Since 1863... Where San Francisco begins... and Popovers(!) end... in my belly!
https://cliffhouse.com/bistro/ Place: the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House Location: 1090 Point Lobos (at the end of the Earth/Ocean Beach) Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Saturday at 9:00am, Sunday at 8:30am Meal: Sautéed Vegetable[1]Scramble ~ scrambled eggs, red peppers, tomatoes, scallions, button mushrooms, melted goat cheese, served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes; a small glassa tomato juice (I was planning on ordering a "Virgin Bloody Mary", but my astute waiter/server-person guy, Daniel, warned me that their Bloody Mary mix has clam juice already in it... ewww... now why would anyone do that to perfectly innocent tomato juice?!); and, as always (and one of the main reasons that I like to go back there a few times a year, anyway), a basket of (World) Famous Cliff HousePopovers(!)[2] https://cliffhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BloodyMar-e1490546121250.jpg (As can be seen in the above photo-link, this breakfastary cocktail is a side dish all on its ownsome.) To finish off the early-season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I normally like to close-it-out at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House(see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 28th, 2018). They really only offer five different breakfast dish choices that are either stupid vegetarian-friendly or can be made so with the simple omission of one or two types of dead, decaying animal flesh, so I have had each probably several times (as in probably twenty or more severals) already over the past twenty-plus years that I have been eating at the Bistro Restaurant. Well, they do have a dish called "the Johnson Omelet" ~ made with Dungeness crab[3], avocado, and sour cream ~ that I have never tried before; however, if I were ever to order it (sans the dead, decaying marine insect stuff), they would probably have to rename it "the Little Richard Omelet".
Because I was once again lucky enough to be sitting at an ocean-viewing window-table, I kept an intent watch for any migrating Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). My friendly, informative waiter/server-person guy, Daniel, also informed me that there have been many sightings recently of these Quasimodo-type great fishes (and just a little ways off Seal Rocks, too) making their Spring-break trek up North. However, I was not lucky enough to spot (or stripe) any of them this morning (h*ck, I am just lucky to be able to see as far as Seal Rocks).
There were only two (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) in my basket this morning. That really did not matter as those proved to be the perfect amount for my appetite today (besides, if you ask, they will always bring you more at no charge... for free even). This is one of my more favourite dishes that is available for breakfast at the Bistro Restaurant. I suppose that even if they did not already offer their (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), this would still be return-trip-worthy (probably just not three to four times a year, though). And if they ever added Kalamata olives to this mess, it would definitely put it "way over the top" for me. There were only two roasted potatoes (halved) as a side this morning, which was also probably enough for me, but more potatoes is always welcomed. (Should that be "more [potatoes] is... " or "more [potatoes] are... "? My grammar and grampar never really explained this stuff to me.) Today's fresh fruits consisted of: strawberry (I am using the singular here as there was just one half-strawberry in the pile), cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew melon, and grape (again, singular, as in just one, but it was a whole one, not a half). the Bistro Restaurant only has Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) for use as a condimentary supplement. Knowing this (See? I have been to more than one public performance featuring bronco-riding, calf-roping, steer-wrestling, and Brahma bull-riding at this here particular establishment.[4]), I used some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian! And, thankfully, I only have about three to four doses remaining in this particular glass bottle-soldier.) on the potatoes and some Old St. AugustineDatil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg! There is still about three-quarters left in this bottle, though.) judiciously all over the scrambled mess and even a few drops (five or six) into the tomato juice (to kill any of the d*mn clam juice... just in case it had infected it, too).
Hollywoodland Spotlight of the Day Today's Hollywoodland Highlight moment focuses on one Margy Reed (better-known-as Martha Raye). This autographed photograph was on the wall (about half-way up... or, if you are a pessimistic acrophobe, about half-way down) on the other side of my table. I think I probably remember Martha Raye more for her cameo-role appearances on TeeVee in the 60's and 70's than for her actual movie-starring roles. (We won't bother to mention those embarrassing Polident® commercials from the 70's and 80's that she also did.) I do know that I have seen her in both the movie "H*llzapoppin'" (1941) (which also had some guy named "Samuel Horwitz" in a supporting-role) and the Abbott-and-Costello movie "Keep 'Em Flying" (also 1941), where she played a dual-role as twin sisters (there were no wayward members of the Three Stooges moonlighting in this one, though). https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0713106/ Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ 6.7; (World) Famous Cliff HousePopovers(!) ~ 8.2 ___________________
1. I am particularly pleased that they have the good sense to use the full word "Vegetable" and not that ubiquitous and utterly odious moniker of "Veggies" (uggh!). 2. For those of you that are in the "uninformed" category, Popovers(!) are an American version of Yorkshire pudding and similar batter puddings made in England since the 17th century. And if you are even in the "yet still more uninformed" category, there is this information from our friendly friends at WikipediA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_pudding 3. Dungeness crab's common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington. I never knew that before, but I do not think that I have ever eaten one of these in my entire life. Even back when I still ate "meat", I was never much of a fan of any of the dead, decaying marine insects, anyway. 4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/etymological pointer of the day: The word "rodeo" comes directly from the Spanish word "rodeo" (See? Sometimes this cunning-linguistics stuff ain't always cirugía de cohete or ciencia del cerebro.), basically meaning "round-up". The Spanish word is derived from the verb "rodear", meaning "to surround" or "go around," used to refer to "a pen for cattle at a fair or market," derived from the Latin "rota" or "rotare", meaning "to rotate" or "go around".
http://www.toasteatery.com/ (As far as I can tell, there is not an official web-site for this specific restaurant location, but the menu is basically the same as in the above link.) Place: Toast Eatery Location: 160 West Portal Avenue (between Vicente Street and 14th Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 566-200 Hours: open at 7:00am every day of the week Meal: Chilaquiles ~ house (well, restaurant) made tortilla chips in tomatillo sauce with 2 eggs any style (I stylized them as "over-medium") topped with sour cream; and a large glassa grapefruit juice
(However, I have no idea how either Gun-Marie Fredriksson or Neko Case feels about Chilaquiles or tomatillo salsa.) It had been a few years since I had last eaten at any of the local Toast Eatery restaurants (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 19th, 2016), so I figured a return-visit was in order. I think there are now about four restaurants (eateries, whatever) located throughout the city: this newest one in West Portal; two in Noe Valley; and one on Polk Street (basically [s]Nob Hill area). I am not sure if they are all still owned by the same person/family, though. This location in West Portal just seems to be the easiest for me to get to; plus, the parking is so much easier in this neighborhood. There are still several other good ideas left for me to try off their (thankfully-not-named-"Brunch") breakfast menu: Huevos Rancheros ~ 2 eggs any style (fried or over-medium are generally the choice of style with this dish) on corn tortillas with black beans, sour cream, salsa ranchera and a side of chipotle cole slaw (I really need to check out this dish, if for no other reason than to try the chipotle cole slaw); Breakfast Burrito ~ flour tortilla with scrambled eggs, guacamole, Cheddar, pico de gallo salsa, sour cream, and choice of bacon, pork sausage, or ham (that would be a big no-trio for me, of course), served with hash browns; Wet "Veggie" (uggh!) Burrito ~ flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, grilled "veggies" (grilled uggh! if you ask me), black beans, Cheddar cheese and sour cream, topped with salsa ranchera and avocado, served with hash browns; California Scrambler ~ egg whites, tomato, fresh basil, avocado, and Cheddar, served with hash browns and choice of toast: white, whole wheat, rye, sourdough, or English muffin (however, for having such an eponym, I have always found their toast/bread all to be kinda pedestrian); egg-cetera...
I will comment on the "Pluses" of this dish first: 1) their tomatillo salsa was really very tasty (and not very spicy at all) ~ generally chilaquiles come with a red salsa; and 2) there was a good amount of food (luckily I did not order a side of hashbrowns) on the plate. Now as for the "Minuses": 1) it was rather a boring dish (kinda like those "one-note ponies" that are always singing it up in the circus) ~ just a lotta corn tortilla chips with two eggs on top; and 2) most places will normally serve chilaquiles with at least a side of rice and refried beans. It would have been nice to at least have a couple of corn or flour tortillas (which are basically Mexicantoast, anyway) to sop up the rest of their very good tomatillo salsa. (The waitress/server lady-person really gave me some strange looks when I started to lick the remainder off my plate... What?! I did not have a plastic straw handy.) As to what Toast Eatery offers in the way of condimentary supplementation, there was the San Francisco Standard Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce [Original Red Sauce]; Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce; and Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal) for use on all the tables. It really did not matter this morning as none were needed or used.
(a not so really) Strange Coffee Interlude I had skipped any Coffee-intake with breakfast with the expressed (Espresso?) reason that I planned on getting myself a mighty fine cuppa at Ballast™Coffee ~ like I have for the past few times whenever I have been (bean?) in the West Portal neighborhood recently. I just got a cuppa their standard drip-filter roast/blend that is ready to pour/go. I also like that they have a variety of fresh (well, at 8:30am, at least) dynamo donutdoughnuts from which to choose... from which I choosed a nice rhubarb one. I do not think that I have ever had this particular flavour of theirs before (h*ck, I am pretty sure that I have never had a rhubarb doughnut before, anyway). I really liked that it was made with actual bits/squares/chunks of rhubarb in it. As can be seen in the above photo, I enjoyed these outside in their backyard garden-patio area (which I had all to my ownsome... well, except for an extremely noisy next-door-neighbor pupster on the other side of the fence). https://ballastcoffee.com/ https://dynamodonut.com/ Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 6.3 (this was factoring in their very tasty tomatillo salsa which added at least 0.1 to 0.2 GBS points); Ballast™Coffeestandard Coffee ~ 7.3; dynamo donutrhubarb doughnut ~ 7.2
Kids, be nice to your Mother (Earth)... I am told she is the only one we have (and no one wants to be an interplanetary orphan).
http://www.lalesf.com/ Place: LaLe Location: 731 Irving Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) Hours: breakfast and/or "Brunch" are served daily at 8:00am Meal: Dutch Baby Pancake (just one, but it was an extra large pancake) ~ w/ caramelized apples & housemade (restaurant-made, whatever) whipped cream; and to drink with the meal a glassa fresh strawberry-lemonade; and afterward a cuppa Snowbird Coffee - Zatara blend (pour-over/drip-method) http://snowbirdcoffee.com/
("Old Man" Noel Yang does one h*ckofa great anthem for our Momma.) To wrap up the early-Season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to LaLe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 21st, 2018)... which just leaves closing with some (World) Famous Cliff HousePopovers(!) next weekend. LaLe has a brand-new (well, since-January-new) wooden-carved/lathed sign over the front door. Still some other ideas yet to try: Mexico City (Scrambler) ~ chorizo (which would get ochenta-y-seis-ed for me), green onions, mushrooms, guacamole, sour cream, cheese; Napa (Scrambler) ~ goat cheese, mushrooms, bacon (also 86-time), bell peppers; (Scramblers are served with home style potatoes and housemade [restaurant-made, whatever] English muffin) Toronto (Benediction) ~ ham (no way, you hoser!), grilled tomato, spinach (housemade [restaurant-made, whatever] English muffin topped with poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, served w/ potatoes); or maybe FennelCabbage Salad ~ green and purple cabbage, fresh fennel, apples, arugula (and I would probably have a couple of poached eggs placed on top).
Stuff like this is exactly why LaLe is currently in my Breakfastary Staring Rotation! This was very similar (and just as tasty) to the same kinda dish that I had at Outerlands (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 29th, 2012) several years ago (which reminds me, I really should plan a return visit there again soon, too). I think the apples that were used in today's meal were either Granny Smith or Golden Delicious (Who am I? John Fr*ggin' Chapman?). The housemade (restaurant-made, whatever) whipped cream was very good, too, and it was served as a very large dollop (more like a wallop). LaLe has bottles of Tapatío®Salsa Picante Hot Sauce on all the tables for use as a condimentary supplement. Of course, none was needed or used again this morning... however... I did use a small dusting/grinding from my rainbowpeppercorn grinder on top of the whipped cream as an extra-added flavour bonus.[1] Strange Literary Interlude (sorry, Greg) As I was expecting this meal to take 15-20 minutes for them to prepare (they even warn you about the wait on the menu), I had brought along my new Christopher Moore novel, "Noir", to read while killing time waiting for the food to arrive. However, as the restaurant was not very busy (and I was the second customer in the door to order breakfast this morning), it came out much sooner than I figured, and I had barely time to read a few pages. It was probably only a five-minute wait or just a bit more (or Moore). https://www.chrismoore.com/ (not so) Strange Coffee Interlude (there-ya-go, Greg) As I have been doing for the past few visits to LaLe, after breakfast, I headed around the corner to Snowbird Coffee for a mighty fine cuppa. Today, I once again went with their Zatara blend. In honour of Mommy Third-Rock-from-the-Sun Day, I enjoyed the cuppa while strolling through San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park. (Do not worry, I made sure to throw away the paper cup in the appropriately-marked recycle trash-bin.) Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Dutch Baby Pancake ~ 7.5; Snowbird Coffee - Zatara blend ~ 7.4; Noir ~ 7.1 ___________________
1. Do not judge me! I did not make up this very interesting flavour-combination. When I lived in West Berlin (the one that used to be in the middle of Deutsche Demokratische Republik), I frequented this great Italian restaurant that was nearby Tempelhof Zentral Flughafen. One of the desserts that they had on the menu was a warm figsplit open with a scoop of vaniller Ice Cream on top of it... they would then grind some fresh black peppercorns on top of the dessert. Hey, if it worked for Adolph on Ice Cream, it can (and did) work for me on whipped cream!
♪ "I've seen French toast and I've seen cornflakes... but I don't know nuthin' 'bout no Fire and Rain" ♫
www.still no official web-site.com 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) Meal: Crunch Flakesw/ added mixed berries (option) ~ cornflake crusted French toast, served sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon; and a glassa orange juice
(I am not aware if James Taylor likes either cornflakes or French toast.) Because I could and because I wanted to, I went back to Taylor Street Coffee Shop (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 21st, 2017) for breakfast again this morning... yada, yada, yada... great little place... yada, yada, yada... if it were more "local" for me, it would definitely be Breakfastary Starting Rotation-worthy... yada, yada, yada... I had arrived there at just a little before 7:00am thinking (misremembering) that they opened up at 7:30am and was planning on waiting outside for the half-hour or so. As it turned out, I was the #5 person in line (which was group #3 in the door) and really had no wait to speak of (except for speaking of it here). It turned out that I was in and out with the first seating and even before there was the accustomed crowd waiting lined-up out the door. Having already eaten at Taylor Street Coffee Shop several times in the past, I have had several of their great breakfastary offerings, but there are still a few other ideas worth going back for (or repeating): Primavera Omelet Combo ~ spinach, roasted tomato and mushroom egg white omelet. Fresh housemade salsa. Served with English muffin, fresh fruit mix, small fresh squeezed OJ and a Coffee or hot tea; Morning Salad Combo ~ spring mix, poached egg, bacon (nah!), tomato, grapes, strawberry, Feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette. Served with English muffin, fresh fruit mix, small fresh squeezed OJ and a Coffee or hot tea; or (redux) Hollandaise Hash ~ seasoned hash brown topped with bacon (nah, again!), habanero infused onion, mushroom, tomato, bell pepper. Drizzled w/ Hollandaise. Served with two eggs and toast. A choice of toast (wheat, white, sour dough, rye, English muffin) (this was the very first dish that I tried there and I knew I was hooked); and Greek Omelet ~ baby spinach, mushroom, olive and Feta. Served with hash brown or sliced tomato or mixed greens (Substitute fresh fruit mix for $3). Toast (wheat, white, English muffin, rye, sour dough).
This was not quite as "crunchy" (or "flaky") as I was expecting, but it was still very good. However, it only comes with one (thick) slice. It was a large enough serving for my appetite, but I wonder if I shoulda also ordered a side of their most awesome hashbrowns with habanero infused onions. I liked the cinnamon that was dusted all over it, but most places go a little heavy-handed with that powdered sugar stuff (I can take it or leave it ~ mostly leave it). The (optional) mixed berriesincluded: blueberries (a true botanical berry); blackberries (or possibly marionberries or olallieberries or whateverberries ~ none of which are botanically berries); strawberries (also not botanical berries); and even a slice-a orange[1] as a garnish. The (optional) mixed berrieswere definitely the way to go with this dish; it would have still been good, but nuthin' really special about which to 'blog home...
(Now this condimentary supplementation cage/rack ~ about six inches above the table ~ is a great little idea for a great little place that really does not allow for a lotta space on the tables.) As can be seen in the above photo, Taylor Street Coffee Shopoffers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (two ways ~ Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. With this morning's selection, none were needed or used. Of course, I did use a good amount of the maple syrup that was there. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude After breakfast, while heading back up Taylor Street towards Geary Street, I heard a mess o' the chattering feather-heads, but did not see any of them flying around. All I can assume is that they really must have a roost somewhere high up in one of the buildings in the between-O'Farrell-Geary block on Taylor Street. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Crunch Flakesw/ added mixed berries (option) ~ 6.9; the Wild Parrotsof San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________
www.still no official web-site.com Place: Eats Location: 50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000 Hours: open for breakfast (not "Brunch") every day (not "everyday") of the week at 8:00am Meal: MexicanScramble (well, that is what they call it; they gringo-ed this down for us estupido 'mericanos; this is technically just your cada día chilaquiles[1]) (v) ~ scrambled eggs cooked with fried (corn) tortilla chips, pepper Jack, black beans, pico de gallo, ricotta salata[2], avocado, cilantro; and a glassa Power C ~ (fresh-juiced) orange, grapefruit, pineapple As I am still making my way through my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, January 20th, 2018) again this morning for... well... breakfast eats. With my previous visit, I think I had finally successfully eaten my way through the entire vegetarian-friendly portion of their menu. So, happily, it was time to start all over again.
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguistic/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day (refresco): (Once again, I am sure I have posted this [and probably more than once] translation/definition/description for "Chilaquiles" before, but here ya go again, anyway.) chilaquiles n. a Mexican dish of fried softened (generally corn) tortilla chips covered with salsa or mole and cheese and broiled The Spanish word "chilaquiles" comes from the Nahuatl word "chilāquilitl", which is a combined form from two separate Nahuatl words "chilātl" (meaning "chilli water") and "quilitl" (meaning "edible plant"). 2. https://www.cheese.com/ricotta-salata/ (I just love that there is even a cheese.com!) 3. I still consider Chava's (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, August 8th, 2010; which reminds me, I really need to get back there again soon) version of chilaquiles to be my touchstone (piedra de toque) for this muy sabroso desayuno, Salvaje Guille. Their version is usually going down for the third time in their thick salsa roja. There was a time back in the early 2000's when Chava's was part of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation specifically due to their excellent chilaquiles.
http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/ Place: Baker Street Bistro Location: 2953 Baker Street (how convenient that they named the street after this restaurant) (between Lombard and Greenwich Streets) Hours: open for "le Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 9:00am Meal: Œufs Baker Street Bistro ~ ratatouille[1], poached eggs, English muffin, tomato sauce, served with home fries & mixed greens; and a large glassa orange juice Continuing along with an early-Season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, je suis retourné une fois de plus à Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, January 6th, 2018). I sat outside again this morning in their large sidewalk café seating area. I was the only "special kinda idiot" to do so, too. Mainly because it was still a bit cool (I kept my coat on for the entire meal, but just barely needed it) and it was still in the shade from the surrounding houses at that hour.
I have had this wonderful take on Eggs Benedict many, many, many times before. I always state that even if Baker Street Bistro did not already have le meilleur Pain Perdu in town, this dish is worth a return visit all on its ownsome. C'est tout. For use as condimentary supplements, Baker Street Bistro only offers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce). I used some of my own Sunbelt Plantations Vidalia® Onion & Jalapeno (noted without the tilde "~" over the "n", Ms. Swinton) Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on both the potatoes and the rabbit-food stuff. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude I arrived in the area about forty-five minutes before the restaurant opened expressly to try and get some photos ofthe Wild Parrotsthat roost in the tall eucalyptus trees near the Lombard Gate of the Presidio. I did see several of the noisy chatter-heads flying around (and heard dozens more), but did not manage to catch any of them with my camera (next time I will bring a net instead). While I was traipsing around down by the duck pond in the Presidio (which is technically called Letterman Digital Arts Center Recycled Water Pond at Lucas, but ducks can not read and do not care about that, anyway), I did also see one poor defenseless (Peregrine?) Falconbeing harassed by a pair of Crows or Ravens (Would a pair of Crows simply be known as an "involuntary manslaughter"?); unfortunately, they went swooping by way too fast for me to react and get a shot of them in the air. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Œufs Baker Street Bistro~ 7.4; the Wild Parrotsof San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo culinaristic pointer of the day (I am pretty sure that I have done this one already, but here it is again): (stolen... er... borrowed directly from the friendly folks at WikipediA [and, trust me, they stole... er... borrowed it from other sources, too]) The word ratatouille derives from the Occitan ratatolha and is related to the French ratouiller and tatouiller, expressive forms of the verb touiller, meaning "to stir up". From the late 18th century, in French, it merely indicated a coarse stew. The modern ratatouille - tomatoes as a foundation for sautéed garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, marjoram, fennel and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence - does not appear in print until c. 1930. Here is a simple recipe (well, if you simply speak French): https://cuisine.larousse.fr/recette/ratatouille
