Dolce Amore

What's White Chocolate Raspberry gelato[1] got to do with it?!

(or)

'scuse me while I kiss the French toast...

http://www.dolceamore.co/


Place: Dolce Amore
Location: 1477 Van Ness Avenue (on the corner of Pine Street)
Hours: open at 9:00am Tuesday through Sunday for "Brunch"
Meal: Signature French Toast ~ croissant French toast served with chef's choice of gelato (the chef chose White Chocolate Raspberry this morning), whipped cream, fresh berries, cinnamon, dried freeze [ sic ] raspberries, & caramel sea salt with a hint of 
Grand Marnier®; and a cuppa Valrhona[2] 
Hot Chocolate ~ silky 64% Manjari[3] Chocolate ganache & whipped cream

(These EweToobular links are mainly due to the fact that yesterday was the 77th birthday of Anna Mae Bullock and today would have been the 74th birthday of Johnny Allen Hendrix. 

Additionally, I suppose the first song can be considered a juxtaselection of "Love"/"Amore". I tried to locate a decent version of Jimi's "Bold as Love", but there really wasn't a good one to be found on EweToob; and, for some reason, he has not uploaded any new versions lately.)


Because I have had some extra large, savoury breakfasts for the past two days in a row (those "past two days non-consecutively" are the worst), I decided that it was time for another sweet take on breakfast. With that in mind, I headed back to Dolce Amore (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 19th, 2015) where I knew that I could be assured of getting a very nice, sweet breakfastary meal.

Once again, I sat at the cool jewelry case-counter dining area (or, more accurately, the manager/maître d' guy-person seated me there out of harms way of other customers, even though I was the first customer of the day).

There are still a few other good ideas for which to make more return trips:

On the Sweet Side

Tahitian Vanilla Crepe (please note, there was no circumflexed "ê" in "Crêpe") ~ French crepe filled with vanilla bean crème anglaise (but they did gravely accent the "è" in "crème"; vêrý śtřåñgë) & fresh berries served with lavender maple syrup, whipped cream & candied pistachio (add scoop of gelato 3)

or

Brussels Belgian Waffle ~ your choice of house made waffle:
Caramel Sea Salt
Valrhona Chocolate
Seasonal Flavor
or Plain Brussels Waffle
Topped with your choice of gelato & whipped cream

(Sorry, Sean. I checked. They do not offer a savoury choice of Brussels sprouts Belgian Waffle. There was a Brussels sprouts gelato, though.)

On the Savory Side

Baked Egg Benedict ~ three eggs baked in our (well, their) home made puff pastry served with Béchamel sauce (also noted that they have the ability to acutely accent some words, tóó) & your choice of topping: hot link sausage, turkey bacon, or mixed vegetables

or

(the most intriguing-sounding... or "îñtřïgůíńg-šøůñđîńg")
Crepe Omelette ~ savory crepe filled with Gruyere (but not "Gruyère", apparently) & eggs topped with sautéed (See? They can use the correct accent if they try.) spinach, roasted tomatoes, bell peppers, & onions

Waitress/server lady-person: "Do you want whipped cream on your Hot Chocolate?"

Me: "Is there any other way?!"

(and just a few moments later)

Manager/maître d' guy-person: "Do you want whipped cream on your Hot Chocolate?"

Me: "Is there any other way?! With that option, who would order it without whipped cream?"

This was a very good rendition of hot Chocolate. I liked it. It was not so sweet, and more on the bittersweet side. Of course, I half-expected there to be two helpings of whipped cream on top.

Once again, what was not to like about this dish? 

Very good croissant French toast, a tasty caramel sauce, gelato (which I especially liked; I would put a small amount on top of a piece of the warm French toast and let it act as its own cream sauce when melting), fresh fruits (strawberries, blueberries, kiwifruit, and orange slices)[4], and (not listed on the menu ingredient list) some home made crispy puffed rice dealies. The only thing missing (and they really were not necessary, anyway) were the whipped cream and "dried freeze [ sic ] raspberries" (whatever the heck that is supposed to be). Perhaps, with my insistence of the whipped cream on top of my hot Chocolate, I might have scared them from using any additional whipped cream on the French toast. I liked this meal so much so that I am calling it the "Best French Toast Dish of 2016... not named Baker Street Bistro Pain Perdu - a brunch favorite!".

I really have no idea what Dolce Amore might offer in the way of condimentary supplementation. I was pretty sure that I was going to go for something "On the Sweet Side" this morning, anyway, so I did not bother to ask what they might have or to bring any of my own hot sauces with me for a change.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Signature French Toast ~ 7.4 (due to all the cool toppings/sidings, especially the gelato idea);
Valrhona Hot Chocolate ~ 6.7

___________________

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

"Gelato" is the Italian word for "Ice Cream". Literally it means "frozen"; it is the noun use of the past participle of "gelare" (to freeze). See gelatine.

2. http://www.valrhona.com/accueil.aspx

3. http://www.valrhonaprofessionals.com/manjari.html

4. Stupid, useless botanical pointer of the day:

They stated "fresh berries" in the menu ingredient list. Of these four fruits, only two were technically berries ~ that would be the blueberries and kiwifruit, of course.