http://www.marlabakery.com/ Place: Marla Bakery Location: 3619 Balboa Street (between 37th and 38th Avenues)
Hours: open Tuesday - Sunday at 8:30am for breakfast; open Saturday & Sunday at 10:00am for Weekend "Brunch" Meal: Savory Scone ~ Dry Jack, caramelized onion, and black pepper; Sweet Scone ~ tart cherry and oat; Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake ~ la pièce de (much less) résistance; and a 12oz cuppa Wrecking Ball Coffee RoastersSulawesi Toraja Toarco Jaya https://www.wreckingballcoffee.com/products/sulawesi-12-oz
(I will let you figure out today's EweToobular [threepeat] juxtaselections after reading on.) I really love living in San Francisco and I love that there are always events going on around the city year-round... however, sometimes these events tend to be a bit of a nuisance and lock-up the city and block-off specific neighborhoods for a few hours (sometimes a lot longer). Take today, Henny. Please! Today's major traffic impediment/temporary neighborhood imprisonment was the 2017 United Airlines Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon San Francisco. http://www.runrocknroll.com/san-francisco/ I was initially planning on heading over to North Beach to eat breakfast again at Mama♥s on Washington Square, but due to the above-mentioned event, that part of the city was basically unattainable this morning (until almost Noon). So, instead, I just figured I would keep it as local as possible and hoofed it over (pedestrian-style, not equestrian-style) the six blocks to Marla Bakery (see last 'blog-entry 'blurb from Sunday, July 3rd, 2016). Mama♥s on Washington Square will just have to wait until next Sunday now (unless American Airlines decides to do some kinda Blues Triathlon event then, too).
I sat outside in the backyard garden patio once again, and, once again, I had the entire space all to myself. A few people stopped back to check it out, but it was still a bit overcast and gloomy, so they wimped-out and headed back to the safety of indoor seating. Thank you!... which left me with just my thoughts... and my Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake to enjoy in peace.
(If I only had some lemon-butter!) I was hoping to order Baked Eggs w/ Grilled Bread (spring herb & onion cream, bacon [Nah!] & lemon confit), but it looks like they don't offer that item any longer for just breakfasts on the weekends. (I wonder if I can blame this oversight in any way on marathons or Rock-and/or-Roll.) I think they do still offer this dish during the week for breakfasts and on the Weekend "Brunch" menu. It looks like I will have to bite the bullet (or at least "bite the pastry") and check them out some other (later) time for "Brunch", where they do offer some other (changing seasonally) items. This weekend I might have been able to order: Potato & Butternut Squash Fritter (city ham [I wonder if it was a "gridlocked city ham"], grilled asparagus, pea tendrils, avocado-cilantro crema) or Winter Salad (frisée& escarole, toasted walnuts, griddled mandarins, walnut Skordalia[1] & Marla spice vinaigrette).
These are scones the way they are supposed to taste/be made ~ very moist and fluffy on the inside with a nice exterior crunch. They were both very good, too. I liked the cherry sweet scone better than the savoury one, but I am partial to cherries, anyway, Ms. Currie. The Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake was as good (or better) than I remember it from before. (Hmmm?! Have you ever tried to "remember something from the future"?) I could really taste the cardamom in this pastry, which is a good thing, and the cardamom flavour always goes very well with Coffee. ("Cinnamon?! We don' need no stinkin' cinnamon in our Coffee cakes!") I do not know what they might have had to offer in the way of condimentary supplements. I had come prepared with a few hot sauces of my own, but with the items I had ordered, I did not need to use any. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Savory Scone ~ 6.5; Sweet Scone ~ 6.7; Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake ~ 7.6; Wrecking Ball Coffee RoastersSulawesi Toraja Toarco Jaya ~ 7.2
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1. Apropos-iately enough, I was just talking with someone on defacedbook earlier this morning about this tasty Greek dish/dip. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skordalia This stuff ain't Tzatziki, but it ain't half-bad none neither.
(No web-site thing no longer.) Place: Dottie's True blue café Location: 26 6th Street (on the corner of Stevenson Street); phonicular contact: (415) 885-2767 Hours: open Thursday through Monday at 7:30am Meal: Black Bean Cakes and Eggs any style ~ served with grilled chili-cheddarcorn bread and home fries, topped with sour cream & pico de gallo; and a glassa pineapple's juice I really wasn't planning on making it a monthly visit to Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, February 25th, 2017 ~ exactly one month previous, to be exact), but now that I have gone three months in a row, I might have to think about doing this for all of 2017. With a brief respite in all the d*mn rains we have had the past few weeks (and the Sun was even out bright and early, too), I really expected there to be somewhat of a crowd already waiting when I first arrived (probably twenty minutes before 7:30am... or near enough 7:10am... whichever comes first). However, there were only two other idiots that had gotten there earlier than I had, and then only two more idiots behind me before they had opened the doors for the morning. Additionally, there was not even a line out the door (or around the corner) for a change the entire time that I was there. For a change of pace (or a change of seating), I sat at the counter-top seating area. Normally, I prefer one of the small two-seater tables because, unlike at their old location over on Jones Street (where I would mainly sit at the counter-top seating area overlooking the grill-station), there really isn't a lot of knee-room under the counter here. I did score the corner-most seat out of the way (and apparently I was "Seat #1" as I heard Kurt call it out when my order was ready).
I have had this dish many times (well, many, many, many times) over the years and always like it. This used to be listed only on the weekend specials blackboard, but they added it to their official printed menu when they first moved to the new location on 6th Street. I went with poached eggs for my "Eggs any style" choice mainly because I wanted to try an experiment. I transformed this into an Eggs Benedict-style dish by scraping off all of the pico de gallo and sour cream, then adding the poached eggs on top of the black bean cakes, and finally adding all of the toppings mess back on top of the eggs. I would like to point out that this was a very successful experiment. You can just call me "Alfred Einstein"! (E = mc²... where "E" is "Eggs", "m" is "messy-stuff", and "c²" is "two [black bean] cakes".) Of course, this was not quite nearly as great as Kurt's original invention of Zucchini Cakes, but still... I bet their grilled chili-cheddar corn bread would make a great base for another Eggs Benedict-style dish, probably with some kinda chipotle-Hollandaise sauce on top. I even mentioned this to Kurt, but he shot it right down saying he hated making poached eggs dishes of any sort and the Zucchini Cakes were his one exception to this food-rule. He also said he always hated having to make poached eggs, anyway, as they were too time-consuming. (Ooops! I am just glad that I had pointed this out to Kurt after I had already ordered poached eggs and had received my meal; I would hate to cause a reenactment of the PinecrestDiner mass-a-cree[1] from several years ago.) As far as condimentary supplementation, I used some of their Tabasco®Brand Hot SauceChipotle Pepper Sauce generously ('cause that's just the kinda BIG-♥-ed person that I am) all over the homefries (about like a normal person might use ketchup). Not only is this particular hot sauce my favourite from Tabasco®Brand Hot Sauce, but I have found that a good chipotle sauce goes very well with potatoes; I think it's the smoky quality. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Black Bean Cakes, eggcetera ~ 7.2 (I really can't give myself any additional Glen Bacon Scale points for my "invention", though) ___________________
♪"Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans..." ♫ (Well, would you believe... way up in San Francisco close to Fisherman's Wharf?) (There is no corresponding photo of Surisan[1] this morning. It appears that someone forgot to get new batteries for the camera.) (No official web-site [yet?].)
Place: Surisan Location: 505 Beach Street (on the corner of Jones Street); phonicular contact: (415) 771-8449 Hours: open for breakfast Sunday to Saturday at 8:00am; they are closed every other day of the week Meal: Vegetarian Scramble ~ Brussel [ sic ] sprouts, red onion, mushroom, bell peppers, jalapeño, tomato, baby kale, and goat cheese, served w/ crispy Yukon (they don't really specify these as being "potatoes", but I don't think they meant "Cornelius"), Popover(!), and roasted tomato; and a large glassa Fresh Raspberry Lemonade
(The first song/video is just a continuation of my paean to Spring from yesterday with another one from Sir George Ivan. The second song is in memoriam of one of the Greatest Rock-and/or-Rollers of All-Time. So "Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news"... that "Chucky B. Goode" tonight. R.I.P. Charles Edward Anderson Berry ~ October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017.) I walked past Surisan last Sunday while playing touristing-guide up at Fisherman's Wharf with Greg and Cindy. I liked what I quickly saw of their menu (plus the fact that they open up at 8:00am, which is one of the earlier opening times on Fisherman's Wharf), so I made a mental note (♪ ~ probably an insane C♭) to return again one day soon and today happened to be that one soon-day. After just this one visit, I am claiming this restaurant as my Best "New" Breakfast Find of 2017; plus, Best Breakfast on Fisherman's Wharf. Surisanjust recently opened at the end of December 2016, so it is actually a "New" restaurant for Fisherman's Wharf (and all of San Francisco, I suppose), not just for me. It is owned by the same Korean guy that also owns Sweet Maple, Kitchen Story, Taylor Street Coffee Shop (coincidentally enough, see 'blog-entry from just last Sunday), and possibly one more place (I think that one of the Korean waiter/server-guy persons mentioned another restaurant, but I forgot the name). I was informed that Taylor Street Coffee Shopwas their first restaurant opened in San Francisco. The "Millionaire's Bacon" on today's menu was what triggered it for me, and I seemed to remember that it was also a feature on the Sweet Maple menu. http://www.sweetmaplesf.com/ http://kitchenstorysf.com/ Surisanis a fairly good-sized restaurant with seating inside for over eighty people and additional tables outside (on two seating levels, too) for twenty or so more. Additionally, Hollywood Café is the brother-restaurant to these restaurants. I say "brother" (as opposed to "sister"-restaurant) because I was told that the owner of that restaurant is the actual brother of the owner of these other four (or five) restaurants. Hollywood Café used to carry the moniker of "Best Breakfast on Fisherman's Wharf" with me, but has now been usurped by its sibling, which always seems to be the way of the World. http://hollywoodcafesf.com/ This only reminds me that I really need to make return trips to some of these other restaurants again. The breakfast menu at Surisandoesn't have that many items from which to choose for stupid vegetarian-types, but I did see a few other items that I will need to check out on return visits: Brussel [ sic ] Hash ~ Brussel [ sic] sprouts, Yukon, bacon, chorizo, onion, mushroom, cherry pepper, tomato, poached eggs, Parmesan (of course, I would have nixed the porky bits); w/ Popover(!) and roasted tomato; Blueberry Stuffed Crunch French Toast ~ w/ caramel sauce (they don't give a description of how this is made, but the name is intriguing enough for me to give it a go; depending on the size of the dish, I would probably also get a side of their crispy Yukon, too); or Hemingway Benedict ~ smoked salmon, avocado, fried capers, lemon, pickled onions, Wasabi Hollandaise; w/ crispy Yukon and roasted tomato (which I would have ordered without the dead, decaying piscine junk; sorry, Ernesto). (There is also no photo of my breakfast. That someone really got some splainin' to do...) First off, I am giving them two big thumbs-up for calling this meal "Vegetarian Scramble" (and not that ubiquitously odious "Veggie Scramble") and for not calling their early morning meal "Brunch". I liked this entire dish/meal very much. This was filled (or scrambled) with lots of quartered Brussels [ see? ] sprouts and a good amount of baby kale (which I mistook at first for baby spinach until I remembered the ingredients). You can see just how much there was in there by the above picture... oh, wait... The roasted tomato was actually a whole half (or is that half of a whole) tomato that had Parmesan cheese and herbs melted on top, probably with the use of a salamander or such. And if your name does not happen to be "Greg Kipe", you would probably like it as a side as much as I did. The crispy Yukon were really good homefries, too. As the name stated, they were very crispy/crunchy; probably deep-fried and then roasted/dried. They were not greasy in any way (not that I ever have a problem with greasy potatoes, anyway). All on their ownsome, they would probably rate a 7.4 on the Glen Bacon Scale. The above photo does not do the crunchy/crispy factor justice... oh, wait... Brussels [ see? ] sprouts, baby kale, crunchety-crispety potatoes, AND a Popover(!) (this only came with one Popover[!], but still...)? I can think of only one way that would have made this meal even betta... with Feta in place of the goat cheese, of course. The Fresh Raspberry Lemonadewas a little on the strong/sweet side, but I cut it with some water and that made it perfect. For condimentary supplements, Surisan had Tabasco®Brand Hot Sauce (both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce). I used some of my own Punch Drunk™Chocolate Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Sean!) lightly on the scramble mess and some (well, about the amount that you would use ketchup) Emperor's Revenge Teriyaki Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the crispy potatoes. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Vegetarian Scramble ~ 7.4 (factoring in both the tasty, crispy potatoes and, of course, the Popover[!], singular that it may have been) ___________________
1. Apparently, Surisan (수리산) is a boundary/mountain range between Anyang and Gunpo in Gyeonggi-do, Korea.
No guru, no method, no teacher... and no d*mn dead, decaying porcine junk!!!
http://www.greenchilekitchen.com/ Place: green chile kitchen Location: 1801 McAllister Street (on the corner of Baker Street) Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Friday at 9:00am; "Brunch" available Saturday & Sunday at 9:00am Meal: Savory Breakfast Sopaipillas ~ eggs, cheese & chile w/ choice of beans (black, pinto, or refried; I went with black beans this morning; I was told that this also came with a side of bacon, but it was not listed on the menu; of course, I ochenta y seis-ed that stuff right away); a side of roasted potatoes; and a large glassa sandia agua fresca
(The first song/video is just my paean to Spring [the Vernal Equinox is only two days away, folks]. Besides, I never need an excuse for a Sir George Ivan song. [Thanks, Skip, for posting this song on defacedbook! I highly recommend listening to the entire 1986 album to everyone if you get the chance.] There really is no juxtaselection with the second song/video. They were playing a version of this song on the house stereo this morning. This was comida nueva mexicana, not comida cubana, after all. I have been told that the song is a bit "risqué" [o "arriesgado" en español]; just think of it as a Cumbia[2] version of "Brown Sugar".) It did not take me another year-and-a-half to get back to green chile kitchen (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 25th, 2016) this time. After claiming them as my "New Find for 2015", I probably shoulda had gotten back at least two to three times by now. And unlike some other places "way across town", it really does not take much time getting over to that part of the Western Addition/Lower Haight. Hopefully, I will remember this place if I am ever in a pinch for a good breakfast and don't feel like driving too far. They have changed their breakfast/"Brunch" menu a bit since my last visit and no longer offer Huevos Motuleños or Quelites & Eggs (or, more likely, I think that they may have just changed the name of this one to "Eggs & Greens" so as not to confuse us gringos estúpidos). I was fully planning on opting for the Huevos Motuleños, but, luckily, they still offer many other good options for vegetarians and meatetarians alike; suchas: Migas ~ eggs, crispy tortilla strips, green chile, tomatillo avocado salsa& cotija. served w/ black beans (I just had a version of this last week or I probably mighta woulda ordered this); Huevos Rancheros ~ corn tortilla, 2 fried eggs, chile, cheese & crema. served w/ refried beans or Breakfast Flat Enchilada Plate ~ housemade corn tortillas, eggs, meat, chile, cheese & crema. served w/ posole & beans (I would have to order that without the dead, decaying animal flesh and possibly no posole, depending on how they prepare their posole).
This was another good breakfast output from green chile kitchen and yet another reason that I will be going back again one of these days. When I ordered my meal, the counter-lady (this doesn't mean that she is related to Caitlyn Jenner or sexually ambiguous, she just works at the cash register at the front counter) person asked if I wanted the green chile to be "Mild", "Medium", or "Hot". (Hmmmm?! Seeing as these are green chillies, I probably shoulda stylistically coulorized that as: "Mild", "Medium", or "Hot".) I wasn't too sure how hot their "Hot" was going to be, but I went with that heat-level, anyway. This ended up being only los gringos picante, if you ask me. It was still pretty tasty, all the same (or "not all the different"). Initially, I was worried that this might all be a little too much food for my appetite with the additional side of potatoes, but I ended up finishing every bite. (Of course, my lunch I did skip, Mr. Way.) green chile kitchen has Tabasco®Brand Hot Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatio®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for bottled hot sauce condimentary supplementation. However, I did see that they had several plastic squeeze bottles of M♥nroe'sRed Chile Honey. Now that looked too good to pass up. I really didn't have anything to try it on, so I figured I would just squeeze some on top of my potatoes to make them a bit sweet-savoury. BIG mistake. Kids, I would NOT recommend trying this combination at home. It really was pretty 'orrible. I ended up dousing the remains with some of my own Dat'l Do-it®Zesty ChipotleHot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!), which I am very glad I had thought to bring with me. ("You brought your own hot sauces to a place called green chile kitchen, Brian?... Do you also bring your own Brown Ale with you when you visit the most populous city of Tyneside conurbation?!") However, even with the additional chipotle flavour, the potatoes were pretty much a lost cause ('cause I am such an idiot); I did finish them all, anyway; they were still potatoes, after all. Later, I asked the counter-lady person what the Red Chile Honey would normally be used with and she said it is good on plain (not savoury-stuffed) sopaipillas.
(I wonder if this little guy knows Chilli Willy.) http://www.monroeschile.com/ Pre-breakfastary Coffee break interlude This morning, before even heading out for breakfast, I made me uppa cuppa BettysKenyan Karatina ~ Single Origin Ground Coffee. A BIG Thanks once again, Greg & Cindy! (These two are not related in any way to the "Cindy & Greg" that I had to schlep-around town last weekend.) This was another "new" roast/blend for me from Bettys; it was another truly stellar Coffee. They have this listed as a "Medium Roast", but I found it to be more than robust (even if it actually was made from Arabica beans [Okay, that is just a little Coffee-geek humour; and now I have used that stupid joke three times today already.]). https://www.bettys.co.uk/kenyan-karatina-single-origin-coffee Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Savory Breakfast Sopaipillas ~ 6.5; BettysKenyan Karatina ~ 7.5 (for a Britishlander tearoom kinda joint, this place really does offer great Coffees) ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/(but mostly) culinaristic pointer of the day: American Spanish, equivalent to Spanish sopaip(a) fritter or thick pancake soaked in honey (earlier also xopaipa < Mozarabic, derivative of šúppa, súppa piece of bread soaked in oil, Spanish sopa < Germanic; see sop, soup ) + -illa diminutive suffix Additional information stolen... er... borrowed from our friends at WikipediA (besides, you know they also "borried" it from someplace else): "Sopapillas in New Mexican cuisine are distinct from Latin American sopapaillas. New Mexican sopapillas are pillow-shaped fried pastry dough. They are typically served as a bread, and used to mop up sauces, scoop up tidbits, or shredded into stews. They often serve as a quick meal in themselves, filled with savory ingredients such as ground beef. They are sometimes eaten as a dessert, drizzled with honey or anise syrup, but are often eaten this same way during the meal itself as New Mexican cuisine tends to be very spicy and sweet syrups reduce the sensations of heat." 2. ¿Qué? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbia
(No official web-site.) Place: Taylor Street Coffee Shop Location: 375 Taylor Street (between Ellis and O'Farrell Streets); phonicular contact: 415-567-4031 Hours: open daily at 7:00am(-ish) Meals: (mine) Florentine (Omelet) ~ spinach, tomato, drizzled with Hollandaise sauce, no cheese, served with hash brown or sliced tomato and toast; (both Cindy's and Greg's [I think]) Two Eggs Any Style ~ served with hash brown or sliced tomato and toast, Cindy had hers with an upgrade of Millionaire's Bacon ~ thick, free range bacon, baked with brown sugar, cayenne, red and black pepper; to drink: me ~ a glassa orange juice, Cindy ~ cranberry juice, and Greg ~ a cuppa Coffee (and probably a few refillas) The last breakfastary stop for the extended weekend was to Taylor Street Coffee Shop (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 18th, 2016). The beauty of this restaurant was that it was located directly across the street (which would be "Taylor Street", of course) from the hotel where Greg and Cindy were staying. (Unfortunately, it was a left turn out the front door, when I had been warning them all weekend to make sure to always "turn right" onto O'Farrell Street whenever leaving the hotel. This being borderline Tenderloin area and all.)
This was another very good offering from Taylor Street Coffee Shop. I had asked for my hashbrowns to be "upgraded" with the added habanero-infused pickled onions; however, something must have been lost in translation (How do you say "Ooops!" in Korean?) and the waitress/server-lady person had them add the habanero-infused pickled onions into the omelette batter by mistake. Now, I am not really complaining, as this turned out to be a very interesting addition after all; I just know that the hashbrowns are absolutely stellar with the habanero-infused pickled onions added on top. To complete the whole "Eggs Florentine as an Omelette impression", I probably shoulda went with English muffins as my side toast instead of my choice of sourdough. The bacon that Cindy had looked pretty good (if dead, decaying porcine belly strips is your thing). To quote Cindy: "The bacon was good, but I prefer salty". It was made from two extra thick (at least a quarter-inch thick each) long strips of bacon. "Millionaire's" Bacon may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at $7.50 for just two slices, one would probably have to be at least a Hundred Thousandaire to enjoy that side dish every day of the week. For condimentary supplements, Taylor Street Coffee Shop had Tabasco®Brand Hot Sauce (three ways: Original Red Sauce. Green Pepper [Jalapeño] Sauce, and Habanero Sauce) and Tapatio®Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I thought about using some of the Habanero Sauce on top of the potatoes (to make up for the omission of the habanero-infused pickled onions), but the omelette proved to be picante enough for the rest of the meal. After four days in a row of eating breakfast out, I probably won't be eating another one again... until this weekend. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Florentine (Omelet) ~ 6.8 (factoring in the accidentally [but more than welcomed] inserted habanero-infused pickled onions; probably just a 6.6 otherwise) (Yet still once again, I did not bother to poll the rest of the table for their Glen Bacon Scale Rating)
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 Meals: (mine) Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ scrambled eggs, red peppers, tomatoes, scallions, button mushrooms, melted goat cheese, served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes; (Cindy's) Thick Sliced Sourdough French Toast ~ maple syrup, crisp bacon, powdered sugar, and fresh apple compote; (Greg's) Farmer’s Breakfast Scramble ~ scrambled eggs, ham, potatoes, green onions, Cheddar cheese, served with fresh fruit; to drink: me ~ a glassa grapefruit juice, Cindy ~ a glassa milk, and Greg ~ a cuppa Coffee (and a few refillas); and, of course, (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) While continuing the 50¢ tour of San Francisco with Greg and Cindy this weekend, we made sure to stop at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from Monday, January 2nd, 2017) before heading into Golden Gate Park (or "Olden Gat Park") for the morning.
We were one of the first groups to arrive there before they had opened and we scored one of the good tables along the window-side that faces out toward Seal Rocks. The fog was still pretty thick in the morning, but luckily it burned off quickly while we were eating and the rest of the day was clear for touristing stuff.
I have had this same meal many, many, many times over. It's always good. Of the three or four dishes that they have to offer that are stupid vegetarian-friendly, I think I like this one best. The creamy goat cheese is a big factor. Greg seemed to like his scrambled mess, too. I think he was most impressed with the shape of his plate, though. Now what's with French toast two-out-of-three breakfasts? Cindy must think she's in Par-ee. The apple compote stuff looked pretty good and Cindy didn't even use it all up on the French toast; I bet it would go great with the (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!). I don't think that I have ever had their version of French toast; maybe one of these days. As always, one of the main reasons that I keep coming back again and again and again... during the meal, there were two baskets of three (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!). That would work out to be the only fair division of the goods as: four for me and one apiece for Greg and Cindy... the Bistro Restaurant only offers Tabasco® Brand Hot Sauce (Original Red Sauce) for condimentary supplementation. Knowing this, I came prepared with a bottle of my own Palo AltoFire FightersXXX GhostPepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!), which I used judiciously all over my potatoes. Hollywoodland Spotlight of the Day (or not) Ooops! Once again, I was planning on highlighting one of the photos of a Hollywoodland person from above our table, but the guy whose photo I took turned out to be just some local San Francisco politician that had eaten there in the 40's or 50's. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ 6.7 (Once again, I didn't bother to poll the rest of the table for their Glen Bacon Scale Rating)
A(nother) breakfastary mini-roadtrip: South San Francisco, CA (Friday, March 10th, 2017)
(No official-type web-site.) Place: Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry Location: 1131 El Camino Real, South San Francisco, CA; phonicular contact: (650) 872-2810 Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am; Saturday & Sunday at 8:00am Meals: (mine) Spicy Migas ~ two eggs scrambled with yellow onion, green bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, tomatoes, & crispy tortilla strips, topped with Cheddar cheese, & served with black beans, warmed tomato salsa, & corn tortillas; (Cindy's) Orange Bread French Toast ~ three slices of our (well, their) homemade (well, restaurant-made) bread, dipped in our (again, their) delicious orange batter, topped with butter and sliced oranges, & served with real maple syrup (I think Cindy may have optioned for a side of some dead, decaying grounded-up porcine or fowl links, too); (Greg's) Denver Omelette ~ 3 eggs with bell peppers, white onions, Cheddar cheese, & ham, served with home fries and your choice of toast, muffin, bagel, tortillas, or scone; and there were also some drinks drank (however, after four days in a row of breakfasts, the drinks part of the meal all seem to blur together; I might have had a glassa either orange or grapefruit juice; I am pretty sure that Cindy had a glassa milk and Greg had a cuppa Coffee and probably a refilla or two) With my friends Greg and Cindy (these would be the same two people mentioned above and in the last 'blog-entry) in town for the weekend on their way to Hawai'i, we were going to head down to visit another friend, Dave (who has been my traditional Thanksgiving Day host for the past several years), in Gilroy for the day. I figured that this was as good a time as any to have breakfast somewhere south of the city on our way down to Gilroy, and I remembered to remember that I had not eaten at Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry (see previous 'blog-entry from [Easter] Sunday, April 24th, 2011) for quite a while now (Almost six years ago?! Who is scheduling these breakfasts?). I really should have revisited Jo Ann's Cafe sooner; it is truly good enough to be in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation (if not for the distance there and back).
Their version of "migas" is very similar to a chilaquiles dish, just with strips of crispy corn tortillas in it in place of the standard corn tortilla triangles/bits. I have had this dish of theirs a few times in the past (well, way past six years, at least) and always like it. Needless to say, it was very good on this visit, too. The scrambled eggs mess was topped with a nice chunky tomato salsa (think pico de gallo-style). I really liked the looks of Cindy's Orange Bread French Toast and may need to order that the next time I get back to Jo Ann's Cafe (hopefully not in another six years, though). Cindy said that it was good, and I would like to see how it compares to Baker Street Bistro's Pain Perdu. Greg's dish was just a boring ol' Elw*y-town omelette. I did talk him into getting one of Jo Ann's Cafe fresh-baked muffins instead of boring ol' toast. I even got to try some of it; I just don't remember what kind of muffin it was (three days on now). Jo Ann's Cafe condimentary supplements offerings are Tabasco®Brand Hot Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original). I did bring a few of my own hot sauces with me; the Spicy Migas wasn't all that spicy, but still picante enough where I didn't think I needed to mess with the flavour or heat level by adding any of my own hot sauces. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Spicy Migas ~ 7.0; Orange Bread French Toast ~ 6.8 (per Cindy's educated rating) (Apparently, no one cares what Greg'sGlen Bacon Scale Rating might be)
