Where the Park (that would be Golden Gate) meets the Pacific (that would be Ocean)
https://www.beachchalet.com/ Place: Beach Chalet Location: 1000 Great Highway (@ Ocean Beach, between John F. Kennedy Drive and Lincoln Way) Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday + Sunday 10:00am Meal: Roasted Vegetable Frittata~ roasted mushrooms + cauliflower, caramelized onion, spinach, Cheddar, marinated tomatoes, little salad (oh, how that would really p*ss-off Elaine Marie Benes); a side order of Hash Brown Cakes; and (because it is a brewery-type joint, after all) a pinta Sea Serpent Foggy I.P.A.
(Hmmm?! Okay, so maybe I probably mighta shoulda waited to use the EweToobular juxtaselection and header quote from Friday's 'blog-entry here today instead. If anyone is wondering, I did not have a second pinta for dessert... but only 'cause I was too full.) In revisiting some places that I had not eaten breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) at in a while, I decided to revisit Beach Chalet (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, July 9th, 2011). It seems that in the past few years they have changed their name (and signage colours) from theBeach ChaletBrewery & Restaurant. Because I had arrived there about fifteen minutes before they had opened for the morning, I was one of the first people to get seated. (There were about twenty other people waiting in line ~ ahead of and behind me ~ before they started seating people.) I scored a primo window-seat looking out onto the Great (well, that is what they call it; it just seems kinda "Okay" in my book) Highway and Ocean Beach. I was seated right below an open vasistas[1], too. The table one over from me had a young family of five (Mom, Dad, and three kids ~ two girls and one younger boy, probably four or five years old). The restaurant supplies kids with a small box of crayons and kids menus where the reverse side is a picture that can be coloured. I found it funny that the little boy yelled out: "I call the 'seahorse'! I call the 'seahorse'!" I watched... all three pictures were 'seahorses'. There were still several other good ideas from which to choose on the "Brunch" menu (I am not sure what they may have had to offer on the kids menu, though, as no one thought to offer me a set of crayonsand a picture to colour ~ Harrumph!): Florentine Benny ~ toasted English muffin, sautéed spinach, roasted tomato, Hollandaise, poached eggs, Hash Brown Cakes; Honor Your Benny ~ sausage buttermilk biscuit, charred tomato relish, seared pork belly, poached farm eggs, sauce Choron[2], Hash Brown Cakes (I like the sound of both the charred tomato relish and Choron sauce; if this could be made vegetarian-friendly, I know I would like it); or Baked French Toast ~ thick sliced pain de mie bread, lavender honey, roasted local strawberries, maple syrup, applewood bacon (where I would 86 the dead, decaying porcine stuff and probably order a side of Hash Brown Cakes). They also have an item under the heading Snacks + Apps: Charred Brussels Sprouts ~ onion agro-dolce(???), cashews, lime, mint, Aleppo pepper. I know I would love that one, but I am not sure how to make it into a complete meal. Possibly ordering two poached eggs as a side?
("Beer for breakfast, Brian?!" Mind yo' own bees-wax! It is made with wheat, barley, and yeast ~ them's the ingredients in toast, anyway. Plus, this I.P.A. was very citrusy... that spells breakfastary to me!) Unfortunately, they did not have any special Oktoberfest Beers available yet for the season. I was initially just going to go with a standard Riptide Red Ale (I have had this one many times over the years and knew I liked it), but I saw the above Sea Serpent Foggy I.P.A. pull. The barkeep gave me a small tipple-taste of it and I was sold. This was a very decent rendition of an I.P.A.
They had me at "roasted cauliflower"[3]. I really enjoyed this traditionally-made frittata. And there were two different types of mushrooms (at least I think there were; I am not exactly sure which kinds of mushrooms they were, though) in the mess. The marinated tomatoes were halved cherry (or grape) tomatoes: purple, orange, and yellow, and served on top of the frittata, not added into the egg-mixture. The rabbit-food junk came piled on top of the frittata (which seems to be the ubiquitous way they are serving frittatas these days); I made sure to push it all off to the side out of the way. Another pleasant surprise were the Hash Brown Cakes. I was just expecting these to be served as some kinda hashbrowns patties. They turned out to be a trio of towering tater-tots! Now why have I not been back to this place in over seven years for breakfast ("Brunches", whatever)? (Probably due to their 10:00am opening time. I prefer to eat my breakfasts a lot earlier than that.) Hopefully I will make a return visit for breakfast sometime before the year 2025.
Their sister venue (their words on the web-site) in the back of the building, Park Chalet, does not open until even later for "Brunch" at 11:00am. That is wayyy too late for my liking. They do offer a whole different menu there, though. For condimentary supplementation, Beach Chalet offers the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce - Original Red Sauce; Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce; and Cholula®Hot Sauce - Original). Even so, I still used some of my own Tijuana Flats Tex-MexSmack My*ssand Call Me Santa (Thanks, Rick!) on the frittata and Fan the FlamesSriracha Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the tater tots on steroids. And to make even the boring ol' rabbit-food junk taste better, I sprinkled a little Charlie's Chili Stuff by Thyme Farm Vinegars (Thanks, Sharon!) all over it.
("Wait a minute, Brian... what does Emmylou Harris singing a Noel Yang song have anything to do with Beer or frittatas or Ocean Beach?"
Just keep reading... [buncha impatient jerks]) (not so) Strange Coffee Interlude On my way over to breakfast, I stopped by Marla Bakery and picked me uppa a small 12 oz cuppa Wrecking Ball Coffee RoastersEthiopia Guji Gr. 1 Uraga Tomme. I made sure to enjoy it while killing an hour-and-a-half ("I swear it was in self-defense, your Honour!") at various stopping places along the way westward in Golden Gate Park. https://www.wreckingballcoffee.com/ Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Roasted Vegetable Frittata~ 7.1; Sea Serpent Foggy I.P.A. ~ 7.2; Wrecking Ball Coffee RoastersEthiopia Guji Gr. 1 Uraga Tomme ~ 7.3 ___________________
1. I will let you all try to figure out that cunning linguist reference. (Hint: This is actually used as a French word, not a German word.) 2. Say wha'?! https://www.foodnetwork.com/terms/choron-sauce 3. Now this is an interesting factoid that I just learned yesterday. In a 100 gram/3.5 ounce serving of cauliflower, there is 58% of the Daily Value for Vitamin C. That is the same amount as in a 100 g/3.5 oz serving of pineapple. As a comparison, a 100 g/3.5 oz serving of oranges has a 64% DV, the same size serving of mangoes has a 44% DV, grapefruit ~ 40% DV, tomatoes ~ 17% DV, and cranberries ~ 16% DV. Now, I am not suggesting that Tropicana®, Welch's®, or Ocean Spray® start marketing cauliflower juice... not that I wouldn't try it... but that is a pretty impressive level of Vitamin C. Winter and flu season are approaching; so eat your cauliflower, kids! If you are wondering (and even if you weren't) just how high a level of Vitamin C a 100 g/3.5 oz serving of Brussels sprouts packs ~ there is a wh*pping 102% DV! Yowza! (Hmmm?! I wonder what the DV% of Vitamin C is in an I.P.A.)
http://www.magicfluteristorante.com/ Place: Magic Flute (Garden) Ristorante Location: 3673 Sacramento Street (between Locust and Spruce Streets) Hours: open Monday thru Friday 11:00am for "Weekday Brunch", Saturday and Sunday 10:00am for "Brunch"[1] Meal: Garden (Ristorante)Omelet~ eggs (natch'), zucchini (and also, not listed on the menu, summer squash), tomatoes, spinach, Mozzarella cheese served with seasonal fruit, potatoes; a starter order of House Marinated (well, Ristorante-Marinated) Olives; and a cuppa (and two refillas ~ 'cause it is National Coffee Day, after all) Nova Rosti - "100% Arabica" http://novarosti.com/
(he-he-he!) I wanted to revisit some restaurants that I have not been to in a while, so I went back to Magic Flute (Garden) Ristorante (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 5th, 2011). This made for only the third time that I have ever eaten there in my thirty-plus years of living in San Francisco. This place is so "Old School Brunch" that it could easily be the pedagogy of "Brunches".
I had the entire back (Garden) Ristorante patio seating area all to myself for most of the meal. It is a huge backyard space and no one else thought to take advantage of the (somewhat) break in the foggy weather. It was even comfortable enough for me to remove my outer sweatshirt. There really is not a lot of variety on their "Brunch" menu for stupid vegetarian-types (which might be a factor in my not having returned there in seven years). Other than what I ordered today and on my previous "Brunch", there really is only Brioche French Toast (fresh whipped cream, fresh seasonal fruit, maple syrup), Presidio Scramble (eggs [natch'], Brie cheese, mushrooms, bacon [which I would have omitted], served with seasonal fruit, potatoes), or Eggs Florentine. My waiter/server-person guy did tell me that they offer two additional/special versions of Hollandaise sauce: a tarragon and a sun-dried tomato; both of which sound pretty interesting/tasty and might warrant a return venture (in less than another seven years, possibly).
As this place is traditionally "Old School Brunch", the omelette was perfectly executed and very good. I also liked the mélange of zucchini, summer squash, and spinach. Initially, my thought was that I would have liked to have seen more potatoes on the plate, but, luckily, there was plenty enough for my appetite with the starter order of olives. This was a very nice mixture of olives, too: green, black, and (I am very happy to note, heavy on the) Kalamata. I even used some of the marinating oil drizzled on top of both the omelette and potatoes. The side of fruits were slices of cantaloupe, watermelon, and orange. The only hot sauce I noticed that Magic Flute (Garden) Ristorante has for a condimentary supplement was Frank's®RedHot®Original. I used some of my own Pepper PalaceChocolate Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy! [at least I think they gave me that bottle]) on the potatoes and a little drizzle of Golden PagodaJalapeñoHot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the omelette. I also grinded-up a good amount of grains of paradise on everything (including the fruits). (not so) Strange Coffee Interlude Even though I already had two cuppas at home before heading out for "Brunch", in celebration of National Coffee Day (and no one even sent me a card!), I figured I would order some more Coffee with the meal. As luck would have it, the Coffee they serve is from a local roastery out of San Rafael, which I had never tried. I am not exactly sure which specific roast/blend they had; the best answer I could get out of one of the other waiter/server-person guys was that it was "100% Arabica". Whichever roast/blend it was, I liked it well-enough to drink three cuppas. And, yes, the Coffee went perfectly with the olives-appetizer. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Garden (Ristorante)Omelet~ 6.7; Nova Rosti - "100% Arabica" (whichever roast/blend it might have been) ~ 7.0 ___________________
"And the Beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad So I had one more for dessert...” — Kris Kristofferson, "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" (1970)
http://sealrockinn.com/restaurant/ (Unfortunately, their official-type web-site really leaves a lot to be desired.) Place: Seal Rock Inn Restaurant Location: 545 Point Lobos Avenue (on the corner of 48th Avenue) Hours: open at 6:00am every day of the year (and you can't beat that with a [bread]stick [filled with Feta,or even two breakfast Beers]) Meal: Sophia's Omelette~ Feta cheese (and they actually have this listed as the first ingredient on their menu; this was not any editorializing on my behalf ~ even though, as I always do say "Everything's betta with Feta!"), olives, onions, tomatoes, spinach, served with hash brown[ sic ], toast (sourdough was my choice again) and jelly; and a glassa fresh-squeezed orange juice (Ha! and it came with an old-school plastic straw!)
(Gratuitous photo of the actual Seal Rocks.)[1]
(There really is no EweToobular juxtaselection here, other than the breakfastary reference in the first stanza. Unfortunately, there was/were no Beer/s included in breakfast [or dessert] this morning. "Hey, Brian, but why didn't you at least use Kris Kristofferson's version?"[2] Well, I will answer that in a three-part response: 1) You gotta problem with the Man in Black?! 2) While Mr. Kristofferson penned many a great tune, his singing was not quite as good as some of the other artists' cover-renditions. Let us put it this way, would you rather hear his version or Miss Joplin's paradigmatic performance of "Me and Bobby Maggie"? There really is no comparison. 3) Any questions? See #1 or #2.) Doesn't everyone have a three-day weekend this week, too? What the h*ck! I had an extra "Floating Holiday" to burn and felt like making September a bookend-ed month with opening and ending three-day weekends. Because of such, I figured I would go out to breakfast on a Friday morning for a change, and to keep it extra simple and local, I extra simply headed back to Seal Rock Inn Restaurant (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 12th, 2018). This is always such a great place for: 1) omelettes (they offer way too many different ones to list); 2) locality (it is just fifteen blocks due westward, ho', from my apartment); and 3) they open very early (every d*mn day of the d*mn year, too) for breakfasts. It was pretty empty on a Friday mornin' comin' down... with only two other tables of people eating there when I arrived at 8:00am.
The official name of this dish is "Sophia's Omelette"; however, I have seen fit to rename it "GreekOmelette No. 3". ("Wait. How come you can rename the dishes at these restaurants, Brian?" Please, do not make me sick the Man in Black on you.) This came made more as "scrambled eggs with sh*t in 'em" and folded over into an omelette-thing, which is basically how I make omelettes at home (well, if I ever have any eggs... or Feta... or olives... or onions... or tomatoes... or spinach... in my refrigerator and ever feel like attempting to make an omelette ~ you know what they say: "You can not make an omelette if you do not have any eggs to break."). Of course, it was still better than anything I could make myself. Plus, there was mo' Feta, mo' Feta, and mo' Feta! I am not exaggerating here, there must have been at least one-quarter to one-half pound of Feta inside the omelette; and these were in righteous chunks, not those crumby crumblies that some places try to foist off on you as "bites of Feta". The one complaint I always have is that they only use those plain ol' sliced olives from a can. This would be so much mo' betta if they used Kalamata olives instead. (And I always like to point out the irony that the owners of the restaurant are Greek themselves.) For condimentary supplementation, Seal Rock Inn Restaurant offers both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original). I used some of my own Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero[ sic ] Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the hash brown[ sic ] (well, there were several shreds of potatoes, so I can assume these are technically hash browns) and several grinds of grains of paradise all over the omelette and hash brown[ sic ]. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: GreekOmeletteNo. 3 ~ 6.8 (this is factoring in the incredible amount o' Feta in it this morning; now, if they ever used authentic Kalamata olives in it, this would easily be over 7.0) ___________________
"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. The most you can do is live inside that hope, running down its hallways, touching the walls on both sides.” — Barbara Kingsolver, from Animal Dreams
http://the-richfield-san-francisco.sites.tablehero.com/ (This is the best that I could find for an official-type web-site. There is not even a phonicular contact listed anywhere.) Place: ★ the ★ Richfield Location: 195 5th Avenue (on the triangulated corner at California and Cornwall Streets)
(I am including this photo of the back side of the building just to show you how narrow the entire building is.) Hours: open Tuesday through Friday at 7:30am, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am; closed Monday Meal: Chia Pudding ~ topped with toasted coconut, dried mango, and fresh strawberry slices; a Seasonal Scone-thing (apparently, Autumn is Strawberry Season, but not Avocado Season); and a cuppa pour-over Snowbird CoffeeZatara http://snowbirdcoffee.com/
(Yeah, I suppose I coulda went with the Willie and Merle version of the first song, but I figured photos of Emmylou beat those two old "haggard" songsters any day. I am not sure where Miss Harris [or Townes Van Zandt... or Pancho... or Lefty] stands on the whole chia issue, though.) I wanted to keep it fairly local and quick this morning, so I fairly quickly and locally headed back to ★ the ★ Richfield (see last 'blog-entry from Friday, November 11th, 2016). There really are not a lot of choices of breakfastary fare as this is a pretty small coffeehouse. I specifically had it in mind to try their version of the ubiquitous Avocado Toast(smashed avocado with bits of sweet pickle, spread over sourdough toast, drizzled with olive oil and fresh lemon, topped with shredded radish and seven spice pepper). However... I was told that they were currently out of avocados (yeah, they never seem to be in season in California). So, I just went with the only other item on the current menu that I had not tried before. I also specifically had it in mind to get a cuppa their Southpaw blend/roast (which is... well, was... only available at this shop and not at Snowbird Coffee's flagship coffeeshop in the Sunset). However... I was also told that they were out of this, too, and that the owner is discontinuing this blend/roast.
The Chia Pudding-thing was okay, but I was really looking forward to Avocado Toast. I mean, I didn't drive "all the way over there" (it is all of thirty-something blocks away) for Chia Pudding. Well, they are a coffeehouse first and foremost, and, luckily, even the back-up choice of Coffee was going to be a decent cuppa (actually, I like the Zatara better, but I can always get that at their other coffeeshop). And even if they had any Avocado Toastthis morning, the Coffee was still gonna be the best part of the meal, anyway. As for whatever they may have had to offer in the way of condimentary supplementation, with today's choices, none were needed/used. Of course, I'll probably be cr*pping little Ch-ch-chia Pets all day long now... Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chia Pudding-thing ~ 6.0; Seasonal Scone-thing ~ 6.4; Snowbird Coffee Zatara ~ 7.4
The more "Things Change", the more (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) stay the same... 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: Classic Eggs Benedict ~ poached eggs, Canadian bacon (No way, ya hoser!), toasted English muffin, Hollandaise sauce, served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes; to drink, a (Time Honored Tradition) Ramos Fizz[1] ~ Gordon's gin | sweet & sour | egg whites | cream | orange flower water (it had eggs and orange [well, of a sort] in it, so that sounds breakfastary enough to me); and, of course, la raison d'aller (encore et encore) ~ a basket of (World) Famous Cliff HousePopovers(!), where there were two hot, fresh outta the oven (I was asked ~ twice ~ if I would like more; I politely declined, but will always go back for more)
(Ha! This is now being served with a paper straw.) And, as has been the norm, Mr. Peterson, to close-out the September work-out of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation I made a return trip to the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 29th, 2018).
The fog had lifted finally from yesterday afternoon and the coast was clear (well, the window coulda been a bit cleaner) for a nice view of Seal Rocks from my seat along the window-wall.
They were nice enough to ask me if I would like to substitute spinach for the dead, decaying piggy-flesh from Canadialand; so, I suppose this could be called a "Classic Eggs Florentine" (which they do not list on their menu, but seemed to have no problem making for me). "Classic" or not, it was a very good rendition of an Eggs Benedict dish (and much better than I could ever think about making myself at home... yeah, right, if a Hollandaise sauce don't come prefabricated in a can, I am not attempting to make it, anyway). As always, I liked the side of roasted potatoes, too. Today's side of fruits included: cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew melon, red grapes, and one strawberry. the Bistro Restaurant only has Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce ~ Original Red Sauce for use as a condimentary supplement. I used some of my own Dat'l Do-it®Spicy Jalapeno Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of both of the poached eggs (I made sure to taste the Hollandaise sauce first before messing with it any; it had a nice flavour, but the jalapeño sauce really added to it still) and some Emperor's Revenge Teriyaki Hot Sauce (Thanks again, Mom!) all over the potatoes. Again, I grounded-up some grains of paradise all over the Benedict dish and the potatoes.
Hollywoodland Spotlight of the Day Born Dominic Felix Amici, Don Ameche (whose autographed photograph was just over my left shoulder) gained initial fame as a moving-film leading man in the 1930's and 1940's. Later generations (Baby Boomers to Gen X-ers) will recognize him as one of the nasty Duke Brothers in "Trading Places" and also as one of the rejuvinated septuagenarians/octogenarians in "Cocoon" (for which he won the Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1985); however, I do not think many people might remember him from the basically forgettable sequel "Cocoon: the Return". There is a truly exceptional role he had in a little-seen 1988 movie called "Things Change"; if you have never seen this movie, I highly recommend it. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000747/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Classic Eggs Benedict/Florentine ~ 6.5; (World) Famous Cliff HousePopovers(!) ~ 8.22 ___________________
1. This bit of cock-tail history directly stolen... er... borrowed from our friends at WikipediA (who knows where they stole... er... borrowed it from, though): Henry C. Ramos invented the Ramos Gin Fizz in 1888 at his bar, the Imperial Cabinet Saloon on Gravier Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. It was originally called a "New Orleans Fizz", and is one of the city's most famous cocktails. Before Prohibition, the drink's popularity and exceptionally long 12-minute mixing time had over 20 bartenders working at the Imperial at once making nothing but the Ramos Gin Fizz - and still struggling to keep up with demand. During the carnival of 1915, 32 staff members were on at once, just to shake the drink.
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: Napa (Scramble) ~ goat cheese, mushrooms, bacon (which I nixed, Santa), bell peppers, served with home style potatoes and housemade (well, LaLe-made) English muffin; to drink with the meal, a glassa Homemade (again, LaLe-made) Strawberry Lemonade; and, afterward (to enjoy whilst saunterin' around San Francisco Botanical Garden), a mighty fine cuppa Snowbird Coffee - Zatara (à la méthode pour-over) http://snowbirdcoffee.com/
(There is/are no EweToobular juxtaselections here [of which I am aware]; I was just thinking about this song while wandering around San Francisco Botanical Garden. [Who knew Dan Fogelberg was a Peter Pan fan?]) Next up on the September work-out of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation: LaLe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 22nd, 2018). Even after several visits to this new-ish restaurant, there are still a few other good ideas yet for me to try: Cairo (Scramble) ~ lamb (naaaaaa!), peppers, tomatoes, onions, Feta cheese (this will probably be my choice on my next visit); Ciudad de México (Scramble) ~ chorizo (which would be ochenta-y-seis-ed), green onions, mushrooms, guacamole, sour cream, cheese; Toronto (Benediction) ~ ham (No thanks, ya hoser!), grilled tomato, spinach; or Fennel Cabbage Salad ~ green and purple cabbage, fresh fennel, apples, arugula (where I would probably have them add a poached egg or two on top of the pile of rabbit-food to make it a bit more breakfastarily-sound).
This was a decent-enough scramble-mess, but just not quite as great as some of the other dishes that I have had at this restaurant already. It was made with both green and red bell peppers and the goat cheese made for a very nice creamy, melty addition. LaLe offers for condimentary supplementation just Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce. I used some of my own hot sauces, anyway; a little (wellll, a lot; ooops! I accidentally went a little heavy-handed with it because the d*rn thing poured-out too fast on me; luckily it did not "exceed the limit") Dat'l Do-it®Scorching Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the scramble-mess and some Dragon BreathGarlic Hot Sauce (Thanks again, Mom!) on the potatoes, and a lotta grinds from my grains of paradise grinder all over both. (And especially) plus, LaLe offers their own very good, homemade (whatever) berry jam and orange marmalade, Lady; I made sure to use a heaping dollop of each on the two slices of English muffin. (not really such a) Strange Coffee Interlude As has been my current rubric for the past several visits to LaLe ~ either beforehand or afterfoot ~ I made sure to stop by Snowbird Coffee for a really good cuppa. (and a bit exciting) Strange San Francisco Botanical Garden[1] Interlude
[2] If'n ya gots two hours or so to kill, this is a great place for a premeditated double-hora homicide. (Don't do the "crime", if you ain't got the time, though.) This morning, I had purposefully parked along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive directly across the street from the Main Gate of San Francisco Botanical Garden with the intention of galumphing throughout the gardens after breakfast while sipping away at my cuppa from Snowbird Coffee (the Coffee lasted about a half-hour only, though).
Go for the flora... I saw (and touched and smelled) Lavender (Lavandula ~ at least two different species), Sage (Salvia ~ also, at least two different types), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ~ probably two-to-three different cultivars); and Thyme (Thymus vulgaris). (Sorry, I did not espy any Parsley [Petroselinum crispum], though, Mr. Simon and/or Mr. Garfinkle). I was smart enough not to touch (or attempt to smell) any of the cacti in the Succulent Garden (however, the prickly pears were almost ripe and tempting).
(This tiny little guy [or girl] came right down to me while I was in the Garden of Fragrance.)
("You lookin' at me?!") ... and stay for the (avi)fauna. Now, I really hit the jackpot with all the variety of Boids this morning (mainly because there were many bushes in which to see two or more around the gardens). There were: Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus - one juvenile[?]); Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis ~ also, just one [another] juvenile[?]; that would be him/her in the photo directly above this paragraph); California Scrub Jays (Aphelocoma californica ~ I think I counted at least five different ones around the gardens); Robins (Turdus migratorius ~ way too many to count); Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans~ just the one in the second photo above); Little Brown Birds (Volucres minus brunneis ~ again, way too many to count); Steller's Jays (Cyanocitta stelleri ~ at least four, but I heard many, many more; there was one pretending that he was a Red-tailed Hawk and another thinking that he was Mr. Drinky Crow); Canada Geese (Branta canadensis ~ several, as in a whole lotta several); Ducks (of the plain ol' Mallard variety - Anas platyrhynchos ~ just a few; the Geese have usurped a lot of the good pond spaces); Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana ~ just one female, I believe; she was way too fast for me to even think about getting her photo); and also some kinda waterbird, possibly a Kingfisher (Alcedinidae), which I came upon at the small pond/reservoir in the California Native Garden and startled him before I could even get an identifying shot of him. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Napa (Scramble) ~ 6.5; homemade (whatever) berry jam and orange marmalade ~ 7.2; Snowbird Coffee - Zatara ~ 7.4; San Francisco Botanical Garden and all its great flora and (avi)fauna stuff ~ 8.0 (and the price is always right for local San Franciscans ~ at zero dollars, it just makes no sense not to check this place out[3]) ___________________
