Connecticut Y*nkee

http://www.pourguys.com/connecticut-y*nkee/

(Okay, so maybe you will need to add the bowdlerised "a" back into that Uniform Resource Locator yourself for an uninterrupted hyperlink kinda thing. I refuse to allow any kinda d*mn anti-Red Sox swear-words on this here 'blog-thing!)


Place: Connecticut Y*nkee

Location: 100 Connecticut Street (on the corner of 17th Street)

Hours: open Saturday & Sunday for "Brunch" at 10:00am

Meal: Shakshuka ~ baked eggs, tomatoes, peppers, onion, cilantro, grilled polenta cakes, sunny egg, queso fresco; a side order of Breakfast Potatoes (homefries); and a glassa grapefruit juice

(You were expectin' "Sweet Caroline", maybe?)


I used to work directly across the street from Connecticut Y*nkee for about twelve to thirteen years. I ate many lunches and dinners there over the years (and, yeah, drank many Beers, too), but I never had a breakfast (nor "Brunch") there. This place is under new ownership (for the past two years now); I don't think it used to be open on the weekends for a breakfast (nor "Brunch") meal.

(Sadly, this mural has seen better days. The bottom photo there used to be one Orenthal James Simpson ~ who grew up "on the Hill" ~ but has now since been excised from the good graces of the neighborhood for some reason...)


The previous ownership was a couple of ex-Patriated New Englanders (hence the name of the joint ~ and, what are the odds, it is located on Connecticut Street) and the theme of the menu used to be all-inclusive Boston/New England sports teams. Now, there is an entirely new menu, and it seems to be mostly Patriots-influenced. The "Brunch" menu does not really offer a lot of options for stupid vegetarians. The only other items I might have chosen:

Potato Cakes ~ sour cream, apple sauce, fresh herbs;

or

French Toast ~ brioche, toasted pecans, dried blueberries (why they don't use fresh blueberries, Imano), maple butter.

Do not worry, there are more choices for you meatetarians and/or pescetarians out there:

Biscuit & Brady ~ house made sausage patty (I wonder if the sausage is made from GOAT-meat), buttermilk biscuit, fried egg, country gravy;

Croquette Benedict ~ cod, poached eggs, arugula, gremolata, Hollandaise sauce (yeah, I think that the Hollandaise sauce renders this non-KosherⓊ, too, Karl);

or

Y*nkee Breakfast ~ two eggs, bacon, toast (which basically sounds like it could also be enjoyed by any Johnny Reb, too).

I am not quite sure how authentically New England (or Olde England, even) Shakshuka is as a breakfastary fare (even if you happen to be from Westernmost Connecticut). Maybe if you added some succotash to it or poured some maple syrup over the top of it...

This was a decent enough meal; however, I have had other versions of Shakshuka that I liked a bit more (coincidentally enough, the very last time that I ate breakfast on Potrero Hill [almost two years ago now, see 'blog-entry from Monday, January 16th, 2016], I had a similar dish to Shakshuka). I liked the addition of the queso fresco (again, I am not sure if that was made from GOAT-milk or not) and there was a lot of both red and green bell peppers in it. The major minuses (another "Military Intelligence" kinda oxymoron, Mr. Brandt?) were that this was all a bit on the watery side (the Shakshuka dishes that I have had in the past were always more of a thick tomato stew) and I would liked to have had more of the grilled polenta cakes; this might have made up for the watery sauce a bit and been used to soak it all up more.

For condimentary supplementation, Connecticut Y*nkee had both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce 
(Original Red Sauce) and Huy Fong Foods Inc. Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce. Additionally, and most notably, they had bottles of their own homemade (well, restaurant-made) Ol' Man Steve's Hot Sauce on all of the tables; this hot sauce reminded me of Cholula® or Tapatío®, but just fresher tasting. I used some of their tasty (but not too) hot sauce on top of the eggs and some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the potatoes. 

After-Breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) Coffee Interlude

The real find this weekend was during a return visit to Andytown[1] Coffee Roasters after breakfast on my way home. This time I went to their newest shop on Taraval Street (just two blocks from Ocean Beach). I had a single cuppa (pour-over style) of their 
Special Release: Columbia Wush Wush. I liked it so much that I am renaming it Columbia "Woot-Woot!". This was juuuust a bit pricey (as in $12.00 a cuppa, and they charge $40.00 per 8 oz bagga... Ouch!... but it came with a free homemade [roastery/bakery-made, whatever] biscotti [and the biscotti was very good, too]... which was nice... so, I had that going for me), though. I am just calling this an early Christmas gift to myself. Surprisingly enough, as good as this (very expensive) cuppa was, I still think that their 
Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate is even better (and not exactly that cheap itself at $25.00/pound).

http://www.andytownsf.com/purchase/colombia-wush-wush


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Shakshuka ~ 6.4;
Ol' Man Steve's Hot Sauce ~ 6.7;
Andytown Coffee Roasters Special Release: Columbia "Woot-Woot!" ~ 8.0 
(whereas Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate ~ 8.3)

___________________

1. I finally asked what the meaning of the name of the place was. I was told that "Andytown" is the nickname of a town in Northern Ireland where one of the owners hails from. Andersonstown is a suburb in West Belfast.