(I can't really say that I know what tin men or scarecrows eat for breakfast, but I bet cowardly lions don't much care for the Toto-free omelettes.)
This morning for breakfast (because "breakfast" at night is usually called "dinner") I revisited STRAW (see last 'blog-entry from August 27th, 2011) over on Octavia Boulevard in Hayes Valley. They recently remodeled the place by taking out the bar-counter in order to have room for more seats, but it's still a rather small place with seating for about thirty people, Mr. Smart (that would be Max to the rest of you). I got there when they were just opening (10:00am), but shortly thereafter they did fill-up and had to start taking names for a waiting list. They actually take reservations for "Brunch" (which is what they call this early meal), but I am not sure that reservations are really that necessary as there were only a few people waiting outside when I had finished.
STRAW always has interesting music playing on the house stereo whenever I am there. This morning it was mainly 60's and 70's Motown and R&B hits: Bill Withers ~ "Ain't No Sunshine"; War ~ "Why Can't We Be Friends?"; the Temptations ~ "Get Ready"; and (the penultimate classic by) Marvin Gaye ~ "Let's Get It On"; etc. I also like the kitschy feel that they serve their drinks in Kerr Mason jars and that water is served in glass milk bottles (I assume that those lead/tin milk bottles that they use at carnivals for a baseball toss might be a little too heavy and harder to clean).
There are several good things to choose on their "Brunch" menu. The whack-a-mole (red velvet Belgian waffles) looked interesting; plus, I was thinking about getting the spud lover (hash brown omelette). They also offer the state fair, which is a trio of beignets: apple-cinnamon caramel/strawberry lime/lemon blueberry ~ which really needs to be investigated another time. For today, I ordered the fiesta grande ~ chilaquiles with house-made tortilla chips/chili-tomato ranchero sauce/fried egg/queso fresco/shredded jack/cilantro/sour cream/avocado. I also had a glass of strawberry basil lemonade.
This chilaquiles dish was served in a cast iron mini-skillet. This was an okay version of chilaquiles (and like I have stated before, no two versions of chilaquiles are usually the same; it's like tiramisù, every restaurant or family has their own recipe for it); however, both Chava's or SanJalisco® are much better, as they serve theirs more as a saucy-soupy style. I did like that STRAW makes their own tortilla chips for this dish; and I think they were made from either tomato or chipotle tortillas. Their chili-tomato ranchero sauce may have had a nice flavour/bit o' heat, but there really wasn't enough of it to discern (plus, see below for condimentary supplementation used); the nice waitress/server person offered to get me a little dish of it to try, but it really wasn't necessary (again, see below for condimentary supplementation over-used).
I really liked the lemonade. I had just mentioned to someone the other day how I bet fresh basil would be good in ice tea in place of mint leaves. This had a very good flavour, and it was not overpowering with basil, Mr. Faulty.
STRAW has for condimentary supplementation just Tabasco® (the standard red). The chilaquiles probably didn't need any extra spicing-up, but I will never know, as I used a little (well, a little too much; it pours out kinda fast) of my own El Yucateco® XXXTRA HOT SAUCE Salsa Kutbil-ik®[1] de CHILE HABANERO (Thanks, Brian!) on them before even tasting the dish. This is the newest addition to my collection. (Not that I really needed another bottle of hot sauce right now, but I saw it at a Mexican bodega in the Mission the other day and at only $1.99/bottle I couldn't pass it up.) I have had this hot sauce many times before and knew I liked it. It not only packs a nice amount of heat ~ measured at 11,600 on the Scoville Heat Unit Scale; this is about twenty times the heat of normal Tabasco® and about twice as hot as some other habanero sauces ~ but it has a really nice flavour with all of the other ingredients. This is about as hot as I like it, but I should have gone a little lighter on the amount used.
http://www.elyucateco.com/english/products/sauces/kubil-ik.html
I will go back again to STRAW (for "Brunch" and Dinner), as they have lots of other good things to eat and it's a pretty fun atmosphere. I will be sure to go a little easier on the hot sauce if I order the beignets, though.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: fiesta grande ~ 6.2; strawberry basil lemonade ~ 6.5
[1] Stupid, (extremely) useless (unless you happen to be a 16th Century Spanish Conquistador or Explorer) pointer of the day:
"Kutbil-ik" is the Mayan word for "crushed chili".
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