http://www.slowclub.com/
Place: Slow Club
Location: 2501 Mariposa Street (on the corner of Hampshire Street ~ the signs don't specify "New’" or "Old", though)
Hours: "Brunch" is served on Saturday and Sunday at 10:00am
Meal: bourbon french toast ~ spiced roasted pears, candied walnuts & bourbon maple syrup; a side order of homefries; and a cuppa Mr. Espresso® Organic Seven Bridges[1] Blend (formerly Organic Special Blend)
("Slow" Club ~ "Fast"ball/"Frequency"… get it?!
Well, I really don't care if you like my musical juxta-selections or not, I couldn't think of any good lack of speed or velocity songs.
Would you believe me if I said I chose those songs because they have a Bo Diddley[2] beat?)
I went back to Slow Club (see previous 'blog-entry from June 4th, 2011) for "Brunch" (their terminology, not mine) this morning. They are supposed to open at 10:00am, but they were running a little late this morning and didn't open until 10:05am (someone must not have read my mini-Rant last weekend), which really isn't that bad, and they more than made up for it by their expediency in taking my order (around 10:10am) and bringing out the food in a less than slow manner (probably by 10:25am or sooner). It really wasn't that busy yet when they first opened, but it did fill up rather quickly.
Slow Club is located just a block down the street from KQED. There is lots of available (read: free) street parking in this neighborhood on the weekends. I thought it was funny that where I parked the sign stated "12 HOURS LIMIT"; luckily, I only planned on eating breakfast for 11 hours tops.
Slow Club is a medium-sized restaurant and they have two tall tables with four or five high stools for seating, three tables dedicated specifically for four people, and fourteen tables for two. They also have five sidewalk tables for two people each that can be enjoyed on sunny days (like today); these were mostly filled when I had finished and left.
Stupid Pet (mainly Dog) Owners mini-Rant of the Day
It is understood that animals (of any type and size) are not allowed in many stores or restaurants (as well as most places that are open to the human public), right? So, what would ever make you think that your sweet, little… mangy, flea-infested, disease-carrying mongrel is any better than anyone else's pet?! "But I didn't want to leave the poor thing unattended while I was inside eating." Well, shouldn't you have considered that this morning before you decided to schlep the mutt with you?! And it's not as if I am a dog-hater. I love the massively drooling, butt-licking fools, but just outside, not inside where I am trying to enjoy a meal.
(Thus endeth the mini-Rant for today. Idiots!)
Slow Club doesn't have that extensive of a "Brunch" menu, but I did see a few other items that looked good: frittata ~ or fritatta even ~ (spinach, king trumpet mushrooms, red onion, swiss cheese & balsamic reduction served with greens), but this was almost the same as the weekend special frittata ~ or fritatta ~ that I had there on my last visit and I wanted to try something different; or grilled flatbread (montasio[3], arugula, yukon gold potatoes, bacon, caramelized onions & a fried egg), which I saw someone at another table had ordered and it looked like a pretty decent version of a breakfastary Pizza ~ solo senza sugo rosso.
The French toast came as three large slices (and about ¾-inch thick each). My one minor complaint would be that they had already poured the bourbon maple syrup on the French toast before bringing it out to me. I would much rather have them bring out a little syrup pitcher and be able to use as much or little of the stuff as I liked and pour it on myself (well, to be able to pour it on the French toast, not on my body… Hmmm?! That doesn't sound that bad either.). And in this case, it would have been "as much as" as the bourbon maple syrup was really very good. This is easily the Best French Toast that I have had this year… after Baker Street Bistro's Pain Perdu, of course.
The potatoes were also good and had lots of caramelised red onions, and they came with some kind of herbed aioli/mayonnaise stuff to dip the potatoes in.
The Coffee seemed rather weak at first, but, by the third cuppa (the second refilla), it was much better and probably from a newly brewed batch.
I only noticed Cholula® Hot Sauce for condimentary supplementation on all of the tables. I used some of my own hot sauces on different areas of the potatoes: just five to six (and believe me, you want to count how much you use of this stupid stuff; I was given this 5 oz. bottle over two years ago and have barely made a dent in its volume; and this isn't even the absolute hottest of their brand) drops of Blair's After Death® sauce with Liquid Fire (Thanks a lot, Sean! ~ with requisite sarcasm) and some (this one I went a lot more liberally with) Mama Africa's™ Zulu Sauces Chilli Mint (Thanks, Kerry! ~ without any real sarcasm noted there). The aioli/mayonnaise stuff seemed to temper the Blair's a bit, which was nice.
Between the large portion of French toast and potatoes, I am so full now that I may not eat again until tomorrow morning's breakfast…
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: bourbon french toast ~ 7.2
1. Off the top of my head, I could only name six bridges in the Bay Area:
Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, San Rafael Bridge, Carquinez Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, and Dumbarton Bridge.
The one that I couldn't think of was "that other 680 Bridge", which is actually called Congressman George Miller/Benicia-Martinez Bridge.
2. a) see previous 'blog-entry from June 4th, 2011 to get that reference;
b) the name "Diddley" isn't recognized by the Nazi Microsoft Auto-spellchecker thingy. Apparently, Billy-boy doesn't know Jack… or Bo!
3. Montasio is a type of Italian Alpine cheese. It is named for the Jôf di Montasio peak in the Julian Alps.
http://www.formaggiomontasio.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jof_di_Montasio
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