Café de Casa

♪ "Flat and tan(-nish) and fresh and tasty
The crêpe from Ipanema goes walking(???) and
When it passes, each one it passes goes 'Ahhhhh!'... " ♫ 

http://www.cafedecasa.com/


Place: Café de Casa

Location: 2701 Leavenworth Street 
(on the corner of North Point Street)

Hours: open Monday - Saturday at 7:30am

Meal: (starter) Pão de Queijo[1] ~ gluten-free cheese rolls, warm and chewy; Romeu & Julieta (Crêpe Brasileiro) ~ guava jelly and cheese (I am not really sure what kinda cheese they actually use in this one; I would assume it was Mozzarella [as they list that cheese on a few other crêpe-entries]; it was some kinda soft, melty cheese); and a medium cuppa (pour-over style) Coffee Magic Gold Rush

http://quickdrip.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=105

("Hit the crêpes, Percy"?!

I figured as long as I was already EweToobular juxtaselecting the first Bob song, anyway, I might as well link the second one from him, too.)


Now whatd'ya suppose are the chances of discovering three good "new" breakfast places in a year, let alone even one (and all that are within a few blocks of each other) on Fisherman's Wharf?! Having already gone back to both Surisan (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 14th, 2017) and eight am (see last 'blog entry from Saturday, November 11th, 2017), I figured (correctly) that it was time for a return visit to Café de Casa (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, April 29th, 2017).

I was the only (first?) customer in this morning when I had arrived around 7:45am, but the place started getting filled up quickly with a lot of walk-in tourista business by the time I had finished eating. I sat at the long window-counter overlooking the outside sidewalk-café seating area ~ which is where I really shoulda sat this morning, the weather was still a bit coolish, but Senhor Sol was up and shining already ~ at least I sat in front of one of the open windows to still get the full fresh-air experience, Ms. Gross.

There are still a few outras boas idéias para o café da manhã that I want to get back to try:

Omelette Crêpe ~ eggs, ham (which would get oitenta-e-seis-ed) and cheese;

Caprese (another savoury crêpe) ~ fresh Mozzarella, tomato and basil;

Cartola (a sweet crêpe) ~ Mozzarella cheese, banana & cinnamon;

or

Açaí[2] - Fruit[ sic ][3] e Granola[4] (served in a cup-size or a bowl-size) ~ traditional Brazilian treat, a cross between a sorbet & a pudding, made with guarana syrup, topped with granola, strawberries & banana (I saw another person order this one; it looked pretty good, but wayyyyy too healthy for my tastes; maybe one of these days).

On my next visit (and, trust me, there will be a "next" visit), I will have to decide between either the Caprese or Cartola crêpes. I was told by one of the worker-guys (well, after I had bugged the h*ck outta him with several other annoying questions already) that their South San Francisco location does not offer any of these tapioca flour crêpes for breakfast, they only have the fresh-made pastries and Coffee; so, I probably won't need to head south on a mini-roadtrip to check it out, too.

I really shoulda said something to the management. This pastry was served to me with a large bite already taken out of it. Luckily, it was good enough to finish, anyway.

This ain't une crêpe de ton père, Pierre!

I spoke with one of the worker-guys (unfortunately for him, it was the same worker-guy that I had pestered... er... asked questions of all morning) there and he told me that these tapioca flour crêpes are very popular in Brazil now-a-days. One of these days I would love to get down to Brazil myself... one of these days...

This idea of "gluten-free" crêpes made from tapioca flour is a great idea; it does make for a bit "chewier" experience, though, Han Solo. Even if you do not have gluten allergies or aren't following some kinda silly new-fangled (with olde-timey sounding names like "Paleo"[5] or "Neoprotero") diet, you can still enjoy this one.

"But... 'cheese'... and 'guava jelly', Brian?!" (and don't forget all the tasty caramel sauce drizzled across it that they do not even dare mention on the menu)... Hey, it works and I really liked it! Besides, how many of you negativists have ever had something called "cheesecake"?

I am not so sure what the connection is to "Romeu" and/or "Julieta"; perhaps ol' Wild Bill really liked his gauva fruits and Mozzarella cheeses mixed together, too. Hmmmm?! Does this mean that Romeu (or "Romeo" for you Montague purists) is the guava jelly and Julieta (or "Juliet" for you House of Capulet fans) is the cheese?!

It is a rare find, Mercutio, when you can get both an interesting breakfastary meal and good, local Coffee at the same joint. The Gold Rush Coffee that I had this morning was listed as a "Light" roast, but this was plenty dark enough for me still. In addition to the Coffee that I had today, they offer three other roasts/blends (all from Coffee Magic, too) that can be made single-cuppa pour-over style: Brazil Poço Fundo (a Dark Roast; which I had on my last visit and liked just a bit more than the one I had this morning); Foglifter (a Dark and Light blend); and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (another Dark Roast; this is the one I will probably check out next time).

Pretty much knowing ahead of time that I was going to go the "Sweet-not-Savoury-Route" (which, by the way, Mr. Brandt, is an actual highway transversing New Mexico and Arizona), I did not bother bringing any of my own hot sauces with me this morning. I also knew from my last visit there that, if needed, Café de Casa 
has a bottled hot sauce of their own that ain't bad none neether. (And don't think that it didn't cross my mind to try juuuust a little of their hot sauce on a small part of my crêpe... )

Good food AND good Coffee?!? Maybe this place should be called "Casa de Café e Comida Muito Saborosa" instead.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Pão de Queijo ~ 6.8;
Romeu & Julieta ~ 7.1;
Coffee Magic Gold Rush ~ 7.0

___________________

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

"Pão de queijo" literally translates from Portuguese as "cheese-bread" (well, "bread of cheese").

2. While this fruit is commonly called an "açaí berry", it is as much a true botanical berry as is a strawberry. (However, as everyone knows, bananas are botanical berries.)

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número dois:

This really should read as "Fruta" or "Frutas" in Portuguese.

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número tres:

Sorry, I could not locate the English translation for this word anywhere on the World Wild Webs.

5. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, νούμερο τέσσερα:

If anyone on this silly "Paleo" diet was wondering, the word "παλαιός" ("palaios") in Greek means "old"... and the word "ζωή" ("zoe")* means "stupid".

*(No offense, Dave and Patryce.)