Monday, May 30, 2016

Orson's Belly


Richmond (District) Coffeehouses
Act 1, Scene 29, Part B



(Sorry, I didn't bring my camera inside with me for this mid-morning meal/snack, but this is a nice à propos photo for Memorial Day taken earlier this morning at San Francisco Botanical Garden[1]. This may not be "the Green Fields of France", but it ain't half-bad, Eric.)


http://www.orsonsbelly.com/


Place: ORSON'S BELLY
Location: 1737 Balboa Street (between 18th and 19th Avenues)
Hours: open at 8:00am Monday-Saturday, 11:00am Sunday
Meal: warm gorgonzola, walnuts, sliced pear (Bagel Sandwich) (unfortunately, they don't state anywhere on their menu exactly what the ingredients were in this one, but it all seemed to work out well enough, whatever they were); and a cuppa (drip Coffee) De La Paz Graceland (Blend)

http://fourbarrelcoffee.com/shop/de-la-paz-graceland-2/




(Here's one more version of Eric Bogle's "No Man's Land" for Memorial Day. This one is sung in English by Eric himself and in German by a singer identified only as Wachol.)


I really wasn't planning on doing another 'blog-entry this weekend because I wasn't really planning on going out to breakfast again. Well, actually I was planning on going back to Just For You bakery & cafe (see last 'blog-entry from May 25th, 2015), but after getting up this morning, I just didn't feel like driving "all the way over there". Yes, I know that it is still in San Francisco (barely), but it is easily a half-hour to forty-five minute drive there from the Outer Richmond. Now, I would much rather have an hour-and-a-half wait for breakfast (not that I would ever be crazy enough to do that) than have to drive over (and then back again) with a thirty to forty-five minute drive included. So this morning when I got up, I just made some toast (See? I can actually "cook" for myself.) and a cuppa (pour-over style) Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee[2] (A HUGE thanks to Greg & Cindy Kipe!) and had a handful of kumquats[3] to round (or oval) it all off, too.

https://www.bettys.co.uk/jamaica-blue-mountain

Well, in lieu of driving "all the way over" to Dogpatch this morning, I decided to take a little hike through San Francisco Botanical Garden to kill some hours this morning instead. I really love this place (and it's free for any San Francisco resident). I am not really much of a "plant-guy", but what's not to like about a place that has lots of different flora and many species of birds hanging about? (And did I mention the "free" part for San Francisco residents?)





This is one of my favourite local birds. It is a Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica). Now, I am not sure of the exact Species of this guy/gal; it is probably a California Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma [californica] californica), but then it could also be sub-specied as a Nicasio Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica oocleptica) or Aphelocoma californica caurina or Aphelocoma californica californica. See what I mean? He/she didn't get close enough for me to ask. Either way, they are a pretty friendly and fun bird.

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

Additionally, while I was traipsing about in different areas of the garden areas, I saw a couple smaller pandemonia[4] of Wild Parrots flying overhead. It is normally unusual ("normally unusual"?! ~ well, you get what I mean) to see them this far west in San Francisco.

After walking around a bit there for a few hours, I suddenly came over all peckish... esurient... eeee, I'ma all 'ungry-like! So, I curtailed my Walpoling activities, sallied forth, and infiltrated ORSON'S BELLY (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday) once again to negotiate vending of some secondary breakfastary 
comestibles! As this was well-after 10:00am and before 12:00pm still, I really am not calling this mid-morning meal/snack "breakfast". You know what might be great, is if there was a name for a meal between "breakfast" and "lunch"...

Like I had said in Saturday's 'blog-entry, these Bagel Sandwiches are served open-faced (and are served with mixed greens). Mine this morning was piled high with lots o' good Gorgonzola (which is one of my favourite of the stinky fermented curds, Mr. Wensleydale) and thinly sliced pear (not sure of the type, though; you know, the greenish kind). To top it all off (literally), this was drizzled with some honey. The combination all worked out very nicely, too. Consider it a savoury-sweet thing.

The cuppa (drip Coffee) De La Paz Graceland (Blend) was excellent and really complemented the bagel-mess, too. So much so, that I bought myself a 12oz bagga to take home. I know that I just said on Saturday that I had too much Coffee already at home to use up ("...up which to use"? ~ Nah!), but I just emptied the last of my Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee this morning and am almost to the bottom of two other bags. (Can a person really ever have "too much Coffee", anyway? Well, if their name isn't "Joseph Smith, Jr." or "Brigham Young", I suppose.)

Afterward (because I noticed that a couple at the same table as I was sitting at [it was the extra large picnic bench deelie that could hold two to four Orson Welleses] had ordered Turkish Coffees and those came with a piece of Lokum[5] each, and I had commented to the owners that it now made sense why I saw a box marked "Lokum" over the kitchen area), I was treated with a free piece of Lokum myself. It went very nicely with the last of my Coffee, too.

I am not sure exactly when I will get back there again (I am pretty sure that it won't be in another two days, though), but I also like the sound of some of the non-breakfast items (served after Noon) on their menu and would like to try those, too. These are mostly salads, but all sound pretty tasty, such as: goat cheese cranberry (honey roasted walnuts, mustard vinaigrette); pearl couscous (spinach, cherry tomato, cucumber, Feta, fresh herbs, honey balsamic dressing); veggie cobb (romaine, avocado, hard boiled egg, Feta, agave roasted chickpeas, vegetarian Worcestershire dressing); or yellow curry chickpea (iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cashew, cilantro, curry yogurt sauce). However, don't expect any additional 'blog-entries for these. After all, this-here 'blog-thing is called "Breakfast at Epiphany's"; someone else will have to start a 'blog-thing called "Lunch at Cartier" if they want to.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating
warm gorgonzola, walnuts, sliced pear (Bagel Sandwich) ~ 6.5;
De La Paz Graceland (Blend) ~ 7.3;
San Francisco Botanical Garden ~ 8.2 ;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

___________________

1. http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/

2. I don't get why everyone says that Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is so expensive. Bettys sells it for only £17.50. What's the big deal?

Oh, wait... that is for only a 125g bag. Well, that still isn't that bad, right?

Oh, wait... with the current exchange rate (£1 = $1.46), that come to $25.62 for a 125g bag. I will let you do your own calculations as to what that equates to for a full pound (as in the measure of weight, not British Sterling).

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/semi-botanical pointer of the day:

A few weeks back, I was looking for kumquats at a Chinese produce market on Clement Street and asked if they had any available. The guy seemed to speak perfect English, but could not understand what I was asking for. I explained that kumquats are small orange-citrus fruit, but he still did not understand me.

Now, here's the kicker: The English name "kumquat" derives from the Cantonese " (gam-gwat)", literally "golden tangerine".

Maybe I need to learn how to say it in both Cantonese and Mandarin.

4. I can't really confirm that the plural of "pandemonium" is "pandemonia", but I also can't prove that it ain't. So, unless your name happens to be "John Milton", I am going with this spelling.

5. In case you have never had this confection before:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_delight

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Memorial Day Remembrances ~ 2016



This makes the eighth straight year that I have been posting these two links together.


http://francona.blogspot.com/2015/05/memorial-day-2015.html




The article was written by Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona[1], U.S. Air Force (Retired). He originally wrote the article back in 2007 when he was a Military and Middle East analyst with MSNBC. He updates the article each year on his own 'blog and graciously allows me to re-post it here.

The music video/song is sung by the Boston-based Irish Punk Rock band Dropkick Murphys[2]. While the song really isn't a Memorial Day song, it is written about WWI and individuals (sometimes forgotten and unknown) that fought in "the War to end all Wars" and paid the ultimate price of freedom (that would be mine and yours).

Take a moment and read the article and listen to the song, or read the article while listening to the song, or listen to the song while reading the article. Either way, take a moment to reflect on the meaning of this current three-day weekend; after all, it's not really about an extra day off, the start of Summer, parades, and barbecues.

Have a safe and "rememorable" Memorial Day, everyone.


________________

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Francona

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropkick_Murphys

The song was originally written by Scottish Folk singer-songwriter Eric Bogle under the title "No Man's Land"*, and has been covered by many Rock-and/or-Roll bands, Folk bands, and other Traditional Celtic bands (e.g. Joss Stone with Jeff Beck; Peter, Paul and Mary; the Chieftains; Celtic Tenors; the Clancy Brothers; Donovan; and even some guy from Minnesota named Robert Allen Zimmerman).


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man%27s_Land_(Eric_Bogle_song)

Mama♥s on Washington Square


♪ "Mam(m)as don't let your babies grow up to be stupid cunning linguists..." ♪

(Of course, it beats letting them grow up to be cowboys and lawyers and such.)




http://www.mamas-sf.com/


Place: Mamas on Washington Square
Location: 1701 Stockton Street (on the corner of Filbert Street)
Hours: open Tuesday through Sunday at 8:00am
Meal: Apple Pan Dore[1] ~ slices of sourdough baguette with sautéed (I added l'accent aigu there) apples in lemon-butter sauce; a side of Mamas Grilled Potatoes (homefries); a large glassa fresh squeezed grapefruit juice; and, afterward, for a breakfastary dessert, un doppio Espresso e un cannolo at 
Caffè Trieste

http://caffetrieste.com/index.htm




(Tomorrow is Memorial Day. So, in remembrance, I decided to go with this newer version of Eric Bogle's "No Man's Land" [aka "The Green Fields of France" or simply "Willie McBride"] for a EweToobular juxtaselection. 

The second video is a nice rendition of "The Last Post" performed on bugle to go along with the reference in the first song.)


Mamas on Washington Square is always a nice place to head to on a holiday weekend (the last time I went there was a year ago on Father's Day; see last 'blog-entry from June 21st, 2015). Apparently everyone and their tourista in-laws had the exact same idea this morning (see the above photo of the line of other idiots that would also have an hour-plus wait to get in and eat [I estimate that those near the end and others that would have been just arriving after I was inside would have anywhere from a two hour wait to possibly a three hour wait... seriously]). Even though I had arrived there at 7:30am (which I assumed would have been plenty early enough to get in with the first wave of ravished touristas), it was 9:00am by the time I had ordered, was seated, and finally had been served. This was by far the longest wait that I had ever incurred there.

Be that (wait as long) as it may (have) be(en), I will get back again one of these days. This place is too good to stop going to (Should that read grammatically correctly as: "... to good too stop going too"?), and there are still a few more good ideas yet from which to choose for breakfast. Ferexample: Mamas Sampler French Toast Plate (which is a trilogy of some of their French toast choices: Cranberry-Orange-Walnut [house-baked bread made with cranberries, fresh orange juice, and walnuts battered in egg whites], Swedish Cinnamon, & Banana-Walnut, covered with bananas & seasonal berries [well, botanically, bananas are a "seasonal berry", themselves]; I even talked the Floridian tourista family that were two behind me in line into getting this dish); Scrambled Florentine (baby spinach, bacon, red onions, and white Cheddar cheese served with Mamas Grilled Potatoes and choice of toast; which I would have ordered without the dead, decaying porcine butt product, of course); Mamas Childrens Favorite (sautéed mushroom, green onions, roasted tomatoes, and Monterey Jack cheese); or (off their Weekend Specials board) Bay Shrimp MOmelette (with asparagus, sautéed mushrooms, creamy Brie & Fontina cheese; again, I would have deep-sixed the dead, decaying marine insects here; I guess they would have to rename this the Bay Asparagus MOmelette for me).

Lil Mamas Update (for what it is worth)

Vince (the guy that I had spoken with last year) was not there this morning, but I asked the front counter-guy (who I know has worked there for many years and is probably another family member of Mamas, anyway) what is happening with Lil Mamas. Well, it looks like Lil Mamas is suffering from the same bureaucratic situation (read: B.S.) as Grits and is currently on hold for any sort of opening. I had walked by there earlier in the morning and it did not look as if it was due to open any time in the near future (meaning it may open up by next year... or not).

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

While waiting in line, I saw a good-sized pandemonium (probably eleven to twelve) of the colourful noisy birds flying over Washington Square Park. I explained the story (read: bored the heck outta) of the Wild Parrots of San Francisco to the tourista couple from San Diego that were directly behind me in line. (Sorry, with an hour to kill waiting to get inside, you will have to put up with the likes of me butting into your conversations every so often.) They informed me that there is a similar flock of Wild Parrots that roam San Diego, too.[2] (Sheesh! Like a complete stranger really cares to hear your boring ol' stories, buddy.)

Yet Still Another Shameless Plug of a Friend's Brand-new 'blog-thing 

Completely à propos o' nuthin' (Has anyone ever said: "à propos of everything"?), I have added another very informative 'blog-thing to "My 'Blog List" (along the right side column here). With Summer just around the corner (you just know that bastage is waiting to show his ugly hot and humid face any day now), it's time to think about your home air conditioning and the like. This 'blog-site can be very helpful. It is written/kept-up by a professional HVAC-guy (and I am assured that is his actual title "Professional HVAC-Guy") named Christopher Morin. Chris previous wrote/kept up another 'blog-thing called "Excess Air" (Don't worry it was not a political 'blog-thing.), but has migrated to this new 'blog-spot. Check it out, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact Chris for any information (but please keep it air conditioning and heating-related, ya buncha perverts). 

http://www.hvacproblog.com/




Omagawd! 

This was served as three long slices of French toast from a sourdough baguette ~ first good omen. There were many slices of (what I guess were Granny Smith) apples on top ~ second good omen. And the last good omen, Damien, was that the lemon-butter sauce was extra tasty and very thick and creamy (I was expecting this to be some kinda thin, runny buttery job). Now this may not be as great as the Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro, but I am currently calling this "Best 'New' French Toast Find of 2016". (Okay, it is not really a "new" find, but this was the first time that I have ever tried this dish ~ and I have been going there now for at least twenty years. Is it my fault that their MOmelettes are that good, too?)

For condimentary supplements, Mamas offers just Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I used some of my own Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Greg & Cindy! It looks as if I actually still have one last dosage left in that bottle.) on the potatoes.




I didn't forget to take a picture of the Coffee and cannolo this morning. (Not that a stock photo of any cuppa Espresso and cannolo wouldn't have sufficed.) This cannolo had chocolate chips in it; I like that kind, but my favourite style is just a plain one or one with a candied citrus filling.

"An hour-and-a-half wait to get breakfast! Are you crazy, Brian?! Was it worth it?" Actually, after trying this extremely tasty version of French toast ~ yes (to both questions)!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating
Apple Pan Dore ~ 7.5;
doppio Espresso e cannolo ~ 6.4;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco (and their cousins in San Diego) ~ 8.5

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, partie a:

As best as I can figger, "pan dore" should actually be spelled as "pain d'oré" (pronounced: "pen doo-ray" [or close enough, if you say it while holding your nose like a true Parisian would ~ especially while looking down it and trying to explain it all to the likes of an "américain stupide"]. This simply means "gilded bread". The term "pain d'oré" in French is just an alternate way of saying "pain perdu" (or "French toast").

Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, parte b:

At first, I just assumed this came from an Italian term (see, North Beach was historically predominantly Italiano); where "pane" (pronounced: "pah-nay", not "pain") means "bread", but the word for "gilded/golden" would be "d'oro". So that didn't make any sense either.

Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, parte c:

Then I figured maybe it was meant to be Spanish (as, I believe, Mamas family was mostly of Mexican heritage). The term for "gilded/golden bread" en español is "pan de oro" (I will let you figure out the pronunciation of that phrase all on your ownsome), but that was also incorrect with the spelling they have on their menus.

(And all of that only took me five minutes of Intro-Net searching to find out just what the heck this meant, of course.)

2. From what I could find, the Wild Parrots of San Diego may be the same breed as our local chatterheads.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2013/oct/23/cover-green-invaders-mexico/#

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Orson's Belly


Richmond (District) Coffeehouses
Act 1, Scene 29



http://www.orsonsbelly.com/


Place: ORSON'S BELLY
Location: 1737 Balboa Street (between 18th and 19th Avenues)
Hours: open at 8:00am Monday-Saturday, 11:00am Sunday
Meal: turkish breakfast ~ Feta, black olives, cucumber, tomatoes, honey[1], jam, (and) pita bread; (afterward for a breakfastary dessert treat) 
Red Grape Galette; and a cuppa pour-over De La Paz Peel Sessions (Blend)

http://fourbarrelcoffee.com/product-category/delapaz/




(Okay, Brian, we get the first EweToobular juxtaselection ~ everyone knew that Jimi was a big Orson Welles[2] fan, but what gives with the second song?

Just relax, dammit, drink your Coffee, and read along.)


Continuing along with my Richmond (District) Coffeehouses series, I went to a brand-new neighborhood café, ORSON'S BELLY. I can call this a "brand-new" café, because they just opened their doors officially earlier this week ~ as in on Monday. I think that they might have had a "soft opening" last weekend; however, I did not seem to get an invitation to that gala-day[3] (d*mn USPS must have lost my invite in the mail again). 

Why "ORSON'S BELLY", you might ask? Well, that is exactly what I did, and the guy I asked happened to be the owner of the place (I had just assumed that the young guy behind the counter was one of the baristas as he was the one preparing all the Coffee-drinks this morning) and he explained to me that he was a recently-graduated film school student and this movie-themed café was a lot easier to open than getting into the film industry. Don't worry, he told me that the "BELLY" part is more of a paean to the great Orson Welles' genius than an insult (to his later girth). (So, lighten-the-heck-up, ya buncha Fatty-Fat-Pantses!)




I don't remember what exactly used to be located in this same location in the past; however, I am pretty sure that it was not a very cool movie-themed café. The walls are now adorned with Hollywoodland movie posters and photos. They even have movies being projected on one wall (I forgot to take note of what was being shown this morning, though).

The seating is pretty open-spacious. It consists of four tables that can seat two to three people (well, as they are four-sided tables, they could seat four persons, but it is much more comfortable with just two or three), four high-stool seats at the café-counter, and one extra large picnic bench deelie that could easily seat eight to ten people (or two to four Orson Welleses).

There really are not that many other ideas from which to choose for breakfast/morning meal, but the few other ideas that I was looking at were: seasonal quiche (served with macerated strawberries) or  house-made bircher muesli[4] (rolled oats, almond milk, pepita, pear, raisins, agave [vegan]). Additionally, they offer four different types of Bagel Sandwiches (served with mixed greens, and, from what I could see, are served open-faced): house-cured salmon, goat cheese yogurt sauce, cucumber, tomato, chives, jalapeño bagel; mashed avocado, hard boiled egg, chives, spinach, drizzle sriracha, fleur de sel; hummus, spinach, cherry tomato, radish, olive oil, fleur de sel; and warm gorgonzola, walnuts, sliced pear (this one would probably have been my choice if I was in a bagel kinda-mood).




Now, this was all very simple, but all very simply good! Sure, I could get all these same ingredients and make this myself at home (Ha! Fat chance!), but half the beauty of this meal was the fun location and great Coffee. I have no idea if the Feta used was Greek, Turkish, or (shudder) French, but I liked the amount and flavour well enough. (Remember, kids: "Everything's betta with Feta!") The oil-cured black olives were nice, too. The best surprise of the meal was the HUGE loaf of (fresh-baked?) warmed/heated pita bread; I alternately dipped pieces of it into the honey and jam (either strawberry or raspberry) ramekins. The pita bread was very good and could probably be listed as a separate item on their menu even.




(Hey?! Okay, who took a bite of my galette before I had photoed it yet?!)

The Red Grape Galette was a "day-old" and, because of which, was only half-price, which is always half-nice. Day-old or not, it was still plenty today-good with me. I was very pleased to hear that they get all their baked-goods stuff from Butter Love Bakeshop (see previous 'blog-entry from March 13th, 2016).

http://www.butterlovebakeshop.com/

They also have De La Paz Graceland (Blend) (Now does the above EweToobular juxtaselection make sense? Of course, everyone knows that Jimi Hendrix was from De La Paz, Washington.) as their standard/house drip Coffee. They offer 12 oz bags of both of these Coffees for sale as well as De La Paz 
Big City (Blend). I was tempted to pick up a bag of Graceland (it smelled very tasty in the bags), but I still have four bags of other Coffees that I need to work/drink my way through before buying any more. I know where to get some if I need more, though. I have had this local brand of Coffee before in the past (because "before in the future" really makes no sense whatsoever; unless, perhaps, your name per-happens to be "Marty McFly", "Doc Brown", or "Biff Tannen"). Apparently, they have now merged with another local (as in locally Mission-based) Coffee roastery, Four Barrel Coffee; I have had their products before (also in the past) and know they make some d*mn fine Coffee, too, Agent Cooper.

Not that I needed any condimentary supplementation with this morning's meal (I would never mess with my Feta like that... Hmmm?! I wonder if that Müesli stuff could use a little spicing-up, though), but ORSON'S BELLY had Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce for use if needed. I had come prepared with a few of my own hot sauces, but didn't even bother breaking them out.

This place is definitley return trip-worthy! If not for another breakfast, at least for lunch or a dinner snack. 

Who knew that Balboa Street (and in the sleepy and foggy Outer Richmond, to boot) would become such a great haven to bakeries, cafés, and coffeehouses? Watch out Pioneer Square, Balboa Street has it's eyes set on you!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating
turkish breakfast ~ 6.6 (this is factoring in the awesome pita bread loaf);
(day-old) Red Grape Galette ~ 6.8; 
De La Paz Peel Sessions (Blend) ~ 7.1

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, bir numara/νούμερο ένα:

The word for "honey" in Turkish is "bal" (Do I really need to provide a pronunciation for that word?); and in Greek it is "μέλι (méli)". (This is an additional reference to last week's visit to Mel's drive-in.)

2. For any of you under the age of forty and are not recent film school graduates yourselves, Orson Welles happened to be one of the most influential and innovative Hollywoodland actors, directors, and writers of the mid-20th Century.

http://www.wellesnet.com/

(WellesNet.com? At first, I thought that might have been another one of them thar new-fangled O'Bammie-Care sites.)

3. As Groucho Marx was wont to point out: 

"I don't think I could handle more than a gala-day!"

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist (and pseudo-culinaristic) pointer of the day, nummer zwei:

Originally known in Swiss German as "Birchermüesli" or simply "Müesli", the word is an Alemannic diminutive of "Mues" which means "puree" or "mash-up."

Sunday, May 22, 2016

grindz




http://www.grindzrestaurant.com/


Place: grindz
Location: 832 Clement Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues)
Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday at 9:00am
Meal: Apple Banana Pancakes (4 stack) ~ apples, bananas, coconut crème anglaise, crushed Macadamia nuts; a side of hashbrowns; and a cuppa (and two refillas) Bicycle Coffee co Dark Roast Guatemala (unfortunately for today's destination, these guys do not offer a Kona Coffee[1] blend; I checked)

http://bicyclecoffeeco.com/




(They are usually playing Reggae music first thing in the morning on the house stereo. This cover of an old Doo-Wop song was one of the songs that was playing. I recognized it immediately because I actually have a Reggae compilation CD that has this specific version on it.

I am not so sure just what the connection between Jamaica and Hawai'i are, though. They both are islands and produce great Coffee, perhaps?)


I had DFA'd grindz (see last 'blog-entry from September 19th, 2015) earlier this year, but not because their food wasn't any good. I had been going with a Breakfastary Starting Rotation of six restaurants for the last few years and decided to cut it back to a standard five for this year. So, it's always nice to check in with the kids in AAA once in a while (plus, this place is very local for me and actually within walking distance ~ if that walking distance happens to be about twenty-three blocks both ways).

There really aren't that many items for stupid vegetarians on their "Brunch" menu and I have had most of them several times over now. Otherwise, a few items that I would like to check out one of these days are: Puka[2] French Toast (brioche, pina-berry compote, vanilla chantilly; which I would have also ordered with a side of hashbrowns); Li Hing[3] Pineapples (ripe pineapples dusted with Li Hing powder [ground dried plum skin]; again, I would have ordered a side of hashbrowns to top this off); or Breakfast Sandwich (brioche, sage breakfast sausage, egg, Cheddar, potatoes; of course, I would have 86-ed the grounded-up porky bits and substituted avocado instead).





I have had this dish a few times now. There was the perfect amount of coconut crème anglaise on the pancakes this morning. A few times in the past they went a little light with the good stuff. Someone a few tables over had also ordered this dish and asked for more of the coconut crème anglaise, which they brought out with no problem; I wish I had thought to ask for more my last few visits.

I was warned by the waiter-server guy that they no longer had Plantation Potatoes (which were made with celery slices, red bell peppers, and white onions) as a side dish, but are offering hashbrowns now. I liked the new hashbrowns, but their old Plantation Potatoes were way much better.

Bicycle Coffee co is always a great cuppa Coffee (or Kope) and I especially like that they deliver all their Coffee (or Kope) via bicycles. 

Knowing that grindz makes their own (exceptionally tasty, too, I might add [well, not "might add", I just did add]) Hawai'ian (spicy tomato) Ketchup as a condimentary supplement, I didn't bother to schlep[4] any of my own hot sauces with me this morning. I am pleased to see that they are now offering bottles of this for sale, too. I ended up using a very good amount on the hashbrowns (see stupid "Smiley-Face" in above photo). I determined that the coconut crème anglaise on the pancakes really didn't need any messing with on my part (even if Moe insists that pancakes are good with ketchup).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating
Apple Banana Pancakes ~ 6.6 
(coconut crème anglaise by itself ~ 7.6);
Hawai'ian (spicy tomato) Ketchup ~ 6.8; 
Bicycle Coffee co Dark Roast Guatemala ~ 7.2 
(cool delivery concept ~ 8.2)

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, helu hookahi:

The word for "Coffee" in Hawai'ian is "Kope". It is a loanword (and a lone word) of probably Indonesian, Malaysian, or Filipino origin. 

I would also just like to point out that Google Translate is now not only providing translations for Hawai'ian, but also Maori and (finally) Armenian.

Sub-sequential stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointers of the day:

The word for "Coffee" in Maori is "Kawhe" (I am not sure of the pronunciation, as they do not have an aural link for Maori on Google Translate) and in Armenian it is "Սուրճ" (pronounced pretty much like it looks).

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, helu elua:

The word "puka" means "hole" in Hawai'ian. How this pertains to French toast, I do not know. (Now if they had used the adjective "puka" to describe Hawai'ian doughnuts, I would completely understand, Duncan.)

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, 第三:

"旅行 (Li hing mui)" is Chinese for "traveling plum". It is preserved salted plums.

Additionally, as it pertains to Hawai'ian foods (this explanation borrowed from WikipediA):

"Li hing (red powder) is found in Hawai'i. The red powder called li hing powder consists of ground-up plum skin that has previously been pickled in a combination of licorice, sometimes, but not always aspartame, food coloring, salt, and sugar. Li hing powder is sold separately and can be used as a flavoring usually sprinkled on candy and other fruits notably pineapples and apples. In the United States, Li hing mui powder can be found in Hawai'i, where local children like to put li hing powder on sour gummy bears, sour gummy worms, sour watermelon candy, sour patch kids, shave ice, sour apple candy, rock candy, popcorn, and arare (also known as kakimochi and mochi crunch)."

4. Sorry, as much as I looked for it, there does not seem to be a current Yinglish-to-Hawai'ian aid on Google Translate. Let's just say "schlep" in Hawai'ian would be "schlep, bra'".

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Mel's drive-in




http://melsdrive-in.com/


Place: Mel's drive-in[1]
Location: 801 Mission Street (at 4th Street)
Hours: open at 6:00am every day of the week
Meal: BYO (Build Your Own Omelette)! (They added the "!", and why is this not called "BYOO"?) ~ with spinach, red onion, and goat cheese, served with choice of grilled potatoes, hash browns, or fruit (and choice of toast, which they don't state on the menu); and a large glassa fresh squeezed orange juice





(The first EweToobular juxtaselection should be pretty evident. [I really liked it when Mel Carter played that feisty housekeeper on Gimme a Break!]

For the second song, you will need to know either ελληνικά, Latinae, français, or español to get the reference.)


I went back to Mel's drive-in (see last 'blog-entry from April 28th, 2012) for breakfast this morning. 
Historically, this is the same "drive-in"/diner-joint chain as featured in a few Hollywoodland movies, such as: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, American Graffiti, and Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More...

This particular location has only been open since 2000 (so, if I can do some quick Common Core Math, that is about sixteen years now ~ give or take ten). Well, technically, this location really isn't a "drive-in" (the only actual "drive-in" locations in San Francisco would be their first restaurant on Lombard Street and their second location on Geary Boulevard, and those locations have long since given up the use of door-to-automobile carhop service); however, because it is located on the bottom level of a five story parking lot facility, I suppose this could be called a "drive-on".

Eddie, Shrevie, Boogie, and Fen[2] would be very surprised by what this modern-day diner has to offer in the way of breakfastary items. Ferinstance, some other ideas that I was looking at today were: Avocado Toast (avocado mashed on multigrain toast, three poached organic eggs, and smoked chili flakes; this looked really good and would have been my back-up choice, but I am down to smoking one pack of chili flakes a day now and didn't want to aggravate my addiction); Chilaquiles (corn chips, sauteed with chile poblano Ranchero sauce and 2 eggs, served with refried beans and sour cream; in the past, they were calling this dish "Tortilla Scramble"); Huevos Rancheros (What's with all these Mexican breakfastary dishes? Maybe "Mel" stands for "Melagro"); or a different combination of  BYOO! (they offer eight different cheese choices, fourteen vegetable choices [including "the vile weed", so that only left thirteen decent vegetable choices for me], and, for those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh, seven types of dead, decaying animal flesh choices). Additionally, for you dead, decaying animal flesh-etarians, they have two other interesting items on their Breakfast Specials menu: Breakfast Pot Pie (country gravy, peas & carrots, potato, puff pastry and an organic egg; I am not sure if that could be made vegetarian, but it sounded pretty good) or The Trio Breakfast Slider (pastrami, egg, jalapeño Jack on brioche bun).

Just to prove even further that this is not your old Uncle Melvin's style of "drive-in" diner; they offer four types of lemonades (Ginger-Chia Lemonade [Say whaaaaa?!], Cherry Lemonade, Arnold Palmer
or Strawberry Lemonade) and they also have a Fresh Natural Raw Juice Bar (with many juices and smoothies from which to choose). (Don't worry, they do still offer all of those standard healthy soda fountain entries like Vanilla Cokes and Chocolate Malts.)




This was a very nicely made omelette ("drive-in" or not). It was made with lots of fresh (baby?) spinach in this. I was very pleased with my choices of ingredients this morning, too. I went with hashbrowns as my side and sourdough as my toast choice.

For condimentary supplemenation Mel's drive-in had both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce (Original). I used some of my own Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Cindy & Greg! ~ I think that I might have about one good [nasal-dripping] dosage left in that bottle now.) on the hashbrowns.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: BYOO! ~ 6.4

___________________

1. Apparently, there are now two California mini-chains that feature similar monikers: "Mel's drive-in" and "Mels the Original". As far as I can discern, the original "original" Mel's drive-in went out of business in 1972 or 1974. The current Mel's drive-in was started in 1985 by one of the sons of one of the original "original" owners. Mels the Original was later started in 1994 by another family member of one of the original "original" owners (I am not exactly sure what their relationship might be to the present ownership of 
Mel's drive-in, though). 

http://originalmelsdiner.com/

Whatever the case may be, only Mel's drive-in has any locations in San Francisco (currently Standing at Four) and Hollywoodland (currently with three LocÅlly).

And, for what it is worth, the original "original" first Mel's drive-in location that used to be at 140 South Van Ness Street is now some kinda housing or condominium facility (right next to Tower Car Wash).

2. The actor that portrayed "Timothy Fenwick Jr." is no relation to the inventor of the Glen Bacon Scale.