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?!