LaLe

No actual Nederlandse kindjes were harmed during the writing of this 'blog-thing.

https://www.lalesf.com/


Place: LaLe

Location:  731 Irving Street 
(between 8th and 9th Avenues)

Hours: "Brunch" is served at 9:00am during the week and at 8:00am on Saturday and Sunday

Meal: Dutch Baby Pancake ~ w/ caramelized apples & housemade (restaurant-made, whatever) whipped cream; a side order of homefries; and a cuppa (and one refilla; I drank a whole cuppa while waiting the 15-20 minutes for the pancake to be baked; they warn you ahead of time that it can take a while to prepare this dish) Sightglass Coffee (I forgot to ask which roast/blend they serve, though)

https://sightglasscoffee.com/

(There were not meant to be any EweToobular juxtaselections with the above two songs/videos. 
These two songs were played [back-to-back] on the house [restaurant, whatever] stereo while I was eating my meal. However, I bet that Sir George Ivan and those the Four Tops fellows would all enjoy a good Dutch Baby Pancake. I mean, who wouldn't?)


As I have been double-heading all of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation for visits this month, it was back to LaLe (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 26th, 2019... so, basically, yesterday) once again this morning.

Even before I had left my apartment this morning, I had already known exactly what I was going to order for breakfast ("Brunch", whatever). However, I really do need to try their new(-ish?) frittatas that are now offered. I think earlier this year was when I first saw the new items on their printed menu (their web-site does not even show these yet). There are three different frittatas (served with salad and fruit; where I would probably request a substitution of their very good homefries), thusly:

Paris ~ leeks, bacon (sorry, Glen, but you would have to be nixed), peas, goat cheese;

Seattle ~ asparagus, peppers, chicken-apple sausage (which would have to go the way of poor Glen above), Cheddar (this would most likely be my first choice of frittata);

and 

Milan (v) ~ spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, Cheddar.

See? No tulips in the vase on my table again this morning. Just some (if not a bit on the wilting side) roses and such. There were various colours of roses 
on all of the other tables, too.

This was so good! This dish is probably my second favourite breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) meal that they offer. Dutch Baby Pancakes are only offered during weekend "Brunch", though. It can also be ordered with bacon or strawberries; I just prefer the caramelized apples version. I am not sure exactly what kind of flower petals (they were quite possibly tulip petals, but never having eaten a tulip before, I could not tell you for certain) were used as a garnish on top of the whipped cream. I hope they were edible... 'cause I done edibled them both. I bet these pancakes would be extremely good with fresh rosemary sprigs on top of the whipped cream, too.

For condimentary supplementation, LaLe had... same as yesterday. I used some of my own H*ll's Kitchen® Chipotle Chocolate Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the side order of potatoes... and even a skosh on a small part of the pancake. ("No, you did 'nt, Brian!" Do not judge my culinary quirks!) I also used some grinds of The Spice & Tea Exchange® Pirate's Bite Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) on the homefries. (Relax. I did not sprinkle any on top of the pancake, because that would just be silly.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Dutch Baby Pancake ~ 7.5;
Sightglass Coffee ~ 7.2

LaLe

The proverbial last straw that stirred 
the camel's drink

https://www.lalesf.com/


Place: LaLe

Location:  731 Irving Street 
(between 8th and 9th Avenues)

Hours: "Brunch" is served at 9:00am during the week and at 8:00am on Saturday and Sunday

Meal: Mumbai (Benediction/Benedict [their web-site still calls this dish "Benediction"; however, their printed menu states "Benedict"]) ~ beet-mushroom-lentil patty, avocado, tomato, housemade (well, restaurant-made) English muffin topped with poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, served with potatoes; and to drink with the meal a large glassa homemade (again, restaurant-made) Strawberry/Lemonade (served nouveau Callie-forn-ee-ya-style sans straw)

(I had thought about linking a song by Camel, but I am not much of a Prog-Rock fan. So just enjoy this song in double-four-time instead... Creole... Creole... )


Because I could not make it to either Houstown or Washingtoon to catch any live games of the World Series, I figured a Turkish-Mediterranean restaurant from my Breakfastary Starting Rotation would have to do, so I went back to LaLe (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 25th, 2019) this morning. ("But, Brian, what do Turkey or even tulips[1] have anything to do with Baseball?" Don't tell me that you have never heard of the "Sultan Süleyman of Swat"?)

Since my last visit, I noticed that their front outside sign above the entrance-way is back. I have no idea where it went to. It looks to be the same one as the previous visit before last.

I thought this kinda strange. Somewhy[2], there were no tulips in any of the vases on the tables, just roses[3] (of varying colours) and other kinda flowery-stuff.

(Ignore the fuzzy quality of the above photo. Trust me, the quality of the food had no bokeh to it whatsoever.)


This is one of my favourite dishes that they have to offer for breakfast ("Brunch", whatever). It was one of the reasons that I went back a second time after my initial visit there and subsequently added them to my Breakfastary Starting Rotation a few years back. I really enjoy this twist on your plain ol' Eggs Benedict. (However, I am not exactly sure if beets[4] are normally big in Indian cuisine. I suppose that this dish could just as easily alternatively have been called "Warszawa" or "Helsinki". And I am pretty sure that there were no avocados nor tomatoes historically in India until that Cristoforo Colombo guy brought them over there on one of his trips.)  I am happy to see that they also offer this beet-lentil patty on their lunch and dinner menu.

For condimentary supplementation, LaLe has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce  (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. 
I went lightly with some of my own Chelsea Fire 
Wicked. Hot. Sauce.® (Thanks, Sha'!) on top of both poached eggs and a lot more heavy-handedly with some H*ll's Kitchen® Smokey Bourbon Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the homefries. Plus, I grinded-out several grinds of The Spice & Tea Exchange® 
Italian Street Fair Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) all over everything.


Crafty Coffee Confabulation Interlude

As has been my tradition after dining ("Brunch"-ing, whatever) at LaLe, I walked around the corner for a mighty decent cuppa pour-over/drip-style at Snowbird Coffee. For today's roast/blend, I chose Zatara once again.

https://snowbirdcoffee.com/


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Mumbai (Benediction/Benedict) ~ 7.4;
Snowbird Coffee Zatara ~ 7.2

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, 
bir numara/नंबर एक:

As I have mentioned before, the name of this restaurant comes from the Turkish word for "tulip", "lâle" (pronounced "LA-lay"). The word for "tulip" in Hindi is "ट्यूलिप" ([I kid you not] simply pronounced "tulip").

2. "Wait... a... minute, Brian! There is no such word as 'somewhy'! You can not just insert any old madeuppery word into your silly li'l 'blog-thing whenever you d*mn please!"

Well, there are already "somewhat", "somewhere", "somehow", "sometime", "sommelier", sometc. So I figured I could add "somewhy" into the equation, anywho.

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, 
iki numara/नंबर दो:

The word for "rose" in Turkish is "gül" (pronounced "gool") and in Hindi it is "गुलाब" (pronounced "goolab"; which is very similar to the Turkish word).

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, 
üç numara/तीन नंबर:

The word for "beets" in Turkish is "pancar" (pronounced "panjar") and in Hindi it is "बीट" (pronounced just like it looks!).

Eats

https://www.eatsrestaurantsf.com/


Place: Eats

Location:  50 Clement Street
(on the corner of 2nd Avenue)

Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 8:00am

Meal: (one) Waffle Berries & Crème (v) ~ homemade waffle(s) topped with honey butter, whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and dusted with powdered sugar; a side of Excellent! Homefries; and a large glassa Refresher ~ cucumber, pineapple, romaine[1] to drink

(Maybe this song woulda made more sense if today's date happened to be October 17th [and thirty years ago]. Close enough for government [and 'blog-] work.)


For a weekend Double-Header (or Double-Play) for the Post-Season Workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 19th, 2019... so, yesterday) again this morning.

I sat inside again this morning. I probably coulda sat outside (it was a bit on the cool side, but I did have on a sweatshirt and another sweat-jacket-thing), but I had gotten there just as they were opening and had no problem getting one of the inside small tables for two (which, surprisingly, also seats one).

There was really nothing extra-special about the single waffle (I went with a one waffle choice because I knew that I also wanted to order their Excellent! Homefries and would not have been able to finish a two waffles and potatoes order), but I did like all the fruits (which included two different types of berries [that would be: blueberries and bananas] and strawberries) and whipped cream on top.

Now, as usual, their version of homefries was truly Excellent! (hence my nickname for this menu item). Today's pile included six nicely roasted and caramelized garlic cloves and lotsa fresh rosemary sprigs. I woulda liked the potatoes to have been a little bit more on the crispied-up side, but I had gotten there kinda early in the morning and the grill may not have had time to sufficiently brown them up yet.

As for the Refresher drink, yeah, its nookular colour and ingredients do look and sound kinda disgusting, but the cucumbers and romaine lettuce actually worked well enough with the freshly-juiced pineapples. If I were ever to make a similar juiced-up drink myself at home (well, of course, I would first need to buy some cucumbers, romaine lettuce, and a pineapple... and probably an actual juicer of some sort), I might think about adding another element or two. I bet some fresh ginger (which I would also need to buy) or some fresh rosemary (which I could easily steal from a number of gardens or front yards in my neighborhood; 'round these parts, the stuff grows like a weed... albeit, a very nice, aromatic weed) would be nice flavour additions.

For condimentary supplementation, Eats has... well, same as yesterday... I did get to try some of the ?new? Mead and Mead Maple Syrup on my waffle. The waffle dish probably really did not need any extra sweetening, but it was authentic New Englander 100% maple syrup, after all. I did use a good amount of my own H*ll's Kitchen Sriracha Chili Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) and also several grinds from my The Spice & Tea Exchange® Florida Sunshine Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) on the homefries.

http://meadandmeads.com/


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Waffle Berries & Crème ~ 6.4;
Excellent! Homefries ~ 7.66

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-botanical pointer of the day (stolen... er... borrowed directly from the friendly folks at WikipediA):

In British English, it is commonly known as “cos” lettuce, and in North America as “romaine” lettuce. Many dictionaries trace the word cos to the name of the Greek island of Cos, from which the lettuce was presumably introduced. Other authorities trace cos to the Arabic word for lettuce, khus خس [xus].

It apparently reached Western Europe via Rome, as in Italian it is called lattuga romana and in French laitue romaine, both meaning “Roman lettuce”. Hence the name “romaine”, the common term in North American English.

Eats

♪ "I'm headin' down Clement Street
Lookin' for the breakfast get-a-way... " ♫ 

https://www.eatsrestaurantsf.com/


Place: Eats

Location:  50 Clement Street
(on the corner of 2nd Avenue)

Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 8:00am

Meal: Spicy Kale Skillet (v) (okay, technically, they have this dish listed as "Spicy Tomato Skillet (v)" on their menu, but I just calls 'em as I tastes 'em) ~ kale, onions, potatoes, bell peppers, sunny up eggs, Parmesan, grilled bread; and, to drink, a large(-ish) glassa Power C ~ a mixture of orange, pineapple, and grapefruit juices

(I have it on good authority that both Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson are big kale fans, too. However, I think that Fred Schneider hates just about everything if it is not from Idaho or Claire.)


Continuing along with a Post-Season Workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 19th, 2019) this morning.

This dish (skillet, whatever) is probably my favourite one that they offer due to the amount of kale added to it (Sorry, Sean!). They even added extra kale in it for me this morning because they had misunderstood me when I said that I had renamed their dish "Spicy Kale Skillet" due to all the great kale-ocity in it. ("B-b-but, Brian, can you just go and change the established names of dishes at local restaurant?" Well, I just did!) However, I think that I have come up with even a mo' betta' name for this one now: "Kale-ifornia Shakshouka"[1]. ("B-b-but, Brian... " Shut-up and just go with it already!) Unfortunately, I had to explain what a "Shakshouka" was to my confused waiter-person-guy, though.

(So now maybe you will get the above EweToobular juxtaselection.)

For condimentary supplementation, Eats offers not only the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce [Original Red Sauce], Cholula® Hot Sauce [Original], and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce), but also Huy Fong Foods, Inc. Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce; additionally, I spied on a few of the tables El Yucateco® three ways (Salsa Picante Roja de Chile Habanero, Salsa Picante Verde de Chile Habanero, and XXXtra Picante Salsa Kutbil-Ik® de Chile Habanero). I used some of my own Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero [which is appareñtly how they mispelz it in Floridialañd] Pepper Sauce (Thañks, Mom añd Briañ!) on top of one egg and a good amount o' sprinklage from my McCormick® Grill Mates® Smokehouse Maple Seasoning all over everything in the skillet.

They also now have on every table bottles of a new(?) maple syrup ~ Mead and Mead Maple Syrup. (I'd tap that!) Unfortunately, I did not have any items on which to try it this morning (but do not think that I was not tempted to pour just a little over the top of one of the eggs... ). Perhaps tomorrow.

http://meadandmeads.com/


Crafty Coffee Confabulation Interlude

I broke into another (and the last of, finally, my) Christmas (yes, Christmas) Coffee gift this morning. Before heading out to breakfast, I dripped me down (via the pour-over method) a mighty strong cuppa Lineage Coffee Roasting 431° Espresso. The package notes state: "A Classic Profile with a Heavier Roast Designed for Approachability[2] & Consistency"... whatever the h*ck that is supposed to mean. "Approachability", really?! It is just d*mn Coffee, not some kinda up-and-coming, hot, new Hollywoodland Starlet. Sheesh! Anyway... this was a decent enough roast/blend. I was expecting a bit of a darker roast from an Espresso and with a bit more kick to it, but I also did not prepare it with an actual Espresso-maker-thing. (Thanks, Barry! [even though he gets all of these "gifts" as freebie discards from his employer ~ Whole Paychecks®])

https://www.lineageroasting.com/products/northern-italian-espresso


Here's hoping that your tin roof never rusts!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Kale-ifornia Shakshouka ~ 7.5;
Lineage Coffee Roasting 431° Espresso ~ 6.9

___________________

1. Ho-yeah!

http://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/shakshouka-2/

2. I checked. "Approachability" is a completely madeuppery word.

Bákér Stréét Bístró

(I am titling this one: "A Selfie of the 'Artist' as a very [silly] Old Man")

http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/


Place: Baker Street Bistro

Location: 2953 Baker Street 
(Between Lombard and Greenwich Streets)

Hours: open for "le Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 9:00am

Meal: Pain Perdu A "Brunch" favorite! (one of Brian's favourites!, too) ~ two slices of cinnamon French Toast, fresh fruit, strawberry coulis & crème fraîche; 
a side order of home fries; and a cuppa (and one refilla) the house (well, Bistro) Coffee to drink

(What is/are today's EweToobular juxtaselections? Simplement! Monsieur Noel Yang likes him some lost-and-found bread, too. I do not really know how that Nena-lady feels about any verd*mmt französischer Toast, though.)


As a Double-Header (or Double-Play... take your Baseball-ese pick), je suis retourné à Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 12th, 2019... that would be yesterday) again this morning.

I actually poulette-d-out and sat inside for a change this morning. The weather had noticeably dropped and it must have been about ten degrees colder than it was just yesterday morn.

Do I really need to extol the greatness and tastitude of this absolutely sublime meal again?! I will just leave it at this: it is still my favourite breakfast in San Francisco.

I can not be sure, but I think their spice/herb mix on the homefries includes fennel seeds in it. I asked Chantal for corroboration, but she did not know for sure herself. I will just say that it does include fennel seeds and that they were a very surprisingly nice flavour-addition to some already great potatoes.

As has been my (silly li'l) wont whenever ordering Coffee there, I added the (le garniture) sprig of mint from the pile o' fruits into the cuppa. Kinda like "Café à le Turc".

Fruits d'aujourd'hui: framboises; mûres; myrtilles; pastèque; cantaloup; ananas; pomme; et orange.

(same as yesterday) For condimentary supplementation, Baker Street Bistro has only Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) on the tables. I used a goodly amount of my own Old St. Augustine Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the potatoes and The Spice & Tea Exchange® Earthly Delight Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) judiciously grinded all over the potatoes, too. Chantal (upon seeing my two bottles of hot sauces and my spice grinder): "I see you have brought your own 'instruments' again... ".  I like that sentiment: "Instruments of Mass Spice-struction!"


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

This morning, I had parked across the street from the tall Eucalyptus trees next to the Lombard Street Gate of the Presidio. However, I was completely shut-out this time and did not see remiges nor rectrices of the normally squawking perroquets.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Pain Perdu ~ 8.2;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 (well, when present)

Bâkêr Strêêt Bîstrô

¿El proverbial último popote...?[1]

http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/


Place: Baker Street Bistro

Location: 2953 Baker Street 
(Between Lombard and Greenwich Streets)

Hours: open for "le Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 9:00am (they call their early morning meal "Brunch"; however, they open up early enough for my simple breakfastary tastes... besides... let us never forget... 
le Pain Perdu le plus exceptionnel!)

Meal: Oeufs Baker Street Bistro Dave's favorite (one of Brian's favourites, too) ~ ratatouille, poached eggs, English muffin, tomato sauce, served with home fries & mixed greens (aka la comida para conejos); and a large glassa jugo de naranja (served con un popote de papel])

(There really is/are no EweToobular juxtaselections with these two songs/videos. The radio station I was listening to on my way home this morning just happened to be playing another song off Green Day's american idi*t album.

[just try to] Convince me otherwise: Green Day's american idi*t album is definitively one of the Best [if not The Best] Rock-and/or-Roll albums of the first decade of this here 21st Century. 

Of course, there is no question that it is Green Day's transcendent album to date. Even my foolish young-pup nephew [who shall remain named Cameron] has finally come around to seeing that I am 100% correct in this declaration. [Give the kid a break, he also took over ten years to finally agree with me that Lady Ella is The Best Female Voice in 'merica in the 20th Century... (Evah?)]

Man, that Giovanni Ribisi guy can really write some great music!)


While working my way through another Fall Classic warm-up of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I headed back to Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 11th, 2019) this morning.

Once again, I sat outside in their spacious sidewalk-patio café. It was still a bit cool this morning, but I had on both a sweatshirt and an outer sweatshirt/jacket-thing, so I was more than comfortable. As no other idi*ts decided to "brave" the autumnal chill, I had the seating area entirely to myself, too.

This is always such a great breakfast (specifically Eggs Benedict-oriented)! I do not know why any other local restaurant establishments have not stolen this idea yet (of course, I would think that they would need to change the name of the dish; that would be such a dead give-away)... kinda like the most awe-some Zucchini Cakes idea at Dottie's True blue café. Needless to say, I liked my breakfast ("le Brunch", whatever) this morning a lot.

For condimentary supplementation, Baker Street Bistro has only Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce 
(Original Red Sauce) on the tables. I used some of my own Chili in Hawaii Habanero Garlic Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes and several grinds of The Spice & Tea Exchange® Pirate's Bite Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) on top of everything 
(even on a few slices of the French bread in the basket...  à la Glen Bacon's [yes, that Scale Rating-guy] grandfather).


Crafty Coffee Confabulation Interlude

(Much earlier) before heading out for breakfast ("le Brunch", whatever) this morning, I made myself a cuppa TLC Coffee Roasters - Bali Blue Moon (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!). This was a brand-new (well, it has been in my freezer for the past few months, and I am just getting around to finally trying it out) Coffee for me. This was another very nice output from a small roastery outta the Island of Rhodes. These two production/roasting notes really did prove true in its flavour factor: "Bali Coffee trees are planted alongside oranges and tangerines, and the beans seem to pick up a little extra sweetness and a touch more acidity than most Indonesian varietals. The fact that the beans are dried with the fruit attached to the seed further enhances the complexity and wild fruitiness of this exquisite Coffee."

https://www.tlccoffeeroasters.com/product-page/bali-blue


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

After breakfast, I walked over to one of the larger known roosting areas of the Wild Parrots of San Francisco (the tall Eucalyptus trees next to the Lombard Street Gate of the Presidio) to see if I could catch any of my squawky feather-brained friends in the area. However, I saw just un solo papagayo flying overhead of the trees in the small dog-park in that area of the Presidio. For what it is worth, I also saw one extra-noisy Steller's Jay[2] flying around there, too.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Oeufs Baker Street Bistro ~ 7.4;
TLC Coffee Roasters - Bali Blue Moon ~ 7.2;
Steller's Jays ~ 8.0;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:

As soon as I sat down, the friendly Mexican-guy waiter/bus boy-type (whose name I really should learn one of these days; he has worked there now for several years and always greets me warmly the few times a year that I do darken their doorstep... sidewalk-patio café, whatever.... ) asked me if I wanted "un Café" (en español, gracias!). I told him that I just wanted a glassa "jugo de naranja" (one of the few simple phrases that I can remember en español, anyway). He then introduced me to a brand-new español-ese word: 
"(el) popote" ("(the) straw"; somewhat pronounced 
"po-PO-tay"). I also made sure to ask him if "popote" was "un/el" or "una/la" in gender-agreement.

I will have to try and remember this one on future visits there (or at local taquerias even).

2. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Stellers_Jay/id