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 BistroDave'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 glassajugo 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-someZucchini 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 laGlen 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 WildParrots of San Francisco Interlude After breakfast, I walked over to one of the larger known roosting areas of the Wild Parrotsof 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 papagayoflying 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 Parrotsof 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
https://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/ Place: Ella's American Kitchen Location: 500 Presidio Avenue (on the corner of California Street) Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 7:00am (wellll... that is what is printed on their menus; however, according to their web-site, they either open at 7:30am [under "Locations"] or 8:30am [under "Menu"]; I just know that they were already open for business ~ with several other tables already having been served ~ at 8:15am when I arrived this morning) Meal: Mushroom Swiss Omelet~ sautéed mushrooms, Swiss, country potatoes, toast (I chose honey-oat); and a glassa Ginger Orange Juice Punch to drink
(Yes, I know it is a bit of a strange transition from the dulcet, soothing tones of Lady Ella to the raucous cacophony of those Aero-boyos, but keep reading and you will get the reason for the second EweToobular video. Maybe...) I went back to Ella's American Kitchen (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 12th, 2019) for breakfast (well, "Brunch", whatever). It looks like Ella's Polk Street location has now (very recently) closed ~ circa September 24th or so. It had not been open for very long; it had only opened back in August 2018. I had only visited that spot once; this Presidio Avenue location is a lot closer and easier for me to get to, anyway (I actually found a legal parking spot right in front of the restaurant today).
In my opinion, Swiss cheese and mushrooms are always a good combination (well, that is, if you are not either lactose- or fungi-intolerant). This was a decent enough breakfast ("Brunch"... whatever) and there were a few pluses and a few minuses to it. Pluses: it had a whole lotta good, melty Swiss cheese inside; and there was a HUGE mess o' homefries on the plate. Minuses: the mushrooms were incorporated into the egg-mixture and not inside the omelette itself; and they no longer seem to be making their own breads (this is a major pity), and it was now just some plain ol' pre-made, sliced honey-oat bread. For condimentary supplementation, Ella's American Kitchen has both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce on the tables. I used some of my own Old St. AugustineDatil Pepper Sauce (Thanks,Greg & Cindy!) on top of the omelette and some Dragon's LairExtra HotCayenne & HabaneroHot Sauce (Thanks,Mom!) all over the potatoes. Additionally, all over both the omelette and potatoes I used several grinds of The Spice & Tea Exchange®Florida Sunshine Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!). (not really such a) Strange Coffee Interlude (Now here is where the above seemingly unjuxtaselectioned video comes into play.) Before even heading out the door for breakfast this morning, I made myself a single cuppa (prepared via the pour-over drip-method) Joey Kramer Rockin' & Roastin'® Coffee - Guatemala Medium Roast (Thanks, Kerry!). They have this labeled as a "Medium Roast", but it seemed almost like a pretty d*rn good Dark Roast to me. Needless to say, I liked this cuppa even more than the music of that noisy group from Massachusetts. ♪ "The Coffee kept a-pourin' all night long... " ♫ https://www.rockinandroastin.com/coffee Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Mushroom Swiss Omelet ~ 6.4; Joey Kramer Rockin' & Roastin'® Coffee - Guatemala Medium Roast ~ 7.3
http://dottiestruebluesf.com/ Place: Dottie's True blue café Location: 28 6th Street (on the corner of Stevenson Street) Hours: open 7:30am Thursday through Tuesday Meal: Avocado, Tomato, Jalapeño, Corn, Scallion & Feta Frittata~ served with toast (where I upgraded and went with a chunk of their grilled chili-Cheddar cornbread with jalapeño jelly) and potatoes (that would be of the homefried variety); and, to drink, a glassa orange juice
(There is no EweToobular juxtaselection [well, none of which I am aware] for these two songs, I just happen to really enjoy the music of Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE. The first song is not only my favourite song of hers, it is also one of my All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll[-ish] Songs of All-Time.) Because I could and because I can, I headed back over to Dottie's True blue café (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, January 12th, 2019) again for breakfast this morning. Even before seeing what was listed this weekend, I pretty much had my mind set on ordering whichever Frittata was offered on their specials chalkboard (the combination of items in today's frittata was the same as I have had a few times before). However, there were a few other items off (on?) the specials chalkboard that I coulda gone with (for?), too, ferinstance: Caramelized Onion, Gruyère, Sweet Potato Tart ~ with two eggs any style and fruit; Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Stuff[ sic ] French Toast; or Peach Blueberry French Toast. Additionally, I have been known to make a meal outta one of their fresh-baked goods by adding a coupla eggs on the side to ovoid out the meal. The baked goods are truly that large that they can comprise mostly a halfa meal. Today's choices offered some that I have not sampled yet: Sweet Potato CaramelMuffin (this one intrigued me the most, and I really shoulda taken one of these to go home with me for later in the day!); CoconutChoco Chips Muffin; Lemon BlueberryCustard Cake; or Peach BlueberryCobbler Roll.
What can I really say about this meal? It was simply un stile italiano omelette with a buncha ingredients that I like... plus Feta! So, of course, I liked it. The cornbread-upgrade was a very wise decision (which I knew it would be). Not only is their cornbread top-notch, but the small ramekin of jalapeño jelly that comes with it is pretty d*rn tasty all on its ownsome. I made sure to use up the entire contents. Even though I was well-aware that Dottie's True blue café offers a diverse array of their own condimentary supplementation, once again, I just used a little of my own Old St. Augustine Snake Bite Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the frittata and some H*ll's Kitchen®Whiskey Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the potatoes. I also made sure to use several grinds/twists of my portable grains of paradise[1] grinder on top of both the frittata and the potatoes. the WildParrots of San Francisco Interlude While waiting in line before the doors opened, I saw a small pandemonium of seven of the feather-brained chatterboxes flying overhead heading south past Mission Street. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Frittata ~ 6.7; the Wild Parrotsof San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________
1. http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Afra_mel.html Straight outta the mouths/pages of WikipediA: Aframomum melegueta is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, and closely related to cardamom. Its seeds are used as a spice (ground or whole), and commonly known as grains of paradise, melegueta pepper, alligatorpepper, Guinea grains, ossame, or fom wisa; it imparts a pungent, black-pepper-like flavour with hints of citrus.
https://www.breakfastattiffanyssf.com/ (And, no, I did not have breakfast upstairs at Dr. Liberman Family Dentistry this morning... they can never quite seem to get their poached eggs al dente enough for me.) Place: Breakfast at Tiffany's[1] Location: 2499 San Bruno Avenue (at Thornton Avenue) Hours: open Monday - Friday at 7:00am; Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am Meal: San Bruno Florentine (Benedict) ~ 3 poached eggs, sourdough English muffins, sautéed spinach and mushrooms, sausage patties (nixed these, of course), Hollandaise, and Jack, and served with Tiff's Original Hashor rabbit-food mix (you can guess which of the two sides I went with); and to drink with the meal, a glassa freshly-squeezed (as in just "freshly-squeezed" for every glassa) orange juice; and, aforehand, a cuppa drip-style Coffee at four barrel - Columbia (but I did not get which specific blend/roast ~ it was probably either El Tablón or Lucas Melo) https://www.fourbarrelcoffee.com/
(I have no idea if either Sir Mick or Commoner Keif like Eggs Benedict or jazzed-up hashbrowns, but Exile on Main St. is not only my favourite the Rolling Stones[2] album, it is easily in my Top Three All-Time Favourite Albums [Rock-and/or-Roll or not] of All-Time.) It is always such a looong drive over to Breakfast at Tiffany's (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 26th, 2016), so I was very happy to see that all of their cooks showed up on time for work this morning. (Because, unlike yesterday morning, I really had no back-up plan options in mind. This place is completely on the other side of town and I really do not know that many nearby places, otherwise. It would even be Breakfastary Starting Rotation-worthy if it were not so far across town.)
(There were a few of these interesting [which I am calling] cracked eggshell hanging lamps in the restaurant.) There are still a few other item-ideas that I need to check out one of these days (whenever I am feeling up for another cross-town road-trip): French Toast Special ~ crustless French toast (3), w eggs any style, breakfast links (2), country sausage patty (they do not reference from which country Ms. Patricia might have emigrated), or bacon strips (2), apple cinnamon (where I would most probably also supplement this with a side of Tiffany's Original Hash Brownsupgraded to Stella(!)); or San Bruno Ave Omelette ~ spinach, mushrooms, Jack, served with Tiff'sOriginal Hashor rabbit-food mix, toast or English muffin (so, basically this is the omeletized version of what I had this morning). Additionally, on their blackboard specials they had #23 Benedict Trio ~ Corned Beef, Loco Moco, Fried Chicken served with Hash (which I could not order, but sounded decent for those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying flesh of bovines and poultry).
Three (3) poached eggs! I really was not expecting that and must have missed it when I was perusing the menu. (I wonder who got my other half-English muffin this morning.) Needless to say (but I am needlessly saying it here, anyway), it was a whole lotta food for me. Who needs lunch, anyway? This was made with lots of fresh sautéed spinach and sliced button (or crimini) mushrooms (so, this would not be for the fungi-faint of heart). Of course, I had my Tiffany's Original Hash Brownsupgraded to Stella(!) ~ with green chile, tomatoes, Cheddar and Jack, sour cream (and, not listed, these also come with a small ramekin of salsa), which is truly the only way to go (and, for which, this is one of the reasons I do like "to go" back there) if you ask me (and even if you don't ask me). Breakfast at Tiffany's offers the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces as condimentary supplements: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal. I simply used some more of my own Hot Links®SerranoHot Sauce (Thanks, Brian! Hopefully, if I go heavily enough with it, there is just one more dosage left in that bottle now.) on top of two of the eggs and some more grinded-up grains of paradise all over everything. (not so) Strange Coffee Interlude Knowing from my last trip over there that four barrel had a really cool (and almost hidden) coffeeshop just one block away, I made sure to arrive in the neighborhood about a half-hour early to get me a very decent cuppa to enjoy pre-breakfast. They only have one drip-style Coffee available in the day and (sadly) no longer offer a choice of single-cuppa pour-overs (I was eyeing one of their Ethiopian blends/roasts ~ they offer two or three for sale in bags). The cuppa that I did have was verrry good all the same (or even if it was few the different). So, if you are ever exiled on San Bruno Avenue, just make sure you stop by Breakfast at Tiffany's for a great breakfast and four barrel for a very good cuppa! Glen Bacon Scale Rating: San Bruno Florentine ~ 6.5; Tiffany'sOriginal Hash Brownsupgraded to Stella(!) ~ 7.2; four barrel - Columbia ~ 7.2 ___________________
1. This is a nice article on the re-opening of this iconic neighborhood diner. There was a framed copy of it over my left shoulder where I was sitting at the end of the diner-counter this morning. https://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/How-an-S-F-neighborhood-saved-its-diner-6818329.php 2. Just in case you are older than 90 or younger than 10 or happen to live in Bumfuq*, Egypt: http://www.rollingstones.com/ *(I bet that not many of you were aware that there is an actual town in Egypt named "بمفق". It is located just outside Cairo on your way to the Amazon River.)
https://www.homeplatesf.net/ (New location, new web-site.) Place: Home Plate (new) Location: 2150 Lombard Street (between Fillmore and Steiner Streets) Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Friday at 7:00am, and Sunday - Saturday at 7:00am Meal: Garden Omelette ~ mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, scallion, bell peppers, spinach, avocado, Cheddar cheese, served with salad (read: your basic bo-ring rabbit-food mixed lettuce-stuff) and potato medley or potato latkes (add $2.00 for fresh fruit instead of potatoes ~ which only an idiot would ever do), sourdough toast; plus, all breakfasts still come with a complimentary mini-scone with two different homemade (well, Home Plate-made) jams (I think today's tasty offerings were mango and strawberry); and a larga glassa (Honeydew) Melon juice/drink
(You only wish that you were cool enough to wear an over-sized suit-coat and dance with a floor-lamp!)[1] Normally I try to get back to Home Plate (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 26th, 2017) at least once a year before the Baseball Season has begun and that has generally been in mid-late February. Luckily for me, I waited a few extra months as I probably would have gone over there during their recent relocation when they were closed.
Home Plate has moved one block eastward on Lombard Street. You would be surprised how much difference one block can make. This is such a better location business-wise. It is a much larger space, too. I am sure they will double their already busy business. They have been relocated now since Presidents Day Weekend in the space that used to house Bay WatchRestaurant (and formerly First Watch Restaurant) for many years (and directly across the street from one of the Mel's drive-ins). They have completely refurbished the interior and it has a much more "upscaley" décor now. I kinda liked their old more "Homey (Plate)" feeling better. At least, they still have old photos of Baseball players on the walls (even if some of them are of old Y*nkees players). I have enjoyed going to this little Thai-family-owned restaurant for many years now and am glad to see that they did not close shop. Some other interesting ideas that I was idea-ing: Dulce de Leche Pancakes ~ banana, caramel, sliced almond[ sic ] and whipped cream (I do want to try this dish one of these days; however, I really was not in the mood for a "sweet" breakfast; plus, I just [sorta] had "pancakes" for breakfast yesterday); Marco Polo (Benedict) ~ two poached eggs, turkey, tomatoes, avocado, served on English muffin, Hollandaise sauce with salad and potato medley or potato latkes (add $2.00 for fresh fruit instead of potatoes ~ "NO!") (of course, if I were to order this one, it would be without the dead, decaying barnyard-foul-fowl; I am trying to figure out why they named this dish after an Italian explorer of the Orient ~ all of the special ingredients are New World items and none would have been available anywhere in either Europe or Asia in the 13th Century); Spinach Frittata ~ spinach, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, served with potato medley or potato latkes (add $2.00 for Fresh fruit instead of potatoes ~ still "NO!"), sourdough toast (I have had this a few time before, but it bears repeating, Yogi); or Greek Frittata ~ spinach, tomatoes, Calamata [ sic ] olives, Feta cheese (I have also had this a few time before, but it is so good that it doubly-bears repeating, Boo-Boo). And for those of you that partake of the dead, decaying aquatic insects, there is also the Bangkok Frittata ~ shrimps[ sics ; now why the have "shrimps" in the plural and "almond" only singular... immano! ], tomato, mushrooms, scallion, herbs.
(This was ~ well, it still is ~ located directly across the street from Home Plate's old location.) Oh, no! My closest local IHOP®Restaurant in San Francisco has closed?! Now where the h*ck am I supposed to get my freebie Rudy-Tudy-Fresh-and-Frudy Birthday Breakfast?!? (There is actually another remaining location on Beach Street in the Fisherman's Wharf area; however, that would mean dealing with even harder parking and even more touristas.) (And good luck trying to lease out this large space and building with its iconic Swiss château-style peaks. At least it does come with its own adjacent parking lot.)
I liked this omelette and its ingredients combination. 'nuff said, McGreevy! This was one HUGE omelette! I just managed to finish it all... well, except for a bite or three... They are now serving a medley of rainbowpotatos (Yeah, I am well-aware it should be "potatoes", James Danforth, but it looks so much nicer with seven letters and rainbow-colouring) as their breakfast side; it included Yukon gold potatos, purple/blue potatos, red potatos, and sweet potatos. Checking my past few 'blog-entries at this place, this is a new addition. They used to offer hashbrowns and not this current version of homefries/roasted potatoes (or potatos). These were very good, but I will probably opt for their option of potato latkes in future visits ~ those are extremely tasty! Home Plate offers both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original) for use as condimentary supplements. I am still trying to get to the bottom of my bottle of Palo Alto Fire Fighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!), so I used a little more of it on the rainbow potatos. (Sheesh! This bottle must be a corn-u-cope-ee-ya! It is taking me forever to use it up.) I also used a light dusting of Charlie's Chili Stuff (Thanks, Sharon! ~ Charlie may not surf, but he sure knows his chilli-powder!) on top of the omelette. New location, new (old?) web-site (again, finally), new potatosmedley; same great old food! Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Garden Omelette ~ 7.1; complimentary mini-scone with jams ~ 7.3 ___________________
1. Yeah, I probably have used this song ~ and this exact video ~ (several times?) before, but it is not only my favourite Talking Heads song, it is also one of my All-Time Favourite Songs of All-Time. So deal with it!
♪ "There's nuthin wrong with me lovin'... Challah French Toast... You know what I'm talkin' about... You don't have to worry that it's wrong... Let's get it on!" ♫
Place: the Manor~ An American Bistro Diner[1] Location: 321a West Portal Avenue (between 14th and 15th Avenues) Hours: open Tuesday - Sunday at 8:00am (they now open a half-hour later than they did last year, but this is still plenty early enough for me to be called a breakfast-joint) Meal: (main breakfast) Challah French Toast ~ with warm fruit compote (option); a side of Deviled Eggs with Togarashi[2] (this came as three halves ~ so, even using Common Core Math, basically 1-1/2 eggs); and a large glassa fresh squeezed orange juice (and afterward for a breakfastary dessert) at BallastCoffee™ a(n extra LARGE) cuppa their house "Regular" drip Coffee; and a PassionfruitChocolatedoughnut from dynamo donut
(See below for today's EweToobular juxtaselectionary-ratiocination.) I went back to the Manor ~ An American Bistro Diner (see last/previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, April 1st, 2017[3]) for breakfast this morning. Once again, I sat at the end of the diner-counter nearest the kitchen-prep area. This morning they were primarily playing on the house radio/stereo a pandora-channel (I guessed and asked, and was told it was indeed a pandora-channel) featuring cool 60's-70's Motown/Soul/R&B classics ~ suchas: the above-linked Marvin Gaye 1973 mega-hit; the Jackson Five; Aretha (no last name is really needed, is it?); Stevie Wonder; and Sam Cooke. There really are not that many different items from which to choose on their menu for breakfast, but I could have also made a meal of: Create Your Own Omelette ~ where I was thinking along the lines of either creating my own artichoke hearts, spinach, and Swiss omelette; or an avocado, roasted bell peppers, and Monterey Jack omelette creation; or possibly just getting one of their salads ~ Butter Leaf Salad with Roasted Beets, Apples, & Fried Goat Cheese or Green Goddess Salad with Little Gem Lettuce ~ and breakfastising them with either two poached eggs placed on top or (three halves) Deviled Eggs with Togarashi.
I mainly went with the choice of Challah French Toast because Passover started last evening... and this dish really should not be passed-over as it was truly exceptional. (I bet that it would have even made a great Last Supper for some unfortunate Nazarene.) The waitress/server-lady person offered some, but I decided (correctly) to forego any butter or maple syrup on top of the French toast; none was needed at all, as their warm fruit compote was perfect all on its ownsome. While this dish may not be in the same category as Baker Street Bistro's Pain Perdu Extraordinaire, it is definitely worth checking out. For condimentary supplementation, the Manor had both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for use on the tables and diner-counter. I did not really need any with my particular choices this morning, though.
My original plan after breakfast was to go back to Greenhouse Cafe (as I had been doing after breakfast for the past few years whenever I was in the West Portal neighborhood ~ and I was really looking forward to two or three of the mini-macarons that were sold there); however, they have closed up (Coffee-)shop and there is a brand-new (I was told by one of the barista-dudes ~ since October 2017) coffeehouse in its place. I actually walked right by BallastCoffee™ before back-tracking to discover that Greenhouse Cafe had closed; I did not recognize the façade at all with its new paint-job. Luckily, they did retain the backyard garden patio area; however, it was still way too foggy and chilly this morning to enjoy my Coffee and doughnut out there. Both the Coffee and the doughnut were very good. Happily, BallastCoffee™'s Coffee is much better than the Coffee that they used to serve at Greenhouse Cafe (which was never bad at all, anyway). I have had dynamo donut many times before (and this particular flavour, too) and knew beforehand that I would enjoy it. One of the barista-dudes told me that they do all their own Coffee-roasting in a facility in South San Francisco. I did not grill (or roast) him on exactly what blend/type of beans that are used in their "Regular" house Coffee (I will probably do so on a future visit, though). In a musical-juxtaposition to what was playing earlier at the Manor, BallastCoffee™ was playing on their house radio/stereo (I did not bother to ask, but I can only assume that it was another pandora-style channel) mostly 70's and 80's Rock-and/or-Roll songs ~ suchas: the above-linked Jimi song (while, little Robbie Zimmerman may have penned this song, Jimi completely owns it with his version); Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Yang; (and even a solo) Noel Yang; the Rollink Stonz; ... and Johnny Cash(?!?). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Challah French Toast ~ 7.4; Deviled Eggs with Togarashi~ 6.2; BallastCoffee™ "Regular" drip Coffee ~ 7.3; PassionfruitChocolatedoughnut from dynamo donut ~ 7.2; Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" ~ 7.5; Jimi's "Watchtower" ~ 9.5 (yes, I know, this may be the highest GBS Rating points that I have ever given here, but this song ~ tied with Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" ~ happens to be my All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll Song of All-Time and topping it would be very hard to do in my book[4])
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1. They informed me that this was shortened from their original idea of: "An American Bistro Diner Café Coffeehouse Grill Roadhouse Canteen Eatery Dive Restaurant Kinda-thing". 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day: Contrary to popular belief, Togarashi is not a Starfleet Academy no-win training exercise. Tōgarashi (唐辛子) is simply Japanese for genus Capsicum, or specifically the species Capsicum annuum, and commonly translated as chilli pepper. When the term is used in English, it refers to any number of chilli peppers or chilli pepper-related products from Japan, including Shichimi, or Shichimi tōgarashi, a condiment that is a spice mixture of seven different ingredients that varies by maker. 3. No foolin', this was exactly one year ago today. However, this is not necessarily a coincidence; my optometrist is directly across the street and I had to make my annual eye-appointment, anyway. 4. As I have stated many times before in the past, "my book" is just a 12-page colouring book, but I do try to stay within the lines... well, most of the time.
