Jim’s Restaurant

Otra plácido domingo en la Misíon.

(No official web-site.)

2420 Mission Street (at 20th Street)

phonicular contact: (415) 285-6020

(Today happens to be Día de la Bandera in Mexico ~ that means "Flag Day"”, it's not Melanie Griffith's husband's birthday. So to honour our neighbor to the south, I am including these two EweToob videos for your enjoyment.

When is Canadia's Flag Day, you ask? Who cares? Besides, it's not as if any Canadianlander hosers have ever provided anything to the World of Rock-and/or-Roll like those great 'mericans: Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Sarah McLachlan.)


I went to Jim's Restaurant in the Mission this morning for desayuno. This was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with Antonio Banderas Day. I am not sure if there is even a "Jim" still involved with the place. They open at 7:00am every day of the week and have a very large, open area with lots of seating: 12-13 booths that can seat four people or more, plus twelve diner-counter stools.

After breakfast, as it was really a very nice morning and still pretty early, I strolled down Mission Street for a bit and came across this pretty cool Superhero Mural (with both DC™ and Marvel characters in it; I am just sorry that Spider-Man appears to be coming out of a garbage can, Tim Rice) on the corner of 19th and Mission Streets.

Jim's Restaurant offers all of the standard diner breakfast fare. There were several items from which I could even choose. I was debating on either the Vegetarian Omelet or Vegetarian Eggs Benedict, but ended up ordering the Avocado, Onion, & Cheese Omelet ~ served with hash browns (You win again, as they have this as two words, Señor Gátès.) and toast (you can substitute fruit for the hashbrowns for an additional charge, but why would you ever want to do that?). I also had a cuppa coffee.

There are several options for cheese and I went with (Monterey) Jack[1] cheese, and sourdough toast as my bread choice. The omelette was made with lots of grilled (white) onions and fresh avocado; the grilled onions really added a lot of flavour and there was at least a half an avocado inside.

Jim's Restaurant just offers as bottled condimentary supplements Crystal® and Tapatío®, but they have their own keeler homemade Tomatillo Salsa and I made sure to use it con liberalidad on the omelette. Homemade salsa is always the best (this is la Misíon, after all)! I also used some of my own HP™ Guinness® (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the hashbrowns.

There was nothing really spectacular about this morning's meal, but I wouldn't hesitate either recommending this place or going back again sometime. It was good, honest diner-style breakfast food and the service was extremely polite and friendly for so early on another peaceful Sunday morning.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Avocado, Onion, & Cheese Omelet ~ 6.0; Homemade Tomatillo Salsa ~ 7.2


1. In case you don't know jack about cheese:

Monterey Jack cheese is an American semihard cow's milk cheese and used to be made by the Mexican Franciscan friars of Monterey, California in the early 19th Century ~ hence the first part of the name. Later on, Californian businessman and dairy owner, David Jack, began producing this cheese commercially ~ and there you have the second part of the name.

I suppose it could have ended up being called California David cheese, too.

KITCHEN Story

California Cuisine…
I am not exactly sure what they would call this in Minnesota or Oklahoma, though.

http://kitchenstorysf.com

(These two EweToob videos are for my nephew, Alan, who is a Dresden Dolls fan. Alan just completed his 6,000 mile/almost two-year long walking trek across the United States, from Seattle to Washington, D.C.

Nice work, Forrest Forrest!

"LGBT Equality is as LGBT Equality does."

You can read about his journey here if you like:

http://www.intothelightwalk.com/ )


I went to KITCHEN Story for breakfast this morning. They are a relatively new place and this was my first time eating there; they have only been open since November of last year. I don't know what the name of the restaurant is supposed to signify (maybe I should have asked one of the workers; maybe next time). KITCHEN Story is located in the spot that used to house Tangerine (insert sobs and sighs here), on the corner of 16th and Sanchez Streets. I was happy to see that they still have the large sidewalk seating area along Sanchez Street (which is mostly shaded by trees; this can be a good thing whenever the Sun might be out ~ like this morning, but it also can be pretty chilly when the Sun isn't out ~ like most of the time in the Summer). In keeping with my 2013 Breakfastary Resolution, they open up every day at 8:00am and their menu specifies the first meal of the day as "Breakfast"; however, don't let the wording fool you, this place is a completely brunchified place in both cuisine and atmosphere, but that didn't stop me from eating there.

Whenever I go to the Castro, I like to park over on Beaver Street. I can usually find a legal spot and there are no time-limit restrictions all week long, and it is just one block away from Market Street. Plus, I just love the irony of the name in that neighborhood. You can be sure that most of the residents will not be hunting out "Beaver" Street.

Just across the street from KITCHEN Story is a pretty neat mural along a fence called "Tonantsin Renace" by Collette Crutcher. I particularly like how the trees in the yard behind it form a sort of verdant hairdo for her.

http://mosaicartsource.wordpress.com/2007/01/14/mosaic-mural-mosaic-artist-colette-crutcher-san-francisco/

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

KITCHEN Story calls their restaurant "California Cuisine", but it seems like "California Cuisine with a twist of Asian Fusion" to me. Their Breakfast menu offers a nice selection of Egg plates; Omelets, Scrambles, Etc.; Poached Eggs Entrees; Hotcakes and French toast; and Morning melts. If you are a fan of the dead, decaying cured pork-belly products, then you would probably enjoy one of their signature (if you could sign with pork-fat, that is) breakfastary side dishes called Millionaire's Bacon; it is two extra thick slices of bacon that have been cured in 100% maple syrup or some such thing. I was thinking about ordering the Athenian omelet ~  tomato, mushroom, arugula, Greek olives, mild goat cheese; this sounded pretty good to me, but I have had versions of Greek Omelettes many times in the past, and as Mae West always liked to say: "When choosing between two evils, I like to try the one I've never tried before." So I ordered Okonomiyaki[1] (modernyaki) egg pancake ~ cabbage, scallion, asparagus, carrots, mushroom, red onion. I also had a side of Rainbow Potatoes and a cuppa Resident(?) Coffee, French Roast.

There is a strong possibility that this place is owned by the same folks that own Sweet Maple (see last 'blog-entry from October 6th, 2012). They offer several of the same dishes: Athenian omelet ~ which is called Athenian Omelette (with the exact same ingredients) at Sweet Maple ~ and Millionaire's Bacon to name just a few.

You ask, "What is Okonomiyaki?", Daniel-san? Well, as best as I can figure, it's some kinda Japanese savoury pancake. I have never had one before in any of my times eating at Japanese restaurants and figured this was as good a time as any to try one. Now, I am not quite sure why this was served with several slices of orange and strawberries on top of it (there were too many of them to really be considered just a "garnish"), but I still ate all of them, anyway.

The Rainbow Potatoes included: white, red, blue (or purple), and sweet potatoes, and were pretty good.

The coffee was a very good, strong cup; where I felt it absolutely necessary to get two more refills. Not only do they serve a French Roast coffee, but my server knew that and also the brand of coffee that was served; you'd be surprised how many people would just say "some kind of coffee" and leave it at that. Now something may have been lost in the translation (my server was Asian, and I can only assume "ESL" doesn't mean "Electromagnetic Systems Laboratories" to him) and it sounded like he said "Resident Coffee“, I had him repeat it once and didn't want to seem like I was an INS Agent grilling him, so I left it at that. However, I can not find any links to a "Resident Coffee" or "President Coffee" or even any "Lesident Coffee" on the Intro-Nets.

KITCHEN Story has for condimentary supplementation just Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (both the standard red and the green Jalapeño); plus, the pancake came with it's own sauce (which may or may not have had some spice to it), which was kinda like a Thousand Islands, just with a bit more flavour. Once again, I used some of my own Spicymonkey Raspberry & chipotle ketchup (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes, and a little Serious Food… Silly Prices Chunky Habanero (Thanks again, Cindy & Greg!) on the pancake in conjunction with their own sauce to give it a little more kick.

This was good as a change of pace, but I wouldn't go back just for this dish. I mean, it was no Macaroni & Corn Pancakes (or even a Zucchini Latke), but I would still recommend it and would like to try some of their other dishes… 'cause like anyone, all I really want is that fickle little bitch, breakfast.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Okonomiyaki (modernyaki) egg pancake ~ 6.0; Resident(?) Coffee, French Roast ~ 6.8


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo culinaristic pointer of the day:
 
"Okonomiyaki" derives from the Japanese words "okonomi", meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and "yaki", meaning "grilled" or "cooked".

The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House

After Pope Benedict XVI officially leaves the Papacy, will he be known as ex-Benedict?[1]

http://www.cliffhouse.com/bistro/index.html

(The first EweToob video should be self-explanatory from the opening joke/title above. The second one is just to signify that Spring Training officially starts this week with actual games being played.)


To close out my 2013 Breakfastary Rotation Spring Training Try-outs I ended up at The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from November 3rd, 2012; as always, good food, but a redundantly reiterative name: "There sure is a lot of dirt in the Sahara Desert."; "I am giving you advance notice."; "It was the final outcome."; etc.) this morning. I was happy to find out that they actually open up at 8:30am on Sunday. I have been going there for over twenty years now and just figured that one out (Monday through Saturday they open at 9:00am). It was a perfect day to head to the beach for a fine breakfastary repast. The Sun was out and shining brightly, and it was pretty clear all along Ocean Beach, just not clear enough to see all the way to the Farallon Islands[2].

I was seated at a table by a wall of photographs that I had previously documented, so, after ordering, I wandered down the wall to a column that I hadn't photographed before.

Today's Hollywoodland Wall of Autographed Photos Interlude:

(Picture 1, top to bottom and left to right)

Gene Tunney (undefeated World Heavyweight Champion from 1926-1928); ???

Geraldine Fitzgerald (best know for "Wuthering Heights", "Dark Victory", and as Dudley Moore's rich grandmother in "Arthur"; and she was also the great aunt of Irish actress Tara Fitzgerald); Richard Burton (best known as being Mr. Liz Taylor #5)

(Picture 2, top to bottom and left to right)

???; Wendy Barrie (best known for "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "It's a Small World" with Spencer Tracy; and her godfather was J.M. Barrie of Peter Pan fame, which is probably where she adopted her stage name)

Joan Fontaine (best know for "The Women", "Rebecca", "Jane Eyre", and 1941 Best Actress Academy Award winner for "Suspicion"; she was also the sister of Olivia de Havilland); Gene Autry (singing cowboy, best known for "Back in the Saddle Again" and some silly Christmas song about a caribou with a nasal problem; he was also the original owner of the Los Ångeles Ångels/California Ångels/Anaheim Ångels/Los Angeles Ångels of Anaheim Angels)

(Picture 3, top to bottom and left to right)

Charles Boyer (some Frenchy actor best known for "Love Affair", "Gaslight", and "Fanny"); Loretta Young (best known for "The Loretta Young Show" on TeeVee and 1948 Best Actress Academy Award winner for "The Farmer's Daughter"; of note, she also starred with Charles Boyer in "Caravan")

Fred MacMurray (best known for "My Three Sons" on TeeVee and in the movies for "Double Indemnity", "The Shaggy Dog", and "The Absent-Minded Professor"); William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd

Benjamin Kubelsky (best known for the popular radio and TeeVee shows, coincidentally enough, called "The Benny Kubelsky Show"); Rosalind Russell (best known for "His Girl Friday" and "Auntie Mame"; also of note, she starred in "The Women" with Joan Fontaine)

I am once again throwing out this offer to treat anyone that can fill in any of the "???s" with correct names to all the free World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!) that you can eat (my treat even). (Okay, Jim, so I am remiss and am just finally mentioning the World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!), but if you don't like it you can start your own damned 'blogs!) Here is a little trick: if you want to view each picture a little larger just click on it and it should come up as a "Full-Screen" shot.

The Bistro Restaurant doesn't offer that many different things for breakfast, and less even for stupid vegetarians, but who really cares? Have you ever heard me mention their World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!)? Those alone are worth the trip to the end of the World (well, literally "the end of San Francisco"). I probably have had each of their breakfast dishes several times over already, so I  just ordered Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ Scrambled Eggs, Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Scallions, Button Mushrooms, Melted Goat Cheese.

This came with three World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!) today; that is usually all I can eat, anyway, but I have had as many as four or five in a single basket all to myself. This is a decent enough scramble. The red peppers and tomatoes have a bit of a char on them, so they are either roasted ahead of time or just grilled before adding them to the scrambled mess, which is a nice flavour enhancer. The goat cheese is always creamy and melted throughout, too. My one minor quibble would be that they always go a little light on the side of potatoes (there were just four halves this morning), but that is okay as they more than make up for it with their World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!). Have I mentioned their World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!) yet?

Today's side of fruits: strawberry, grapes, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon.

Knowing full well that the Bistro Restaurant only has as condimentary supplements Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red), I came prepared and used some of my own Spicymonkey Raspberry & chipotle ketchup (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes, and a little Cajohns Fiery Foods Oaxacan Hot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the scramble.

Oh, Popovers(!)… is bigger; it's bigger than you!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ 6.7; World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!) ~ 8.2


1. Any groans or grimaces at that pun can be directed at an old Air Force buddy of mine, Dave Durkin. I am not sure if he came up with that one or not, but I read it on his defacedbook page first.

I suppose that joke would have been a little more directed if I actually had ordered Eggs Benedict this morning, but I have had them before at the Bistro Restaurant and they are just plain ol' Eggs Benedict; they are nothing to lose your religion over.

2. The Farallon Islands (or Farallones) are a small group of islands (hence the "Islands" part of their name) that are located about twenty-seven miles due west of San Francisco. With nothing between them and San Francisco, it is actually possible to see them with the naked eye on a very clear day, or so that is what Barbara Streisand is always yammering about.

Which brings us inevitably to the stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día:

"Farallon" or "Farallones" comes from the Spanish word "farallón", meaning "pillar" or "sea cliff". "The Sea Cliff Islands", how original; that is almost as bad as "The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House".

grindz

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
~ A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

 http://www.grindzrestaurant.com/

(That is their official web-site; however, I don't think it's up and running yet.)

("While My Ukulele Gently Weeps"? Yeah, yeah, yeah… the Beatles and ukulele for some Saturday morning mood music.)


This was my first time going back to grindz ~ "Hawai'ian Style Home Cooking" (see last 'blog-entry from December 29th, 2012) since adding them to my 2013 Breakfastary Rotation. Once again I happened to go to this place on or near a holiday; the last three times were during or around: New Year's Day, Labor Day, and the 4th of July… I wonder if Memorial Day will be my next visit?

This is not something I could get, but it sounded very interesting, on their Presidents Day Specials they had Adobo[1] Fried Rice Omelette ~ Filipino chicken adobo fried rice, scallions, Plantation Potatoes, and spicy pickled tomatoes. I basically knew what I was going to order today, but the next time I go I will have to order Hawai'ian French Toast ~ Portuguese sweet bread, pure maple syrup, and vanilla-poached pineapples; I saw a few other people get that and it looked very good. Today I had Kimchi Huevos Rancheros ~ crispy (corn) tortillas, kimchi fried brown rice, salsa rojo[2] (sic), over-easy eggs, lomi tomatoes, avocados, and Cheddar cheese. You have to love a place that fusions (Can I actually use that as a verb?) Hawai'ian, Korean, and Mexican food. I also had a cuppa very good Bicycle Coffee Co. (The idea of coffee being delivered locally by bicycle only is such a great idea; not only do they deliver their coffee everywhere in San Francisco by bike, but I heard that their back-up generator for their roasters is pedal-powered, too[3].)

http://www.bicyclecoffeeco.com/

Oops! They normally put sausage in their Kimchi Fried Rice, but do not state that anywhere on the menu. I noticed it right away in my meal and thought that they had brought me the wrong dish, but they took it back and made me a new one without any (all in just a few minutes, so that I didn't have to wait that much longer). Of note, they also make their Kimchi Fried Rice with mushrooms in it and don't state that on their menu either; I am sure there are many more people that would hate that extra ingredient more than any ol' sausage.

Perhaps, it was all my fault when ordering:

Me: "I'll have the Kimchi Huevos Rancheros and a cuppa coffee, please."
Them: "How would you like that: mild, medium, or spicy?"
Me: "I will just have the coffee black, thanks… but the Huevos Rancheros medium."

Now I think I know why they stuck the dead, decaying pork in my meal.

I liked this, just not quite as much as the Kimchi Fried Rice Omelette that I had a few visits back. Huevos Rancheros, much like Chilaquiles or Tiramisù, can be made differently wherever you go. This was made with two (or possibly three) fried, crispy corn tortillas (normally Huevos Rancheros are just made with soft corn tortillas); I liked this extra-added crunch. I really liked the kimchi in the fried rice, too. The only thing I might have done differently if I were ever to make this dish (Yeah, right!) is use Monterey Jack cheese instead of the Cheddar cheese. Huevos Rancheros are usually served with a side of rice and beans; well, the rice was already included in the mess, but I wonder what kind of legume might have been added as a Hawai'ian (or Korean) equivalent.

I didn't bother to see what grindz had for condimentary supplementation. The Ranchero sauce was tasty enough, but I did add just a little of my own El Yucateco® XXXtra Hot Sauce Salsa Kutbil-ik® de Chile Habanero (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the eggs and such for a little extra-added heat and flavour.

This may not have been a "hit it out of the park" with today's meal, but it was easily a solid Stand-up Double and scored at least one or two RBI's in my breakfastary book.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Kimchi Huevos Rancheros ~ 6.9; Bicycle Coffee Co. ~ 6.8


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, número uno:

"Adobo" simply means "marinade" in Spanish. There are variations in Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American, or Filipino adobos.

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, número dos:

This probably should be "roja" as the feminine modifier to "salsa", but perhaps they meant it as "salsa (de chile) rojo”.

3. Now, how many people actually bought that?

Q Restaurant and Wine Bar

"Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal, and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire’s eye or on the ball."
~ Jim Murray

http://www.qrestaurant.com/

(Suzie was always a lot quter than she was talented, but it's hard to find a good "Q"-reference EweToob video. The reason for the second video? Spring Training officially opens tomorrow.)


Next up in my Breakfastary Rotation was Q Restaurant and Wine Bar (see last 'blog-entry from November 10th, 2012). This will have to be an exception to my 2013 restrictions, as they don't open up on Saturday or Sunday until 10:00am for "Brunch", but my 'blog, my 'rules. I sat at a table with a racetrack and action figurines/toys tableau this morning. I was planning on sitting at the "Wooly Willy" table again, and had even remembered to bring my own magnet for a change, but it just wasn’t strong enough to work the metal filings; I will have to keep trying and find an extra strong magnet one of these days.

Q has a pretty decent standard "Brunch" menu and they offer a changing weekly "Extra Brunch Specials" (not to be confused with standard "Brunch Specials" or "Extra Special Brunches"). Off of that menu I ordered Corn Scramble ~ with shallots, cilantro, and white Cheddar; with homefries (they have it as two words on their menus, but I prefer the correct one-word spelling) and buttered toast (Have you ever been to a restaurant where they serve the toast unbuttered?). I also had a large glass of grapefruit (still an actual berry, by the way) juice (which they have as "fresh squeezed" on the menu, but it was actually "fresh squeezed" by the good people at Odwalla®).

It really wasn't specified on the menu, but this was made with scrambled eggs and lots of corn. This was good, and made with lots of (roasted?) corn in it, but it was still missing something extra; maybe something else added like fresh basil would have been nice. It was still better than anything I could make (if I ever had eggs… or corn… or shallots… or cilantro in my refrigerator). Their homefries are always very good, too. (The toast was just bread toasted; even I make that at home all the time in my vertical bread heating unit thingy.)

Q has several different bottles from which to choose for condimentary supplements, to include: Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce; Tapatío® (which is basically the SFToHS, less Cholula®, but with a few additional choices); Castillo® Salsa Habanero; and Original "Louisiana" Brand Hot Sauce. That is a pretty decent selection; however, I used some of my own collection Serious Food… Silly Prices Mango Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the homefries, and just the smallest amount (and I truly mean "the smallest amount") of One Stop Hot Shop "Son of Smart Arse" Sauce (Thanks again, Cindy & Greg!) on the scramble. I literally only used a few toothpick drops (I actually brought my own toothpick with me to use specifically for that purpose) of the son of a bi… er, "Son of Smart Arse", maybe five to ten drops tops, and I could still feel the heat from that crazy hot sauce (No, really. Thanks a lot, again, Cindy & Greg!!! Maybe you mistook me for Leopold von Sacher-Masoch with that gift. Are you happy that I am including you in these admonitions now, Greg?!). I probably still have a good fifteen- to twenty-year supply of that small bottle left. I wonder if hot sauces have a half-life…

With today's bill they brought a Tootsie Roll® Midgee (the plain cocoa flavoured), which is always nice.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Corn Scramble ~ 6.5

(BSR) Eats(, Inc.)

"That's a clown head, bro'…"[1]

(Still no official website.)

50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue)

Phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000

(I am including a couple of EweToob videos for Valentine's Day. One is from Sarah Borges ~ as I promised last week I would be spamming everyone here with more of her stuff; this happens to be a cover of a Tom Waits song. The second is another from Tanita Tikaram.)


Continuing with my Breakfastary Rotation Spring Training workout, I went back to (BSR) Eats(, Inc.)[2] (see last 'blog-entry from November 18th, 2012). They open up every day at 8:00am for breakfast, which, even if they didn't already have a place in my line-up, is plenty early enough for my 2013 restrictions.

Due to Winter Storm Nemo back East this weekend, I was going to support everyone back there with some empathetic French toast of my own. (Why do people always wait until hurricanes and blizzards to clean out grocery stores of eggs, milk, and bread?) However, I just had French toast last weekend at Baker Street Bistro and wanted to try something different for a change. The Farmer's (which they have as the singular possessive for some reason, I probably would just have gone with "Farmers" plural as the modifier) Scrambled Eggs ~ cauliflower, mushrooms, corn, zucchini, spring onions, basil, goat cheese, and parsley. That sounded pretty good, but I am pretty sure that I have had a similar version of the Farmer's Scrambled Eggs before there, but they used to make it with kale in it; now if they still made it with the kale, I would probably have gone for that. As it were, I wanted to try something new (for me) and ordered Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes. I also had a side of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes and a 12 oz glass of fresh juice squeeze/blend Detox ~ apple, carrot, beet, and ginger.

When the cute server-lady first set the pancakes in front of me (which were two medium-sized pancakes, just enough for my appetite in conjunction with the side of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes) I thought that the pancakes just had bananas sliced and on top, but I was happy to see that there were slices of banana in the pancakes along with lots of chocolate chips, and there was also more chocolate syrup striped across the top ~ double your banana and chocolate pleasure. The Detox is really horrible looking, but tastes very good; the apple and ginger really work well to temper any beet-y and carrot-y taste. I was very pleased to see that there were six cloves of roasted garlic today in the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes (I didn't have any bread/toast to spread them on, but enjoyed them with the potatoes all the same).

For condimentary supplementation Eats has the standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (SFToHS for short): Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce; Tapatío®; and Cholula®. I used a good amount of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce ~ the original/standard flavour (Thanks agains, Amys and Brian!) and (just a few drops of) Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce Off The Wall Triple Hot (Thanks, Kerry!) on the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes. For the longest time I had been miscalling Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce as "Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce" and just figured out that the "Firefighters" should be one word as that is how they have it on their web-site. However, the confusion arose when I first went to their web-site through the official Palo Alto Fire Fighters union website, where the union site has "Fire Fighters" as two words in the organization's name; plus, the wording on the bottle label is split into separate words for spacing purposes. I got all of this cleared up recently with a few e-mails back and forth to Lee Taylor (the creator of Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce). The Big Papi hot sauce was just to kick off Spring Training which starts next week (Pitchers and Catchers are to report on February 11th and all other Players are to report by February 14th; however, due to the recent blizzard-like[3] conditions in the Northeast, a lot of Players may find themselves late in reporting).

http://www.paloaltofirefighters.com/

(Check out their "Testimonials" section. Some idiot named "Brian M from Calif" really must like their hot sauce.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes ~ 6.5; Detox ~ 6.7; Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes ~ 7.5


1. As I was walking down the street after breakfast, I saw this display in the window of the long-closed Busvan for Bargains storefront. They have been displaying some interesting pieces there for several years now. This giant clown's head happened to come from the old Playland at the Beach. This was one of the nine heads suspended from the ceiling of the main building, reflecting the Fun House's theme.

Today's title is a take on one of Bryce Harper's (he's the 19-year old Rookie phenom from the 2012 Washington Nationals) quotes:

"That's a clown question, bro'…"

That was his response when some stupid sports journalist kept pestering him after a win in Toronto if he were going to take advantage of the lower drinking age in Canadialand and celebrate after the game with a few drinks.

2. As I was sitting this morning at one of the window-counter seats, I happened to notice all of their business licenses on the wall. I saw that the actual corporate name of the restaurant is BSR Eats, Inc. "BSR" is just short for "Burma Superstar Restaurant", as this place and its sister restaurant, B Star Bar, a block away are both owned by the same people that own Burma Superstar Restaurant, which is another two blocks down on Clement Street, too.

3. A little dusting of 18-24" of snow and they feel it necessary to close a few international airports. What a bunch of wussies! 

They need to take a page out of Heathrow's book and only close the airport when absolutely necessary ~ like when there is all of 6" of snow, and then you have to keep the airport closed for an additional four and a half days just to be sure (even though all of the snow had been melted and gone for three full days).

Baker Street Bistro

"Music to my mouth…"

http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/

(Okay, the first EweToob link is just because the San Francisco 49ers are participating in that famous French Football classic, Le Bol Souper, this afternoon.

The second video is just because I recently ~ as in yesterday [Thanks, Larry! And now you owe me four to five hours of my Saturday night back after listening to just about everything she had on EweToob.] ~ discovered this singer and really like her stuff [her singing ain't so bad, neither]; of which you can be sure that you haven't heard the last from her on this stupid 'blog. This song is a cover of another little, local Massachusetts-based Rock-and/or-Roll band called the Gay Jiles Group, or something like that.)


In keeping with my Breakfastary Rotation workout, encore une fois pour mon petit déjeuner, je suis retourné à Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from November 24th, 2012; which was my 300th 'blog-entry, by the way).

I sat outside again this morning, for as they say on their web-site: "Join us for brunch Saturdays & Sundays from 9:30am to 2:30pm. Dine al fresco on our heated outdoor patio and enjoy the many beautiful days we have here in San Francisco!" Two things to note: 1) they actually open at 9:00am on the weekends for "Brunch", and 2) there was no need to have the artificial, gas heaters on for this beautiful San Francisco Winter morn. (I wonder if Mark Twain ever spent a winter in San Francisco and what he would have to say about it.) They probably need to update their web-site on the "Brunch" menu page, but they have the correct times of operation on the home page. I forgot to ask "Comment dites-vous 'al fresco' en français?"[1]. It was just warm enough (only a little "fresco"-y, I guess) and the Sun was just coming up over the treetops and rooftops as I was sitting down. I even had to keep my sunglasses on the entire time I was eating. It warmed up enough that I almost felt the need to take off my coat (almost); however, no one else was foolish enough to join me outside.

The Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude
When I first sat down to eat, I heard many of my fine-feathered friends nearby, but didn't see any flying overhead. There may be several of them living in the backyard trees in the surrounding neighborhood. After breakfast I walked the one block over to the small grove of Eucalyptus tress in the dog park over by the Presidio Lombard Gate and saw at least ten to twenty of the noisy little bastards flying around and having fun.

Now as this was my first breakfast at Baker Street Bistro this year, I felt it most necessary to order Pain Perdu[2] ~ Two slices of cinnamon French Toast, fresh fruit, strawberry coulis & crème fraîche. I also ordered a side of homefries and a cuppa coffee. Actually, having had this most exquisite version of French Toast the past few times that I had eaten there, I might probably have ordered Oeufs Baker Street instead; however, I had just had another version of Eggs Benedict yesterday. Besides, have I ever told you how good this French Toast truly is?

As can be seen in the above photo, when the nice server-lady brought me my meal, she said "This is music to your mouth…". It took me a few seconds to figure out just what the heck she was talking about, I assumed it was some kinda Frenchy expression that didn't translate very well. I made the cuppa coffee with my traditional sprig of mint added from the Pain Perdu garnish in it (it really freaks them out when they go to pour seconds[3]). Les fruits assortis de la journée: pineapple, cantaloupe, blackberries, watermelon, oranges, and apples.

I simply used a little of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce ~ XX Habanero (Thanks agains, Amys and Brian!) on the potatoes for condimentary supplementation. Even I would not be stupid (or sacrilegious) enough to try some on the Pain Perdu.

As always, the Pain Perdu was truly a euphonious epicurean experience… and Sarah Borges is pretty tasty on the ears, too.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu ~ 8.2 (mais bien sûr); the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del giorno/du jour, numero uno/numéro un:

"Al fresco" simply means in Italian "in the cool/in a cool place", and in French it would probably be "en plain air" or "à l’extérieur".

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer du jour, numéro deux:

As I have stated in the past, and this is just a refresher course to see who has been paying attention (or who hasn't), "Pain Perdu" means "Lost Bread" in French.

A few years ago Baker Street Bistro used to call this plain ol' "French Toast" on their menu. I was eating there one time and the owner was having his breakfast at the next table over. I jokingly asked him if they just called this meal "Toast" in France. He explained to me the whole "Pain Perdu" story. The next time I ate there several months later, they had it as "Pain Perdu" on the menu. I am not saying that I had anything to do with them changing the menu, but they may finally have gotten tired of the same ol' tired joke and figured this was a way to shut up (the other) idiots.

3.  Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, número tres:

While he was refilling my cup of coffee for the third time, I asked the Mexican server-guy how to say "Just a half cup" in Spanish; I think he said it was "la mitad", which just means "half" or "middle". Not that I will ever remember that phrase the next time I only want a "half-cup", but it is good to note for those of you that have any kind of retention.

I wonder if that would make me an "optimista" or "pesimista" cunning linguist?!

Ella’s

"The one with the ella's florentine."

http://www.ellassanfrancisco.com

(I was trying to think of a good Groundhog Day song, but couldn't come up with any. This one is a bit early, but at least it is sung by Lady Ella.)


Next up in my Breakfastary Rotation for 2013 was Ella's (see last 'blog-entry from December 16th, 2012). I should be able to work my way through my complete line-up before Spring Training starts and give everyone a good workout (and enjoy many good meals). This morning I sat at the counter overlooking the bakery-kitchen area (just to let you know, they do have all of their breads and pastries for sale to take home, too).

There were several good selections on this weekend's "Brunch" menu. These specials are all that are offered for the early morning meal on the weekends, but there are usually ten to twelve dishes from which to choose. The fried egg sandwich with Cheddar cheese, pesto[1] aioli[2], organic baby arugula, avocado, on house made brioch[3] (sic) bun looked promising. I was also thinking about the potato scramble with roasted beets, green beans, grilled carrots, and Havarti; and normally would have jumped at that due to the inclusion of beets, but I have had a variation of this in the past there and wanted to try something a little different. And my selection was just that, ella's florentine ~ fried cornmeal, sautéed spinach, poached egg(s), oven roasted tomato, pesto Hollandaise (all of which comes with a side of homefries). I also had a glass of Ginger Orange Juice Punch.

I really liked the pesto Hollandaise, which was a nice idea. It was extra fresh as they had just made a batch before I ordered (I watched them preparing the mess). Using fried cornmeal (polenta[4]) for the base was a nice touch, too. The only thing that didn't work for me was the roasted tomatoes. They added a nice enough flavour; however, these should have been sliced thinly, but were provided under the eggs as a quarter of a tomato. Sure this is probably a much easier way to roast them, but it makes for a rather unwieldy Eggs Benedict. The Ginger Orange Juice Punch was good as always; refreshing and spicy with the ginger in it.

For condimentary supplementation, I went with a little of my own Cholula® (Thanks, me!) and a little Youk's Hot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the potatoes (Ella's offers just Tabasco® Brand Hot Sauce ~ both the standard red and green Jalapeño) . The pesto Hollandaise was tasty enough without me messing it up.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: ella's florentine ~ 6.9


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-epicurean pointer del giorno, numero uno:

"Pesto" comes from Italian; it is the contracted form of "pestato", the past participle of "pestare" (meaning "to pound, to crush"), (see also: "pestle").

2.  Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-epicurean pointer du jour, numéro deux:

"Aioli" comes from French/Provençal equivalent to "ai", meaning "garlic" (from Latin "allium") plus "oli", meaning "oil" (from Latin "oleum").

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-epicurean pointer du jour, numéro trois:

"Brioche" comes from French Norman dialect, from "brier" (meaning "to knead"), of Germanic origin, plus the noun suffix "-oche"; compare to French "broyer" (meaning "to pound, break").

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo epicurean pointer del giorno, numero quattro:

"Polenta" comes from Italian from Latin for "crushed pearl barley", perhaps from Greek "palē", meaning "pollen".