http://www.blackwoodsf.com/ Place: Blackwood Location: 2150 Chestnut Street (between Steiner and Pierce Streets) Hours: open every day at 9:00am for breakfast and/or "Brunch" Meal: THAI SHAKSHUKA ~ Tomyum[1]tomato stew, poached eggs, pork (of course, I แปดสิบหก-ed this ingredient), onion, bacon (this ingredient also went ลาก่อน), scallion, cilantro, fried garlic, mild goat cheese; and, to drink with the meal, a large glassa Raspberry-Lemonade; and, beforehand, to enjoy wandering up-and-down Chestnut Street while waiting for the restaurant to open for the morning, a dynamo donut + coffeePassionfruitMilk Chocolate doughnut (bought at a local bodega along Chestnut Street, too) https://dynamodonut.com/menu
(Yeah, there is really no EweToobular juxtaselection here. I dunno, maybe Catherine Elizabeth Pierson loves her some spicy Tom Yum, too.) Ho-kay... onward and upward with the Taylor Street Coffee Shop-family mini-chain brought me back to Blackwood (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 22nd, 2017). I think that this restaurant was the third in their mini-chain to open (circa June 2012).
I sat outside again in their sidewalk/alcove-patio seating area. The morning was still a bit foggy and chilly, so I did keep my sweatshirt on; they also had the overhead gas-heaters going this morning, anyway. Their menu is similar to what is offered at most of their other restaurants, and there are a few other ideas still worth checking out ("... out worth checking"?! Nah, that does not sound right all at.): (once again, in keeping with their menu stylization, I am attempting to imitate the different font sizes used on the dish names) SNOWED SPINACHSCRAMBLE ~ baby spinach with white Cheddar, served with RainbowPotatoes and ciabatta toast; PRIMAVERA WHITEOMELET ~ roasted tomato, mushroom, arugula, served w/ berries instead of potatoes (which I would probably have tried to have substituted back with the multicoloured underground tubers instead);
BLACKSTONE BENNY (Didn't he used to be the straight-man for Eddie Anderson?) ~ poached eggs, Millionaire's Bacon® (which I would have to go all pauper on), asparagus, cherry tomato, Meyer lemonHollandaise on English Muffin, also served with RainbowPotatoes (just no toast); MARINA JOK MOO ~ rice porridge with bacon, garlic, carrots, spinach, mushroom, cherry pepper, green onion, cilantro, poached egg, sesame and tamari sauce drizzled (I am not even sure if this could even be made st*pid vegetarian-friendly, but it might be worth asking); or maybe even
POPOVERs(!) w/AVOCADO (???) ~ offered with three different toppings: Strawberry, goat cheese, avocado, balsamic glaze; Bacon, avocado, tomato, honey; or Walnut (candid)[ sic ] (or perhaps that was not a typo, just an indication of the walnut's sincerity, Frank), avocado, Parmesan (I saw these ordered at two other tables and it looked pretty interesting; as best as I could tell, there is half an avocado already baked inside the Popovers[!]; if I did get this, I would probably have to supplement it with at least an order of RainbowPotatoes).
(For those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying porky-butts. This is the kinda "Flight" that always made me want to remain on Ground-Status when I was in the Air Force, though.)
What can I say? I liked it. I have had several other versions of Shakshuka (mostly at Arab or Middle Eastern restaurants) over the years and this was right up there in tastocity (yeah, so, it ain't a real word... tough!). The Tom Yum sauce was a very nice flavour-change. I coulda easily used another piece of the ciabatta toast with which to soak up more of the sauce. I bet this woulda been even better with some fresh sweet basil leaves in it (as long as they did not have to go all the way to Kirk Hammerton to procure those)[2], but that is just my สองสตางค์ worth... With my pre-breakfastary snack of the doughnut, this ended up being a lot more food than I had expected. I am glad that I did not order a side of their Rainbow Potatoes (however, with this being PrideWeekend and all, those woulda been the perfect side for the morning). Blackwood only offered Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce, which it had bottles of both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce on all the tables. The Tom Yum-Shakshuka sauce was lightly spicy enough that I did not need to mess with its flavours in any way, though. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: THAI SHAKSHUKA ~ 6.7; dynamo donut + coffeePassionfruitMilk Chocolate doughnut ~ 7.5 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day: Here is a little-known Cliff Clavinistic fact: The spicy Thai soup known as "Tom Yum" was originally named by Yuliy Borisovich Briner when he was filming "The King and I" in Thailand. He took one taste and said "This is yummy in my tummy!". One of the native Thai waiters mis-overheard him and passed it on to the chef as "Tummy-Yummy". It has stuck to this day.* *(Nah! Did anyone really buy that one? Was I just joking there? Of course, Siam... The words "tom yam" are derived from two Thai words. "Tom" ["ต้ม"] refers to the boiling process, while "yam" ["ยำ"] refers to a Thai spicy and sour salad.) 2. Okay, there may be two people reading this silly li'l 'blog-thing that will get that st*pid reference.
A(nother) breakfastary roadtrip: Mill Valley, Marin County, CA
http://kitchensunnyside.com/ Place: Kitchen Sunnyside Location: 31 Sunnyside Avenue, Mill Valley (home of B.J. Hunnicut, for yet another Korean-connection) Hours: open for breakfast Monday through Sunday at 8:00am Meal: HOTSTONEPOT ~ sautéed vegetables, egg, smoked chili sauce on rice. Sizzling stone pot!! Mix quickly and Enjoy. (more on that later), choose chicken mango, shrimp (+2) or tofu (Guess which protein I chose?); to drink with the meal, a glassa fresh-squeezed orange juice; and, aforehand, a 16 oz cuppa Equator CoffeesEthiopia Gora Kone https://www.equatorcoffees.com/collections/single-origin/products/ethiopia-gora-kone
(Idunno. Maybe Shane MacGowan [no relation] likes him some 돌솥 비빔밥[1] and/or Millionaire's Bacon®, too, boyo.) Continuing along on working my way through all the restaurants that are in the Taylor Street Coffee Shop-family mini-chain, I curtailed it on over (the Golden Gate Bridge) to Marin to check out Kitchen Sunnyside. This was my initial visit to this particular restaurant. This restaurant has been open only since November 2014. I think it is their #5 or #6 in the mini-chain in respect of newness. Only Surisan is newer (opened now since 2016). What a great little local spot! By little, I mean that there are probably less than fifteen tables (ranging in size from 2-person to 4-persons). The place is bigger than Taylor Street Coffee Shop, but that is not really saying much. There is also another Marin-based restaurant called Fred's Place, in Sausalito, that was once a part of their mini-chain. However, one of the friendly waiter/server-guy persons told me that it has since been sold to some of the workers at that location, but they maintain a similar menu. Once I have checked out all of the "official" restaurants in their mini-chain, I will probably head back over that-a-way again. As with all of the other restaurants in their mini-chain, Kitchen Sunnyside offers many dishes that are similar (or exactly the same). Some of the other ideas that I was looking at this morning were: MEHICO[ sic ] BENNY (there is nothing wrong with your eyesight or my typing; in keeping with their printed menu, I am trying to use the same font-size and dimensions that they had used) ~ chorizo (No way-zo, José-zo!), cherry pepper, cherry tomato (this is basically the same dish as offered yesterday at Sweet Maple, just with the moniker of Southern Benedict); SUNNYSIDE HASH ~ Hash browns topped with bacon (which would get 86-ed, natch'), red onion, bell pepper, cherry pepper, mushroom, scallion and mild Cheddar. Served with two eggs (sunnysided-up, I presume), toast; MORNING TACOS ~ two corn tortillas, lettuce, scrambled egg, bacon (no!), chorizo (no-no, zo-zo!!), tomato, avocado, pickled red onion, chipotle aioli, cilantro, mild Cheddar. Served with Crispy Yukons. Side of roasted salsa and pico de gallo (this one looked interesting, and I do not remember seeing a similar dish at any of their other restaurants); or PRIMAVERA (Scramble) ~ egg white, sundried tomato, bell pepper, red onion, spinach, scallion, served w/ Crispy Yukons or Hash browns. A choice of ciabatta, wheat or English muffin (I think that I might have had a version of this previously at one of their other restaurants; I am just too lazy to look 'er up). Of course, this is not for the Vegan-feint-of-(artichoke)heart, but what many people really seem to like to order at these places is their Millionaire's Bacon®(and, yes, they actually have it as a ®egistered trademark). They have it offered four ways now: Original (thick, free range bacon, baked with brown sugar, cayenne, red and black pepper); Citron (orange and sea salt goodness); Rosemary (savory rosemary and pepper with mild sweetness); and Cinnamon (hint of chipotle with sweet cinnamon).
Today was not my first Dolsot Bibimbap rodeo. I have had this dish probably a hundred times over the years (at dozens of different Korean restaurants, too). However, I think this was the first time that I ever had it as my early morning/first meal of the day. It seems like a breakfastary no-brainer even to me. This was the exact same dish that I had for dinner at their sister-restaurant (sorry, I am not quite sure of the gender-specificity for restaurants) Surisan three weeks ago. I was very happy to see a "sunnyside"-up egg already prominently displayed on top. A lot of times, the egg will be placed raw on top of the dish and the idea is to "cook" the egg with the residual heat from both the hot vegetables and especially from the hot stone pot. Now here is where I will comment on the "Mix quickly and Enjoy." mentioned on their menu description of the dish. No, no, no! That is just wrong! Because the "hot stone pot" really is a-sizzlin' hot (do not even think of touching the stone pot... seriously... fool me three times... ) what you need to do is let the bottom layer of rice get nice and extra crispy ~ it will get all deliciously browned and caramelized if you play your cards right. Then you can enjoy that bottom layer as a "rice crunchies" dessert; trust me on this one, Mr. Will Keith Kellogg! There was one minus for me with this version of Dolsot Bibimbap, it was served with a Thai Sriracha-style hot sauce, not a true Korean Gochujang hot sauce. Both provide about the same amount of heat (a little picante, not a lotta picante), but I prefer the sweeter flavour of Gochujang. One of the waiter/server-guy persons told me that this was part of their American-Thai-Korean-fusion idea. I remember that they did serve us regular Gochujang at Surisan; so , it might just be a particular quirk with a few of their restaurants. I'll tell ya one thing, this was definitely the first time that I have ever eaten Dolsot Bibimbap with a fork! I actually asked if they had any chopsticks to use, but they do not provide them at this location. I know they do have them at both Surisan and Blackwood, though. If these st*pid waygoogin[2] do not know how to use chopsticks by now, they should refrain from eating at any places that serve "Thai" or "Korean" cuisines. Kitchen Sunnyside had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for use as condimentary supplements. I had even brought along a couple of my own hot sauces bottles, but, once again, none were needed/used. I did ask for a second ramekin of the Sriracha hot sauce to pour over the rest of the meal when I was about half-way done. 'cause I got into town about a half-hour before the restaurant was due to open and 'specially 'cause I knew this coffeeshop was located on the town square, I made sure to stop in at the very local Equator Coffees for a mighty fine cuppa. I think the story goes that the founders started roasting their Coffees out of a garage in Mill Valley. They have since moved to a much larger (and real) roastery in San Rafael (which is still very local, all the same, Mr. Peet and Mr. St*rbucks!). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: HOTSTONEPOT ~ 6.5; Equator CoffeesEthiopia Gora Kone ~ 7.1; the "city" (if a population of about 14,000 designates it as a "city") of Mill Valley, Marin County, CA, USA ~ (17)7.6 (That's the Spirit!) ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, part 하나: "돌솥 비빔밥" (pronounced "Dolsot Bibimbap", or close enough for gubbmint-work) is Korean for "stone pot" ("돌솥" ~ "dolsot") and "mixed rice" ("비빔밥" ~ "bibimbap"). 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, part 두: That is not the actual/official transliteration of the Korean word for "los gringos" ("외국인"), but it is the best that I could come up with for sound-alike purposes.
http://www.sweetmaplesf.com/ Place: Sweet Maple Location: 2101 Sutter Street (on the corner of Steiner Street) Hours: open for breakfast Monday through Sunday at 8:00am Meal: Sweet Potato Pancake ~ cinnamony healthy goodness, served with pure Vermont maple syrup (Hidden SpringsMaple Syrup ~ a family-owned and operated maple syrup farm in Southern Vermont) and butter (they do not specify from which creamery they source their butter, though) and a side of Herb Roasted Potato Medley ~ consists of seasonal & regional varieties such as Chilean Purple, Yukon Gold, Gemstone Red, Russet, Sweet Yam https://www.hiddenspringsmaple.com/
(My initial thought was to use one of Shana Morrison's[1] cover-versions of this Sir George Ivan song, but I came upon this one in the same EweToob search and really liked it.) Because last week I ate at Taylor Street Coffee Shop again, I figured it was fitting that I should probably go through the litany of other restaurants in this local family-owned mini-chain of restaurants. Hence, next up was Sweet Maple(see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 15th, 2017). I think this was the second restaurant that they opened (possibly third), but it has been ensconced in the Lower Pacific Heights/ Japantown/Fillmore District triangle-area since 2010. Many of the restaurants in their mini-chain have the same or very similar dishes (just with different name-variations) and I have tried several of them already. There are still yet another few (specific to the Sweet Maplemenu, at least) other ideas that seem breakfastary worthy for me: Southern Benedict ~ chorizo (which woulda gone chorizo-no with me), cherry pepper, tomato, chipotle Hollandaise, served w/ potato medley (I have had their chipotle Hollandaise before and know that it is really good); Snowed Spinach Scramble~ baby spinach, Vermont Cheddar, Parmesan, served w/ potato medley and ciabatta au levain toast; or if I am the mood once again for something Sweet... Marnier ~ French toast: creamy Grand Marnier® (citrus) batter.
There is not really much to report about this dish. It was sweet potato pancakes in all its sweet potato-goodness and cinnamocity (yeah, it's not a real word, but neither is "cinnamony"). They have this listed on the menu as "Pancake" in the singularity, but it actually came as three (possibly four?) rather large (but, thankfully, sorta thin) pancakes; otherwise, with the side of potatoes, it woulda been wayyyy too much for me to finish. Not listed on the menu was that it also comes served with two types of berries (that would be blueberries and oranges to you botanical minded-types) and one not-a-berry (that would be strawberries to you in the botanical laity) on top. (However, I am not quite sure where in the fruit-world that sprig of fresh parsley may lay. In time, I am sure that Rosemary will sagely tell me... ) I saw on their menu that you could upgrade to something called "JD syrup". This intrigued me enough to ask what exactly that meant. Sadly, it was not a syrup tapped from juvenile delinquent maple trees in Vermont. However, I was ecstatic to learn that the "JD" actually stood for "Jack Daniels" and just had to try out that junk! Unfortunately, when they brought it out in a small syrup-pourer/carafe-thing, it was chock-full-o' crispy dead, decaying porcine-butt bits. The waiter/server-person guy forgot to mention to me that it included this item, and I had to end up going back to the "plain ol' 100% Vermont maple syrup" instead... As far as condimentary supplementation goes, Sweet Maple offers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Traina®Hot Sriracha Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup. I ended up using a goodly portion of the Sriracha Ketchup on the potatoes (and don't think the thought did not cross my mind to try some on the pancakes, too, Mr. Moses Harry Horwitz!). (yet still another not necessarily such a) Strange Coffee Interlude Sure, I coulda ordered a cuppa Coffee at the restaurant to complement my breakfast ("My, Miss Pancakes, you do look lovely this morning!"), but earlier in the morning I made sure to whip-me-up (well, technically, drip-me-down) an extra-fine cuppa Koa CoffeePlantation®100% Kona Coffee Grande Domaine Single Estate Medium Dark Roast!!! (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!)[2] This was actually from a Christmas gift, which I am finally getting around to using some of it up. Man, I wish I had known how d*rn good it was, because, trust me, it would not have made it past February! Besides, no matter how good the Coffee at Sweet Maplemight have been, I knew that (even with the way that I crummily make Coffee) this superior bean/roast could not be topped. In the past I had always had a lighter (as in "way too light") roast of Kona Coffee and was never very impressed with its flavour. However, I really like this Coffee so much so that I am claiming it as "My Favourite New Coffee of 2019" (and I truly believe that you will be hard pressed [or hard-percolated] to change my mind on this before year's end, anyway). To make this early morning cuppa even more early morning special, I drank it outta my "Breakfast of Champions"[3] mug (Thanks, Sean!), too. https://www.koacoffee.com/p/pure-kona-coffee/grande-domaine-vienna-roast-whole-bean-kona Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sweet Potato Pancake(s) ~ 6.5; Koa CoffeePlantation®100% Kona Coffee Grande Domaine Single Estate Medium Dark Roast!!! ~ 7.7-7.8; "Breakfast of Champions" ~ 6.9 (the book; actually, I would have to rate the mug at 7.9) ___________________
1. http://www.shanamorrison.com/ Trust me, Shana is a way lot cuter'n that guy from Indiana performing the Sir George Ivan song above, but I had never heard this Hoosier-guy's cover-version before and felt like going with it up top. Just to be fair, here is Shana performing another cover-version of one of her daddy's songs:
(The fat guy in the pork-pie straw hat and glasses singing duet with her really oughtta keep his day job, though... ) 2. This gift was given in the "whole bean" version and not the pre-grinded-up grounds style. (Just what kinda cheap-o b*stages give a person a gift of a bagga whole bean Coffee and then expect that person to have to do all the work of a'grindin'-up the beans hisd*mnself?! Pfffft! Some people!) 3. While this novel might not be my favourite book from Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (that, of course, would be "Cat's Cradle" ~ GBS Rating: 8.0, followed closely by "Sirens of Titan" ~ GBS Rating: 7.8), it was the very first one of his books that I ever did read. (Thanks, Philboyd Studge, for introducing me to the Weird and Wonderful Vonnegutian World way back in the Summer of '77!) Plus, it is one of my favourite current mugs out of which to enjoy a piping-hot Coffee beverage (and maybe even a tea or two sometimes).
https://breadbellysf.com/ (I find it funny that their web-site needed to add an "sf" in it to distinguish it from any other possible "Breadbelly" businesses that might be out there.) Place: Breadbelly Location: 1408 Clement Street (near the corner of 15th Avenue) Hours: open at 8:00am Wednesday to Monday (so, basically, they are closed on Tuesdays) Meal: (the simply-enough named) Breakfast Sandwich ~ fried egg, ham (where they were nice enough to substitute some sliced avocado in its place for st*pid vegetarian-types), braised kale, Gruyère (they have this printed in the minuscule et sans l'accent grave, but I just felt like majusculing it and correctly accenting it here), fermented chili (for a change, I did not bother to ask them what it was exactly, but I think it was of the Korean Gochujang-ilk); a Raspberry Brioche Bun; and, to drink, a cuppa MatchaCappuccino (I made sure to thank them for not St*rbucks-upping the name of the drink into something nocuous and noxious like "Matchaccino") I specifically waited until Sunday to go back to Breadbelly (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 8th, 2019) so as to not incur any undue criticism from one of my brothers (who shall remain named "Sean") for frequenting a place twice in the same week... I plan on going back again soon (maybe just not next week, Sean, but in the near future still) and will probably order either: Smashed Cucumber & Avocado~ (a salad) dressed with naam prik nuum (Thai chili-lime vinaigrette), basils[ sics ] (one of the counter-server guys told me last week that this dressing is made with fish-sauce in it, but they could make it with a different vinaigrette; and if they could add a poached egg on top of it, that would make it a bit more breakfastarily sound even); or Mushroom BarleyBroth ~ Maitake & English peas, roasted barley tea, Chinese cabbages. To drink, I want to try either the Sesame Horchata or (most likely) that "Brass Monkey"-thing that I saw on the menu on my initial visit two weeks ago now.
(Ooops! It looks as though someone completely forgot to take a photo of the Breakfast Sandwich to start. Hopefully you get the idea from the already 3/4-eaten remainder.) I had asked last week what the Matcha Cappuccinowas and was informed then that it is basically a chrysanthemum-based tea drink with matcha powder and frothed into a Cappuccino-style drink. I also felt proud of myself for not having to ask any additional st*pid bothering queries to the counter-server guys today. The sweet bun-thing was a bit denser than I was expecting from a "Brioche"-described pastry. It was all still very good, but probably would have paired much better with a Coffee drink and not a matcha tea one. I ended up eating half of it before the main meal (well, if a "sandwich" can be considered a "main" meal ~ outside of Kennebunkport or Crabapple Cove) came and the last half as a breakfast-ending dessert. As for the Breakfast Sandwich, there was not really much to it (as can almost be seen in the above photo), but it was still way better'n anything the demented clown at Mickey D's could ever conjure up. Their fermented chili sauce had a nice "sweet heat" thing going to it. And the only time that Mickey D's would ever have "kale" printed anywhere on their menu is if there were a major typo when they meant to have "imitation pork-fat-stuff" instead. I also like that they did not fancify-up (It's a real phrase, look it up!)[1] the name of this meal into something like "Brekkie Sandwich" or "Breakfast Sando", or the even worse "Brekkie Sando". (Hmmm?! Egga-McBrekkie Sando®, does kinda have a nice twang to it... ) Once again, I did not bother to ask (or bother the counter-server guys by asking) what they might have to offer in the way of any condimentary supplements. I had even come well-equipped with two of my own hot sauces, but none were needed or used this morning. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Egga-McBrekkie Sando® ~ 6.4; Raspberry Brioche Bun ~ 6.7; MatchaCappuccino ~ 6.5 ___________________
1. Actually, I was joking there when I first typed that phrase. However, I done looked 'er up my d*mnself, and "fancify" really is a verb. Hoo noo?! https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fancify (This is the case where even Joseph Francis Tribbiani, Jr. may know something that Miss Chanandler Bong did not. Well, supposably. "Even a blind pig can find a blind squirrel every once in a while... with or without the assistance of Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder.")
http://taylor-street-coffee-shop.cafes-city.com/ (Sorry. This is the best that they have to offer in the way of an "official"-type web-site. The "Menu" link is not even operable... yet?) Place: Taylor Street Coffee Shop Location: 375 Taylor Street (between Ellis and O'Farrell Streets) Hours: open daily at 7:00am(-ish) Meal: Morning Salad Combo ~ spring mix (aka "rabbit-food"... I wonder if they will change it to "summer mix" in a few days), (2) poached eggs, bacon (Yeah, no! Sorry, Glen.), tomato, (red) grapes, strawberry, Feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, served with English muffin, fresh fruit mix, small fresh squeezed OJ and a Coffee or hot tea
(The first EweToobular song is mainly because James was always one of my favourite of the Taylor Brothers [right after Billy D., of course]... and... Go RED SOX!!! The second video is just because while I was eating my breakfast this morning the origin of the word [and fabric] "Denim" popped into my head.[1] [Ya know, this Derek guy sounds an awful lot like the guy that did those lesser-known covers of J.J. Cale's songs "Cocaine" and "After Midnight" back in the 70's.]) Poifect timing! I arrived at Taylor Street Coffee Shop (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, April 21st, 2018) this morning juuuuust a little after 7:00am (let's say 7:02am or 7:03am) mistakingly thinking that the place did not open up until 7:30am and was planning on waiting outside for an half-hour or so until they did open up. However, there were probably nine or ten people already waiting in line ahead of me. With barely time to get my camera out to take the prerequisite 'blog-entry opening photo-shot of the restaurant-of-the-day, they were opening their doors for business for the morning. Luckily I had arrived when I did, because it filled up very quickly ~ even on a foggy San Francisco kinda late-Spring morn ~ by 7:10am. By the time I was done eating, there was a small line (ten to fifteen people?) of diners waiting to be seated whenever a table became empty. Having eaten there already several many times, I think that there is just one more item on their menu now that I need to check out ("... out which I need to check"... ?): Primavera (which they will probably be changing to Estate in a few more days, too) Omelet Combo ~ spinach, roastedtomato and mushroom egg white omelet. Fresh housemade (well... Coffee Shop-made) salsa. Served with English muffin, fresh fruit mix, small fresh squeezed OJ and a Coffee or hot tea.
I was not sure exactly (or even inexactly) what to expect from this dish, but the balsamic vinaigrette seemed to really tie it all together breakfastarily for me... plus, everything's just mo' betta with Feta! At first impression, I was thinking it looked like a lotta d*mn rabbit-food... well, if rabbits ate unhatched poultry ovi, too. All in all (and all for one! [well, all for me!]), this was a very simple, but nice and filling, meal for silly rabbit-types. I was initially thinking of also ordering a side of their hashbrowns upgraded with habanero infused onions, but I am glad that I did not. I would not have been able to finish everything if I had. I had opted for a large fresh-squeezed orange juice to drink and skipped the Coffee or tea (however, they did feel the need to charge me extra for the difference between the "small" to "large" orange juice, but did not feel the need to comp me for the no-Coffee/tea). Today's fresh fruit mix included: kiwi (botanically a berry, of course); cantaloupe (also botanically a berry); honeydew melon (ditto on the "also botanically a berry"); strawberries (however, not-a-botanical berry); (red) grapes (another botanical berry); blackberries (sorry, but if you thought this one was also a "botanical berry"... you lose!); blueberries (okay, this one is a botanical berry); orange slices (guess what?! this is also a botanical berry); banana slices (ha! another botanical berry); and apple slices (neither a berry botanically, nor even an aggregate fruit or an accessory fruit). As far as condimentary supplementation goes, Taylor Street Coffee Shop had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce and Green Pepper Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce. I went with some of my own H*ll's KitchenSmoky Bourbon Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of both poached eggs ~ it actually complemented nicely both the egg yolks and the balsamic vinaigrette. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Morning Salad Combo ~ 6.5 ___________________
1. Many years ago (and by "many", I mean over thirty years ago now) I dated a woman that had once lived in Nîmes, France. (Man, she must be old now!) She told me that the local men had nicknamed her "Balcon" ~ a reference to her rather nicely protruding pectoral area. (Now, this was not the reason I dated her... well... not the only reason I dated her.) Anyway, she told me where the word "denim" had originated. It comes from the French phrase "serge de Nîmes", simply meaning "serge of Nîmes". (See, sometimes this cunning linguistic stuff ain't always chirurgie de roquette.) Plus, here is an extra-added little-known Cliff Clavinistic fact: The word "blue jeans" came from Levi Strauss' younger brother, who was named "Eugene". Originally, the term was known as "blue Genes". Levi wanted to throw the poor guy a bone after cashing in on the textile and clothing trade himself.*
*(Nah! That second paragraph was just a joke to see if you are paying attention... or are even still reading this far down into the 'blog-thing. Actually, the contemporary use of the word "jeans" probably comes from the French word for Genoa, Italy: Gênes. Even David Robert Jones and Mr. Peterson [Norm!] would agree with this etymology.)
