Eats

Sanchito recommends the Caprese[1] Scramble; so, if you know what's good for you, you had better order it... or you best go run and hide.


Phone: 415-751-8000

(Sorry, still no official website available.)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEYN5w4T_aM

(Okay, this may not be your typical breakfastary EweToob-y music video, but I have it on good authority that "Santeria" means "very tasty" in the Caprese dialect… well, that's my story and I'm stickin' with it.[2])


The last time I ate at Eats (see 'blog-entry from September 3rd, 2011) I mentioned that I really wanted to try their Caprese Scramble, but I was side-tracked by another breakfast dish instead. Today, I succumbed and finally had le uova strapazzate di Capri.

Now this just shows my keen powers of observations, my dear Watson. I have probably eaten at Eats several times since they have reopened (and remodeled) a few years back, but today was the first time I have ever sat at (or noticed) the counter-seating area overlooking the kitchen. There are only four seats in this area, but they all face the cooks (which is always handy so that you can keep an eye on them so they don't spit in your food). However, I have noticed this piece of artwork(?) before that is just above the counter. It is some kinda homage to Coca-Cola®, I suppose. It is fun to note that all of the bottles in it are Mexican Coke® bottles.




It also makes a pretty nice hat rack. (Go 49ers!)

Caprese Scramble ~ (v) cherry tomatoes, pesto, fresh Mozzarella, and Parmesan (and not mentioned on the menu, but very key to the whole l'essenza di Capri, lots of fresh, chopped basil). Most egg dishes come with a side of toast (I went with sourdough) and a choice of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes, (plain ol') mixed greens, or a (typical) fruit bowl. (Yeah, right! Like there really was ever going to be a choice for me.) I also had a large glass of Power "C" ~ Grapefruit, OJ, and Pineapple and a cuppa coffee.




I liked it. Fresh cherry tomato halves ~ good!; fresh, soft Mozzarella ~ very good!; fresh basil ~ very, very good! At first I thought they lied about the pesto as I didn't see any on/in the scramble itself, but it was just hidden under the large pile of basil. This was all a pretty simple meal and presentation, but it all worked very nicely.

The Power "C" was okay, but not really that impressive; it was all made from fresh-squeezed juices (well, I guess they process the pineapple juice, not squeeze it). I think this may have tasted a little better less the pineapple juice and maybe with some other citrus juice added instead (the grapefruit juice made it all a little too tart for the pineapple sweetness to overcome; maybe some fresh lime juice ~ but this would be going back to the extra sour flavours).

My side of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes today "only" had three cloves of garlic in it (well, one was an extra large clove), so I "complained" to my server (by the way, his name was Andrew, Mrs. Huneycutt; you would have eaten him up with or without all the extra cloves of garlic) and he actually offered to get me some more. I told him that I was just kidding and that the last time I was there they gave me about ten extra cloves of garlic and I was tasting them all day long afterward (which is not really a bad thing).
°0o urp! o0°




I was almost tempted to go with the weekend special: Cream Cheese stuffed Apple-Walnut-Cinnamon French Toast; it looked very tempting and tasty, but I had put off the Caprese Scramble for a few visits already. Hopefully it will become a menu regular and I can try it on a subsequent visit (of which there will be more, as long as they don't mess with the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes).

Eats has as condimentary supplementation: Tabasco® (the standard red), Cholula®, and Tapatío® (I also happened to notice on a shelf in the kitchen a bottle of El Yucateco®; looks like the kitchen staff are keeping the good stuff from the rabble, Barney). I was familiar with what they had to offer, so I had brought some of my own: a good amount of Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys!) on the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes, and a little Sylvia's Restaurant® Kickin' Hot Hot Sauce (Thanks again, Sean!) on the scramble just to give it a little more pop, Babbo.

I have never been to l'isola di Capri (heck, I’ve only been to Italia proper a couple of times), but I would really like to get there some day. In lieu of that, I will just have to enjoy their salads and scrambles for now.

As for Eats, I am really glad that they kept their original name ~ it is simply sublime, Mr. Nowell.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Caprese Scramble ~ 7.0; Power "C" ~ 6.0; Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes ~ 7.5


[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer, numero uno:

"Caprese" is the Italiano word referring to the island of Capri. The word "Capri" either comes from the Ancient Greek word "κάπρος (kapros)" meaning "wild boar" or from the Latin word "caper/capra" meaning "goat". Take your pick.

Similar words that come from the same Latin root: Capricorn and caper (both the verb form "to skip or jump playfully" and also the noun "a prank or shenanigans").

Now why un'Insalata Caprese tipica includes Mozzarella di bufala and not Goats cheese is beyond me. And I wonder what it tasted like before 1492.

[2] Nah, I was just kidding. Everyone knows that "San Teria" is actually the Italiano name for "Saint Terry". 

Don't buy that one? Okay, stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer, numero dos:

"Santería" comes from the Spanish word for "saint", "sant", with a simple Latinesque ending "ia".

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