Zazie

Ceci n'est pas un miracle réel... just one h*ckuva tasty petit déjeuner. 

https://www.zaziesf.com/


Place: Zazie

Location: 941 Cole Street 
(between Carl Street and Parnassus Avenue)

Hours: "Brunch" is served Monday-Friday 8-2 and Saturday/Sunday/Holidays 9-3 (it is the same menu every day of the week, and they open up way early enough to be able to drop the snooty-*ssed moniker "Brunch", and seeing as they are supposed to be a snooty-*ssed authentique Frenchified bistro, they should oughtta be calling this early morning meal 
"Petit Déjeuner", anyway)

Meal: Miracle Pancakes (2) - Sugar Pie Pumpkin Pancakes ~ made with real roasted pumpkin, topped with pumpkin purée w/ vanilla whipped cream; a side order of Home-fries (or should that be "Maison-frites"?), with some of their homemade (Zazie-made, whatever) habanero salsa; and a cuppa (and two refillas) Zazie's Organic Specialty Coffee[1]

(This poster was above me and over my left shoulder. It was positioned correctly; I just thought I'd try something artistique.)

(There really are no EweToobular juxtaselections for those first two Motown mega-hits this morning. 

However, it is a well-known fact that both cherries and pumpkins are botanical berries[2], and I have it on good authority that Ms. Tunstall is a big fan of pancakes [like Haggis, pancakes are the other National Dish of Alba-nia][3].)


Once again, to be able to state: "I had breakfast from A (as in Andytown Coffee Roasters)[4] to Z in 2017", je suis retourné à Zazie (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 28th, 2014). 

I had arrived so early in the neighborhood (a little after 8:15am) that I even found a legal (and free) parking spot just around the corner on Parnassus Avenue. Because I didn't want to look foolish waiting in line for forty-five minutes all by myself, I made sure to walk around the area a bit checking out/noting the other breakfastary places along the street (of which, there are at least three-to-five other good options in just two blocks up and down Cole Street). When I got back, I ended up being the third "party" (thankfully, the maître d'/manager-guy person was nice enough not to call out "Brian... party of one!") in line. 

Since I last ate there, they have expanded their front sidewalk café eating area to four tables for two (or possibly two tables for four... or one table for four and two tables for two...). I did think (briefly) about sitting outside this morning (either in the front area or in their much larger backyard patio); however, it had rained earlier in the morning (much before I had even left the house), and I was not sure how long the clouds would keep back, so I wimped-out and sat inside once again (as it was, it did not rain at all while I was inside eating). Next time...

I can not believe that it has been almost three years since I last ate at Zazie. They have a really good standard breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) menu and they also offer seasonal/weekendly specials. These guys could easily be "Breakfastary Starting Rotation"-worthy if ever needed.

Ferinstance, quelques autres idées:

(off their "Brunch" Specials addition)

Ceci n'est pas un Pancake ~ Our kitchen's version of Huevos Rancheros, corn tortillas w/ melted cheese, slow cooked black beans, spicy tomato sauce, avocados, salsa fresca, two over easy eggs (this was going to be my initial choice... until I saw the miraculous dish that I ended up ordering);

Fresh squash & sage Raviolis ~ w/ wilted arugula (Sheesh! For the price, you would think they would use fresh arugula at least!), butter, garlic, white wine, and aged Parmesan (while not really a breakfastary sorta dish, I was also eyeing that this morning for something a little different);

or

Omelette du Jour (and I am so glad that they spelded "Omelette" kerrektly) ~ apple chicken sausage (which I would have had quatre-vingt six-ed, sans doute), tomatoes provençale [ sic; see, technically, the adjective "provençale" should be "provençales" in agreement with "tomatoes" being in the plural; also, it would be "tomates" if they were using the actual Frenchy word], fresh basil, and Feta cheese w/ home fries or salad (another tough choice not to choose);

and

(off their standard "Brunch" menu, specifically in the Scrambled Egg Dishes section; all served w/ choice of whole wheat or white toast and home fries or salad)

Fontainbleu ~ w/ wild mushrooms, spinach, Fontina;

Avignon ~ w/ eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, provençale herbs;

Greece (Et porquois pas la 'Grèce'?) ~ w/ red onions, spinach, Feta (this dish is another good reason for a return trip... hopefully not in the year 2020);

or

Italie ~ w/ tomatoes provençales (now here, on their standard printed menus, they have the adjective in agreement to "tomatoes"), cream cheese, fresh basil.

And, additionally (also off their "Brunch" Specials addition), they had a Sugar Pie Pumpkin Latte ~ made w/ roasted sugar pie pumpkin, maple, and spices, topped w/ vanilla whipped cream and cinnamon... St*rbucks only wishes they made it this delicious. (Let it be known that the last "... " section of that sentence was actually on their menu; I didn't even need to editorialise it in any way.) I almost went with one of those, too, but that would have been both a sugar (maple syrup, whatever) and pumpkin overkill. It did look very tempting, though; it was served in one of them extra large latte cups/boules.

I can not be sure (just because I was incessantly drooling, they kept barring my way into the kitchen to check it out), but I think they probably use their gingerbread pancake batter as a basis for this meal. Stuff like this is why ("are why"?) I will definitely have to get back there more often. The above photo quality might not do it any justice, but it was extremely tasty. The real trick was trying to get "la morsure parfaite" with a bit of butter, whipped cream, maple syrup[5a], and pumpkin[5b] purée all in the same forkful. They offer this dish as one, two, or three pancakes. Two pancakes turned out to be the perfect amount for me (with the additional homefries); one pancake might not have been enough and three pancakes would have been wayyyyy too much food for me to process.

Once again, I really enjoyed the homefries side dish. It included six (six) cloves of roasted garlic in with the potatoes this morning, and I made sure to eat each and every one. Look out, Eats, you have some competition here!

I did not ask what they might have to offer in the way of bottles of condimentary supplementation (nor did I bother schlepping any of my own hot sauces with me). I remembered from my last visit (well, I "remembered" after re-reading the 'blog-entry from my previous visit there) that they offered a homemade salsa of their own. I thought it was of a tomatillo-base, but it turned out to be of the habanero kind. Surprisingly, this habanero salsa was really not that épicé, but it did have a really nice goût to it. I ended up using a goodly amount of it all over the potatoes... okay, I admit, I did try some on one bite of pancake, too, and it really wasn't half-bad (to a pessimist, would that mean it is only "half-good"?).

As if I needed yet still another viable reason to patronise Zazie, there is this directly off their menu and web-site:

Zazie is Proud to be Tip Free!

All of our menu prices include a living wage, revenue share, paid family leave, fully funded health & dental insurance, paid time off, and a 401(k) with employer match for all of our hard working employees.
  
~No Tips Expected~

Wow! No tipping![6] Who says the French ain't got no culcher?! 
(Don't worry, I am not from KT Tunstall's motherland. I did end up tipping my normal 20% amount, anyway. I checked first with my waiter/server-guy person first, and he had no qualms with it either.) 


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Miracle Pancakes - Sugar Pie Pumpkin Pancakes ~ 7.4;
Maison-frites (avec de l'ail) ~ 7.56;
salsa habanera ~ 7.3;
Zazie's Organic Specialty Coffee ~ 7.1;
Andytown's Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate ~ 8.3

___________________

1. I checked with the maître d'/manager-guy person and he told me that they do still get their Coffee from LaCoppa Coffee in Mill Valley. I was not sure from my last visit there; they no longer mention it on the menu. Apparently, LaCoppa makes this special roast/blend for them.

https://www.lacoppacoffee.com/

2. Nah! How many times I gotta tell ya? Cherries are not an actual botanical berry; they are a fleshy drupe.

On the other hand, Peter, pumpkins are botanical berries. Go figger...

3. No, no! No, no-no-no...

The First Rule of the Intro-Net is: "Never believe nuthin' ya reads on these here World Wild Webs!"

The Second Rule of the Intro-Net: "When in doubt, see Rule #1."

Besides, just look at them dimples!
(And I meant Daryl's. KT is pretty d*rn cute, too.)

4. See previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, September 30th, 2017.

Earlier this morning, before even thinking about eating breakfast, I fixed me uppa (well, dripped me downa) a cuppa Andytown's Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate.

"I don't drink Coffee to wake up; I wake up to drink Coffee!"™

5. Are there any foods more All-American (as in New World foods) than maple syrup and pumpkins? I can't think of anything else other than possibly: corn/maize, tomatoes (including their spicy little cousins, chilli peppers), potatoes, and chocolate.

6. Supposably, this whole stupid "tipping" thing started here in San Francisco ~ so, it should all end here as well!