http://www.savorrestaurant.net/
I revisited Savor on 24th Street over in Noe Valley (see last 'blog-entry from September 5th, 2010). I was almost tempted to sit outside in their large patio area, but it was still a bit chilly this morning and the Sun really wasn't hitting back there yet; it has (retractable) canvas awnings and overhead gas heaters, but that kinda defeats the whole purpose of eating outside, right?
Savor has a very large and cool Christmas nutcracker collection on display already for the holidays. There is even a "Wizard of Oz" set: Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, Glinda ~ the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch of the West, and even a Flying Monkey with Toto in the basket; the only one missing was the Wizard himself.
Savor offers many different types of sweet and Savor-y crêpes to choose from, plus several omelettes and egg scramble dishes. I went with one of their Savor-y crêpes: Mazatlán[1] ~ Avocado, tomatoes, sharp cheddar, and chipotle[2] peppers, with salsa fresca and sour cream; served with home potatoes and mixed greens. I also had a large glass of Cranberry- Lemonade (which was just ½-cranberry juice and ½-lemonade that I asked to have made).
This had lots of chipotle flavour, smoky but not overpoweringly spicy, and lots of avocado in it, which is always nice when it is stated as the first ingredient (Perry, please take note). The home fries were very good, too ~ a large portion and perfectly crispy/crunchy. I mostly left the mixed greens untouched, again.
Savor only has Tabasco® (the standard red) on all of the tables as condimentary supplements, but the notes from my last trip stated they have both the red and green (Jalapeño) Tabasco® and Tapatío®; so, I came prepared with a couple from my own collection, but only ended up using some Benito's Original Naranja (Thanks, me!) on the potatoes, the chipotle flavour in the crêpe really didn't need to be messed with.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Mazatlán Crêpe ~ 7.0
[1] I have never been to Mazatlán, but would like to make a trip there one of these days. For those of you that also have never been:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazatl%C3%A1n
[2] Stupid, useless cunning linguist (and pseudo-culinary) pointer of the day:
"Chipotle" comes from the Nahuatl word "chilpoktli" meaning "smoked chili pepper". It is just a smoke-dried jalapeño pepper.
Great Caesar's ghost! Where were my vegetables?
http://www.perryssf.com
(I am not sure whether this is a good link or not as I could not seem to get it to come up when I tried it, but it should be the correct web-site address according to Google.)
I had breakfast (well, technically "Brunch") this morning at Perry's (the original location on Union Street in Cow Hollow). Perry's has a mini-chain of restaurants/bars; there are three others in San Francisco: one on the Embarcadero[1], one downtown, and the other in the Potrero Hill area. As best as I can tell, Perry's has been around for forty years or more. They have that old-style San Francisco décor going on ~ lots of dark wood paneling and terra cotta[2] ceiling tiles; ferns hanging from wall planters; lots of brass on the bar, etc.
This is definitely a typical "Brunch" place (especially as it is dictated on their menu); there are cloth tablecloths and napkins on every table; plus, two(!) forks on the place settings (I normally am confused by just one fork, knife, and spoon). At least they do have the good sense to open up pretty early (8:30am) for a "Brunch" place. They also have four sidewalk tables, which is always good when the weather is nice like it was this morning.
While walking along Union Street this morning, I spied about four Wild Parrots of San Francisco flying overhead (of course, I heard their chattering first and then looked up to see them).
Perry's has a pretty good breakfast (well, again, "Brunch") menu from which to choose, I went with the Vegetable Frittata ~ sautéed (extra points for spelling this on the menu avec accent aigu) vegetables, Parmesan, & Fontina; most of the egg dishes come with a side salad, but I skipped that (What am I some kinda stupid vegetarian, salad-eating "Brunch" person?) and ordered a side of the Breakfast Potatoes. I also had a cuppa coffee.
I was very surprised to see that the breakfast dishes don't come with any toast (in addition to having to order potatoes as a side dish); must be a "Brunch" thing. Now my main gripe: as best as I could tell, the "sautéed vegetables" were just zucchini and mushrooms; there might have been some onions or something else in there, but I really couldn't see or taste any; now don't get me wrong, I like both zucchini and mushrooms, I was just expecting a variety of vegetables in it. At least it had lots of Fontina cheese melted on top; however, I really couldn't discern any Parmesan, either. The Breakfast Potatoes were pretty good, though; they were home fries style made with red potatoes and had lots of onions and red peppers in them (so, basically, as many vegetables as in the Vegetable Frittata).
Perry's condimentary supplementation is Tabasco® (the standard red) and Cholula® (so, just as many choices as vegetables in the frittata). I went with some of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce on the frittata (Thanks agains, Amys!) and a little Sylvia's Restaurant® Kickin' Hot Hot Sauce on the potatoes (Thanks again, Sean!).
Perry's seems to be some sorta celebrity hang-out as there are several autographed photos on the walls of famous athletes and Hollywoodland stars. There was an autographed photo of Goldie Hawn right behind me that looked like it was from a movie (I didn't recognize the film) where the scene might have been filmed at Perry's. Goldie was smiling and seemed to be enjoying her meal, so I can only assume that she hadn't ordered the Vegetable Frittata, or if she did, hers included more than just two "sautéed vegetables".
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Vegetable Frittata ~ 6.2
[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer, número uno:
"Embarcadero" derives its name from the Spanish verb "embarcar", meaning "to embark"; Embarcadero itself simply means "the place to embark".
[2] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer, seconda parte:
"Terra cotta" or "terracotta" is Italian for literally "baked earth", "terra" meaning "earth" and "cotta" meaning "baked"; which in turn comes from Latin "terra" (again meaning "earth") and "cocta", the feminine past perfect of the verb "coquere" meaning "to cook".
The word root for "terra" can be seen in such words as "terrain" and "terrarium"; whereas, the word root for "cotta" can be seen in such words as "cottage cheese" and "you cotta be kiddin' me, Perry”.
슬라이스 빵 보단 낫네.
http://www.artscafesf.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvw--mNvPXQ
(Some guys playing an à propos song for this morning's gloomy weather.)
I revisited Art's Café (see last 'blog-entry from August 14th, 2010) for breakfast this morning. Art's Café is still located in the Sunset District (over on Irving Street), much as it has been for the last 60 years (or so their web-site says). As stated in the past, they have seating for 14 people only and everyone has a counter/diner seat (so, Jesus could have also invited Mary Magdalene after all to his last supper shindig at this place; that is if they really like hashbrowns or kosher Korean food).
Art's Café offers several good breakfast selections from which to choose: standard egg dishes; omelettes (which they have mispeleded on their menu as "omeletes"); pancakes; and French toasts (Is that really the plural of "toast"?) ~ especially one called Grilled Banana French Toast (with walnuts and whipped cream), which may deserve a look-see one of these days, too. However, today I made the trip all the way over there (in the off-and-on pouring rain, mind you) specifically to try one of their Specialties: Hashbrown Sandwiches. This is truly an amazing invention, and as stated in the subtitle above (What, you can't read Korean?), it's even "better than sliced bread", Lord Montagu. It's really a pretty simple idea and starts with thinly layered hashbrowns covered with Cheddar cheese, then the other ingredients are inserted inside and the hashbrowns folded over à la mode d'une omelette (or "omelete", even).
I had the Vegetarian Hashbrown Sandwich ~ Onions, Mushrooms, Bell Peppers, and Tomatoes; served with Melted Cheddar Cheese on Hashbrowns, two eggs (over medium), and toast (or "toasts", sourdough). I also ordered a large glass of odwalla® orange juice.
http://odwalla.com/index.jsp?WT.srch=1
This was excellent, and I recommend it highly. It was just as I had pictured it would be. Nice and crunchy with the sandwich of hashbrowns and very tasty with all the ingredients inside it. They squirt a little barbecue sauce in with the vegetables while sautéing them; at first I had thought that it was the sweet-hot Korean hot sauce "gochujang", but after tasting it, I could tell that it was just a basic barbecue sauce, probably so as to not scare any of us "round eyes" off. The only thing that might have made this even better would be the addition of spinach and/or avocado; the lady next to me got avocado and tofu in hers. No one told me I could make substitutions! Next time I am gonna ask for mine with tofu, spinach, and gochujang.
After breakfast, I stopped at Beanery (the one on 9th Street, just around the corner) for a pretty decent cuppa French Roast (Organic). Beanery has four locations in the Bay area now, with two in the Sunset just a few blocks apart, one in Alameda, and one in Berkeley. I think the one on 9th Street is the original Bay Area location, which has been there since 1989.
Now this is one table of which even Cosmo would be very proud!
Art's Café offers for condimentary supplements Tabasco® (just the standard red) and Crystal®, as well as their home-made gochujang. I forewent the aforementioned hot sauces and once again used some from my own collection: a little Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce on the sandwich (Thanks agains, Amys!) and a little Oaxacan Hot Sauce on the eggs (Thanks, me!).
Actually, if I knew I was only going to get one last meal, I think I'd have to opt for a "Last Breakfast", and as good as the Hashbrown Sandwich was, I would probably go to Dottie's True blue café instead… and I really doubt I would invite those ungrateful fargin' bastages Judas Iscariot or Thomas ~ they would probably try to sneak in some bacon into their meals, anyway.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Vegetarian Hashbrown Sandwich ~ 7.4; Beanery, French Roast (Organic) ~ 7.0; Sliced Bread ~ 6.0
(The management regrets to inform that there are no stupid, useless cunning linguists pointers of the day today.)
Sorry, I didn't opt for the waffles or sprouts, Mademoiselle Audrey Kathleen Ruston.
http://www.frjtzfries.com/
Tom Waits for no man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RYlnlWY-9g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv1MTT4NofE
(Once again there really is no connection between these Tom Waits songs and today's ontbijt/petit-déjeuner/Früstück[1]; and I have nothing against Mr. Waits excellent original versions, it is just that I was listening the other day to a mix-CD that my brother ~ Thanks, Kerry! ~ had made for me a few years ago with all Tom Waits covers, which he named "Lite Waits". I really wanted to include the Los Lobos version of "Jockey Full of Bourbon", but couldn't find it on stupid EweToob. That's okay, I like John Hammond's[2] version, too ~ which is off his "Wicked Grin" CD, dedicated entirely to Tom Waits songs ~ plus, I saw him perform live in San Francisco during the tour of that CD and Tom Waits even got up on stage and sang/performed a few with him.)
Breakfasted this morning at Frjtz[3], the one on Hayes Street (coincidentally enough in Hayes Valley[4]). (Hey, CJ!) Frjtz has two locations in San Francisco, this one and another in the Mission. There used to be another location in Ghirardelli Square, but that one closed several years ago now; it's a shame, too, as that had a great northern view overlooking Aquatic Park. The Hayes Street location is the original one, but it moved next door into a larger space a few years back; the original space was pretty small, but it did have a backyard open-air patio that was fun to eat in when the weather was nice (like this morning).
It's an interesting joint that specializes in crêpes and the eponymous "frjtz", which are served à le mode de la Belgique in a tall glass sundae cup. You just order at the counter and they bring the food to you. Frjtz has a real cool décor with several Batman/Super Heroes terrariums and other fun artwork. (Howdy, Cassy!)
They also offer Belgian waffles and Belgian mussels (Monsieur Van Damme) on the menu, too. For some reason, the Hayes Street location only offers scrambles and pancakes for brunch but the Valencia Street location has both scrambles and omelettes, as well as other egg dishes and pancakes. The scramble dishes at the Hayes Street location are all named after Greek and Roman philosophers and poets (I don't even want to venture to guess what the secret ingredients are in the Sappho ~ but I'm sure the cunning linguist in me would love to find out); whereas, the Valencia Street location has all the scramble/omelette dishes named after World-Class museums.
I have had several of their crêpes in the past (and they were always good) and didn't feel like waffles, so I ordered the Ovid Scramble ~ Veggie salami, yellow corn, black beans, roasted red bell peppers, cilantro, and Mozzarella cheese; served with toasted baguette slices (which I skipped); and a side order of small frjtz (which comes with one complimentary dipping sauce, but I got an additional one. One dip is usually enough for a small order of fries, but what is the fun in that?). Before stopping at the restaurant, I went to the little outdoor coffee stand on Octavia Boulevard, across the street from Patricia's Green (the little playground/dog park between Hayes and Fell): Ritual Coffee and had a fresh drippa cuppa the El Ciprés roast/blend.
http://ritualroasters.com/
The first question I asked myself was "Quid Ovid?", was Ovid some kinda Roman erotic vegetarian? I got over it in time to enjoy my scramble. I am pretty sure that Ovid never really ate an egg dish with either corn or roasted red peppers in it, though. I expected the veggie salami to be in round slices, but it was actually in ½" chunks; either way, it was pretty tasty.
These may not be "THE" best French fries in the World, but they are easily one of the best in San Francisco, which are aided by the many choices of dipping sauces (available in ketchup-based, mustard-based, and mayonnaise-based; just to name a few of the more interesting flavours: Artichoke white-truffle ketchup, Creamy wasabi mayo, and Strawberry mustard) and that really puts them over the top. I chose the Spicy yogurt peanut (because I was misinformed that it's National Peanut Butter Day[5] and I had to honour that major holiday in some way) and Habanero cranberry ketchup.
In addition to their numerous Dipping Sauces, Frjtz also offers as condimentary supplementation Cholula® and those McCormick® Peppercorn Grinders; I really didn't need any extra flavours for my frjtz, but I did use some of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce on the scramble (Thanks agains, Amys!).
It was really a little early for it, but I really shoulda gotten a Stella Artois® to complement the meal, too.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Ovid Scramble ~ 6.8; Frjtz (with dips figured in) ~ 7.7; Ritual Coffee, El Ciprés ~ 6.7
[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, nummer een/numéro un/Nummer eins:
The official languages of Belgium are Dutch (also known as Belgian Dutch/Flemish), French, and German, which must make the traffic signs very hard to understand for stupid 'merican touristas who have trouble enough trying to understand what the locals in London are saying. This is to say nothing of the other regional languages spoken in Belgium: Walloon and Picard, Jean-Luc.
[2] John Hammond is a very cool guy. John has graciously allowed a friend of mine to include some of his music in EweToob videos of his drawings that he has there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtbtUVwt_ts
Thank, John! Thanks, Skip!
John Hammond comes from Rock-and/or-Roll and Blues pedigree as his father was John H. Hammond II, the legendary music producer who produced the first records of both Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, as well as the last recordings of Blues legend Eddie James "Son" House, Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_House
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ-TQwMhPDg
[3] J can't fjnd an exact translatjon for what "Frjtz" means, but the best J can fjgure for a stupjd, useless cunnjng ljngujst pojnter, stront/merde/Scheiße*:
"Frjtz" (pronounced "freets") may just be a regional dialectal way of saying "French fries" in Belgium. The word for "French fries" in Dutch is "friet"; in French it is "pommes (de terre) frites"; and in German it is "Pommes frites" ("borrowed" directly from their neighbor to the west, probably while enjoying a free meal on the Champs-Élysées in the early 1940's), which the Germans usually just shorten to "Pommes".
*(That would be "number two" in Dutch/French/German for any of you following along this far.)
[4] Interestingly enough, Hayes Street/Valley was not named after our esteemed 19th President of the United States (yeah, right, I challenge anyone to tell me who his Vice President was) nor even after Isaac (of "Shaft" theme song-fame and "Chef" on South Park).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_Valley
[5] Sorry, Lisa, a quick Intro-Net search showed that there are conflicting dates of when this holiday actually is, but none of them are today:
January 24th, 2011 ~ National Peanut Butter Day (per Punchbowl, whoever they are supposed to be)
March 2011 ~ National Peanut Month (according to Holiday Insights)
March 1st, 2011 ~ National Peanut Butter Lover's Day (again per Punchbowl)
April 11th, 2011 ~ Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (Atlanta, GA)
September 13th, 2011 ~ Peanut Day (per Days of the Year)
November 10th, 2011 ~ National Peanut Butter Day (per CNN)
How can such an important event be so confusing? That Christ guy never gets his birthday mixed up with Kwanzaa or Hanukkah and he wasn't even 'merican!
Sabor Mexicano[1]
http://sabormexicano.com/chilayo/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq3YLhtuzTQ
(There really is no connection with this Van Morrison song and today's desayuno; it just happens to be my favourite song of his. I may have even linked this one here in the past. If you don't like it, tough! Start your own damn 'blog…)
Desayuno en el Marina esta mañana: Chilayo[2] (on Chestnut Street). This is really just an upscale (as the neighborhood would dictate) version of una Misión taquería; you order at the counter/cash register and they bring the food to your table. Chilayo has two fireplaces, one indoors and one outdoors in their sidewalk patio area (which has five tables for two); neither were really necessary this morning, but they had them fired up all the same.
Supposedly, all of the vegetable ingredients used in their dishes are from their own farm-grown produce up in Sonoma County. I really could care less about "organic" and "locally-grown" stuff, just as long as it's "fresh" and "tasty" stuff. They make all of their own salsas and they had eleven different fresh homemade ones to choose from this morning (their menu says they make more than forty different types, too). Unfortunately I was only able to try six of them (not due to any of their restrictions, just my appetite); but those that I did try were all great and packed a little bit of heat and a lot of sabor when needed.
I was glad to see that they have both Chilaquiles and Nopales con huevo (which I usually see as Huevos con nopales) on their menu, but I went with the Omelet a la Mexicana ~ "organic" eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, green onions, serrano chiles, mole; served with country (red) potatoes and black refried beans. I also had a large glass (well, a large paper cup ~ it is upscale, but still a taquería, after all) of Sandia agua fresca[3], and before they had opened, I stopped by Peet's Coffee & Tea® (which is right next door) and got a cuppa Ethiopian Blend.
The included mole was the deciding factor for me (over my normal favorite of Chilaquiles) and I was glad I went with this as it was very tasty. The refried black beans were very good, and are made with corn in it and some queso fresco[4] sprinkled on top. I would have preferred some corn tortillas instead of the potatoes (I suppose I could have asked for some), as those would have been very handy with which to sop up all the remaining mole. The agua fresca was chock full o' watermelon bits, and it was not as cloyingly sweet as it can sometimes be with too much added sugar; there was actually so much pulp in it that I had to add some water to it to get to all the extra sandia.
As stated above, Chilayo has many freshly made condimentary supplements from which to choose, so I didn't need to use any from my own collection (but I had brought a few, just in case).
I will probably go back again for lunch or dinner sometime, especially to try more of their excellent salsas.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Omelet a la Mexicana (with the mole figured in) ~ 6.9; Salsas frescas ~ 7.7
[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número uno:
This either means some kinda ceremonial Mexican cavalry sword, or "the flavour of Mexico"; I will let you decide.
[2] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, segunda parte:
As best as I could discern from asking the guy at the counter, "Chilayo" is some kind of traditional Mexican stew/dish made with pork or spareribs, or it may also be some kind of Mexican cactus. An Intro-Net search wasn't really much help.
[3] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, en tercer lugar:
"Aguas frescas" in Spanish simply means "fresh water" and usually refers to drinks made with fresh fruits and water with some added sugar for sweetness. They are usually very refreshing ("refrescas"?) and go great with all the spicy dishes.
[4] Do I really need to explain this in a cunning linguist pointer? The "fresco" is the same adjective from above, and, of course, "queso" simply means "kiss me quick, I'm double-parked".
They might be diners…
(No official web-site. Phonicular contact info: 415-661-2468)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Za8HggalY&feature=related
(I am sure there will be at least one of my loyal readers that enjoys this EweToob link, but he has no choice as he is my little brother… and this was probably his theme song growing up in the same house as our maniacal oldest brother, who shall remain nameless for familial harmony purposes.)
As it was time for my annual eye exam, I decided to have breakfast in the same neighborhood (which would be West Portal) before my morning appointment. As luck would have it, there is a little place directly across the street: Manor Coffee Shop (Restaurant); I write it as such as their awning just reads Manor Coffee Shop, but their menu actually says the completely redundant Manor Coffee Shop Restaurant redundancy. By the way, the name of my eye doctor: Dr. Karen See, Optometrist[1].
I have eaten at this place a few times for lunch in the past, but this was my first time having breakfast there. They may call themselves a "coffee shop" (or even "coffee shop restaurant"), but they are very much a "diner" (in the best sense of the word, Mr. Fieri). They have probably been at this same location since the 50's. I sat at their long linoleum counter (which takes up most of the space, anyway) to get the full diner-effect; they have about twenty stools ~ maroon vinyl-covered and all ~ and only six tables/booths. The servers wear olde-timey pink and white waitress uniforms (and, boy, did my server, Bruce, ever look silly in that dress). They even have this great wall paper design and border thingy that I want for my kitchen.
Their breakfast menu is pretty extensive and has a lot of good choices. I am not sure you can order these for breakfast, but they have both sweet potato fries and something called Silly Spuds on their regular lunch/dinner menu. I have had the Silly Spuds before and I can tell you they are very tasty; they are basically one large potato chip made from a swirl-cut of an entire potato and served on a skewer; it comes with a choice of fifteen different flavours (which are just some sprinkled on powder, but still very good), e.g. Cajun, Chili Lime, Curry, Dill Pickle, Pizza, etc.
I ordered the Popeye's Garden Omelette ~ spinach, mushrooms, and cheese; served with buttered toast (went with the choice of English muffins) and homemade hash brown potatoes; and a cuppa good diner coffee (hot, black, basically tasteless… coffee). (Now I am not really sure what kinda garden Popeye is keeping, but he may need to be reported to the authorities if he is cultivating his mushrooms in a cow pasture.)
This was made with lots of fresh spinach, but for some reason it was on the outside of the omelette; I am not even sure how they did that. However, there was just plain ol' 'merican cheese inside the omelette; I suppose I could have asked for Swiss cheese as I did notice it on the menu, and that always seems to pair well with spinach and mushrooms. It really was a lot of food, combined with the huge portion of hashbrowns. The coffee may have been just diner coffee, but they kept refilling my cup, so I kept on drinking it.
Manor Coffee Shop only has as condimentary supplementation Tabasco® (and just the standard red); but I had come well prepared and went with a little (well, a lot really) Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys!) on the hashbrowns, and a little Benito's Original Naranja on the omelette.
While there was absolutely nothing spectacular about the entire breakfast, would I go back there again? You betcha. The whole atmosphere was diner-esque and the wait-staff were all very friendly.
Breakfast is not unfair, Malcolm.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Popeye's Garden Omelette ~ 5.5
[1] I can't make this stuff up. This is like having the last name of "Cook" or "Baker" and working in the food industry.
Which brings us to the stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:
There is a dentist in my neighborhood named Dr. Zubov. The Russkij word for tooth is "зуб", which is transliterated as "zub" and pronounced "zoob".
I am just glad that Dr. See's first name isn't "Anita", or that her Chinese surname wasn't "Ho" or "Wang" or there is no telling which direction her profession may have taken her.
Time for breakfast, just one hour later… or earlier… whatever; DST (like the Y*nkees) s*cks.
http://www.mamas-sf.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWdCKPtnYE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muF73GiqXoE
(Interestingly enough, the last time I ate at this place, I also linked a Robert Zimmerman video/song as it was his 70th birthday that day. I have no idea when Sir Michael Philip Jagger's or Commoner Keith Richards' birthdays are, though.)
I went back to Mama♥s on Washington Square (see last 'blog-entry from May 22nd, 2011), which amazingly enough is actually on Washington Square in North Beach (just down the Hill ~ Telegraph ~ from Coit Tower[1]). This really is one of the best places for breakfast in San Francisco, as attested by the long lines of locals and touristas daily; there were already ten people waiting in line ahead of me when I got there this morning, and this was a full half-hour before they even opened still. The Sun was out (barely), but it was still pretty brisk waiting in line. The reason for the long lines (other than the great food) is that they really are a small place: there is a front room with eight 2-seat tables, and one booth for 4-5 people; and a back room with just three booths for 3-4 people, and one table for 4 people.
While waiting in line, I only saw three Wild Parrots of San Francisco flying over Washington Square Park ~ it seems it was even too early for them; apparently they hadn't been informed about the whole stupid Daylight Saving Time idiocy.
I was tempted to order the Weekend Special ~ French Toast Sampler trio: Banana Nut (bread), Swedish Cinnamon, and Cranberry Orange Walnut (bread) topped with bananas and fresh fruit/berries, but instead decided on Farmers[2] Momelette ~ Fresh Baby Spinach, Sautéed Leeks, Goat Cheese, and Bacon (which, of course, I skipped, Glen); served with Grilled Red Potatoes and Your Choice of Toast: White, Wheat, Rye, or Sourdough Baguette[3]. (My choice was the sourdough baguette. Here's a little know fact, Cliff: the word "baguette" actually comes from the French word for "little bag or sack", as this was what was normally used to carry the fresh-baked loaves back from the local boulangerie.) I also had a cuppa coffee and a large glass of orange juice.
This was a very good choice; it was filled with lots of fresh spinach, plus the grilled leeks and goat cheese all worked very well together. I am sure I would have enjoyed their Trio de Pain Perdu, aussi… next time.
Mama♥s offers as condimentary supplements Tabasco® (both the standard red and the green Jalapeño) and Tapatío®; but I went with two from my own collection: some Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys!) on the Momelette, and some Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce ~ Original Mild on the potatoes. I was sure to use some of their home-made raspberry jam (which was excellent as ever) on the sourdough baguette toast.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Farmers Momelette ~ 7.2
[1] For those of you that have never been to North Beach or even San Francisco, Coit Tower is a minor tourist attraction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coit_Tower
It's not a "must see", but if you have the time, it is a "worth seeing"; the 360-degree views of the San Francisco Bay are excellent on a clear day.
[2] This was written as "Farmers" ~ plural, like yesterday's "Hunters Scramble". I would like to see them be able to seat a bunch of hungry agrarians in their small restaurant, though.
[3] I hope you really didn't buy that other stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer.
Véridique, stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:
The word "baguette" comes from French, from Italian "baccheta" meaning "a little stick", from Latin "baculum" meaning "a stick".
Speak softly, but carry a large loaf of bread, Mr. Roosevelt?
http://www.magicfluteristorante.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo4pdhKL4b4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=0BVQdFoQRiU
(You were expecting ein bisschen authentische Mozart, perhaps? Like you didn't see those coming. Wow, I never knew Marty Feldman was such an accomplished flautist.)
This was only my second visit in twenty-plus years to Magic Flute[1] Garden Ristorante[2] which is over on Sacramento Street in the affluent Presidio Heights[3] neighborhood. As for the correct name of the restaurant, it is either The Magic Flute Garden Ristorante, or Magic Flute Garden Ristorante, or Magic Flute Ristorante; take your pick, they have it printed on their menus, cards, and on the building itself several different ways. This is your archetypal "Brunch" place, but I wanted to re-try it, anyway.
I had gotten to the restaurant (or "ristorante", or "garden ristorante") a little early (they open at 10:00am, which isn't that bad as far as "Brunch" places tend to be), so I walked over to the Peet's Coffee & Tea® a few blocks away in the Laurel Village shopping plaza and got a cuppa their seasonal special Godiva® Pecan Caramel Mocha. It sounded disgusting, so I knew I had to try it. It was pretty sweet, as expected, but it wasn't really that horrible.
I sat out back in the "Garden Ristorante" part of the place to get the best effect. There is a plastic windbreak screen on half of the patio section; however, it really wasn't that cold out this morning, anyway, and it was nice to be able to eat (somewhat) outdoors while it is still possible before Winter sets in. They do have gas heaters in the patio section if it gets too cold; I didn't see the need for them myself and even took off my jacket after a few minutes.
Their "Brunch" menu is a bit limited, but they do offer a couple of nice egg dishes as well as French toast and waffle selections. No way was I going to order just a crummy ol' salad for breakfast. However, I did order Grilled Black Mission Figs ~ stuffed with Point Reyes bleu cheese, wrapped in proscuitto di Parma (which I skipped, Howard), drizzled with a balsamic reduction, and a mixed green salad. I went with a half-order (which wasn't on the menu, but my server said it would be okay), which was just two figs, and more than sufficient for my "Brunch" appetizer ("brappetizer"?).
For breakfast, I went with Hunters Scramble ~ eggs, chicken-apple sausage (I skipped this when I found out it was not a choice of either "chicken" or "apple" sausages), potatoes, mushrooms, Fontina cheese, topped with truffle oil, served with seasonal fruit and potatoes (I assumed it was just the fruits that were "seasonal", not the potatoes). (Interesting to note: they use the plural "Hunters", not possessive "Hunter's". Maybe I shoulda linked a Mott the Hoople song, too, Ian?)
The figs were excellent and I could have made a meal of just those (a full order, of course) with the salad and a side order of potatoes. The scramble was good, with lots of red potatoes and mushrooms (Sorry, Skip! Skip really hates red potatoes.) in it, but really nothing extraordinary; mind you, I wasn't really expecting any "knock your socks off" scramble with the given ingredients, anyhow. Luckily the main meal portions were rather small, so I had room to finish it even with the half-order of figs brappetizer (plus, this left more room for their fresh-baked, crusty bread and tasty olive oil).
Magic Flute may or may not offer the ubiquitous Tabasco® for condimentary supplementation, but I really didn't ask. They did have a very nice extra virgin olive oil infused with garlic cloves and fresh thyme (I thought that was what it was, but I had to ask to be sure what kinda herb it was) on every table; however, I did use some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys!) on the potatoes.
All in all, it was a nice enough "Brunch", but it can really wait another twenty-plus years before I go back again, Wolfie.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Hunters Scramble ~ 6.5; Grilled Figs ~ 7.4; Peet's® Godiva® Pecan Caramel Mocha ~ 6.4
[1] The restaurant/ristorante takes its name from the Mozart opera of the same name "The Magic Flute" (or in German "Die Zauberflöte", which actually means "the Sour Ice Cream Drink"~ no extra added charge for that useless cunning linguist pointer).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Flute
[2] There is this bonus useless cunning linguist pointer:
"Ristorante" in italiano means "restaurant" in English. Auf Deutsch "Restaurant" means "restaurant" in English. Believe it or not, Mr. Ripley, I do not make this stuff up.
Why the name of the ristorante/restaurant is in Italian and not German, you'd have to ask Signor Salieri.
[3] Presidio Heights is located just north of Laurel Heights and south of the Presidio, and east of the Richmond District. It is sometimes difficult to tell where the smaller neighborhoods start and end in San Francisco.
