(No official [nor unofficial] web-site available [nor unavailable].) Place: David's Delicatessen/Deli & Bistro Location: 474 Geary Street (between Mason and Taylor Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 276-5950 Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Saturday at 7:30am (or daily at 8:00am; depending on which Intro-Net source you believe; see, this is where an official ~ or unofficial ~ business web-site would come in handy) Meal: Shakshuka[1] ~ 3 poached eggs, spicy stew of tomatoes, onions, and peppers; a side of hash browns (which they have as two words, but I prefer as the compoundednoun); and a cuppa (and 1-1/2 refillas) Peerless Coffee & Tea® (I asked the waitress/server-lady person which blend/roast it was and she thought it might be Fair Trade Organic French Roast, which would be the same as last weekend at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House) http://www.peerlesscoffee.com/
(There is no real EweToobular juxtaselections between "David", "Delicatessen", or "Deli" and Joni Mitchell. The house stereo happened to be playing a different version [a newer recording by Joni herself from 2000; it was a slower, jazzier version than the original; I thought it might have been a cover by Diana Krall] this morning while I was eating breakfast, so I felt like adding a couple of takes here. And, yes, the second one is as highly illogical as it sounds, Captain. [I suppose it could have been worse still and been "sung" by William Shattner. Ha!][2]) I returned to David's Delicatessen/Deli & Bistro (see previous 'blog-entry from March 4th, 2012) for breakfast this morning. In case you are wondering (and even in the case of your non-wondering), I am going with the name of this restaurant as "David's Delicatessen/Deli & Bistro" because the main awning still states "David's Delicatessen", but the menu now calls it "David's Deli & Bistro". Take your pick. I sat at the main oval diner-counter seating area once again. There were a couple of other interesting-sounding ideas that I was looking at: Mediterranean Breakfast (sliced tomatoes, cucumber, olives, 1 scrambled egg, cottage cheese, and bread; I have no idea how that is all prepared or served, but it sounded simple enough for me; I probably would have ordered this with a side of hashbrowns, too); Matzo and Eggs (pancakes style; this is probably the same dish that I had during my last visit to saul's Restaurant & Delicatessen [see last 'blog-entry from December 26th, 2015]; again, I would probably have added a side of hashbrowns with this one); or Potato Pancakes (served with applesauce and sour cream; but I doubt that I would need to order a side of hashbrowns with this one... however, I wouldn't put it past me).
This came out in a sizzling cast iron skillet; the stew was still bubbling (but no toil seemed to be troubling it). This had both green and red bell peppers in it and was a very chunky stew. The only thing else that I would have liked with this was some kinda bread (pita would have been great) with which to dip in/sop-up some of the stewy sauce. This might not have been as good as the versions that I had at saul's Restaurant & Delicatessen (see previous 'blog-entry from December 15th, 2013) or Reverie Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from June 20th, 2015), but it was still a pretty tasty meal (and I seemed to clean up the entire skillet ~ with or without any bread). The side of potatoes was a HUGE plate of hashbrowns! I ended up dumping about half of the pile in with the remaining stew, and it all really went great together, too. (Naturally, as potatoes, tomatoes, and bell peppers are all New World foods.) For condimentary supplementation, David's Delicatessen/Deli & Bistro only has Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Crystal®Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce. Once again again, I used (just) a few drops of my own Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on top of each of the eggs (I tasted the sauce first to make sure that it could handle a bit more spiciness) and a good amount of Hot Licks®SerranoHot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the hashbrowns. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude I heard a few (but did really not see any) of the Wild Parrotsof San Francisco while I was walking along O'Farrell Street on the way to breakfast this morning. I can only assume that there is a small pandemonium that lives in the neighborhood as I have heard some many times before when I am walking around the Union Square area. Once again, because there is no official business web-site to check what the hours of operation (and alternately hours of non-operation) are for David's Delicatessen/Deli & Bistro, I had to rely on information supplied by Intro-Net sources and started with yelp*. Here is where I really have to restate emphatically: Do not ever believe anything that you read on the World Wild Webs. People writing restaurant reviews are basically idiots (and I should know, I am both a person and a proudly self-proclaimed idiot). The reviews of this place were mostly negative (there were many, many, many... and I mean many) and stated that both the service and food were horrible. I can only claim that the last two times that I have eaten there for breakfast were both fine. The service was quick, polite, and friendly this morning and the food (while maybe not Breakfastary Starting Rotation-worthy) was more than adequate and I would recommend the joint ~ and especially today's breakfastary dish ~ to anyone. I know that I will be checking them out again for one of the other dishes that I suggested above (of course, at the rate I am currently getting back there, this may not be again until the year 2020). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Shakshuka ~ 6.4; the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day: Shakshouka means "a mixture" in Libyan Arabic or other Maghrebi Arabic dialects. It is likely that it was first known as chakchouka, a Berber word meaning a vegetable ragout, although "shakshek" means "to shake" in Libyan Arabic, Berber, and Hebrew, giving a possible punic origin to the name of the dish. 2. How many of you (any of you Trekkie-geeks or Trekker-nerds need not reply) were aware that Leonard Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Jewish Ukrainian immigrants? I bet that will leave you speechless*. *(See, here is where a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer would come in handy. The word for "dumb/mute/silent" in Ukraïns'kij is "німий" [transliterated as "nimij" and pronounced "neemee"] and in Russkij it is "немой" [transliterated as "nemoj" and pronounced "neemoy"].)
http://www.cliffhouse.com/bistro/index.html Place: the Bistro Restaurantat Cliff House Location: 1090 Point Lobos (at the end of the Earth/Ocean Beach, "Where San Francisco Begins") Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Saturday at 9:00am, Sunday at 8:30am Meal: Joe's Special Scramble ~ scrambled eggs with sautéed ground beef, onions, mushrooms, spinach, topped with Parmesan cheese, served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes; a cuppa (and two refillas) Peerless Coffee & Tea® (I asked the busboy/Coffee refiller/(World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) resupplier-person what blend/roast it was, but he didn't know; I can only assume it was Fair Trade Organic French Roast, as this is the same blend/roast that they serve up the hill at Lands End Lookout Café); and a basket (of only two, initially) of (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) http://www.peerlesscoffee.com/
(I am only providing this EweToobular song because there isn't a corresponding love song from "The Maltese Falcon". Sure, Sam "played it [again?]" for Ilsa, but no one ever played a love song for poor Brigid O'Shaughnessy.[1]) In finishing up the early season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went with/back to my All-★ Closer: the Bistro Restaurantat Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from January 2nd, 2016). I can think of no better way to end a Series than with some (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!). The weather along the shore this morning was optimal for anyone wanting to take a stroll on the water's edge: the Sun was out and brightly shining and the waves seemed just tasty enough to me, Spicoli. It was strange, but I did not see even one surfer along Ocean Beach this morning (nor any dolphins nor porpoises tagging along behind them). However, there was a rumour that there were some whales (most likely Humpbacks heading North to Alaska, Mr. Horton, for the Summer) out there. Now, I don't know if it was the power of suggestion, but I may or may not have seen several swimming just about 200 yards offshore (just past the closest set of breakers and due west of Seal Rocks[2]). And if these were actually whales (and not my eyes thinking sandbars and rocks were humping the surface and spouting water), it had to be a pretty good sized pod/school, as they remained viewable for a good amount of time.
This was a nice scramble-mess. There was plenty of fresh spinach in it and it seemed that they had added extra mushrooms for me as, of course, I made sure that they 86-ed any of the dead, decaying grounded-up bovine flesh. There were only two (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) in the basket to start, but they will always provide you with more if needed... and I needed an additional two (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), so they brought me more. They even stopped by as I was finishing my meal and asked if I would like any more (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), but I was already "sitting in da Volvo"[3] by then. Today's fresh fruits included: cantaloupe, strawberries, watermelon, honeydew melon, and red grapes. the Bistro Restaurant has for condimentary supplements just Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce). Once again, I used some of my own Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the potatoes and a little (and by "a little" I mean just five small drops) of Blair's After Death saucewith liquid fire (Thanks a lot, Sean! [insert sarcasm-emoticon here]) on the scrambled mess.
Hollywoodland Strange Interlude As I have already chronicled all (to the best of my knowledge) of the autographed photos of Hollywoodland ★'s along the walls, I have decided to highlight one ★ per visit starting today. As luck would have it, situated right over my right shoulder this morning was a photo of Humphrey DeForest Bogart. Bogart just happens to be one of my favourite Hollywoodland actors. Personally, my favourite Bogart movies are "The Maltese Falcon" and "To Have and Have Not" (but both a very young and pretty Lauren Bacall and an old and rummy Walter Brennan tend to steal scenes from Bogart in that one). When it comes to Hollywoodland actors, Humphrey Bogart was the (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) of moving pictures male thespians. http://humphreybogart.com/ Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Joe's Special Scramble ~ 6.5; Humphrey DeForest Bogart ~ 8.2; (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) ~ 8.2 ___________________ 1. Okay. There is this one, but it sounds a tad bit dated today.
2. Here's a little-known Cliff Clavinoid fact: The San Francisco Tourist Board had originally come up with the name of "Bird-Poop Rocks" for this group of small rock formation islands just off the shore of Lands End, but it didn't quite seem to have the same panache as "Seal Rocks". 3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day: To get that stupid joke, you would have to know that "sufficiently full" in Russkij is "довольно сыт" (transliterated as "dovol'no syt" and pronounced somewhat like "daVOLna seat").
Place: the Grove ~ Yerba Buena Location: 690 Mission Street (at 3rd Street) Hours: open Monday - Friday at 6:30am, Saturday - Sunday at 8:00am Meal: Mexican Scramble Especial! (please note: they added the "!" not me; because if I had done so, I would have written it as "¡Mexican Scramble Especial!") ~ soft scrambled eggs with crushed La Palma tortilla chips, pico de gallo, Monterey Jack, topped with avocado, cilantro, and cotija cheese, with sliced, pickled jalapeños served on the side; and a very tall glassa (you know, the large glass stein they use for Hefeweizen) Cucumber Ginger Spritzer ~ cucumber and lime juice topped with refreshing ginger beer (Non-alcoholic)
(Sorry. I could not find any decent "Grove" or "Yerba Buena" [Irie! Bob Marley tunes don't count, mon!] juxtaselections. So these great songs by Linda Lewis will just have to suffice instead.) I went to the Grove~ Yerba Buena for breakfast (and I am very glad to state that they do not refer to this early morning meal as "Brunch") this morning. They currently have three San Francisco locations: this one, one in Hayes Valley (see last 'blog-entry from August 2nd, 2014), and one in the Fillmore (which I have eaten at several times for lunch or dinner, but never for breakfast). This location is a fairly new-ish restaurant (open since February 2010) and seems to be the largest of the three. In addition to the main seating area (where I figure there was seating for at least fifty to sixty people), there is an upper balcony/mezzanine area, and there is also a large sidewalk patio area with about twenty tables for two (I was thinking about sitting outside this morning, but it was still in the shadows when I had arrived and a bit chilly [56° F]). Like many of these upscale coffeehouse joints, you pay first, get a number (mine was #27 this morning), and then they bring out your food to you when it is done (and, I must say, they brought out my food very quickly this morning, too, even though they were hopping with customers). There are still many other good options from which to choose (so I might need to check out their Fillmore spot one of these days, too):
Eggs and Avocado Toast(mashed ripe avocado on grilled thick-cut Semifreddi's sweet batard with lemon, organic olive oil, and coarse sea salt; topped with two poached eggs, chives, and served with dressed mixed greens);
Veggie Breakfast Sandwich (soft scrambled eggs, Fontina, oven-roasted zucchini, arugula, with a creamy spinach spread; served on a toasted Semifreddi's brioche bun; which I would have ordered with a side of their Crispy Golden Rosemary Hashbrowns[and, yes, I am well aware of the culinary oxymoron of "Golden Hashbrowns"]);
or one of their Scrambles (served with buttered thick-sliced Semifreddi’s sweet batard toast and your choice of crispy golden rosemary hashbrowns or lightly dressed organic mixed greens): Basil and Goat Cheese Scramble (soft scrambled eggs with fresh torn basil and goat cheese); Seasonal Veggie Scramble (soft scrambled eggs with seasonal roasted vegetables); or Spinach, Fontina, and Tomato Scramble (soft scrambled eggs with fresh spinach, Fontina and oven-roasted tomatoes).
I liked this meal. It reminded me of a somewhat version of Chilaquiles, but just served without any kind of salsa on top of it. Not listed on the menu, but they offer a choice of sides with this dish: hashbrowns, black beans, or some kinda boring ol' side salad. Of course, I did the smart thing and got the hashbrowns (although black beans would have been a good alternative, too). I ended up dicing up the sliced, pickled jalapeños and mixing them into both the scrambled mess and potatoes. The Cucumber Ginger Spritzer proved to be a very nice, refreshing breakfastary libation. They also had a few other interesting-sounding (Non-alcoholic) drinks: Cranberry Black Tea Sangria (black tea and cranberry juice with orange, strawberry, and mint) or Lavender Lemonade. They also offer Verve Coffee Roasters (made in Santa Cruz), which I have had before and know to be good Coffee, but I felt like something different for a change. For condimentary supplementation, the Grove had both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce. Once again (in an effort to use up some of my oldest hot sauces), I went with some Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the scrambled mess and some Lucky Dog Hot Sauce Medium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the hashbrowns (which actually were kinda golden now that I think of it ~ hashgoldens?). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: ¡Mexican Scramble Especial! ~ 6.3; CucumberGinger Spritzer ~ 6.6
(No official web-site any longer. They had one that seemed to be working for a while, but it does not even come up any longer. Unless, of course, they have changed their restaurant name to "Service Unavailable".) Place: Cafe Golo ~ Boutique Cafe Location: 1602 Lombard Street (at Gough Street); phonicular contact: (415) 673-4656 Hours: open daily at 8:00am Meal: (to start) Sweet Potato Tart; (for the main meal) Breakfast Tacos (3) ~ corn tortillas filled with (scrambled) eggs, tomatoes, onions, peppers (bell; both red and green), and cheese (probably a mixture of Cheddar and Monterey Jack); and (to drink) a cuppa (and one refilla) whatever is their house Coffee
(Yeah, it's Earth Day once again. Respect Mother Earth... or else! You don't ever wanna piss off ol' Noel Yang.)
As a extra-added special edition Friday morning 'blog-entry (and continuing on with my early season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation), I went back to Cafe Golo ~ Boutique Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from January 17th, 2016). I got there about 8:15am, but, even so, I was still the first customer of the morning. It soon filled up quickly enough with touristas that were staying in the neighborhood. Some other possible ideas that I was alternately looking at/thinking of ordering: Veggie Omelet (eggs, tomatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms; served with potatoes and toast); Artichoke - Spinach Scramble (egg whites, spinach, artichokes, grilled onions, sun-dried tomatoes; served with toast and choice of potatoes or fruit); or Florentine Taters Scramble (country potatoes scrambled with spinach, sautéed onions, the vile weed, mushrooms, zucchini, and cheese; this was one of the first dishes that I ever had there and it's always a good back-up plan if needed).
I started out with a Sweet Potato Tart because it's one of my favourites of their fresh-baked pastries. They do always bring out a "bite-sample" or two, but I am not so sure that people are aware that there are several other pastries offered. Marketing-wise, I think that they should really put something on their menu stating that they have fresh-baked pastries; even the display case is near the back and unmarked, and you might miss it if you were not aware of it. These tacos were very simple, but very simply good, too. (And, yes, tacos oficiales should always be made with corn tortillas; and they should be of the soft version, not the fake crispy kind offered at fast food joints.) For those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh, these can also be gotten with chicken, bacon, sausage, or ham. I almost ordered a side of their country potatoes (which are made with both white/standard potatoes and sweet potatoes and I know to be very good), but this would have proven to be wayyyy too much food for me after the pastry starter. I know that Cafe Golo has a few different hot sauces from which to choose for condimentary supplements. Even so, I used some of my own (mainly because I am still trying to use up some of my older bottles first) Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on one of the tacos, and some Florida GoldPremium Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on another of the tacos. I left the third one unadorned, but I probably shoulda asked for a small ramekin of their awesome GoloRanchero Sauce to pour on it, too. Grits update (or not) Per Miss P.B., they are still waiting to open their new Tenderloin location. It seems that there is yet still another hold-up with the city. This time it has something to do with the original flooring being made from redwood (not cement) and not being up to (seismic?) code. The building probably must be over 100 years old, I would guess. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sweet Potato Tart ~ 7.5; Breakfast Tacos (3) ~ 6.4
http://www.cliffhouse.com/home/Cafe.html Place: Lands End Lookout Café Location: 680 Point Lobos Avenue (which would be on your Merrie Way [this is actually the name of the sidewalk trail along the western end of the Lands End parking lot]) Hours: open daily from 9:00am Meal: Hummus & Pita Chips and an Almond-Craisin Scone; and a cuppa Peerless Coffee & Tea®Fair Trade Organic French Roast http://www.peerlesscoffee.com/product/all-coffee/fair-trade-french-organic/
(There is really no reason for today's EweToobular juxtaselection. I just had heard that Prince Rogers Nelson was a huge fan of National Parks.[1])
I have the next couple of days off from work (due to the fact that we are moving our offices about four blocks away), so I figured I could squeeze in a few additional 'blog-entries before the end of the month. Today I continued with my Richmond (District) Coffeehousesseries and went to Lands End Lookout Café for a quick and simple breakfast. I had completely forgotten that they were so close by and figured I could check them out this morning and then do a little hiking around Lands End and the old Sutro Bath ruins (wayyyy down, then wayyyy up).
(I am glad that they have it marked, because I was not quite sure where "here" was.)
http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park-sites/lands-end.html The Lookout Café is run by the same people that run Cliff House. However, there really isn't an awful lot of choices on their menu for breakfast. I found out that they don't even have any sandwiches or real food available until after 10:00am. There is no real seating inside (well, there is one bench that might seat three to four people that faces outside overlooking Seal Rocks); so I decided to sit outside and enjoy my breakfast with a friend.
This was good enough hummus, but nothing really special (well, it's better than anything I can make; that is, if I ever tried to make my own hummus, of course). There were enough pita chips left over that I ended up sharing them with some of the local little birds (little black and brown ones that I just figure are Sparrows or such; I suppose you can say that I was "host" to the Sparrows for breakfast) that stopped by. The scone was very good and fresh-baked. The birds also seemed to really like the almond slivers that I shared with them, but only a couple of them tried the craisins that I also gave them. I like that they offer free refillas all day long if you bring your original paper cup back with you. After breakfast I went for a short hike down to the Sutro Bath ruins and some of the nearby trails and then stopped back at the Café for a half-refilla before heading home.
(Can this photo of Seal Rocks be captioned: "Heart of Stone"?) I didn't really notice or look for any kind of condimentary supplementation and I didn't bother bringing any of my own with me as I figured (correctly, it turned out) that there would be no need for any at a small coffeehouse on National Park lands. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Hummus & Pita Chips ~ 6.0; Almond-Craisin Scone ~ 6.4 ___________________ 1. Trying to locate an original Prince song on EweToob is as hard as trying to locate any original Robert Zimmerman songs there, too. On my way back home from Lands End, I had the car stereo tuned to a local Rock-and/or-Roll radio station (that would be KFOG for anyone really reading along this far). They had just played two Prince songs back-to-back ("Purple Rain" and "1999") and I jokingly thought to myself, "What, didPrince die or something?!" See, it was about 10:15am and they normally do a program every weekday called "10 at 10" where they play ten songs in a row at 10:00am from either a specific year or with a theme. I just figured the theme today was Prince songs. Of course, right after the second song the deejay came on and stated, "Prince. Dead at 57." Ooops! Okay, so I felt a little bad about my stupid joke after that. R.I.P. Prince. Here's hoping you will be partying like it is always 1999. (For what it is worth, I still have my original vinyl copy of "1999" from 1982.)
(Still no official web-site thing.) Place: Eats Location: 50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000 Hours: open for breakfast every day of the week at 8:00am Meal: Season's Scramble (v) ~ mushrooms, corn, zucchini, garlic, cherry tomatoes, basil, goat cheese, parsley (comes w/ toast [multi-grain, sourdough, rye], with a choice of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes or mixed greens); and a small glassa Power "C" ~ orange, grapefruit, pineapple juices Because I am still working my way through my Breakfastary Starting Rotation for an early season workout, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from January 16th, 2016) for breakfast this morning. I sat outside because I could (I was the first one in line this morning and had my choice of seating, anyway) and because the weather was excellent for a change (it's supposed to reach the low 80's here today). Some of the other ideas that I was looking at were: Spicy Tomato Skillet (v) (kale, onions, potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, sunny up eggs, Parmesan, grilled bread; I have had this one a few times before and it is very good; there is so much kale in it that I have renamed it: "Spicy Kale Skillet with tomatoes and other stuff"); Veggie Polenta and Sunny Up Eggs (spinach, red/green bell peppers, leeks, garlic; I think that this one is new-ish from their recently updated menu); or Spinach Portabella Benedict (v) (which I have also had before and know to be another good choice).
This was a great seasonal scramble (which I expect is the Spring season). It had lots of halved cherry tomatoes (which gave it a nice *pop*) and fresh-shucked (not from frozen) kernels of corn. I went with sourdough as my toast choice. And, of course, I went with the option of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes. Who in their right (or left) mind would choose plain ol' "mixed greens" (read: rabbit-food) when given the clearly superior choice of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes? There were four-and-a half (well, there were actually four whole cloves, but one clove was extra large so I am counting it as 1-1/2) cloves of garlic in with the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes this morning, which I generously shmeered[1] all over the toast. For condimentary supplements, Eats has the standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce [Original Red Sauce], Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Cholula®Hot Sauce [Original]); plus, they now offer three different types of El Yucateco® (Hot Sauce Salsa Picante de Chile Habanero [una roja y una verde] and XXXtra Hot Sauce Salsa Kutbil-ik® de Chile Habanero [which is one that I still also currently have in my hot sauce collection]). As I am trying to use up some of the oldest of my own hot sauces, I used a good amount of Fat Cat Strawberry Serrano Hot Sauce(Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) in with the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes and just a small amount of Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the scramble mess. I estimate that there is probably just another dose or two left of the Strawberry Serrano. (I figure I need to use up at least another three to four more bottles to even make the collection somewhat manageable.) the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude Now this was very cool and it is pretty unusual to see these birds this far west into the city, but I did see one pair earlier in the morning crossing over Clement Street (near 3rd Avenue), and again, while eating, I first heard, then spotted a small pandemonium of another seven of my fine-feathered chatterbox friends flying overhead. I would like to think that they are finally trying to roost in Golden Gate Park, but more than likely, it's still way too chilly all year round for them to live there and they were just venturing further out this morning in search of a nice breakfastary repast themselves (I wonder how they feel about garlic). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Season's Scramble ~ 6.8; Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes ~ 7.6; the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. (Somewhat kinda) stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day: "Shmeer" (also spelled "shmear" or "schmeer") is a Yiddish word and can be used in various ways. Once again, whenever a Yiddish/Yinglish word needs a good explanation, I turn to the best (well, the only one that I own or know of) lexicon for Yiddish-English: TheJoysofYiddish by Leo Rosten. According to Mr. Rosten: shmeer Pronounced as it is written, rhymes with "shear". From German: Schmiere: "grease", or "bribe". 1. To paint. 2. To smear. 3. To spread. "Shmeer it on the bread." 4. A spread or paste. "With drinks, a caviar shmeer on crackers goes well." "Smoked fish, cream cheese, sour cream, and chives make a wonderful cocktail shmeer." 5. To bribe; a bribe. This is the most interesting usage, and has long been part of American slang. It is related to "greasing the palm." "Do the officials expect to be shmeered there?" "Do they take a shmeer?" There is a saying: "Az men shmeert nit, fort men nit." ("If you don't bribe, you don't ride." - or, less literally, "Without bribery, you'll get nowhere.") 6. To strike or beat. "He landed a shmeer between the eyes."
(Ooops. I just located their official web-site after posting this earlier in the day. Ignore the below comment about not having one, but the yelp* stuff still stands.) Place: Dottie's True blue café Location: 28 Sixth Street (on the corner of Stevenson Street); phonicular contact: (415) 885-2767 Hours: open for breakfast Thursday through Monday at 7;30am Meal: (a big bowl o') 1919 Rum Runner - Walnut Caramel Bread Pudding and a (huge pile o') side of home fries; and a cuppa (and one refilla) Coffee I think it is only fitting that Dottie's True blue café was my 700th (Woo-HOO!!! ~ insert fireworks emoji here) 'blog-entry (see last 'blog-entry from January 9th, 2016), even if you aren't a Pat Robertson fan (and if you are a Pat Robertson fan, why the H-E-double hockey sticks are you reading my 'blog-thing?!). I don't think that I have eaten there 700 times already, but it must be at least 100-200 or so. Some other ideas that I could have gone with this morning: 1929 Bronze Goddess Banana Whiskey Roll (which I would have also ordered with a side of home fries); 1920's Prohibition Whiskey Blueberry Crumb Cake (ditto on the side of home fries); Avocado, Tomato, Jalapeño, Corn, Scallion & Feta Frittata (comes with toast & potatoes; I have had this, or similar versions, before and have always liked it; besides, I really can't repeat this mantra enough: "Everything's betta with Feta!"™); or Sweet Potato, Caramelized Red Onion & Gruyère Tart (comes with eggs any style & fruit; I have also had this version in the past and it was always very tasty). Because Dottie's True blue café no longer has an official web-site, and I haven't been there since January, I decided to check recent yelp* reviews to make sure that they are still open for business (Kurt has the place up for sale if anyone is interested). Now here's the thing, the reviews that I read there were all either 4 or 5 - ★ (which were the majority) or 1 - ★ . From some of the recent reviews, it seems that people either absolutely love the place or positively hate the place (due to long lines and their perceived slights by the workers there). I don't really know about any of that; personally, I have never had poor service and the food is always stellar; plus, I know of many other rave reviews from people that I have taken there. My rule of thumb: take any reviews you read on yelp* with many grains of salt (or, if you are watching your blood pressure, with some fresh cracked peppercorns).
This was a pretty good idea for a change of breakfastary pace. The bread pudding was very good (luckily, as) and a large quantity. What's not to like? It had lots of walnuts in it, and who (besides Pat Robertson fans) doesn't like caramel? It came heated up and with a good amount of whipped cream on top, but I might have preferred just some fresh cream on it instead. I almost went with an additional egg (over-medium), which would have been wayyyy too much food. As it was, I couldn't finish all of the potatoes (but I did my best to make a good dent in them). Why did I order both bread pudding and potatoes for breakfast? Because I never get enough carbohydrates in my diet... Dottie's True blue café always has a pretty decent condimentary supplementation: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (three types: Original Red Sauce, Green Jalapeño Sauce, and Chipotle Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Frank's RedHot®Chile 'n Lime™. However, once again, I just used some of my own Palo AltoFirefighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys and Brian!) on the homefries. And that has finally killed that bottle now (leaving me with only twenty-three bottles of hot sauces remaining to use up). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 1919 Rum Runner - Walnut Caramel Bread Pudding ~ 6.5
