Coffee ~ Part IV[1]

Specifically Ethiopian ቡና


Q: What do you call it when someone steals your Coffee?!


This is just a quick, Coffee-specific 'blog-entry on Ethiopian Coffee. The last one was a while back specifically on Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee (see 'blog-entry from Friday, February 28th, 2014). It goes without saying that Ethiopian Coffee is no Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, but it is definitely my current #2 favourite Coffee.

The Amharic (the official language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia) word for Coffee is "ቡና " (pronounced "būna").

Ethiopia is where Coffea arabica, the Coffee plant, originates. Just because this was where Coffee all started does not necessarily mean it has to be one of the best Coffees in the World, but in this case, it is the case. I mean, even Pizze Italiane were really nuthin' much of which to speak until ol' Cristoforo Colombo hisd*mnself invented tomatoes in "the New World" and brought some back to his hometown of Napoli where the locals started making some truly outstanding pies after that. ("But, Brian, not all Pizzas have to have a tomato-base/tomato sauce on them. Have you never heard of or seen a 'White Pizza'?" Yeah, sure, and decaf coffee is real Coffee, too.)

(Stolen... er... borrowed directly from the friendly folks at WikipediA)
"Ethiopian Coffee beans of the species Coffea arabica can be divided into three categories: Longberry, Shortberry, and Mocha. Longberry varieties consist of the largest beans and are often considered of the highest quality in both value and flavour. Shortberry varieties are smaller than the Longberry beans but, are considered a high grade bean in Eastern Ethiopia where it originates. Also the Mocha variety is a highly prized commodity. Mocha Harars are known for their peaberry beans that often have complex Chocolate, spice and citrus notes."

Lately, I would have to say that some of my favourite Coffee beans are harvested in the Yirgachefe District in South-central Ethiopia. However, I generally will enjoy Coffee from the other major Coffee-producing regions of Sidamo, Limmu, or Harar, too. The local (and by "local", I mean they do all of their roasting for their three Sunset District coffeeshops at their Taraval Street location) Andytown Coffee Roasters periodically releases an absolutely amazing version of a Yirgachefe Coffee... get it while it is available and while it lasts!

https://www.andytownsf.com/purchase


There are actually three different joke-answers to the above titular query:

a) Coffelony (compliments of Roy Trout; this is actually my favourite joke-answer; that is just some funny sh*t right there);
b) Grounds for Murder (care of Doc Estes; my second favourite joke-answer);
c) a mugging (now, this was the actual correct answer, but, by far, not anywhere quite as funny as the first two answers; sorry, Diane).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Ethiopian ቡና ~ 7.0 - 8.0 (It's a d*mn fine cuppa!)

___________________

1. As in the Roman numeral for "4", but I kinda like the idea of a Coffee-based drink administered intravenously.

Hollywood Cafe

Goodbye, dead, decaying porky-butt bits,
Though I never knew you at all...

https://www.hollywoodcafesf.com/


Place: Hollywood Cafe

Location: 530 North Point Street
(coincidentally enough, near the corner of 
Taylor Street)

Hours: open everyday[ sic ] at 7:00am

Meal: Asparagus Eggs Benedict ~ bacon (which was edited out, Mr. DeMille ), asparagus & tomato, two poached eggs on English muffin, topped with our own Hollandaise sauce, served with hash browns (which I had upgraded to Hollywood Hash Browns ~ hash browns topped with bacon [sorry, these also did not see the final cut], mushroom, onion, bell pepper, basil flakes & melted Cheddar cheese); and to drink a glassa 100% Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

(There is no EweToobular juxtaselection with these songs and today's breakfast destination. Well, there is this bit of Cliff Clavinistic Hollywoodland factoid: Marilyn Monroe was once "the Asparagus Queen of 1944".[1])


While Hollywood Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 29th, 2017) is not technically a part of the Taylor Street Coffee Shop-family mini-chain of restaurants, I think that it is owned by the brother of the owner of TSCS-etc. So, I figured to make it the Compleat Package Tour, I might as well head back to their "cousin-restaurant", too. 

Their online menu states that they have been open "Since 1989"; however, I am not sure if that is with the current ownership or just that a restaurant called "Hollywood Cafe" has been at this same location since then. As best as I can figure (from yet still another truly extensive-and-intensive Intro-Net search [read: checking out yelp* for the earliest reviews again]), this restaurant was open at least as far back as January 2008; whereas, the original Taylor Street Coffee Shop predates it by a few years, opened since at least March 2005.

I had arrived just a little after 7:00am and there were still several empty tables inside, which was good 'cause it was still too early, too overcast/foggy, and wayyyy too chilly to sit outside comfortably at one of their sidewalk tables. (Let all the st*pid touristas that get up after 7:30am occupy those tables!) I had arrived so early that I even scored a legal and free (well, until 9:00am, at least, 'cause, even on Sundays, the parking meters run in this part of the city to be sure to get every last penny outta the st*pid touristas) parking spot directly across the street this morning. 

This being only my fourth trip to Hollywood Cafe in about an eight-year span, there are still a few other viable ideas left for st*pid vegetarian types:

Rancheros (as in "Huevos... ") ~ two eggs over-medium with homemade (well, café-made) tomato spicy sauce, avocado, Mozzarella cheese (???; I think auténtico queso fresco mexicano would be more natural here), corn chip (listed in the singularity on the menu, mind you, but I am sure they give you more than one), lettuce, drizzled homemade (whatever) cream cheese (I think they probably meant some type of sour cream, though);

Hash Burrito ~ scrambled eggs with hash browns, avocado, ham & cheese (well, just "... & cheese" for me), our own wasabi cream sauce (this sounds intriguing), wrapped in tortilla;

Veggie Sandwich ~ grilled mushroom, tomato, onion, avocado, bell pepper, cherry pepper, sprouts & Swiss cheese on whole wheat bread;

Vanilla French Toast ~ with homemade (you know the drill) vanilla-banana sauce garnished with whipped cream and almonds;

or 

Dolce French Toast ~ topped with fried banana, mixed berries & candied walnut (once again, listed as a singular item on the menu, but I bet you get at least two whole walnut pieces) with whipped cream.

Additionally (and especially), for those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying porky-butt bits, they offer something similar to the Taylor Street Coffee Shop-family mini-chain's Millionaire's Bacon®, which they simply call Sweet Bacon (and do not feel the need to "®"-ise or "™"-ise it) ~ glazed with maple syrup, fresh orange juice, brown sugar & Grand Marnier®. I did not see it as a side dish on any of the neighboring tables, so I am not sure if it is the same thick-cut style. However, it is much cheaper ($6.99 for four slices) than the Millionaire's Bacon® (listed on their different menus from $7.50 to $9.00 for just two slices [yes, you read that correctly; hence the "Millionaire's" moniker]; smoked tofu ain't never cost that much).

They also have an interesting-sounding Korean breakfast/health drink listed that I have never heard of or tried before: Misugaru[2] Legume Latte ~ homemade (again, café-made) multigrain drink with steamed soymilk & honey. I wanted to keep it simple this morning, so I chickened-out (or, as is the case with being a st*pid vegetarian, I "Tofurky®-ed-out"). Next time, perhaps.

There was nothing extremely special about this version of ol' Benny's eggs on English muffins, but any time asparagus is included in a dish, it is a given that I will automatically like it. This was made with fresh, sautéed asparagus, not frozen, too. 

The Hollywood-ised hashbrowns was (were?) definitely the way to go. I probably coulda made a whole meal outta a side order of those with some toast and an egg over-medium atop the heap. Thankfully, I am not a fungophobe as there were more mushrooms than most of the other ingredients. (Can you imagine being a st*pid vegetarian that does not like mushrooms? That would be almost as bad as not liking br*ccoli... ) Now if they only had an option to also add some diced-up, fresh, sautéed asparagus to the mess, they could call it Millionaire's Hash Browns® and make a real killing...

Hollywood Cafe offered both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce and Greeñ Jalapeño Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce Original for use in the way of any condimentary supplements. I used some of my own H*ll's Kitchen Sriracha Chili Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the hash-stuff and some Old St. Augustine Snake Bite Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on top of both poached eggs (I made sure to taste the Hollandaise sauce first; it was okay, but it didn't hurt any to have it spiced-up some). I also used some more sprinklings of my McCormick® Grill Mates® Smokehouse Maple Seasoning all over both the potato-mess and the egg-piles (the flavours might not exactly have been a match, but I bought the d*rn thing, so I am gonna use the d*rn thing).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Asparagus Eggs Benedict ~ 6.6;
Hollywood Hash Browns ~ 6.9

___________________

1. Nah, not really. But Marilyn Monroe was crowned "Artichoke Queen of 1948" in Castroville ("the Artichoke Heart of the World"), Callie-for-nee-ya.

https://artichokefestival.org/about-festival/

2. This is not some kinda unattainable training exercise for Starfleet Academy cadets. I asked.

https://mykoreankitchen.com/korean-multigrain-shakes-misutgaru/

Berkeley Social Club

A(nother) breakfastary roadtrip:
Berkeley, CA

"We are out of rice... how about spaghetti?!"[1]

https://www.berkeley-socialclub.com/


Place: Berkeley Social Club

Location: 2050 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 
(near the corner of Shattuck Avenue)

Hours: open at 9:00am Monday - Friday and 8:00am Saturday - Sunday 

Meal: Mascarpone Blueberry stuffed Crunch French Toast; a side of Crispy Yukon (that would be potatoes, not Cornelius); and, to drink, a glassa Fresh Raspberry Lemonade


Thus concludes Episode 7...

(I think) with today's road-trippable breakfastary journey (all the way over [Hey! I will have you know that it was a four-hour roundtrip via buses and BART.]) to Berkeley Social Club, that finally wraps up all of the restaurants in the Taylor Street Coffee Shop-family mini-chain tour. This mini-link in their mini-chain has been open now since November 2016. After extensive research on these-here World Wild Webs (okay, so maybe I just looked up when the earliest reviews were posted on yelp*, but still... ), I can also conclude that this particular restaurant was #6 to be opened (just a little before their newest restaurant, #7, Surisan, in December 2016).

Size-wize, I would have to guesstimate that it ranks at probably #2 or #3, maybe a little behind Sweet Maple and Surisan.  I sat at one of the four round two-seater tables that are along the front window facing out onto University Avenue. (I had to ask one of the Thai waiter-server guys if the "University" in question was "Leland Stanford Junior University"... Sheesh! The looks some people will give you!)

As far as any other viable options for st*pid vegetarian-types go, this location also offers many of the same items as some of the other restaurants. There were two items that I do not remember seeing on the past menus, though:

Strawberry Avocado Toast ~ strawberry, avocado, goat cheese, Balsamic glaze (they have this one listed under "Small Bites", but I would probably order a side of Crispy Yukon and a poached egg to make it into a "Full Bite"; and, yes, I know that strawberry and avocado does sound like a strange combination, but I would try it; plus, an avocado is botanically a berry, whereas, strawberries are not)

and

Morning Pizza ~ doughless, potato, bacon (to be nixed), chorizo (ditto on the nixture), mushroom, tomato, cherry pepper, onion, Mozzarella, egg, arugula (this was going to be my back-up choice just in case the restaurant was out of "bread" this morning... ).

They had me at the "Mascarpone... stuffed... French Toast" (which was what I basically had on another visit to Kitchen Story [see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 10, 2017], anyway). All the rest was just more glitter, but more than welcomed. This was basically a French toast sandwich, encrusted with corn flakes (trust me, it works), with Mascarpone cheese and some blueberries in the middle, and a few blueberries and strawberry slices on top. There really were not that many extra blueberries in between the slices of French toast, probably about as many as were already on top of the pile.

For condimentary supplementation, 
Berkeley Social Club offered both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I had schlepped a few bottles of my own hot sauce (all the way over to Berkeley), so I made sure to use at least a little H*ll's Kitchen Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the potatoes and also a couple of shakes of McCormick® Grill Mates® Smokehouse Maple Seasoning (I figured that would be a nice juxtaselection along with the maple syrup that I poured all over the French toast). However... oooops! I went a little heavy-handed with the hot sauce this morning. Even if this particular Ghost Pepper-based sauce is "tempered" with Tabasco and aged red pepper chillies, it still has a bit of a kick to it; thankfully, the main meal was overly sweet and helped to balance it out... somewhat...

I guess I could say that this was a very crispy/crunchy kinda morning!

... and I was very happy to hear that they were not out of rice this morning ~ I asked! (Plus, I saw one of the worker-guys eating a big plate of what looked like some kinda fried rice dish for his own breakfast at the bar/counter-area.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Mascarpone Blueberry stuffed Crunch French Toast ~ 7.1;
nebby li'l Chinese restaurants that run outta rice ~ 5.4

___________________

1. Completely un-breakfastarily related ~ but still food-based (mostly) ~ rant:

I do not want to sound overly Trumpian-racist here, but it goes without saying that when eating at a Chinese (and Asian in general) restaurant that a verisimilitude will be that they offer rice in some form or another (either as "plain steamed" or in a multitude of "fried rice" dishes on the menu). However, such was not the case when I ate at a local Chinese restaurant last night. After I had already placed my order (simply Curried Vegetables with a side of "rice"), the waitress/server-lady person came back to my table and said the above titular [footnoted] question.

I was more amused and bemused (and probably a little ceemused, too) than enraged or outraged (or even above-raged), so I just went with the only other option that they had (on a busy Friday night, I must add). I would probably have enjoyed it a bit more if the noodles that they served were actually Chinese chow mein or chow fun noodles, but this was just your run-of-the-mill, straight-outta-the-box, plain ol' Italian-style spaghetti stuff... and I am not an anti-pastite b*stard in any way.

Can you imagine going to a KFC and being told that they are out of the dead, decaying poultry flesh: "Well, I'm afraid we don't get much call for it around these parts."

or

Mickey D's Rainbow Room: "Sorry, we are all outta French fries... how about some steamed br*ccoli?"

or

any good Italian Pizz'aria: "Scusi, we are all outta the Pizza-dough, eh?!... howza about-a nice-a bowl-a quinoa instead?!"

(Okay, so maybe the generalization that all Italian-Americans "speak-a like-a this-a" is a bit racist, but you all know you were picturing ol' Guisepp' saying this with both of his hands flailing.)

I did make sure to ask the waitress/server-lady person 
if the name of the restaurant was not actually 
"Ye Old Chinese Emporium" and if the owner did not happen to be named "Henry Wongsleydale".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1JWzyvv8A

Does anyone know if cats eat rice?!

Breadbelly

https://breadbellysf.com/


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: Smashed Cucumber & Avocado (salad) ~ dressed with nam prik num (spicy Thai chili-lime vinaigrette)[1], sesame seeds, basils[ sics ]; to drink with the meal a glassa Mandarin Monkey ~ Orion Lager, mandarin, & OJ (I kid you not, Mike D!); and, afterward, as a breakfastary dessert-thing, a Bavarian Cream doughnut from Frena Bakery

https://www.orionbeer.co.jp/brand/draft/index.html

https://frenabakery.com/product/dozen-bavarian-cream-donuts

(I do not care how "reet" or "new" the "skank" is, I would rather stick with a Bavarian Cream doughnut, Chrissie.

And the second EweToobular video is just because I know that ol' Petey Gabbie is a big fan of orange juice-and-Beer for breakfast, too.)


Yeah. It was inevitable that I would return to Breadbelly (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 16th, 2019) to try their version of a Brass Monkey[2].

With this morning's dish, I think that I have about now run through their gamut of st*pid vegetarian-friendly breakfast items, leaving only: Mushroom Barley Broth ~ Maitake & Enoki mushrooms, roasted barley tea, spring peas (I have no idea what this might look like or taste like, but I will try anything once... hence the Mandarin Monkey this morning). 

Additionally, there are a few more drink items that I do want to try:

Iced Sesame Horchata ~ oat+rice milk, Saigon cinnamon; 

and, off their "Specials" board,

Watermelon Lychee Tea (which is served cold; I asked).

With the drink and salad, this may have been one of 
the stranger breakfast combinations that I have had 
in a while.

Ya know, as disgusting as it sounds, the drink was really not half-bad (so I only drank the half-good part). Hey, do not judge me! It had both orange juice and mandarin bits in it, so that makes it breakfastarily sound. "But... Beer... for breakfast, Brian?!" Apparently, you did not see last Saturday's silly li'l 'blog-thing. This was made with a Japanese (Okinawan, to be exact) Beer, so I am not sure why it is labeled specifically as "Mandarin Monkey"; perhaps all the monkeys in Okinawa have swum over to mainland China. (And if you think this combination of Beer and orange juice is a bit strange, I would like to introduce you to a Montana Red Bird ~ made with Beer [usually a light Lager-style] and tomato juice.)

On a previous visit, one of the counter-server guys told me that the nam prik num dressing is made with fish-sauce in it, but they could make the salad with a different vinaigrette; so, they substituted a champagne vinaigrette for me instead. All in all, this was a pretty simple and basic dish. It was not really "smashed", but was made with a cubed avocado (about a whole half) and cucumbers, and with several halved cherry tomatoes; plus, a good amount of basils[ sics ] leaves/sprigs throughout. In my opinion, I think that it mighta coulda used just a little something extra in it: some fresh sliced jalapeños or pickled onions, perhaps. I also wonder if it could possibly be made with a poached egg on top.

I still have not bothered to ask what they might have to offer in the way of condimentary supplementation. I used some of my own Dragon's Lair Extra Hot Cayenne & Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the salad junk (mainly because it did not include any spicy Thai chili-lime vinaigrette) and a couple of shakes of McCormick® Grill Mates® Smokehouse Maple Seasoning on top, too. The Grill Mates® dealie is brand new to my condimentary arsenal; I just bought it last weekend because I was all out of both black pepper and grains of paradise and wanted to try something new. While this is not really a "salt-substitute" ~ as the first ingredient listed is "salt" ~ I did like the flavour it added... I am just not exactly sure how the "natural flavor (including smoke)" is included (there are probably some mirrors involved in the manufacturing process).

https://www.mccormick.com/grill-mates/flavors/seasoning-blends/grill-mates-smokehouse-maple-seasoning


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Smashed Cucumber & Avocado ~ 6.3;
Brass Monkey-thing ~ 6.5;
Bavarian Cream doughnut ~ 6.7

___________________

1. http://thaifoodparadise.com/recipe/nam-prik-noom-recipe-northern-thai-green-chili-dip/

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_Monkey_(cocktail)

Surisan

https://www.surisansf.com/


Place: Sursian

Location: 505 Beach Street 
(on the corner of Jones Street)

Hours: open for breakfast weekdays at 8:00am and weekends at 8:30am

Meal: Boosted Jook[1] ~ rice porridge with carrots, spinach, mushroom, bacon (which I, of course, had un-boosted), scallion, cherry pepper, poached egg; and a glassa fresh-squeezed orange juice to drink (which came with the now-ubiquitous California paper straw)

(There is no direct EweToobular juxtaselection between today's meal and the Birds of Chicago. [Well, none of which I am aware.] I just like the song. I may have even posted it once or twice before here.)


To continue on with the Taylor Street Coffee Shop-family mini-chain tour, I revisited Surisan (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 14th, 2017; plus, I ate dinner there just a little over a month ago). This restaurant should be the newest (#6 or #7) in the mini-chain; it has only been open since December 2016. I think that there is just one more restaurant left to check out now in their mini-chain ~ Berkeley Social Club, which is in Berkeley, natch', so that will probably need to be made at a later date when I feel like doing another 
mini-roadtrip "all the way" across to the East Bay.

Unfortunately, it was another li'l-bit foggy and chilly morning, so I wimped-out, J. Wellington, and sat inside once again. However, I was not the only one to do so, I was happy to see. The Sun did start to break out (a little) by the time I had finished eating, but it still would not have been very comfortable sitting outdoors.

This restaurant also has several of the same items offered at some of their other locations. A couple of remaining items left might be:

Hemingway Benedict ~ smoked salmon, avocado, fried capers, lemon, pickled onion, Wasabi Hollandaise (where I would have to, in earnest, have them rescind the dead, decaying, nicotine-induced, 
old-man-and-the-sea piscine junk)

or

Blueberry Stuffed Crunch French Toast w/ caramel sauce (this was going to be my back-up choice if the Jook could not have been made st*pid vegetarian-friendly).

I happened to notice on their menu that they specify that they "happily serve Snowbird Coffee" at this restaurant. I asked one of the Thai waiter-server-guys about this, and he told me that they also serve this same local brand of Coffee at Blackwood. (However, when I asked him which specific roast of Snowbird Coffee they serve, he could only tell me that it was a "Dark Roast"... so that narrowed it down... not so much.) Although, I do not think they serve this brand at the original Taylor Street Coffee Shop and did not see it specifically mentioned on some of their other restaurants' menus. I am very familiar with (and a big fan of) Snowbird Coffee; they have a near(enough)by coffeeshop in the Sunset, just on the other side of Golden Gate Park, that I have been to many times. Interestingly enough, I think that Snowbird Coffee is also a Korean-owned establishment; I am not sure if there is any other relationship. Good Coffee knows no jingocity, after all.

https://snowbirdcoffee.com/

Ha! I actually talked the couple at the next table (who happened to be from Oaktown; we talked a bit about the Coffee served at this location and about some of the other restaurants in this mini-chain; they have also eaten at Sweet Maple themselves) into ordering a side of the Rosemary Millionaire's Bacon®. Why would anyone be foolish enough into taking porky-butt bits suggestions from a st*pid vegetarian-type complete stranger?!

(If you can believe it, this overly bokeh-ed photo is actually the best of the three that I took this morning. Eh?! What'r'yagonnadoo?!)


I do not think that I had ever had Jook (or any similar Asian rice porridge dish) before. I liked it. There was plenty of spinach and (possible) shiitake and one other type of mushroom in the mix. (I am pretty sure that Quaker guy that has been serving 'merica with his own brand of oat-porridge for all these years has never thought about adding any spinach, mushroom, or bacon to his breakfast bowls.) This had a strong soy sauce base to it, so I would not recommend this dish for anyone that is gluten-intolerant (or just dislikes soy sauce in general). Thankfully, they served the bowl with a spoon sticking out of it... I was having the dickens of the time trying to eat this with chopsticks. All in all, this was a pretty d*rn healthy meal and easy on the digestion for me.

As far as any condimentary supplements, like most of the other restaurants in the mini-chain, they offer both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I just used some (well, 
a lot, really) of my own H*ll's Kitchen® Whiskey Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the top 
of the poached egg.


Yesterday I had breakfast at "Yooooouk's!".
This morning I had "Joooook!". 
It all makes perfect RED SOX sense to me.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Boosted Jook ~ 6.5

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day:

"粥" (transliterated/pronounced "Jook"; also transliterated as "Juk" or "Jug") simply means "porridge" in Korean.

This dish is normally a rice-based porridge/gruel dish and it is eaten in many Asian countries either warm for breakfast or as a recuperative "get-well" meal.

Loma Brewing Company/Loma Coffee Bar

A(nother) Breakfastary Roadtrip:
the (Spanish) Kitty-Cats, CA[1]

https://www.lomabrew.com/


Place: Loma Brewing Co. & Loma Coffee Bar[2]

Location:  130 N Santa Cruz Avenue, Los Gatos, CA
(in the ♥ of Los Gatos)

Hours: (brewery/restaurant) open for "Brunch" Tuesday - Sunday at 11:30am (however, they had special hours today and tomorrow and were open at 10:00am);
(Coffee bar) serving breakfast Wednesday - Sunday at 7:30am (well, I had arrived there around 8:30am and was told that they really don't start serving any kinda hot food items until 8:00am usually)

Meal: (me) Breakfast Flatbread ~  bacon (Really, Kevin?! Ain't that kinda non-כַּשְׁרוּת?), spinach, caramelized onion, Mozzarella, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, sunny side egg, salsa roja;
(Dave) McLoma Sandwich ~  chili Beer brined ham, sharp Cheddar, folded eggs, housemade English muffin, tropical fruit cup;
to drink:
(me) two cuppas Ethiopia Guji Heirloom and a 13-ounce glassa Youks Kolsch[3];
(Dave) a Cappuccino (made with Youk! - Loma Espresso Blend) and also a 13-ounce glassa Youks Kolsch

(... 'cause everyone knows that the "[Greek-Jewish] King of Swing" is better'n any ol' "Sultana of Squat" [aka "the Babe-beano"].)


An old Air Force buddy of mine (Thanks, Karl! [Even if he is one of "those" D*dgers fans.]) had sent me a recent news-article[4] last week on defacedbook that former RED SOX star-player Kevin ("Youk's on First? Idunno's on Third!") Youkilis had opened a local brewery/restaurant in near(enough)by Los Gatos. 
I figured I would have to check it out sometime in the future... well, apparently today is the future, Doc Brown.

Just so as to not make it a totally solitary trip "all the way down there", I invited another old Air Force buddy Dave (who lives about thirty-five minutes south of Los Gatos and was closer to it than me, anyway) to join me there for breakfast. As it turned out, the new brewery is in the same location as the old Los Gatos Brewing Company, which, coincidentally enough, Dave used to work at way back in 1994-1995 (Dave is very old!). I think that the last time that I was actually down Los Gatos-way was to meet Dave there for lunch, too. I think it was probably back in 1998 or 1999 (Dave is very old!).

Any true red-blooded RED SOX fan of the past twenty years worth his salt, is well-aware of exactly who this Yoooooouk! guy is. Quick bio: After playing nine quality seasons with the GOOD GUYS (and winning two World Series Championships with them in that span ~ which is one more World Series Championship than the D*mn Y*nkees have won in the entire Millennium so far!), Kevin played one more season of MLB with the Chicago South-siders in 2012. Of course, as all faithful and knowledgeable RED SOX fans know, Youk took the entire 2013 Season off... He is a 3-Time All-Star (2008, 2009, & 2011); Gold Glove Award (2007) recipient; and a member of both the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame and the Boston RED SOX Hall of Fame. (I think that I read somewhere that Youk's brother-in-law is also some kinda sports-player; I think he plays Soccer in Massachusetts or sumpthin'... )

Just in case the Big Guy was there this morning hisd*mnself, I made sure to arrive at the restaurant clad head-to-toe (literally) in RED SOX items of clothing: (head-) RED SOX baseball cap (natch') (I went with an old one of mine that is exactly twenty years old this week/month; I bought it back in 1999 during the All-Star festivities in Boston in a sports-shop across the street from Fenway Park; which is one of four 
RED SOX caps that I own); (to-) RED SOX long-sleeve t-shirt (I have way too many different RED SOX t-shirts to really count); and (toe) RED SOX socks 
(I own three different pairs). I do own two different RED SOX jackets/windbreakers, but I did not want to "over-do" it, so I was just wearing a nondenominational red-and-blue sweatshirt. (I do not own a pair of 
RED SOX skivvies, or I mighta also been wearing those this morning... I would just not have been able to show them off to anyone at the brew pub/Coffee bar.)

As Dave and I were the first idiots to walk in just as they were opening (right on the nose, Mr. Durante!) at 10:00am, we had our choice of seats. It is a fairly large restaurant and there are many tables that can seat two-to-eight people. The place filled up pretty quickly, too.

As for the food, I have never met a Breakfast Pizza (Flatbread, whatever) that I did not like. Of course, in honour of Kevin Youkilis' Jewish heritage, I made sure to have them 86 the dead, decaying porky-butt bits from my meal. It was a single-serving Pizza (Flatbread, whatever), but it was just about all that I could do to finish it. (Actually, I "forced" Dave to try a slice of it.)

The McLoma Sandwich looked much tastier than (and was easily twice the size of) whatever that clown Ronald McJ*ter could ever come up with ("... up with could come... "? Nah! That just don't sound right.). The "folded eggs" sounded confusing in the menu, but it was just flattened scrambled eggs ("folded" in between the slices of English muffin). Plus, they make their own (over-sized) English muffins fresh daily. When I had first arrived this morning, they had just finished baking up a batch of these English muffins. I was even thinking of ordering this one myself (again, just making it kosher-likeⓊ).

Loma Brewing Co. had just Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Huy Fong Foods Inc. Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce for use as condimentary supplementation. I did not really feel like schlepping any of my own hot sauces "all the way down there" this morning, but, as it turned out, their salsa roja was flavourful (and picante) enough, anyway.

Why the two cuppas of Ethiopia Guji Heirloom? I bought one cuppa when I first got into town. I purposefully got to the place an hour before I was planning on meeting Dave there so that I could walk around Los Gatos for a bit and the second cuppa was for-with breakfast. Plus, 'cause I decided to buy a bagga (it is either a 12 oz or 1-pounder) the Ethiopia Guji Heirloom to take-with-home, I got the second cuppa as a freebie! (They were not being extra nice to me, that is just what they do for anyone buying a bagga.) The Coffee was very good. Ethiopian Coffee is one of my favourites.

I would really have liked to have tried several of their Beers, but, sadly, I did have to drive the hour-or-so back home in the afternoon and thought it best to just try the eponymous brew that I did. It was also very good. I have been a fan of Kölsch-style Beers since living in Deutschland. Dave and I were both stationed together in Berlin-town back in 1983-1985 (Man, that Dave is really old!).

Before breakfast, while waiting for Dave to finally show up, I walked around the area a bit and happened across a local gelato-joint a few blocks down the street from the brewery. I was amazed that they were open for business before 9:00am. Of course, I had to sample a few of their flavours... Well, after breakfast ("Brunch", whatever), I went back over there and got a small cup with two flavours: half-cuppa Sambuca and half-cuppa Horchata. 

http://www.dolcespazio.com/

All in all, this morning turned out to be a very good one breakfastarily for me:

Coffee! Beer!! Pizza!!! Ice Cream!!!!

The only two items missing from the Five Major Food Groups this morning were Potatoes and Chocolate. 

(Hmmmm?! I wonder if'n I should try some Chocolate-dipped French Fries for dinner?!)

Glen Bacon Scale Rating:

Breakfast Flatbread ~  6.7;

(I did not bother asking Dave what he might rate his McLoma Sandwich; he seemed to have liked it well enough to clean his plate; so I would guess it was upwards of a 6.5, too);

Ethiopia Guji Heirloom ~ 7.4;

Youks Kolsch ~ 6.9;

Ice Cream ~ 7.0 (cumulative; the Sambuca-one was probably a 7.2 all on its ownsome)

Kevin Edmund Youkilis ~ .281

(I would just like to point out that Glen Bacon ~ 

he of the above named "Scale" ~ is also a long-time RED SOX fan.)

___________________

1. https://www.losgatosca.gov/

The "town" of Los Gatos is about fifty miles (well, according to Google Map, it is 54.1 miles) south of my apartment in San Francisco and about one hour travel time down there (almost 'zackly ~ I left my apartment at 7:30am and arrived at 8:30am [well, I would have arrived then if I had not missed my exit off Highway 17 and then had to back-track for about five minutes... 

but still... )

I found this titbit of information pretty interesting. Both Olivia de Havilland and her kid sister went to Los Gatos High School.

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número uno:

I do not know why the joint is called "Loma" (I asked one of the baristarettes, but she did not know either), but the word "Loma" en español simply means "hill" or "knoll", Chuck.

(Perhaps, "Loma" has an entirely different meaning in Romanian or Greek.)*

*(Ha! This cunning linguistic stuff kills me.

Just on a lark [there were no Wild Parrots of San Francisco nearby], I Google Translate-d "Loma" under "Detect Language" and it came up that "Loma" in Finnish also means "holiday" and "Λόμαξ" [pronounced "LOmax"] in Greek-speak actually means "hilltop". It did not list anything under Romanian, though.)

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-brewista pointer of the day, Nummer zwei:

Kölsch is a style of Beer originating in Cologne, Germany. "Kölsch" simply means "from Cologne" auf Deutsch.

4. https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/06/25/kevin-youkilis-boston-red-sox-loma-brewing-company