~ Francis Bacon (no relation to Glen of the GBS Rating)
A fellow 'blog-meister (Здравствуйте, Джеймс!) suggested that I do a year-end/round-up 'blog-entry for the Top Five Best Breakfast Places in 2012. I told him to mind his own business, of course. In the meantime, here is my completely unrelated 2012 Top Five Best Breakfast Places list. (I know that there are still two more weekends left in 2012, but I am pretty confident that this list won't be topped.)
Now I could get all scientific and technical in determining which of all the hundred or so different places where I ate breakfast (or "Brunch") were the "Best", but I simply looked back through each entry and saw which ones had the highest Glen Bacon Scale Rating. All in all, it was a pretty decent breakfastary year; however, I really was surprised that there weren't that many more ratings over 7.5.
Here they are in no particular order (unless you count going from highest to lowest on the GBS any kind of lucidus ordo):
1) Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro; I think I had this particular take on French toast at least two to three times during the past year (see last 'blog-entry from November 24th, 2012). As I have stated many, many times in the past, this is not only one of the best versions of French toast in all of San Francisco, it may be one of the best in the entire U.S. of A, mais bien sûr.
2) Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café (see 'blog-entry from April 1st, 2012, no foolin'). I have dubbed this interesting take on the standard Eggs Benedict ~ Uova di Benedetto. The use of zucchini cakes as the basis instead of plain ol' English muffins is genius enough, but the addition of a spicy Marinara sauce in place of Hollandaise sauce is just the icing on the (zucchini) cake, so to speak.
3) Stella Hashbrowns (with eggs over medium) at Breakfast at Tiffany's (see 'blog-entry from February 12th, 2012). These are technically a side order upgrade, but I made it my main meal with a side of eggs. What can you say about hashbrowns (which they spell correctly as one word on their menu, Herr Obergates) that are taken to the next level?
4) Macaroni & Corn Pancakes at Tangerine (see 'blog-entry from January 29th, 2012). Right from the name of this strange breakfastary concoction I knew that I was going to love it. Just what kind of demented mind comes up with these kind of dishes, and what kind of demented diner would even order this, let alone enjoy it immensely? This had to be my most favourite and the most bizarre new find of the year; unfortunately, Tangerine is no longer open as they closed their doors a few months back (they probably went out of business trying to get people to eat pancakes made out of macaroni and cheese with corn in them).
5) Eggs Zorba at Dipsea Café (see 'blog-entry from April 7th, 2012). Not only was this a unique and tasty meal, their τζατζίκι side with the breakfast potatoes was excellent, too. Of course, I blame Popeye for my lifelong brainwashing of loving spinach, and I thank him very much for that.
There were many "Honourable Mentions" during the year, too, and just to name a few:
Potato Scramble (the one with asparagus, pea sprouts, roasted garlic, and Havarti) at Ella's (see 'blog-entry from April 14th, 2012; GBS Rating: 7.5).
Zucchini Latke at Tangerine again (see 'blog-entry from May 26th, 2012; GBS Rating: 7.45).
Kalua Benedict at ONO GRINDZ (see 'blog-entry from July 4th, 2012; GBS Rating: 7.4).
Spicy Kale Skillet at Eats (see 'blog-entry from April 29th, 2012; GBS Rating: 7.0).
Additionally, there were several "Best" specific categories:
Rookie of the Year (Best New Find) ~ ONO GRINDZ (with shout-outs to both Cafe Golo and MyMy Coffee Shop); and because of which, I am bringing ONO GRINDZ up to the Bigs to round out my revolutionary Six-Man Rotation in 2013.
Best Breakfast Pastries ~ Cafe Golo; GBS Rating: from 6.9 to 7.0 and up.
Best Breakfast Burrito ~ Irene's Wrap at Kate's Kitchen; GBS Rating: 6.8.
Best Berry that really isn't ~ Cherries.
Best Pancakes ~ Dutch Pancake (with spiced apples and a caramel sauce) at Outerlands; GBS Rating: 7.5 (just beating out the Sweet Potato Pancakes at Dottie's True blue café; see 'blog-entry from January 8th, 2012; GBS Rating: 7.3).
Best Coffee ~ (locally) Philz Coffee, GBS Rating: 8.0; (internationally) Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain, GBS Rating: 8.5.
Best Side Potatoes ~ Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes at Eats; GBS Rating: 7.5.
Best Bread/Toast Side ~ Popovers(!) at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (but probably the most redundantly redundant name of any bistro or restaurant); GBS Rating: 8.2.
That nebby Jim guy said I should probably include a list of the "Five Worst" places this year, too. I feel that most of the places I went to this year were at least palatable and none really deserve the "Worst" moniker.
So, I guess by my GBS Rating, the Best Breakfast in San Francisco (for 2012 at least) would have to be the Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro. However, as I read somewhere once, man does not live by pain alone, be it perdu ou trouvé.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro ~ 8.2; Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ 7.6; Stella Hashbrowns at Breakfast at Tiffany's ~ 7.7 (these were actually a 7.5, but I liked the numerology that they were open since '77, and the date I went again was 2/12/12); Macaroni & Corn Pancakes at Tangerine ~ 7.5; Eggs Zorba at Dipsea Café ~ 7.5
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