Bayside Cafe

A breakfastary mini-roadtrip[1]:
Sausalito, Marin County, CA

http://www.baysidecafe-sausalito.com/


Place: Bayside Cafe and Juice Bar
Location: 1 Gate 6 Road, Sausalito, CA (located by the Kappas Marina, in the Harbor Center)
Hours: open seven days a week at 6:30am (closed every other day of the week)
Meal: the Veggie[2] Storm ~ scrambled eggs, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, spinach, & Jack cheese, all egg dishes served with choice of hashbrowns (which they have as two words, but I prefer the compound noun) or homefries (which they also have as two words, but I like to compound this word, too) and choice of toast; and something from their Juice Bar ~ Dole Express: pineapple juice, fresh-juiced apples, and fresh-juiced ginger

(I'll bet that you didn't know that the word "Sambade" in Spanish means "roadtrip". Would Carlos lie to you?)


I headed way up North for breakfast at
Bayside Cafe and Juice Bar this morning. I really like that they open up bright (well, the Sun was still not quite fully up yet when I pulled into the parking lot, but still) and early every day. This place was the complete opposite of the swanky dive that I ate at yesterday morning. This is more of a family-owned, nebby diner-ish joint. It is located in the Sausalito marina/harbour area just off Highway 101/Highway 1. 

Bayside Cafe is a medium-sized place and has seating of: six chairs (not stools) at the diner-counter; six tables for four; two tables for two; and ten extra-large booths for four (but I am sure these could accommodate a family of six if there were two small children in tow ~ if not, you can always leave the little rugrats outside to play in the low-tide mud ~ see following photo taken just around the back of the restaurant). Plus, there is a nice, large, covered patio area with an additional six tables for four and two tables for two.

The breakfast menu (which is served all day long, too) is really pretty extensive and offered lots of great choices; there were twenty different omelettes alone (well, twenty of the same omelette would not be alone, but together, I guess). Here are just a few of the dishes I was a-figurin'-on: (off their ?weekend/daily? Specials board as you walk in) Swedish Pancakes (with raspberry-blueberry butter and fresh fruit; I was really tempted by that one; maybe next time, if they have it offered again); the Heart Breaker (an omelette made with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, spinach, & cheese; which is not very different from what I ended up getting); the Veggie Volt (scrambled eggs, zucchini, tomatoes, spinach, & Swiss cheese; this was another one that I was really debating on; another time, too); the Spinach Poacher (poached eggs on top of sautéed spinach, topped with pico de gallo and Feta; served with tortillas or toast; as if there weren't enough reasons for a return trip already).

And just so those of you that aren't stupid vegetarians don't feel left out, there were a few really interesting meatetarian choices, too: the Wannabe Reuben (an omelette made with Pastrami, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, & grilled onions; if they had offered that one with sauerkraut in it, I may have even ordered it, less the dead, decaying, brined bovine product, of course); Mexican Mambo (an omelette made with Louisiana sausage, jalapeños, sour cream, salsa, & cheese); or Munga, Munga! (scrambled eggs, Italian sausage, mushrooms, Feta cheese, & salsa; I can't be sure, but I think that "Munga, Munga" translates from Italian as "internationally confusing as Hell" ~ Italian sausage, Greek cheese, and Mexican salsa?).

This was a very good scramble mess. The artichoke hearts were of the brined variety (not the kind that are marinated in an oil and vinegar base; I like those in salads, but they usually tend to make a scramble or an omelette a bit messy). Artichokes and spinach have always been two of my favourite "veggies" (Ugh!) since I was a kid.

I really like that they offer a choice of potato sides, that gets extra points for that right there. I went with the hashbrowns this morning and was glad that I did as they were prepared in a very interesting manner. These also get extra bonus points as they were made with (red and green) bell peppers and (white) onions mixed in with the shredded potatoes; I have never seen that done before and really liked that idea.

For my choice of toast, I went with a country biscuit. This seemed to just be one of those that are ready-made (as opposed to fresh homemade), but it still beats what Mr. Thomas may have to offer with his faux crumpets (nooks and crannies be damned).

The Dole Express was excellent. The juiced apples make a nice frothy head on the drink and the fresh ginger adds a nice bite to it all. I am not really much of a fan of straight pineapple juice, it's usually way too sweet for my taste (however, I really do love fresh pineapple), but the apples and ginger really tempered the overt sweetness. (The only minus that I can think of was that it came with a plain ol' straight/non-bendy straw. Bendy straws are the best!)

For condimentary supplements, Bayside Cafe has on all the tables Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (bottles of both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce). I just used some of my own The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Winter chilli sauce on the scrambled mess and smoked Chipotle chilli sauce on the potatoes (Thanks again for both, Greg & Cindy!).

This turned out to be one of the safest places for breakfast that I have eaten at in a long while as there were four Sausalito City Police officers and three California Highway Patrolmen all eating there while I was there. I would just liked to have seen Pumpkin and Honey Bunny try any of their foolish shenanigans there this morning (Vincent and Jules wouldn't even have been needed)!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: the Veggie Storm ~ 6.5; Dole Express ~ 7.2


1. I am calling this a "mini-roadtrip" mainly because it took me less time getting there this morning (about fifteen minutes ~ it is a straight shot for me north across the ol' Golden Gate Bridge) than it normally takes me to drive to most places right here in the city. 

2. Oh, sure! Billy-boy and his spell-checkering Gestapo at Microsoft do not even recognise perfectly valid words like "breakfastary" or "condimentary", but they have no problem with such idiotic, made-up words like "veggies". Buncha brown-shirted Nazi bastages!

Scala’s Bistro

"Show me a woman who's tan all over ~ and I'll show you a woman who's done everything under the Sun." 
~ Anne Onymous

http://www.scalasbistro.com/


Place: Scala's[1] Bistro[2]
Location: 432 Powell Street (between Post and  Sutter Streets, just a half block up from scenic Union Square)
Hours: open for Breakfast Monday-Friday at 7:00am, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am; open for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday at 10:30am
Meal: (the simply enough named) Omelette ~ asparagus, forest mushrooms, and Gruyère, served with pan fried potatoes and toast; and a cuppa (well, actually, a Thermosa®) Mr. Espresso® Italian Roast (naturalmente)

http://mrespresso.com/

(No real reason for today's EweToobular juxtaselection. I just couldn't think of a good "fishy" or "reptile" song.)


I wanted to check out a new (for me, not to San Francisco) place for breakfast; so I headed on over to Scala's Bistro. This is a large, swanky kinda place with real cloth napkins on the tables (a place that I would not normally let the likes of myself enter if I was running the joint). It is located right on Powell Street (where one of the main Cable Car lines is always clanging by) in the same building as the Sir Francis Drake (and I mainly know this as the restrooms for the restaurant are located inside the hotel; I actually got a bit lost while trying to find them, but at least I didn't end up on the 21st floor and at the Starlight Room).

Even though I had arrived about forty-five minutes before they had even started serving the snooty-ass "Brunch" crowd (and you just know them pretentious bastages always expect "real cloth napkins", too), for some reason they were already serving stuff off their "Brunch" menu. This turned out to be good because their standard breakfast menu really doesn't have that many items from which to choose. Here are some other good choices off the "Brunch" menu: Eggs Al Forno (2 eggs, roasted potatoes, coppa picante, Swiss chard, fresh Mozzarella, toast; of course, I would have ordered this senza la carne maiale morto e in decomposizione; I am not quite sure who this Al Forno guy is, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he is related to that Al Fresco guy); Chilaquiles (Gravemente?!? At an Italian bistro?); Brioche French Toast (pears, huckleberries, Chantilly); or (the appropriately named) Drake's Cakes (buttermilk pancakes, maple syrup, whipped butter, bananas, or seasonal fruit).

This was a very decent Omelette and all of the ingredients really seemed to work well together. I was very pleased to see that the Omelette was made with lots of fresh, tender asparagus and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms[3]; a lot of times when a place has asparagus as an ingredient they really go cheapo with it. I asked the waiter-server guy if they changed the ingredients seasonally, and he confirmed this. So, I can always go back again and get a different Omelette in the future (it would be very difficult to get a different Omelette in the past, of course).

Their version of pan-fried potatoes was made with lots of julienne red bell peppers and bits of scallions. The potatoes were not charred and crispy like I normally like 'em, but they were very nice all the same. The type of potato they used were small white ones and were nice and creamy (I didn't bother bothering the waiter-server guy exactly what kind they were, though).

I went with sourdough for my toast choice.

I really liked that they leave an actual Thermos® of Coffee on the table for you so that you can help yourself to as much Coffee as you would like ~ and I liked about a cuppa and two and a half refillas. This is kinda like they do at IHOP®, but just with a lot better quality blend/roast of Coffee.

I didn't really ask what they offered for condimentary supplementation, but I noticed that they had bottles of Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) on some tables. I just went with some of my own (mainly because I really need to use these up soon) of The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Hell Mouth on the Omelette and some Mango hot chilli sauce on the potatoes (Thanks for both, Cindy & Greg!).

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

I didn't see any of the fine-feathered little noise-makers this morning, but while on the bus over to the restaurant, I heard a small pandemonium of them overhead at the O'Farrell-Van Ness bus stop. I would guess there were anywhere from six to ten of them, but they chatter so much, it could easily have been just two or three.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Omelette ~ 6.8


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

"(la) Scala" in Italian can mean either "scale (as in fish or reptiles)", "stairs/stairway/staircase", or "ladder". I don’t know which meaning they meant to mean for the name of the restaurant, though.

Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, parte b:

The word in Italian for a "balancing/weighing scale" would be "bilancia" or "libra" (like the Zodiac sign).

2. I think they went with "Bistro" in their name to avoid the whole "Caffè"/"Café"/"Caffé" obfuscation.

3. I wasn't sure exactly which "forest mushrooms" they meant (Aren't most mushrooms from the forest?), so I asked the waiter-server guy again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grifola_frondosa

Gallardo’s ~ Mexican Restaurant

"In the abundance of water 
The fool is thirsty" ~ Bob Marley, Rat Race

http://gallardosmexicanrestaurant.com/


Place: Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant
Location: 3248 18th Street (on the corner of Shotwell Street)
Hours: open every day of the week at 7:00am
Meal: Nopales[1] con Huevo ~ scrambled eggs with cactus, onion, tomato, and bell pepper, served with rice, beans (frijoles refritos), and tortillas; and a large glass of jugo Mixto[2] ~ naranja y zanahoria (it's a Mexican thing; a 50/50 blend of fresh squeezed orange and carrot juices… you can't get blood out of a turnip, but you can squeeze juice out of a carrot, apparently)

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselections are in celebration of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day. I bet you weren't aware of the Hispanic-Celtic connection of Los Lonely Boyos. Plus, I really don't ever need an Irish excuse to play a George Ivan song.)


Volví a Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant para el desayuno (see previous 'blog-entry from April 27th, 2014). I had thought about sitting outside this morning, but it was still just a little bit too cool and breezy. So I did the next best thing, I sat inside in front of one of the open windows and enjoyed a nice, fresh, cool breeze at my back, which was tempered by the indoor temperature (the breeze was tempered, not my back). I really like the gold and deep red (maroon-ish) interior of the joint, all with matching tablecloths.

Go 49ers!

There are several other good ideas from which to choose off their menu: Huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and bell pepper; not much different than what I ordered, anyway); Huevos Rancheros (fried eggs on a tortilla topped with salsa ranchera and Monterey Jack cheese; I probably shoulda had this in comparison to yesterday's version of the dish); Torta de Huevo (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and bell pepper cooked in a crêpe style); or Papas[3] con Huevo (scrambled eggs with potato, onion, tomato, and bell pepper). They also have several omelette dishes from which to choose, just to name a few: Chorizo Omelette (filled with melted cheese and Mexican sausage); Spanish Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, and bell pepper); Spinach Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, bell pepper, and spinach); Nopales Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, bell pepper, and cactus; basically the same dish that I got this morning, but in omelette form); or (the probably forgettable ~ I kid you not) Banana Omelette (filled with melted cheese and, yes, banana; however, even I am not brave enough to try that one).

I have also seen this dish called "Huevos con Nopales" at other Mexican restaurants (you say papas o patatas… I say nopales…). Nopales are hard to explain if you have never had them, I just tell people they are somewhat the taste and texture of boiled green beans. I liked how all of the vegetables (including the nopales) were nicely charred/grilled and then incorporated into the scramble mess. I probably should have also asked for one or two fresh jalapeños diced up and thrown into the mix, too.

One of the highlights of eating at many family-owned Mexican restaurants is that they always make their own warm, fresh, homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) corn tortillas. Today I had three in my tortilla basket thing (there is probably an actual Mexican word for a tortilla warmer/holder, and one of these days I might remember to ask), but you can always ask for more tortillas if you like.

For condimentary supplements, I just used some of their own homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) salsa roja all over the scramble mess. I ended up using about a half of the small jar on the table. It really wasn't that picante, but it had un sabor muy buen. Bringing any of my own hot sauces to a Mexican restaurant would be like bringing carbones a Castillonuevo…

Pay It Forward Weekend… or bugger off! ~ Part V (cont.)

For today's "pay it forward" effort, I am just making a shameless plug for all of the 'blogs that I am currently following. I would like to especially point out the newest one called "I Am a Stray/Thoughts from A Rambling Psyche" by a young college student named Dom. 

(see My Blog List in the right column here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Nopales con Huevos ~ 6.5


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

"Nopal" and "nopales" come from the Nahuatl word "nohpalli" for the pads of the Opuntia cactus plant. 

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

"Mixto" in Spanish simply means "mixed" (see, sometimes these aren't always cirugía de cohetes o ciencia del cerebro). I was surprised to hear that it is pronounced (and I asked the Mexican waitress-server lady person twice just to make sure) as "MIX-toe" and not "MIKH-toe" with the "x" pronounced like the "x" in "México".

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número tres:

The word for "potato" in Spanish can either be "papa" or "patata".

Dunyā

Pay It Forward Weekend… or bugger off! ~ Part V[1]

http://www.dunyasf.com/


Place: Dunyā[2]
Location: 1609 Polk Street (between Clay and Sacramento Streets)
Hours: open Saturday and Sunday at 10:00am for "Brunch"
Meal: Mediterranean Ranchero ~ pita, Mozzarella, hummus, poached eggs, pommodoro[3] sauce, served with country potatoes; a glass of orange juice; and (before they had opened) a cuppa at Moka Coffee

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselection is just because this song was included in the soundtrack of the 2000 movie "Pay It Forward".)


I had passed by Dunyā before and made a mental note (or, in my case, more of a "psychotic epistle") to check them out for breakfast (which they unfortunately have labelled as "Brunch") one of these days. Today just happened to be "one of these days". They have a pretty cool space inside with wood paneling and old photos of San Francisco. It's not that large of a place, with seating of just five tables for two, one large table for eight to ten people, one table for four, one table for eight, and ten seats/stools at the bar-counter area.

I liked the choices that they had to offer on their "Brunch" menu. There were several other good ideas for stupid vegetarians: (the simply-enough named) Frittata (portabella mushrooms, red onion, tomato, roasted peppers, and Feta); Mediterranean Omelet (spinach, Feta cheese, eggplant, olives, and Tzatziki; this was going to be my "fall-back" choice); Cheese Omelet (Mozzarella, Feta, goat cheese, tomato, and green onion); or Vegetarian Omelet (seasonal veggies and Mozzarella cheese; while I was glad to see that they had the good sense to call the omelette "Vegetarian", I was disappointed that they still felt it necessary to use the aggravating term "veggies"). For those of you that like to partake of the dead, decaying porcine flesh, they also offer Prosciutto Omelet (sun-dried tomato, roasted peppers, Parmesan cheese; and I assume some prosciutto, too) or Polk Omelet (bacon, Mozzarella, avocado, parsley; "You poke-a my omeletta, I break-a you face!").

This turned out to be a great concept ~ kinda like a cross between a standard Huevos Rancheros and an Eggs Benedict dish. This was made with a toasted pita as the bottom layer (in place of the standard corn or flour tortilla), some hummus next (substituted for any frijoles refritos), poached eggs (instead of poached eggs) and (a really good amount of) Mozzarella cheese (as a substitution for Monterey Jack and/or Cheddar) for the next layer, and then all topped with a pretty decent red gravy (instead of a salsa ranchera).

I liked that there was some dried and ground sumac fruit (drupes, whatever) sprinkled on top of the country potatoes (which in this case was probably the country of Türkiye Cumhuriyeti). I was pretty sure that it was sumac, but I confirmed my guess with the waiter-server person guy. It's a Turkish/Arab thing.

Dunyā only has for condimentary supplementation some (homemade?) harissa[4].  I used a good amount of that on top of the salsa di pomodoro and some of my own The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Winter chilli sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) generously on the potatoes. I also "paid it forward" with this hot sauce and another The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Mango hot chilli sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy! ~ they happen to be no relation to the above two people) to some guys at the next table over. They really seemed to enjoy the Winter chilli sauce a lot, too.

It was at Moka Coffee where I did my "pay it forward" deed. I had about a half-hour to kill (strictly in self-defense, mind you) before Dunyā opened so I decided to get a cuppa at a local coffeeshop (which in this case happened to be right next door to the restaurant). Working behind the counter, there was a completely clueless barista (baristetta, whatever) that apparently can't count to five on one hand. To pay for the requisite $2.00 for the Coffee, I handed the lady behind the counter a $20.00 bill. I then explained that I wanted to "pay it forward" $5.00 to the next few people that were to order any Coffee or pastries; she really had no concept of which I was trying to do (and I suspect that her grasp of English was not entirely all there either), and I am sure that just confused her even more. She only had fives in the till (they had been open for over three hours by that time, and that there were no ones was a mystery to me and apparently to her, too) and ended up only giving me $12.00 back in change, of which there were two fivers, four quarters, and one Sacajawea dollar coin (which I later "paid it forward" to some homeless person guy at the bus stop near my apartment; I just hope he realizes that it is actually worth $1.00 and he doesn't mistake it for just another quarter). The Coffee was actually pretty decent, if not overly-pricey at the extended $3.00 cost. Of course, I didn't even notice being short-changed until I went to pay my bill after breakfast, which by that time was too late to go back and complain to the idiot next door (of course, I am also an idiot for not counting my change when receiving it, too). I am pretty sure they are the same owners as Dunyā as I saw the same waiter-server person guy behind the counter there that waited-served me later. So, I made sure to leave one dollar less tip for him than I normally would after the meal…

The next few Coffees are on you (via me), Scott (that is, IF the idiot behind the counter doesn't pocket the $5.00 along with the $1.00 in change that she owed me ~ hey, maybe she will put the $6.00 towards English lessons).

R.I.P., Mr. XV!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Mediterranean Ranchero ~ 6.9; Moka Coffee (whichever blend/roast it was) ~ 6.5


1. For an explanation on exactly what this all means, see previous 'blog-entries from the first weekends in March 2014, 2013, and 2012, or the initial 'blog-entry from March 5th, 2011.

While technically "Pay It Forward Weekend" should be observed on the first weekend in March (as I have decreed it for the past four years now), I seemed to have missed it last weekend and am "paying it forward" now to this weekend. I blame it all on that bastage Daylight Saving Time.

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, bir numara:

"Dünya" means "Earth" or "World" in Turkish. I asked the waiter-server person guy what the name of the restaurant meant. I don't know why they have it spelled as "Dunyā", though.

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numero due:

They had this spelled as "pommodoro" on their menu; however, the correct spelling in Italian should be "pomodoro". "Pomodoro" simply means "tomato" in Italian; the word root comes from the words for "apple" ("pomo") and "I adore/I love" ("adoro"). 

Extra-added stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, iki numarali  ~ bölüm B:

The word for "tomato" in Turkish is "domates".*

Of course, prior to 1492, there would not have even been an actual word for "tomato" in Italy or Turkey.

*(I don't know what the words for "idiot barista/baristetta" are in Turkish, though.)

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, رقم ثلاثة:

As best as I can figure, "harissa" means "mash/mush" in Arabic. Which would make sense as it is basically a pounded mash of chillies, spices, and herbs.

Caffé DeLucchi

"Rome wasn't burned in a day." 
~ Leo Rosten

(However, I believe it took a lot less time for Pompeii and Herculaneum to burn. 

And, contrary to popular belief, the rumour that Nero was playing the fiddle while Rome burned is historically inaccurate. The fiddle had not been invented at that time and Nero normally sang at public performances, and he was probably in Antium at the time of the fire.)

http://www.caffedelucchi.com/


Place: Caffé DeLucchi
Location: 500 Corso Cristòforo Colombo (on the corner of Stockton Street)
Hours: open Monday through Friday at 10:00am, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am
Meal: Mushroom Spinach Pizza (Perche non "Funghi Spinaci Pizza"? Immano.) ~ mushrooms medley, spinach, Mozzarella & Fontina[1], and sunny eggs; and for a breakfastary dessert (for which I still have yet to come up with a decent portmanteau word) un doppio Espresso and a soft cannolo[2] at 
Caffe Trieste

http://coffee.caffetrieste.com/

(Today happens to be International Women’s Day; hence, the first video. The second video is more of a EweToobular juxtaselection for the dessert stop.)


Sono tornato a Caffé DeLucchi (or Café DeLucchi or Caffè DeLucchi; take your pick; it's all a little linguistically and grammatically confusing; for simplicity reasons, I will just refer to it as Caffé DeLucchi; see last 'blog-entry from November 10th, 2013) per la colazione. To make it all even a little more confusing, their new menu simply has the name "DeLucchi" (senza "Caffè"… o "Caffé"… ou "Café") on it. Maybe they have been reading my ‘blog…

I think it is funny how all of the six sidewalk tables have actual tablecloths and cloth napkins on them, but all of the tables inside are bare (but with really cool copper-covered tops) and have paper napkins only.

There are several other interesting-sounding ideas on the breakfast portion of the menu (and these are definitely worth a return visit… or rèturn visit… or réturn visit even): Elvis in North Beach! (housemade peanut butter, applewood smoked bacon, fig jam, and bananas on a toasted ciabatta[3] roll with house potatoes; I would order this senza la carne maiale morto in decomposizione, of course; they actually added the exclamatory mark to the name of this dish!); Polenta Gorgonzola (warm polenta, melted Gorgonzola, clover honey, thick cut applewood smoked bacon, and poached eggs); Polenta Fungi (polenta, melted Fontina, braised kale, mushroom medley, & poached eggs); or Mediterranean Scramble (two eggs, Feta, Kalamata olives, roasted red bell peppers, red onion, spinach, artichoke, capers, with polenta & toast; which is also known as "La Frittata Vegetariano Lavello della Cucina"). 

This had a strange culinary chiaroscuro of flavours working here and I liked it a lot. It was made with lots of baby spinach and the "medley of mushrooms" seemed to be three different types (definitely not for the faint of fungi). There were two "sunny eggs" on top of the Pizza; normally you would just get a breakfast Pizza with one only. There was no tomato sauce on this Pizza, which I would have preferred, but it was all still very good. 

For condimentary supplements, Caffé DeLucchi offers three types of Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce: original red, Green (jalapeño), and Chipotle. I went with a little of my own The Wiltshire Chilli Farm
smoked Chipotle chilli sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg! I am almost halfway through this bottle ~ I am not sure if that is being optimistic or pessimistic, though.) on about half of the Pizza.

Pizza for breakfast is always great! Add a scoop of Chocolate and Coffee Ice Cream (Cioccolato e Caffè Gelato), a side of French fries (patate fritte), and serve this with a Beer (Birra), and you may just have the World's Most Perfect and Complete Breakfast!

I had intentionally skipped any Coffee (o Caffè… ou Café) with the meal because I knew that I wanted to head over to Caffe Trieste (just a few blocks away) afterward for dessert. I should probably note that 
Caffe Trieste also spells the name of their establishment senza accento grave; more than likely so as to not cause any undue confusion with un intelligentone linguistica like myself. I was planning on getting a standard ricotta-filled cannolo, but I saw something in their glass display case that looked interesting and had to ask exactly what it was. I was told it was a "soft cannoli", which I had never heard of before. It was basically a long doughnut-tube filled with a custard filling. This was also available in a Chocolate custard filling, too. It was very good, but I still prefer the standard cannoli better.

One of these days I should probably do a series of 'blog-entries specifically dedicated to the caffès (or "caffés" or cafés) of North Beach.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Mushroom Spinach Pizza ~ 6.5 (probably 0.1 or 0.2 higher if it had any tomato sauce on it); doppio Espresso con cannolo morbido ~ 7.0


1. Oh, come on now! It seems that Billy-boy and his Spell-checkering Nazi porco-cani do not want to acknowledge this easily recognizable Italian cow's milk cheese. 

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

"Cannolo" (singular)/"cannoli"* (plural) means "little tube" in Italian, with the etymology stemming from the Latin "canna" (meaning "cane"** or "reed").

*(Guess which software company's auto-spellchecker does not seem to recognize this extremely ubiquitous Italian/Sicilian dessert?)
**(See? Sometimes this cunning linguistic stuff isn't always cerebrum chirurgia.)

3. (see footnote #1; bastardi stupidi)

Kate’s Kitchen

"You can observe a lot by watching." 
~ Lawrence "Yogi" Berra

http://kates-kitchensf.com/


Place: Kate's Kitchen
Location: 471 Haight[1] Street (between Fillmore and Webster Streets)
Hours: open Monday at 9:00am, Tuesday - Friday at 8:00am, Saturday and Sunday at 8:30am
Meal: Veggie Scramble ~ wild mushrooms, red bell peppers, roasted tomatoes, sautéed onion, wild arugula[2], and smoked Gouda, served with homefries and a choice of toast, English muffin (Yawn!), or a fresh-baked Cheddar-green onion biscuit; and a cuppa (and several refillas) San Francisco Coffee Company ~ N'Arlins-style blend (with roasted chicory) 

http://www.sfcoffeecompany.com/

(I am not insinuating that there are actually any rats in the cooking area of today's breakfastary destination, but you just try to find any decent EweToobular juxtaselections for "Kate" or "Kitchen".

The second song is only because this particular song happened to be playing on the house stereo ~ kitchen stereo, whatever ~ this morning.)


I went back to Kate's Kitchen again after an extended break (see last 'blog-entry from July 4th, 2013 ~ That's the Spirit!). It has been newly remodeled (well, back in October 2013, but "new" since my last visit) with a bar/counter seating addition with three stools at which to dine. It looks like they cut the kitchen by about a quarter to extend the dining area (maybe that is why there aren't any rats in the kitchen any longer). In addition to the new bar/counter seating, there are now a total of eight tables for four and five tables for two.

Kate's Kitchen always has some other great suggestions off their Specials board (which changes seasonally, if not weekly). Today there were: Meat Omelette (shrimp, seared spinach, seared onion [Is there a difference between "seared onion" and "sautéed onion"?], scallion [they don’t specify if this item is "seared" or "sautéed", though], avocado, and Provolone, topped with Baja sauce; stupid vegetarians could always order this without any of the dead, decaying aquatic insects; stupid Vegans are basically out of luck); Mindy ♥ Hashbrowns (layered w/ scrambled eggs, bacon, and Cheddar); Cranberry & Chocolate French Toast (Say whaaa'?! That was going to be my fall-back ~ or spring-forward for Daylight Saving Time ~ choice.). They also offer several different kinds of Cornmeal Buttermilk Pancakes, notably: Blueberry (which is a botanical berry, of course); Pumpkin (also a botanical berry); Banana (and, yes, another actual botanical berry) & Walnut (but not actually a botanical nut); or Strawberry (despite its name, not actually a botanical berry), Banana, & Lemon Curd.

I always like the combination of fresh "veggies" that they offer in  their "Veggie" Scrambles (even if I find the term "veggies" rather  abhorrent). I can't really say if the arugula was quite as wild as the mushrooms in this, though. 

I really like their excellent homefries, too. These are made with red potatoes and a good amount of red bell peppers and (white) onions; and all generally very nicely charred (read: burned and crispy, just like I likes 'em).

Of course I went with the only intelligent choice for bread sides: the fresh-baked Cheddar-green onion biscuit. (When faced with these choices, what kinda absolute fool would ever order plain ol' toast or Mr. Thomas' lame-o excuse for a real English crumpet?) This was not only excellent on its own, but when adding some of their home-made (kitchen-made, whatever) strawberry (still not a botanical berry, sorry) jam, it was truly a worthwhile choice. Now you may be thinking "Strawberry jam on a fresh-baked Cheddar-green onion biscuit? That seems rather odd." Well, just mind yer own damn thinking, Nosey Parker! It actually went together very well.

Kate's Kitchen has for condimentary supplementation both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I used some of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Amys and Brian!) on the potatoes and some Fat Cat® Strawberry Serrano Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the scrambled mess.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Veggie Scramble ~ 6.8; fresh-baked Cheddar-green onion biscuit ~ 7.2 (an extra 0.2 points was added for the home-made ~ kitchen-made, whatever ~ straw-notabotanical-berry jam)


1. I just read somewhere this week that Bill Gates is the richest man on Earth. You would think that with all his damn money that he and the rest of the genius Spell-checkering Braunhemd Schweinhunde Nazi bastages at Microsoft would actually recognize this more than familiar name of one of the most popular (right up there with Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Golden Gate Bridge) of San Francisco's tourista destinations. Of course, unfortunately, even with that ratiocination, you would be sorely wrong.

2. While "arugula" may not be a local, well-known street name in San Francisco, I would still expect Billy-boy and his Goose-steppering, verdammt Liebekinder to acknowledge this word as an actual plant name.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

"Never let a gift horse in the house." 
~ Leo Rosten

(No official web-site.)


Place: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Location: 2499 San Bruno Avenue (at Thornton Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 468-8805
Hours: open Monday - Friday at 7:00am; Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am
Meal: Veggie Tater-Tot Skillet ~ kale, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, bells [sic], black olives, avocado, and Jack; with two over-medium eggs laid on top of the pile; and a cuppa America's Best Coffee Roasting Company (and a coupla refillas; they don't specify which roast/blend they serve, though)

http://www.ambestcoffee.com/

(There is really no EweToobular juxtaselection for today's video/songs; at least, I don't think these songs reference either "Tiffany's" or "Breakfast" or even "Audrey Hepburn" in any way. Once again, I just came across this new-ish Swedish singer last weekend while quarrying over on EweToob. I really liked her cover of Lucinda Williams' "Big Red Sun Blues".)


I have been looking forward to checking out the newly reopened Breakfast at Tiffany's (see last 'blog-entry from February 12th, 2012) and I finally got around to eating there. They had closed back in October 2013 and recently reopened under new ownership in November 2014. From what I could see, it looks like the new owners are a Mexican family. The place has been remodeled a bit with new tables, newly painted walls, etc. One noticeable difference is that they now do all the cooking in a back kitchen (which used to be a backroom storage area, I believe) and have removed the diner-grill from behind the counter. Plus, there are no longer any photos or paintings of "the delicate Belgian flower" herself on any of the walls.

The seating is still at a minimum. There are currently ten diner-counter seats, six tables for two, four or five tables for four, and one large table for eight. I was seated right away when I arrived (just a little after 8:00am); however, by 8:30am there was already a small line to get in and people had to do the sign-in sheet waiting list.

I was happy to see that the old menu remained mostly intact (with a few new additions, but generally the same as before) and, more specifically, that they still offer both Hash Browns de la Casa (Cheddar cheese, sour cream) and Hash Browns Stella (green chile, tomatoes, Cheddar and Jack, sour cream); this old dish was a big hit with me in the past and one of the reasons I went back again. They also have a good amount of omelettes from which to choose; both San Bruno Ave (spinach, mushrooms, Jack) and Veggie (kale, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, bells, black olives, avocado, and Jack; which were all of the same ingredients in the Tater-Tot Skillet that I got this morning) appealed to me. They also offer five different versions of Eggs Benedict dishes. It was nice to see that they even kept the "Good Morning, San Francisco" chalk/blackboard with ten additional specials on the wall (it's been moved from over the diner-grill to the back wall by the kitchen now).

This was an absolute HUGE pile o' tater tots (but it came in a bowl, not in a cast iron skillet like I was hoping) and made with lots of fresh "veggies" (I really do hate that nomenclature. How hard is it to just write "vegetables" instead? Do they get charged by the letter?), which is always a plus. My one minor complaint (uno quibblito) is that I really would have liked a bit more kale (there was hardly any noticeable amount of it; I guess you could say that they "went lightly, Holly" with the kale), and it was listed as the first ingredient, after all. Plus, they forgot the black olives completely (which is forgivable, as they probably just use the standard, tasteless canned kind, anyway). It took me a while to figure out that by "bells", they actually meant "bell peppers". I was expecting some kinda tintinnabulation while swallowing. The "bells" were of the red, green, and yellow variety.

For condimentary supplements, Breakfast at Tiffany's has the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces: Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red), Cholula® Hot Sauce Original, and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce; and I also noticed some Huy Fong Foods, Inc. Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I just used some of my own The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Hell Mouth and Winter chilli sauce on separate halves of the mess (Thanks for both, Cindy & Greg!). (Like the Chipotle from yesterday, I am making a decent dent in the bottle of Winter, too; that is, if one could actually dent a glass bottle without breaking it.)

While this new place lacks the old school "Mom & Pop"-ish charm of the original joint (this is like comparing the latter version of the Three Stooges ~ with Joe Besser or "Curly" Joe DeRita ~ to the classic version ~ with either Shemp Howard or Curly Howard), I am sure that in thirty to forty years loyal customers will be lamenting the closure of this "Mamacita y Papacito" place, too.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Veggie Tater-Tot Skillet ~ 6.5 (this would probably have been a 6.6 with more discernable kalocity to it)