Fattoush

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." 
~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

http://www.fattoush.com/


Place: Fattoush[1] ~ Middle Eastern Cuisine 
Location: 1361 Church Street (at Clipper Street)
Hours: open on Saturday and Sunday at 9:30am for "Brunch"
Meal: Greek Frittata ~ Spinach, Green Onions, Tomatoes, Red Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, and Feta Cheese, served with toast & potatoes; and a glass of Laban[2] (Mint Yoghurt Drink)

(The juxtaselections for today's opening quote and EweToobular song are simply because this is SF Pride Week.)


I have passed by Fattoush many times before ~ they are just down the block from Chloe♥s Cafe (see 'last 'blog-entry from May 26th, 2014) ~ but this was my first visit there. I can now recommend it to anyone that does not feel like waiting the normal 30-45 minutes to eat at Chloe♥s. This is not to say that I won't keep going to Chloe♥s, as I usually get to Chloe♥s early enough in the morning when they are first opening up and never have to do the wait thing there, anyway. 

The inside décor is your typical Middle Easterny deal. I really didn't get an exact (or estimated, even) seating count for the place, but I would guess that there was easily seating for 40+; plus, they have a backyard Patio Dining area available (which I didn't check out this morning either, unfortunately). 

They have a pretty diverse breakfastary menu from which to choose (just nothing of Middle Eastern/Arabic origin, really). Some other good ideas might be: 
(off the) Benedictions section: Florentine with Tomato & Spinach, or Leiprechan [sic] [3] (corned beef & onion);
(off the) Scramblers section: Mediterranean (Spinach, Feta, Olives, topped with roasted Almonds ~ this was probably going to be my fall-back plan), or Californian (Tomato, Avocado, and Cheese);
(off the) Omelettes section: Herbavacious (Spinach, Mushrooms, Onion, Avocado, and Salsa and Goat Cheese) or Mexican (Chorizo, Guacamole, Onions, Pico de Gallo, and Cheese);
or (off the) Fat Stacks section: Whole Wheat Pancakes (with Ginger and Cinnamon), Buttermilk Pancakes, or Corn Flake Crusted French Toast (which really sounded interesting and may need a return visit for that specifically).

This was a very decent rendition of a frittata (as I like them and know them, at least). What's not to like? They had lots of fresh spinach in it and a bunch of Feta crumbled on top of it. For my toast choice, I had an English muffin. 

I liked the Laban well enough, but this drink would not be for everyone. It was a bit on the salty side, but it had lots of fresh mint in it (when I got to the bottom of the glass, there had to be about one-eighth glass full of mint leaves in it still). This was sort of a savoury version of a Lassi[4]. I had never had one of these before, and in cases like that, I will always opt for the unknown, no matter how horrible it may sound. 

For condimentary supplementation, Fattoush has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce and Tapatío® on all the tables. I had come well-prepared with three of my own hot sauces. The owner/manager-guy saw that I had some of my own hot sauces (both of which were semi-hot habanero ones) and asked to try a few of them; he took a sample of each and said he would try it later in the day. He then told me that they have their own fresh, homemade hot sauce, called "Shatta"[5], and gave me a little dish/bowl of it to try. It was a very good hot sauce ~ a bit sweet and salty with a nice amount o' heat. I ended up using it up all over both the frittata and the potatoes.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Greek Frittata ~ 6.8; Laban ~ 6.2; Shatta ~ 6.7


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number واحد:

"Fattoush" is a type of pita bread salad ~ think panzanella with a Levantine twist. I had to look up the etymology of the word, and apparently it's part Arabic (the "Fatt" part) and part Turkish (the "-ush" suffix). The Arabic word means "crumbs" or "crushed". The Arabic root word is فتّة‎ (fattah), which, to the untrained anti-Semitic ear, may sound a little vulgar.

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number اثنان:

"Laban" simply means "milk" in Egyptian Arabic. (see also: Labnah/Labneh)

3. They also have it mispelded on their web-site as "Lepricon". Of course, everyone knows that the correct spelling should be: "Leopard-con".

4. Don't worry, this is not made from any kind of canine milk. I think that Dogs are sacred in the Hindu religion, too.

5. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number ثلاثة:

In Arabic script, this would be "شطة" (when it is extremely picante, I wonder if they would say "Shatta you mouth!"), and it simply translates as "sauce". It is a popular hot sauce made from wholly-ground fresh chilli peppers by mixing them with oil (usually olive oil); vinegar, garlic, or other spices are commonly added. This would be very similar to the North African hot sauce Harissa.