https://patscafesf.com/ Place: Pat's Cafe Location: 2230 Taylor Street (between Chestnut and Francisco Streets, just off Columbus Avenue and "down the road" from the San Francisco Municipal Railway Powell-Mason Cable Car Turntable) Hours: open at 7:30am every day of the week Meal: San Francisco Spinach Omelet ~ fresh spinach, fresh basil, tomatoes, Feta cheese, served with homefries and toast; a cuppa STASHEnglish Breakfast Black Tea; and, afterward, on my way home, a breakfastary dessert at ★ The ★ Richfield with a cuppa Guatemala Huahua-somethingerother (with no official-type web-site with which to check it out, I really can't remember what the blend/roast was called) and a Banana-Berry Muffin https://www.stashtea.com/products/english-breakfast-black-tea
(This Wednesday, August 31st, is still the 71st birthday of Sir George Ivan. Today's EweToobular musical introlude is continuing the celebration of that event.) Once again, I can't believe that it has almost been two years since I last had breakfast at Pat's Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 14th, 2014). This place is a great little off-the-beaten-path (well, about a half-block off if that "beaten path" is Columbus Avenue) and really deserves more frequent visits. It can be a bit of a trip cross-town, but early on a Sunday morning, it's usually easy to get a nearby parking spot (this morning I scored a spot directly across the street); plus, if you get there early enough, you can normally beat most of the tourista crowd (coming from the surrounding Fisherman's Wharf hostelries and mostelries) to a table. This morning I sat at one of the two small, round tables that are just around the corner from the entrance-way. And like yesterday's destination, Pat's Cafe offers many more interesting menu items that need checking-out: California Omelet ~ or also available as a Crepe (avocado, Cheddar, mushrooms, onions, Aidell's fresh chicken apple sausage ~ which I would have axed... well, I would have axed for them to not include it); Chilaquiles American Style (scrambled eggs, Cheddar, tomatoes, ham [this would have gotten las hacha, too], spinach, tortilla chips, jalapeños, tomatillo sauce); Veggie Omelet (with tomato, spinach, br*ccoli [just axe me how I feel about the vile weed], asparagus, fresh basil, Feta cheese); as well as a few more good ideas. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude Before breakfast, while walking around along Columbus Avenue (I had arrived a few minutes before 7:30am and decided to kill some time), I saw a pretty large pandemonium of about twenty Wild Parrots of San Francisco flying overhead. This is their original neighborhood, after all.
This omelette was made with lots of fresh sautéed spinach and a very good amount of Feta (which I was glad to see, as I went with this choice mainly for the Feta ~ "Everything's betta with Feta!"™). Plus, the combination of (diced and lightly grilled) tomatoes[1] (Sorry, Greg!) and fresh basil really added to this dish. Their on-line menu still lists two separate kinds of omelettes: San Francisco Omelet (fresh basil, tomatoes, Feta cheese) and Popeye Omelet (fresh spinach, Feta cheese); however, I think that they have just combined the two now, as the printed menu only has the one omelette that I ordered this morning (and I am very happy to see that they maintained the Feta). I went with sourdough for my choice of toast.
Due to an early morning (and overly lengthy) discussion on defacedbook about teas (Man, some people really are geeks!), I went with tea instead of Coffee for my caffeinated beverage of choice. I liked how this large cuppa came with some kinda plate-topper-thing (and I bet Cindy Kipe knows the exact terminology for that ~ and probably owns a few of her own) to place the teabag and teaspoon in afterward. (Doc Estes, FYI, they also offered Earl Greyand a few other tea choices.) As far as I could tell, Pat's Cafeonly had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for condimentary supplements. I used up the last of my own Marie Sharp'sGrapefruit Pulp Habanero Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the potatoes. I left the omelette untainted by any hot sauces. I originally was only planning on stopping by ★ The ★ Richfield (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 17th, 2015) to pick up a bagga their (well, a bagga Snowbird Coffee's) Zatarra, but I knew that I would also probably end up ordering another cuppa for the morning (Yeah, so, I am weak like that). As it was, they were all sold out of the Zatarra (again). So, to make up for it, I "had" to get a muffin to go along with my Coffee... The Banana-Berry muffin was very good, too; it had large slices of strawberries[2] in it.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: San Francisco Spinach Omelet ~ 6.8; Snowbird CoffeeGuatemala Huahua-somethingerother ~ 7.1; the Wild Parrotsof San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. I would like to point out that unlike yesterday's (quite meager fare and not an actual berry) blackberries on the pancakes, tomatoes are botanically a berry. (Go figger!) 2. I would also like to note that this muffin actually had more botanical berries in it than yesterday's pancake meal, too. Bananas are a berry (however, strawberries are not).
(No official web-site.) Place: homeskillet Location: 1001 Market Street (on the corner of 6th Street); phonicular contact: (415) 552-5509 Hours: open at 7:30am every day of the week Meal: seasonal berry hotcakes; a side of hashbrowns; and a mugga Equator Coffees & Teas™ (Light Roast) El Salvador Finca Himalaya Honey https://store.equatorcoffees.com/coffees/
(This Wednesday, August 31st, is the 71st birthday of Sir George Ivan[1]. Today's EweToobular musical introlude[2] is simply in celebration of that fac', Jack(ie)!) I went back to homeskillet (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 29th, 2015) for breakfast this morning. This place is just a half-block (I don't know if that is an optimistic or pessimistic estimate) up the road (which, in this case, would be 6th Street) from Dottie's True blue café. While there was already a sizable line around the corner (and, in this case, that would be the corner of Stevenson Street) waiting to get into Dottie's True blue café, I was the first and only customer in line when homeskillet opened this morning. I also ended up being the only person to sit down and eat the whole time I was there; there were several people that took Coffee and food "to go", though.
I was a little bit disappointed in this dish. Now just because they had "seasonal berry" listed in the singularity, I still figured that they meant "berries", as in a "variety of (seasonal) berries". However, there were just blackberries[3] (and not really that many to boot... well, if you are the kinda person that gets your kicks from booting berries, I suppose [I hear this is how that sicko Jerome Monroe Smucker got started]) on top of the two (medium-sized) pancakes. I was looking forward to there being a few different types of berries, at least. All in all, the pancakes were okay (but even I can make pancakes at home... well, I haven't ever really made any pancakes from scratch [or pancake batter even], but I suppose that I could if I wanted... maybe). Perhaps blackberries are the only berries[4] that are "in season" right now... Pancakes AND hashbrowns, Brian?! What gives? Well, I am currently on the new Meso Diet (I am a little more culturally advanced than those idiots on the Paleo Diet)... because you can never get enough carbohydrates. For condimentary supplementation, homeskillet offers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, Louisiana's PureCrystal®Hot Sauce; and Huy Fong Foods, Inc. Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce. Even though that is a pretty decent selection, I still used some (well, a lot, really) of my own Lucky Dog Hot SauceMedium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the hashbrowns. Luckily, homeskillet has many other good ideas yet to check out (for both stupid vegetarian-types and those that partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh). Ferinstance: shroom florentine (English muffin, mushroom & spinach, poached farm fresh eggs, Hollandaise [like a lot of places now-a-days, homeskillet has posted the names of their menu items and descriptions in the minuscule ~ however, I felt it necessary to majuscule both "English" and "Hollandaise"]); veggie cheese scramble (green bell peppers, mushroom, onion, spinach, Jack-Cheddar cheese [again, they minisculed the name/names of the cheeses, but I took it upon myself to majuscule them again]; served with fresh hashbrowns or balsamic greens & choice of toast); as well as several omelets or a green tortilla burrito (choice of meat: chicken apple sausage, apple smoked bacon, pork chorizo, ground beef, or tofu; spinach tortilla burrito stuffed with Jack-Cheddar cheese, eggs, black beans, green bell peppers, onions, sour cream, salsa; served w/ hashbrowns or balsamic greens). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: seasonal (just) blackberry hotcakes ~ 6.0 (this is figuring in the good side of hashbrowns, too); Equator Coffees & Teas™ El Salvador Finca Himalaya Honey ~ 6.9 ___________________ 1. Sure. The British Queen-person can confer a Sirhoodsmanship* on ol' George Ivan, but she can't see fit to make August 31st a National Bank Holiday?! *(I am not sure if the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire grade of "Officer of the Order of the British Empire" is recognized as a "Knight" or knot.) 2. Citation required. (Okay, so I made up another portmanteau ~ and I don't even own an overcoat.) 3. And what have we learned many times before from reading this silly li'l 'blog-thing? "Blackberries" are not botanically a berry. 4. See footnote #3 above.
(No official web-site.) PlacePlace: MyMyCoffeeCoffeeShopShop LocationLocation: 15001500 CaliforniaCalifornia StreetStreet (on the corner of LarkinLarkin StreetStreet) HoursHours: open at 8:00am8:00am dailydaily; phonicular contact: (415) 800-7466 MealMeal: mambo italiano scramble(o) ~ italian(o) sausage(o) (which I of course 86ed-o), oyster mushroom, basil, sun dried tomato, Roma tomato, Kalamata (they like to stylise most of their menu in the minuscule script; however, there is no way that I would ever b*stardise "Kalamata" ~ the King of Olives, by the way) olive, smoked Mozzarella (ditto on the majuscule I have changed it to here; not that I consider Mozzarella "the King of Olives", too, though), tomato garlic relish, w/ hash brown [ sic, in the singular ] & toast; a (smallish) glassa Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice (now, for some reason, they do list all of the drinks on their menu in majuscule for the first letter of each word); and (beforehand, for a pre-breakfast dessert) a cuppa (pour-over drip style) ContrabandCoffeeEthiopia Harar Longberry and a Neighbor BakehouseGuavaand Cream Cheese Cubano Turnover
(I am just continuing here with the Linda Ronstadt Memorial Weekend. It would have been a very cool juxtaselection if I could have found a version of "Mambo Italiano" sung by Linda... or if I had ordered "the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake"[1] for breakfast this morning. Hmmm? Maybe I shoulda saved the Noel Yang-related song from yesterday for today.) For a change of pace (or a pace of change), I decided to head first to ContrabandCoffee for a pre-breakfastary treat. The last few times that I have visited MyMyCoffeeCoffeeShopShop (see lastlast 'blog'blog-entryentry from SundaySunday, AugustAugust 23rd23rd, 20152015 ~ which, for any of you followers of the calendar-system, would be exactly one year ago today. Can you say "très à propos"? ~ No, really, can you tell me how to pronounce "très à propos" correctly?) I went to this next-door coffeeshop after breakfast. I was planning on ordering another dynamo donut offering, but was told by the pretty barista-lady (baristetta?) that they had not yet received their delivery for the morning. No problem. They still had many other pastries from which to choose, and I was very happy with my pastry. As for the actual Coffee itself, I reallly liked this roast/blend! It was not too strong, but it was verrry flavourful ~ just like good Coffee is supposed to taste. (If I didn't already have four bags of Coffee at home that I am still drinking my way through, I would definitely have picked up a bagga this one.)
Like yesterday morning, I sat outside once again. MyMyCoffeeCoffeeShopShop has eight tables for two along the Larkin Street side-sidewalk and three more tables for two along the California Street side-sidewalk. As soon as I sat down, they turned on the overhead gas heater things, but those were completely unnecessary (it couldn't have been much colder than 60° and I had a sweatshirt on, anyway). If it were too cold to sit outside, I would have gone inside instead. As it was, again just like yesterday morning, I was the only idiot stationed outside the entire time that I was there. Due to the quality (very tasty) and quantity (for both stupid vegetarians and those that partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh alike) of items from which to choose, I could easily see both yesterday's choice of restaurant or MyMyCoffeeCoffeeShopShop as being Breakfastary Starting Rotation-worthy if ever the need arose. There are still a few more good ideas at MyMyCoffeeCoffeeShopShop (in two menu categories) that I need to get back to try one of these days: eggs & relatives: tex-mex scramble (chorizo [which would also have been 86ed-o], garlic, roasted jalapeño, onion, Roma tomato, pepper jack, chipotle aioli, pico de gallo, avocado, corn tortilla); and sweet & savory griddle: banana-blueberry soufflé pancake (house-made mascarpone [which they also have in the minuscule, but I don't care about that so much] cheese pancake w/ vanilla curd, candied walnut); or lemon ricotta soufflé pancake (house-made ricotta cheese pancake, seasonal fruit toppings). Unfortunately, they no longer offer chive pancake with crispy crumbled bacon & Gorgonzola (much like I would never insult the regal Kalamata olive by listing it in the minuscule, I would never write "Gorgonzola" ~ one of my favourite of the stinky, fermented curds ~ in minuscule, even if it meant curtailing any of my Walpoling activities, Mr. Wensleydale) dolce (house-made ricotta cheese pancake, served w/ two eggs sunny side up). This is a shame, as it was going to be my premeditated choice this morning and I was looking forward to trying it. the Wild Parrots of san francisco interlude While I was waiting for my meal to be brought outside and I was watching some of the local "Frisco Trolley Cars" climb half-way to the stars, I saw a small pandemonium of eight Wild Parrots of san francisco flying westward over California Street.
First impressions really do matter, Monsieur Monet. And this one was a very good impression (maybe not quite as good as Robin Williams doing Elmer Fudd singing a Bruce Springfield song, but still) with lots of real, authentic Kalamata (and definitely deserving of the majestic majuscule) olives; lots of tasty sundried tomatoes (actually, for those of you named Greg Kipe, this dish may have been just a little bit overkill in the "love apple" department with also both diced fresh Roma tomatoes in the scrambled mess and topped with a very nice tomato relish); and whole fresh basil leaves. Plus, I really like their version of hashbrowns (or hash brown, even); they make these ultra-thin (I bet that even Mr. Creosote could find room for "another bite" of these) and extra crispy. I also like how they grill their toast. MyMyCoffeeCoffeeShopShop has for condimentary supplementation both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original). They may also still have Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce (which would complete the San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces that they had in the past), but I didn't see any bottles of it on any of the outside tables in the sidewalk area. I just went with some of my own Dixie CrossroadsHot Habañero Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on most of the hashbrowns (or hash brown). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: mambo italiano scramble(o) ~ 6.8; Neighbor BakehouseGuava and Cream Cheese Cubano Turnover ~ 6.6; ContrabandCoffee Ethiopia Harar Longberry ~ 7.5; the Wild Parrots of san francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. Whachutalkin'bout, Brian-Willis? Just listen to the d*mn videos (in this case, specifically EweToob video #2), dammit!
"Oh, we never know where life will take us We know it's just a ride on the wheel And we never know when death will shake us And we wonder how it will feel..." ~ Karla Bonoff, Goodbye My Friend
(No official web-site. Still.)
Place: Reverie Cafe (or Reverie Cafe Bar or Reverie Café Bár; with no official-type web-site thing, I really can't be sure) Location: 848 Cole Street (between Carl and Frederick Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 242-0200 Hours: open 7:00am Monday-Friday, 7:30am Saturday-Sunday Meal: Breakfast Rissoto[ sic ][1] ~ leek, zucchini, mushroom, tomato, farro[2], spinach, Feta cheese, & eggs; and a large (16 oz-ish) cuppa Equator Coffees & Teas™ "Medium Roast" http://www.equatorcoffees.com/
(For the past three years, I have designated the Third Weekend in August as Linda Ronstadt Memorial Weekend. "But, Brian, are you just allowed to make up such holidays?" Yes, I am authorised to do this by the Official Intro-Net Laws and Guidelines[3] because I write my own silly li'l 'blog-'thing. I don't make up these rules.[4] It was back in August 2013 that Linda Ronstadt revealed that she had Parkinson's Disease and "can no longer sing a note". So it is up to all of us to re-memorialise her singing for her. Now, I may have linked one or all of these songs here before, but, tough, 'my 'blog, 'my 'd*mn 'rules! That is Emmylou Harris doing the duet with Linda on the second song [which was written by some guy named Bruce Springfield, I think ~ this song was not as famous as his mega-hit "Jessie's Girl", though] and Noel Yang doing the background harmonies and harmonica harmonies. And, for what it is worth, I have also been from Tucson [the one in Arizona] to Tucumcari [the one in New Mexico], Tehachapi [the one in California] to Tonopah [the one in Arizona].) I really enjoy going to breakfast at Reverie Cafe (or Reverie Cafe Bar or Reverie Café Bár) (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 20th, 2015). They always have some interesting ideas for a breakfastary repast and they have all (well, for the three visits that I have made there now, at least) been pretty tasty, too. Plus, because they open up early on the weekends, it is always very easy to get to and to find close-by parking in the neighborhood. As stated previously, like at many other coffeehouses these days, you order at the front counter-register, you pay for your food first (and add any tips to the jar next to the register; I finally figured out why that is placed exactly there, this way they know whether to give you the "special sauce" on your food or not), they give you a number (I got Larry Bird's #33 this morning), and then they bring out the food to you when it is ready.
Once again, I sat outside in their large backyard garden patio area (which actually takes up two backyard spaces). It was still overcast and chilly (probably 60° or cooler) and I ended up being the only fool back there the entire time. That's okay. That just meant more backyard for me! There were also three different Scrambles or Omelets that I could have gone with this morning: Goat Cheese (with fresh herbs & avocado); Swiss Chard (with leek, shitake mushroom [or shiitake muushroom, even], & Mozzarella); or Spinach (with mushroom, leek, Edam cheese, & fresh thyme). If I had been in the mood for a sweet take on breakfast, the Breakfast Porridge (or Poriddge, perrhaps?) (with warm farro, dash of cream & butter, cinnamon, raisins, dates, orange water, maple syrup, toasted almonds, & desiccated coconut) would have been perfect. Some other good ideas off their weekend (seasonal) specials board: Open Face Breakfast Sandwich (sourdough toast, goat cheese, bacon [You can keep it, Glen!], pickled onion, eggs over easy, arugula, & siracha[ sic ][5] aioli); Avocado Toast & Poached Eggs (harrisa[ sic ][6] smear[ sic, again][7] & pimenton[8]salsa); or Baked Eggs with Fresh Greens(spinach & kale, leeks, and Feta, mint yogurt sauce, breadcrumbs, and toasted almonds; this would definitely have been my choice if I hadn't already made up my mind ~ even before I had gotten there ~ to go with the dish that I had chosen). Supposably[9], they make a pretty decent version of Huevos Rancheros (beans, salsa, cheese, potatoes, bacon [No, thanks, Glen!], avocado, corn tortilla), too.
I really liked this meal a lot, and it was a very interesting idea for breakfast. If I did have one little complaint (well, I suppose I did), I would have liked to have seen more Feta in this; it was there, but just in very small sprinkled amounts (almost unnoticeable, really ~ and what is my mantra? "Everything's betta with Feta!"™). This came with two over-medium (or almost fried) eggs (laid?) on top of the pile. I asked the counter-server-person-guy which specific roast/blend of Equator Coffees & Teas™ they offer and he could only say that it was a "Medium Roast". However, it looks like on their web-site that Equator Coffees & Teas™ offers about ten different "Medium Roast"s. Whatever. It was pretty decent whichever specific roast/blend it was. For condimentary supplementation, Reverie Cafe had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Huy Fong Foods, Inc.Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I just used some of my own Florida GoldPremium Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on top of one of the eggs. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Breakfast Rissoto (or Risotto) ~ 6.9 (I give this 7.5 for concept, too; no GBS Rating points are ever deducted for speling eras); Equator Coffees & Teas™ "Medium Roast" ~ 6.8 ___________________ 1. Okay, maybe they cain't spel verry gud, but it tassted just fien too me all the same. Somewhat stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day: "Risotto" simply comes from the Italiano word for "rice", which is "riso". 2. Risotto (note corect spelink) is normally a rice-based dish. Reverie Cafe substituted the rice (normally a short-grain white rice, like Arborio) here with farro (or is that "faro"?) instead. 3. Which I also just made up. 4. Well, okay, maybe I do. Sometimes. 5. This is not really a mispeling, Tori. The actual word in Thai is either "siracha" or "sriracha". However, most 'mericans are used to the more common spelling of "sriracha". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce 6. The more accepted (or aceppted) spelling is "harisa" or "harissa". 7. Now, while I am sure that "smear" might be a completely acceptable goyish word (outside of New York City, that is), the better spelling in this context would probably be "shmeer" (or "schmeer", "shmear", or "schmear"). Whenever it comes to the correct spelling or usage of a Yinglish word, I always turn to my official lexicon for Yiddish/Yinglish (which is the only book that I own on this subject, anyway) ~ TheJoysofYiddish by Leo Rosten. As lexiconed by Mr. Rosten: [ page 353 ] shmeer Pronounced as it is written; rhymes with "shear". From German: Schmiere: "grease", or "bribe". 8. "Pimentón" is simply Spanish paprika. 9. And, contrary to popular Grammar Nazi-beliefs (Do Grammar Nazis "goose step", "goosestep", or "goose-step"?), "supposably" is an actual word. It is the adverbial form of the adjective "supposable". http://www.dictionary.com/browse/supposable?s=t So, it appears that Miss Chanandler Bong owes Joey Tribbiani an apology. Supposably.
http://www.cliffhouse.com/bistro/index.html Place: the Bistro Restaurant at 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 (which turned out to be perfect timing for me) Meal: Farmer's Breakfast Scramble ~ scrambled eggs (that would be the "Scramble" part of the name), ham, potatoes, green onions (the last three ingredients must belong to the "Farmer"), and Cheddar cheese (an unclaimed ingredient); Ramos Fizz[1] ~ Gordon's®Gin, sweet & sour, egg whites, cream, orange juice, and orange flower water; and, especially, a basket of (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!)
(Because I had skipped any actual Coffee with my meal, I made sure to brew me up/drip me down a cuppa COFFEEBy Design, Cardullo's Gourmet Blend ~ Dark Roast [Thanks, Kerry!] when I got back home to enjoy while keyboarding[2] up this morning's 'blog-entry.) http://www.coffeebydesign.com/ My original plan of attack (if one can truly attack breakfast, planned or unplanned) this morning was to conclude my Richmond (District) Coffeehouses Series with the last coffeehouse that I knew in the neighborhood: Cafe Muse, on 8th Avenue near Golden Gate Park (and the de Young Museum, hence the "Muse" part of their name, I can only suppose). Unfortunately, when I had arrived there this morning, the place was completely closed-up (Shut up!) and a sign in the window stated that a new coffeeshop would be opening soon. (Of course, "soon" in San Francisco planning terms can mean two to three years later.) So, I will just have to hold off finishing up my series until the new joint opens ("... in the year 2525... if man is still alive..."). As I really had no back-up plan (of attack or of otherwise), I just figured that I would head back to the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 24th, 2016). I was planning (no attacking necessary) on going back there next month, anyway, when I did my usual End-of-the-Baseball Season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation. It's completely on the opposite side of the Richmond District (West and North) from where Cafe Muse used to be (South and East), but it's still local, at least.
Even if I had to drive a whole 'nother one to two miles to get there (and it was a thick, foggy morn to boot), there was still a great view this morning from my seat overlooking Ocean Beach... so I had that going for me... which is nice. I saw several seagulls[3] flying around and one small pouch of pelicans[4] flying in formation. There really are only three other viable options for stupid vegetarians on the menu at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House: Joe's Special Scramble (scrambled eggs with sautéed ground beef, onions, mushrooms, spinach, topped with Parmesan cheese; which I always order without any of the offending grinded-up dead, decaying bovine product); Sautéed Vegetable Scramble (scrambled eggs, red peppers, tomatoes, scallions, button mushrooms, melted goat cheese [I am pretty sure that means the milk comes from dehydrated bovids]); or Classic Eggs Benedict (poached eggs, Canadian bacon, toasted English muffin, Hollandaise sauce; which I also order without any of the dead, decaying porky-butt).
Hollywoodland Strange Interlude (almost)[5] I was planning on doing little biographical information on one Hollywoodland actor or actress on each subsequent visit back to the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House. This lady was just over my left shoulder this morning and I figured I would be able to get her name from one of the waiter-server-persons, but the guy I asked had no idea either. At first, I thought it might have been Myrna Loy (of "The Thin Man" series fame and many other great old movies), but I could not locate any similar promotional photos of her on the World Wild Webs, and the mostly faded/illegible autograph does not look like it could be "Myrna Loy" at all. So, I am throwing it out there to the rest of you (well, the one or two people that actually waste their time reading this silly li'l 'blog-thing) to "name this actress". Once again, in appreciation for my undying gratitude, if you can name her correctly, if you ever have breakfast with me at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House, I will treat you to all the (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) that you can eat. (And I know that as soon as her name is mentioned, I will recognize it immediately. I am blaming the strong Ramos Fizz on blurring my mental capacity.) Sure, this visit to the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House may not have been typical café menu fare like I was expecting this morning, but those kind of places also don't have Ramos Fizzes and (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!)! Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Farmer's Breakfast Scramble ~ 6.7; Ramos Fizz ~ 7.0; COFFEEBy Design, Cardullo's Gourmet Blend ~ 7.2; (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) ~ 8.2 ___________________ 1. Henry (or Henrico ~ I have seen both referenced) C. Ramos invented the Ramos Gin Fizz in 1888 at his bar, the Imperial Cabinet Saloon on Gravier Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. It was originally called a "New Orleans Fizz", and is one of the city's most famous cocktails. Before Prohibition, the drink's popularity and exceptionally long 12-minute mixing time had over 20 bartenders working at the Imperial at once making nothing but the Ramos Gin Fizz - and still struggling to keep up with demand. During the carnival of 1915, 32 staff members were on at once, just to shake the drink. 2. Seriously, when was the last time anyone actually "typed" anything on a typewriter?! 3. Other than "a flock of seagulls", there does not seem to be an actual Term of Venery for a group of seagulls. This makes sense, I suppose, as the original Terms of Venery were traditionally devised for hunting; and I am pretty sure that not even Colonel Sanders would state that seagulls "taste just like chicken". James Lipton came up with a completely madeuppery term "a squabble of seagulls" in his 1968 tome on the subject An Exaltation of Larks. 4. The actual Term of Venery for a group of pelicans is "a pod of pelicans", but I prefer my own completely madeuppery word for this. It appears that James Lipton did not think to include this reference in his book, though. I am sure pelican tastes about as bad as seagull would. 5. Edit much after the fact (as in late Thursday night, August 18th, 2016): Okay. I finally figured it out. This was (the sad story of) Lupe Vélez. It took me about an hour (okay, maybe longer) on the World Wild Webs to finally get this one. I attempted an "Image Search" using my photo and the geniuses of GoogleChromeshowed me a link to my own stupid 'blog-thing only. Yeah, thanks a lot, guys! Then I took a closer look at my photo and in the lower left-hand corner there was a small "LV - 46". So, I just looked for any actresses from the 30's and 40's with the initials "LV". I compared the (very faded) autograph with several other of her autographs and am convinced it's the same. Now here is the strange thing, Lupe Vélez actually died in 1944. However, I am just putting the incorrectly marked date of "46" down to some employee at the Cliff House that had added/chronicled that date sometime much later. As for the free (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), I am keeping them all for myself. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0892473/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupe_V%C3%A9lez
