufficient for my appetite, anyway.)

mo's Grill

Imbeciles, porcupines, and knuckleheads welcome…
eye-poking and face-slapping frowned-upon



http://www.mosgrill.com/



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgmdnxtz3Bo


I wanted to try a new place for breakfast this morning and remember passing mo's Diner a few times along Grant Street in North Beach. They are a little upscale diner/burger joint with two location in town, the other is downtown in the Yerba Buena Center. It appears that they are best known for their dead, decaying, ground-up bovine patties, but they actually have a pretty decent breakfast selection.

I ordered the Vegetarian Omelette ~ mushrooms, spinach, scallions, tomato, & cheese; all egg breakfasts are served with home fried potatoes and toast. I also had a large glass of orange juice.




I asked for Swiss cheese (of the choices: Sharp Cheddar, Monterey Jack, 'merican, or Imported Swiss) in the omelette and sourdough toast. The huge 3-egg omelette had lots of fresh spinach and melted Swiss cheese; I only ended up finishing about 2/3 of it as it was a very large portion.

mo's has as condimentary supplements just Tabasco® (the standard red) and Tapatío®, which seems to be a pretty typical fare with most diner-ish places. I had come fully-prepared with some of my newest collection (Thanks, mom!) ~ a 4-pack of Blair's Death Sauce®: Original (with Chipotle), Jalapeño (with Tequila), After (with Chipotle), and Sudden (with Ginseng). I used a little Original, Jalapeño, and Sudden on different areas of the home fries.

As I have a bottle of After already from a birthday gift this year (Thanks a lot, Sean! ~ <sarcasm>) and knew it to be pretty hot (read: very hot, Gringo), my assumption was that the Sudden Death Sauce® would have to have been a little milder than the After Death Sauce® (however, you know what they say about "assumptions" they make an "ass" out of "umps" and "tions", or something like that)… Ooops! But after checking out their website, I found out I was "dead" wrong, Sudden Death Sauce® is actually a little higher on their heat scale (plus it is rated at 105,000 Scoville Units, as opposed to "just" 50,000 Scoville Units for After and 35,000 Scoville Units for Original; I could not find a rating for Jalapeño, but it is lower on Blair's website scale still). I should have known, as I only used a smidgen on a portion of the home fries and it nearly choked me ~ the problem is it is an oil based sauce with "Pure Pepper Resin" as one of the ingredients; so this ended up being mo' hotter than I had planned on, too.

http://extremefood.com/shop/home.php 

I purposefully (and purposely) didn't order a cuppa coffee at mo's with breakfast as I knew that one of the oldest and best local coffee houses/roasters in San Francisco, Caffè Trieste, was located just on the corner. I got a great version of a doppio espresso. I can't say for sure, but the barista may have even been Dean Moriarty, Jack.



http://www.caffetrieste.com/

All in all, this was a nice breakfast morning; I am sure that Moses Horwitz would approve, but I don't know about Louis Feinberg or Jerome Horwitz.

N'yuk, n'yuk, n'yuk…


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Vegetarian Omelette ~ 6.4; Caffè Trieste Coffee ~ 7.3

Schmidt's

You too should be proud to say: "I am a jelly-filled doughnut!"*



http://schmidts-sf.com/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_eIzpZzGKo
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9tm-PPujiI **


As this weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the construction of der Berliner Mauer, I felt it necessary to have breakfast at a local German restaurant, Schmidt's. They are located in the Mission District and are the upscale little brother of Walzwerk, which is also in the Mission.

http://walzwerk.com/
 
I have had lunch and dinner several times at Schmidt's, but this was the first time I ever went there for breakfast. I even did a little grocery shopping at their in-store deli while waiting for the food to come, as they offer many German import items.
 



To me ein typisches deutsches Frühstück (as described in a previous 'blog-entry; see: Suppenküche, August 15th, 2010) was always simply Käse (cheese; usually a few different types), Brot oder Brötchen (bread or rolls; again, usually a few different varieties), and ein Kännchen Kaffee (a small pot of coffee), and, often enough, ein gekochtes Ei (a semi-hardboiled egg) may be included. The first time I had this simple breakfast fare was on my first trip ever to "Mainland Germany" from (what was then still) West Berlin (Vielen Dank, Herr La Prade!).

Schmidt's really only had a few Frühstück-y items from which to choose, so for olde-tyme's sake I ordered the kleines frühstück ~ sliced ham, salami (both of which I skipped, by the way, Herr Skipper Way) and cheese, quark***, hard-boiled egg, shredded carrot and raisin salad, served with German breads, butter, mustard, blackberry, gooseberry, and lingonberry jams. I asked what the difference was between the kleines Frühstück and the großes Frühstück and was told that they are the same just a larger portion for the großes. I also had a cuppa coffee ~ well, actually a 17 oz. French Press of a local roastery, De La Paz (you really can't get more local than one located just a few blocks away). (Sorry, Lowell, but they don't offer any Kännchen.)

http://www.delapazcoffee.com/
 



The only disappointing part of the meal was that there was just one type of cheese provided (albeit a nice Edam or something similar) and one type of bread (a Vollkornbrot of some type). However, I really did like that they had three different types of jams from which to choose, which, unlike they have on their menu, were actually strawberry, lingonberry, and ein sehr gut Pflaumenmus. The plum jam was truly wunderbar; I ended up finishing off all the Pflaumenmus and spread it intermittently with some of the Quark on several slices of bread. The Karrottensalat was pretty good, too, with golden raisins and diced apple bits in it, but this mostly went uneaten as I had more than enough trouble finishing off what I had. I pity the Dummkopf that orders the großes frühstück and with the additional dead, decaying animal products.

Figuring I wouldn't be needing any hot sauces for condimentary supplementation, I did not bother to bring any with me today. However, it was nice that Schmidt's provided two different types of Senf (mustard) ~ Löwensenf Extra (scharfer) und Bayerisch Süß (Extra Hot and Bayern Sweet) ~ to use with the cheese and bread.

http://www.loewensenf.de/
 
Unfortunately it was too early in the morning to order ein Bier (which was a shame as they have a very decent selection of imported German Beers). Now if they had ein Wassermelone Altbier on the menu, maybe I would have gotten one…


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Frühstück ~ 6.4; De La Paz Coffee ~ 6.8


*(Just a little clarification on the whole JFK "Ich bin ein Berliner" story ~ copied from the always reliable pages of Wikipedia:

"It is a common misconception that John F. Kennedy made a risible error by saying 'Ich bin ein Berliner' (emphasis added): the claim is made that Kennedy referred to himself not as a 'citizen of Berlin', but as a 'jelly doughnut', known in parts of Germany as a 'Berliner'. Kennedy should, supposedly, have said 'Ich bin Berliner' to mean 'I am a person from Berlin', and that adding the indefinite article 'ein' to his statement implied he was a non-human Berliner, thus, 'I am a jelly doughnut'. However, the indefinite article 'ein' is omitted when speaking of an individual's profession or residence, but is necessary when speaking in a figurative sense as Kennedy did. Since the President was not literally from Berlin, but only declaring his solidarity with its citizens, 'Ich bin Berliner' would not have been correct."
 
Besides, the entire quote was:

"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum ['I am a Roman citizen']. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'" 

Consider that your useless cunning linguist pointer of the day Nummer eins [or numerus, even].

Plus, I was once told by a local Berliner that their term for a "jelly doughnut" is a "Französisch" ~ meaning French-style. After all, New York-style pizza in Manhattan is simply called "pizza", youse knows.

So, even though I think Eddie Izzard is a very funny man, sometimes a good cigar is just a jelly doughnut, mein Freud.

And here is another little known fact, Mr. Clavin, the "F." in "John F. Kennedy" really stands for "Frühstück" and if you don't believe me, you can look it up for yourself on Wikipedia!)

**(Yeah, sure, I could have gone with the more popular, classic Marlene Dietrich version, but I like this sexy, but controversially ambiguous, singer much better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lear )

***("Quark" is basically the Teutonic version of a ricotta-type soft cheese. It has nothing to do with the Physics term for elementary particles; no matter, however ~ and here is the useless cunning linguist pointer of the day Nummer zwei ~ the term actually derives from the German word and was coined by U.S. physicist Murray Gell-Mann from a nonce word in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

And, Doktor Wer, I am sorry to say, it has nothing to do with a type of robot, either.)

Ashley's Breakfast Shoppes

Dorchester*, Boston, MA 
(Sunday, August 7th, 2011)



(No website available)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9RHX8Y9VRg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYQE5YDsWCc

(This song doesn't seem quite as creepy** when sung by the King.)


On the way to Logan Airport for my flight back home on Sunday morning, my brother Kerry and I once again stopped at Ashley's Breakfast Shoppes for breakfast (see 'blog-entry from July 23rd, 2010). Again, I am not sure why it is a "Shoppes" (plural?), but I still like this little local neighborhood place in Dorchester. Apparently it was Elvis hour on a local Boston radio station on Sunday morning as that was all that was being played on the radio while we were eating. There were a few very interesting covers sung by the King (including a couple of Beatles songs) as well as several classic Elvis standards.

While checking out their specials board (they still have the Obama Special that was on there last year), I happened to notice this sign:




And I was very pleased that I did, as it was a great addition to the meal. Of course, any time there is an interesting potato dish to try, I am right there.

I ordered their Eggs Benedict ~ two dropped eggs with ham and Hollandaise sauce on English (sic) with fries and coffee. They let me substitute the standard home fries for a side o' Sweet Potato Home Fries, and they let me substitute the ham for turkey sausage (or turkey bacon) ~ which I gave to Kerry. I also had a glass of orange juice. Kerry just went with their basic breakfast meal: eggs, grits, and toast; he also had a cuppa coffee and orange juice.





There was nothing really special about the Hollandaise sauce, but it was all good and better than I would ever attempt to make. Kerry was pleased to see that they offered two different types of turkey breakfast meats. The Sweet Potato Home Fries were very good, not greasy at all; actually, they were ½-sweet potatoes and ½-regular (white) potatoes with lots of diced white onions. This was a good combination, as just sweet potatoes may have been overkill. If they had added some fresh, diced jalapeños ~ and maybe some whole garlic cloves ~ to the mess, they would really have had something extra special.

Ashley's only has as condimentary supplements Tabasco® (standard red) and Frank's® RedHot (Original). I went with just a little Frank's on the home fries.

As Ashley's coffee was just your typical diner fare, I felt it necessary to get a good cuppa Peet's Coffee® House Blend at Boston Beer Works™ at Logan Airport. It was a little too early for a Watermelon Ale (well, not for me, just for the restaurant, as they don't serve Beers on Sunday until after 10:00am). I also missed out sampling this seasonal Ale the other night at the Boston Beer Works™ at Fenway Park as the wait for food was about an hour and we had to get to the game (Red Sox ~ 3, stupid Cleveland Indians ~ 7). I was surprised to find that Boston Beer Works™ has a pretty decent breakfast menu, too. I might have to wait to get breakfast next time and eat at the airport… as long as it's after 10:00am.

http://www.beerworks.net/home/index.html


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Eggs Benedict ~ 6.0; Eggs, Grits, Toast, & Turkey Sausage ~ 6.5; Sweet Potato Home Fries ~ 6.8


*(Dorchester is a neighborhood of Boston, located due south from the city center along the water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorchester,_Boston )

**("Sweet Caroline" is the Unofficial 8th Inning Stretch song at Fenway Park, Home of your 2011 World Champion Boston Red Sox. It was written and originally sung by Neil Diamond. Supposedly, he wrote the song after seeing a picture of a then 11-year old Caroline Kennedy. I really can't stand this song and don't see why the Fenway Faithful sing along to it at every home game; it has nothing to do with Boston, or the Red Sox, or Baseball in general even. But, then again, I hate having to be forced to listen to the National Anthem at every sporting event, too.)

Cranberry Cottage

Wareham*, MA (Wednesday, 08/03/11)

(No website available)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yam5uK6e-bQ

While on vacation last week in Massachusetts, I had breakfast at Cranberry Cottage, which is along the Cranberry Highway**, in Cranberryville***, MA.

This is a fun little local place and as there really are only a few good places in town for breakfast it was pretty busy at 9:30am on a mid-week morning. I have no idea what the Wizard of Oz has to do with either cranberries or Cape Cod ("Toto, I don‘t think we're in Hyannis anymore."), but they had this interesting diorama of the Tin Woodsman hanging from the ceiling; maybe it was made from empty cranberry sauce tins.

They have a lot of good stuff from which to choose on their menu, but seeing as we were in Cranberryville, USA, I had to go with something with cranberries in it: Cranberry Stuffed French Toast ~ made with Texas Toast; a glass of cranberry juice and a cuppa coffee; and a side o' home fries (no cranberries in it, though). My brother Sean joined me and had the Irish Benedict ~ Corned beef hash on an English muffin, 2 poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, & home fries; and an orange juice. (What do you expect? He's from New York and just didn't get with the whole cranberry idea.)

I really liked the French toast and it was over-stuffed with lots of sour cranberry goodness; it was a lot to eat as they give you four halves. I probably shoulda got the "Combo" which included Granny Smith apples in two of the halves instead of cranberries. I blame Sean for his negligence and not pointing this option out to me until after we had already ordered. The coffee was really nothing much of which to speak, but the flavour of the French toast more than made up for the bland coffee.

Sean's meal looked pretty good, too. I like that they had several "Benedict Selections" from which to choose. He seemed to enjoy it, but did mention that the corned beef seemed out of a can, not fresh. It was an original idea, still.

They offer as condimentary supplementation both Tabasco® (the standard red) and Frank's® RedHot (Original). Sean and I both went with some Frank's® on the potatoes; and I used just a little maple syrup (which I assume was 100% pure Vermont) and butter on the French toast.

Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Cranberry Stuffed French Toast ~ 7.0; Irish Benedict ~ 6.6

*(Wareham is in Plymouth County and was named after the town in Dorset, England. While not technically "on the Cape", Wareham is known as "the Gateway to Cape Cod".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wareham,_Massachusetts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wareham,_Dorset

Wareham is also the Home of your Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League:

http://www.gatemen.org/

http://v2.capecodbaseball.org/

I always try to take in a game or two when I am visiting there. It really is the best value for your dollar ~ free, but they do ask for donations ~ and what is Summer all about if not live, local Baseball and Cape Cod beaches.)

**("The Cranberry Highway" is actually Route 28 which takes you to Cape Cod, not Route 6, where the restaurant is located ~ but what fun is there in calling it the "Marion Cottage on the Marion Road". Route 28 was called "the Cranberry Highway" because there were many ~ and still are some ~ cranberry bogs all along the side of the road.

One time while driving to the Cape, my brother Nick mentioned to his step-children to keep an eye out along the way for any cranberry bogs. When they had reached their destination, his step-daughter refused to get out of the car. When Nick asked her why, she said she was afraid of all the "raspberry bugs".

And for relating that story, I am sure that my step-niece, Christina Greena, will de-Friend me on defacedbook now.)

***(The headquarters of Ocean Spray® is actually in Middleboro/Lakeville, MA, which is just a town or so away from Wareham.)