Jane (on Fillmore)

"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder 'Why, why, why?'
Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand.” 
― Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Cat's Cradle

http://www.itsjane.com/


Place: Jane

Location: 2123 Fillmore Street 
(between California and Sacramento Streets)

Hours: open daily from 7:00am 

Meal: the Green Queen ~ arugula, quinoa, cauliflower, asparagus, snap peas(???), mint, soft (as in "boiled", which was not specified on the menu, but that was what it was) egg, sorrel vinaigrette (and, thankfully, none of that d*mn "the vile weed" junk); a Vegan GF[1] blackberry muffin (to start and to end the meal... I ate a little before the salad arrived and had the rest for afters); and a cuppa their own house blend (café blend, whatever) Bread & Butter

http://www.itsjane.com/shop/bread-and-butter

(The EweToobular juxtaselections here? Much like myself, Maria McKee, Lou Reed, and Freddie Mercury really like[d] asparagus and completely despise[d] those odious parklets and "the vile weed".)


My original plan of attack for breakfast this morning (if one is like myself and pre-plans to attack an innocent breakfast) was to go to a brand new(-ish) bakery called b. patisserie. However, in doing a reconnaissance run on Friday afternoon, I noticed that there was one of those odious parklets directly in front of the establishment. I can only assume the responsible party for that particular parking obstruction was the bakery itself as it was set directly in front of the building and not in front of (or overlapping) any of the neighboring commercial businesses. No biggie, it was only a(n overtly upscale) bakery-joint for the most part and didn't really look like it had any specific breakfastary items from which to choose. (Sorry, Maggie Boofé, looks like I won't be able to give you a report on this place.) Because of which, I decided to head back to Jane (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 19th, 2017), only this time to their original location on Fillmore Street. Now, don't get me wrong, Jane is also a(n overtly upscale) bakery-joint, but at least they don't support any of those odious parklet things.

"Jane opened on Fillmore in February 2011 with the mission of serving top quality Coffee, breakfast and lunch." 
(quoted directly from their web-site)

I have eaten lunch a few times at this restaurant/café, but this was my first early morning visit to this location. I arrived there a little after 7:00am and it was not too busy, but about a half-hour later, there was already a line out the door (there are only a couple of other coffeehouses open in the immediate vicinity that early, and none of those has anywhere near as good a breakfastary menu). (Note: that "other [overtly upscale] bakery-joint and odious parklet-supporter"  doesn't even open until 8:00am every day.) Like a lot of other coffeehouses/cafés in town, you first order at the front counter/cash register, get a number, and then they bring the food to you when it is ready (any sooner and it would not be ready, of course).

(I am not quite sure what the significance is of Mr. Buff A. Lowe [or possibly Ms. Buffy A. Lowe] on a coffeehouse/bakery back wall, but it was there.)


This location may have just a few more seats than their location on Larkin Street. Size-wise (or "size-wize"), they seem about the same. However, this Fillmore Street location also has an upper level (where I sat this morning). Seating: (lower level) twelve tables for two and seven stools at a counter-bar area; (upper level) six tables for two and six stools at the upper counter-bar directly overlooking Mr. Buff A. Lowe above. (Don't think that I didn't think about trying to get a shot of him wearing one of my baseball caps. I did, but I was just worried that I might not be able to get it back off his head after doing so.)

(Those d*mn yahoos and their graffito[2] artwork! Even inside and upstairs is not safe any more!)


There are still several other good ideas (let's see that "other [overtly upscale] bakery-joint and odious parklet-supporter" do that) on their menu (but I had pretty much decided on going with the choice that I did if salads were available that early in the morning for breakfast):

Avocado Mash ~ avocado, cracked black pepper, soft boiled egg, pickled shallot and jalapeño on house (café, whatever) sourdough;

Spicy Baked Eggs ~ two eggs, spicy tomato and black bean stew, Cheddar, cilantro, olive toast (this was going to be my back-up plan if they didn't do salads that early; from the description on the menu, I can only assume that this was a dish à la Shakshouka; I asked the barista-person lady who took my order and she said that I was the second person to mention "Shakshouka" to her, but she did not know what that was);

Breakfast Frisee Salad ~ frisee, arugula, chive, lardons (not sure if these are Vegan Girlfriendly or not), radish, rainbow carrot, soft boiled egg, shallot 
vinaigrette, toasted baguette;

Raw Sprouted Black Rice Porridge ~ almond and coconut milk, chia seeds, coconut crunch, goji berries, fresh kiwi (served warm upon request) (??? I have absolutely no idea what all this might be, but I would give 'er a go at least once);

Walnut & Fig Bread (on the Toast section of the menu) ~ fresh jersey ricotta, honey and hazelnuts;

Warm Quinoa Bowl ~ quinoa, roasted brussel [ sic ] sprouts, sweet potatoes, kale (Brussels sprouts AND kale?! This will be another dish that I have to get back and try; if they can add a soft [boiled] egg on top, it would be perfectly breakfastary, too);

or

Jane's Dragonfruit Smoothie Bowl ~ dragonfruit, pineapple, banana, ginger, coconut water, blueberries, raspberries, hemp seeds, flax seeds, cocoa nibs, goji, mulberries (this sounded very good, too, if I was in more of a sweet ~ or smoothie ~ mood).

The Vegan Girlfriend blackberry muffin wasn't all that bad. It seemed a bit on the dry side to me, but that is to be expected without any momma bovine products in it. I just made sure to enjoy it with alternating sips of the very good cuppa Coffee.

"Salad for 'breakfast', Brian?" Hey, it had an egg on top... besides... asparagus (and lots of it). Asparagus has to be one of my favourite of the cladode-type vegetables. I really didn't notice many (any?) snap peas in it, though. Some fresh, sliced jalapeños might also have gone nicely in this salad (and keeping with the whole "green-theme", too). While this salad may not have been as "Killer" as "gunpowder" and/or "gelatine", it was almost as tasty as "Moët et Chandon in a pretty cabinet". Plus, this salad was also "GF" (and could easily have been made "Vegan Girlfriend" if you had them omit the poultry ova on top).

I didn't really bother to ask what Jane might have had to offer in the way of condimentary supplementation. It didn't matter, anyhow. I had brought some of my own hot sauces with me, but by checking their menu ahead of time, I didn't figure that I would need much extra flavouring. I did end up using just a little of my own Golden Pagoda Jalapeño Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the salad, but I mainly did that to keep with the whole "green-theme".

Strange Coffee Interlude

"At the heart of Jane, there is great Coffee." 
(again, quoted directly from their web-site)

Because I am such a Nose E. Parker, I made sure to ask one of the barista-person guys where they get their Coffee. I couldn't believe that a small (but with three locations now), local coffeehouse would roast their own Coffee for use and for sale. However, I was informed that they in fact do just that. They roast all of their own Coffee in small batches at the Archery over in the Mission. 

http://www.thearcherysf.com/

"See Jane roast. Roast Jane, roast." 
(Way to go, Jane, go!)

I liked this Coffee so much, that I bought a pounda it[3] (after I had finished eating and while I was on my way out) to take home for my own use later on. When you buy a pounda their Coffee, they offer a free cuppa with it, too. (I really didn't need another cuppa, but there was no way I was gonna turn down a free cuppa very good Coffee; so, I got it to-go and drank it on the drive back home.) This was an actual 16 oz pound bagga, too. It is a bit pricey at $20.00, but many places charge about $12.00-$16.00 for a 12 oz bagga, anyway. So, I figured this would equate to (less the $3.00 that I didn't have to pay for the second "free" cuppa) $12.75 per 12 oz bagga, which isn't really that bad.

They incorporate three different kinds of beans (Oaxaca, Mexico; Jinotega, Nicaragua; and Sumatra, Indonesia) in the blend; and, surprisingly enough, this really works out to be a very nice blend in all.

"Nuanced and comforting. Rich and robust with a subtle sweetness, our signature house blend is delicious no matter how you drink it."
(once again, quoted directly from their web-site)

Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
the Green Queen ~ 6.8;
Vegan Girlfriend blackberry muffin ~ 6.6;
Bread & Butter ~ 7.2 
(which I can only hope translates to 6.9-7.0 when I make some myself at home) 

___________________

1. I had to ask to make sure this abbreviation didn't mean that it was a "Vegan's GirlFriend's" muffin... not that there is anything wrong with that.

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

"Graffiti" (and its less-used singular form "graffito") comes from the Italian word "graffiato", meaning "scratched". The word originates from the Greek "γράφειν" ("graphein"), meaning "to write".

3. Don't worry, I have finally gotten to the bottom of most of the Christmas Coffee that I had received. I still have three different types of Coffee in my refrigerator, but two of those are almost finished and the third is only from a recent birthday gift.