Because calling an End-of-Year list "Best of... " is rather subjunctive, for the past few years in a row (because "past few years not in a row" really doesn't make a lotta sense) I have gone with the more adverbial appellation[1] of "My Favourites... ". However, once more, I am keeping with the "Top Ten" format-idea, and the easiest way to rank these was just to go back through all my 'blog-entries from 2017 and see which ones had the highest Glen Bacon Scale Rating (and in the case of identical GBS ratings, I am simply listing them chronologistically[2]).
So, without further adieu... 1) It really should come as no surprise to anyone (well, anyone that has ever read my silly li'l 'blog-thing over the years) that le Pain Perdu extraordinaire at Baker Street Bistro (see 'blog-entries from Sunday, September 3rdet aussiSunday, January 8th) is topping my list again this year. (As great as this dish is, if you can imagine it, it was even greater when they used to make their own cinnamon-orange-infused maple syrup to pour over it. And if Lucky the Leprechaun and Vizzini ever had a child together[3], I am sure that child would state that this was: "Inconceivably Delicious!") 2) Seeing as it is not only one of "My Favourite" breakfastary dishes in San Francisco, but the Touchstone for all Eggs Benedict dishes for me, it also should be no surprise that the Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café (see blog-entries fromSaturday, February 25th, Sunday, June 11th, and Saturday, October 7th) comes in at the "Number 2" spot again this year.
3) The Puka French Toast at grindz (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, February 18th) was so tasty and interesting that it is also "My Favourite" (New) French Toast Dish of 2017 Not Named le Pain Perdu extraordinaire at Baker Street Bistro. I just can not believe that this was the first time that I had ever ordered it there.[4] 4) Take my word for it, Fannie, the Fried Green Tomato Benedict at Mission Beach Cafe (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, September 17th) is good enough for an entrée at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Plus, I am calling this "My Favourite" New Eggs Benedict Dish of 2017 Not Named Zucchini Cakes atDottie's True blue café. 5) Spicy Kale Skillet at Eats (see 'blog entry from Sunday, January 15th). They mistakenly have this dish labeled as "Spicy Tomato Skillet" on their menu, but I always have to correct it in my 'blog-thing. What do owners of their own restaurants know, anyway?! 6) Kugelhopf (think: French toast made from slices of a German/Austrian/Alsatian-style Bundt brioche bread/cake) at Mama♥s on Washington Square (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 2nd). Any other year, this may have taken the honours as "My Favourite" (New) French Toast Dish of 2017 Not Named le Pain Perdu extraordinaire at Baker Street Bistro, if not for #3 above. 7) I am very happy to note that an entry from Cafe GoLo ~ Boutique Cafe made the list this again year, as this may be the last time it does so (see special In Memoriam Interlude below): GoLoRanchero (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, January 21st). 8) The Vegetarian Scramble at Surisan (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, March 19th) was so good (even if they always seem to misppel "Brussel[ sic ] sprouts") and a great surprise along Fisherman's Wharf that I am also naming the restaurant as "My Favourite" New Find of 2017 (plus, it is hands-down the best breakfast ["Brunch", whatever] place on Fisherman's Wharf today). 9a) Œufs Baker Street Bistro at... well... Baker Street Bistro (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 6th). Once again, I must state that even if they didn't have the Best French Toast in town, this Frenchified twist on Œufs Benoît would be worth going back again and again and again all on its ownsome. 9b) Polenta w/ Mixed "Veggies" (uggh!) & 2 Poached Eggs at LaLe (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, September 10th). This was not 'zackly a take on Uova Benedette, but it was served with a Hollandaise sauce over the poached eggs. And due to the tastitude of the entire dish, they can be forgiven for the use of the "Veggies" (uggh!) moniker. 9c) Brussel[ sic ] Florentine Benny at Blackwood ~ American Thai Fusion (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 22nd). It is all about the deep-fried Brussels (or "Brussel[ sic ]") sprouts, Jean-Claude! (Okay, so maybe once again this list "goes to Eleven", Nigel.)[5] 2017 Specific Categories (& Honourable Mentions kinda stuff) "My Favourite" Spot for Tea... and Cats & Kittens ~ KitTea Cat Cafe (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 1st)! Oh, and they also have some good stuff to eat there, too. GBS Rating: 8.45 "My Favourite" New Local Coffee Roasters-place ~ Andytown Coffee Roasters (see initial 'blog-entry from Saturday, September 30th). I have tried a few different Coffee blends/drinks there now already. Their Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate was a great discovery and has to be one of the best Coffees that I have had in a long time. It is easily in the Top Ten All-Time for me, and possibly in my Top Three evah. This is "the Nicole Kidman of Coffees" ("the Marilyn Monroe of Coffees" remains Jamaica Blue Mountain, of course). GBS Rating: Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate ~ 8.3(-ish); Special Release: Columbia "Woot-Woot!" ~ 8.0; Wind & Sea ~ 7.3; Snowy Plover ~ 7.0 (Yeah, big surprise here) "My Favourite" Bready/Toasty Side ~ (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (this is an exact duplicate of 2016's, 2015's, and 2014's choices; as long as they keep making 'em, I will keep eating 'em; see most recent last 'blog-entry from Sunday, September 24th). GBS Rating: 8.2 "My Favourite" New Pastry Find ~ Cardamom Brioche/Bombolone-thing at Jane the Bakery (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, February 25th) ~ Can you say cardamom-custard? Well, even if you can not, just eat the d*mn thing and shut up already! GBS Rating: 8.0 (Honourable Mention: Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake at Marla Bakery [see 'blog-entry from Sunday, March 26th]. GBS Rating: 7.6) "My Favourite" Cheese-bread ~ Cheese Popups (Pão de Queijo) at Saltroot Cafe (see 'blog-entry from Monday, February 20th). GBS Rating: 7.4 "My Favourite" New Seasonal Pancakes ~ Miracle Pancakes (2) - Sugar Pie Pumpkin Pancakes at Zazie (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 4th). GBS Rating: 7.4[6] "My Favourite" (New) Crêpes with a Brazilian Twist[7] ~ Romeu & Julieta (a Sweet Crêpe) and Veggy (a Savory Crêpe) at Café de Casa (see respective 'blog-entries from Saturday, November 25th and Saturday, April 29th). Plus, these are a great substitute if you happen to be a Paleolithic human suffering from Celiac Disease. GBS Rating: Romeu & Julieta ~ 7.1; Veggy ~ 6.5 "My Favourite" Chilaquiles ~ Spicy Migas at Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry (see 'blog-entry for Friday, March 10th). GBS Rating: 7.0 Additional Honourable Mentions for Eggs Benedict-type dishes: 1) Portland (Benediction) at LaLe (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 29th) GBS Rating: 7.2 2) Vegetarian Eggs Benedict at heartbaker (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 17th) GBS Rating: 7.2 3) Forest Benedict at Persy's Place (see 'blog-entry for Tuesday, May 23rd) GBS Rating: 7.1 4) Eggs Florentine with Creole Hollandaiseat Brenda's Meat & Three (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 26th) GBS Rating: 7.0 Additional Honourable Mention for French Toast: Mascarpone Stuffed Deep Fried French Toast at KITCHEN Story(see 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 10th). It was French toast... deep-fried... with caramelized banana and maple-glazed walnuts... what was not to like?! GBS Rating: 7.0 In Memoriam Interlude And, lastly, it is with a very heavy ♥ that I bid a fond ado to Cafe GoLo ~ Boutique Cafe. It seems as though they have closed up (bakery) shop for good and may not be reopening at a new location in the Tenderloin as I originally had thought. Partings are such Sweet (Potato Tart) sorrows... Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro ~ 8.2 (mais certainement); Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ 7.6; Puka French Toast at grindz ~ 7.6; Fried Green Tomato Benedict at Mission Beach Cafe ~ 7.55; Spicy Kale Skillet at Eats ~ 7.5; Kugelhopf at Mama♥s on Washington Square ~ 7.45; GoLoRanchero at Cafe GoLo ~ Boutique Cafe ~ 7.4; Vegetarian Scramble at Surisan ~ 7.4; Œufs Baker Street Bistro at Baker Street Bistro ~ 7.3; Polenta w/ Mixed "Veggies" (uggh!) & 2 Poached Eggs at LaLe ~ 7.3; Brussel[ sic ] Florentine Benny at Blackwood ~ American Thai Fusion ~ 7.3 ___________________
1. Contrary to popular belief, "Appellation" does not refer to a town in Washington State nor that little stretch of hills from Georgia (y'all) to Maine (Ay-yah!). Plus, I kinda liked the alliterative sound of "adverbial appellation". 2. I always find it funny (in a "strange-haha" sorta way) that sometimes these completely madeuppery portmanteaus of mine are not only completely made-up by myself. Just Google"chronologistically" and you will see several other instances where other World Wild Web-users have also (foolishly) done so. 3. Hey! It could happen. Don't be so anti-LGBT*. *(Even though this is a food kinda 'blog-thing, "LGBT" there does not stand for a "Lettuce-Guacamole-Bacon-Tomato Sandwich". Besides, if'n I were ever to make that particular sandwich combination, it would be an "LGST" ~ "Lettuce-Guacamole-Seitan-Tomato" one [and, trust me, it would be without any of the "vile white goop" added, too].) 4. "Hey, Brian. I thought that you said that 'in the case of identical GBS ratings'... " First off, mind yer own soywax!!! (which is actually the correct Vegan anti-meddling saying) Secondly, in the case of a tie, all considerations go to Dottie's! (And if you still don't like that, fine! Consider the Zucchini Cakes rated at 7.61! I am just not gonna go back and edit all past 'blog-entries to reflect that now to please any of youse Nostral E. Parkers.) 5. Hmmm?! Looking back over this list, it seems like there was a preponderance of French toast (three times) and Eggs Benedict (five times) dishes included. 6. "But, Brian, if this meal is rated a Glen Bacon Scale of 7.4, why isn't it included in the 'Top Ten [Eleven]' list above?" a) Ooops! b) Besides, if I had included it in the list, that would have messed up the whole premedicated Spın̈al Tap -pish "Top Eleven". (So sue me.) 7. Ladies, whatever you do, do NOT ask for the "Brazilian Twist" when you are getting a bikini-wax. It would be very painful... but decidedly gluten-free.
http://www.theheartbaker.com/ Place: heartbaker Location: 1408 Clement Street (at 15th Avenue) Hours: open Tuesday through Friday at 8:00am, Saturday and Sunday at 9:00am for "Brunch" Meal: Vegetarian Eggs Benedict ~ mushroom, leeks, butternut squash, & rosemary cumin Hollandaise, w- your choice of kale salad or potatoes (I went with the potatoes); a slice-a Pear-Almond Skillet Cake; and a cuppa Sightglass Coffee Dark Roast https://www.sightglasscoffee.com/ In an effort to keep it kinda "local" ("Football/Wash-day, right?!") and be able to finish breakfast ("Brunch"... whatever) and get home before 10:30am, I simply went back to heartbaker (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 4th, 2016). Although this place is close enough to walk to (well, about eighteen blocks both ways), I hopped on the bus, Gus (don't need to discuss much), to get there and back even quicker. Once again, I scored one of the two two-seater front window-alcove table tables (well, seeing as I was only the third person/group/customer of the morning, it wasn't really that hard). Between Marla Bakery Restaurant, Butter Love Bakeshop, and this place, I am very happy to see that the Richmond has a pretty decent coverage of "New-Age" (read: "old school") bakery-restaurants. Not only do these guys (gals, etc.) do a great job with their bakery-goods-stuff, they really do offer some very nice breakfastary ("Brunchary", whatever) dishes. I still need to get back again to try some of their other dishes, such-as: Omelette du Jour ~ (this is a seasonal-changing item on their weekend "Brunch" specials board) roasted green & yellow zucchini, leeks, tomatoes, arugula, white Cheddar cheese; Huevos Rancheros ~ two eggs your way ("my way" is usually "cooked"), black beans, tortilla strips, blistered Pepperjack, guacamole, & crema; or Chilequiles[ sic ] ~ tortilla chips, tomatilla salsa, crema, avocado, scallions, & two eggs your way (even though they mispelded "Chilaquiles", I am sure it would still taste just as good).
This baked-good/pastry item ended up being both a starter and dessert for me. I ate about two thirds of it before the main meal was served and then finished it up/enjoyed the rest of it with the last of my cuppa. I knew I was going to like it right away from the looks and with the ingredients of pears and almonds in it. However (in a good sorta way), I was not informed that it also had dried cranberries in it: pears + almonds + cranberries always = a great flavour combination (even if you use Common Core Cooking).
This has been a very good year for me for "discovering" new Eggs Benedict dishes. I really liked that this was made with their own homemade (bakery-made, whatever) herbed buttermilk biscuits as the base in place of Mr. Thomas' boring old faux crumpets (for which I am giving this an additional 0.1 Glen Bacon Scale points). I also was pleased to see that they called this a "Vegetarian", not "Veggie" (uggh!), Benedict. Plus, grilled leeks and roasted slices of butternut squash?! Oh, h*ck yeah! heartbaker only has Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for use as a condimentary supplement. Being aware of this from previous visits, I came prepared with a few of my own hot sauces and used a little Dat'l Do-it®Spicy Jalapeno[ sic ] Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of both poached eggs (don't worry, I first taste-tested their Hollandaise sauce to determine if it would go well with any extra flavour) and some Old St. AugustineDatil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) all over their very good roasted potatoes. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pear-Almond Skillet Cake ~ 7.3; Vegetarian Eggs Benedict ~ 7.2 (no extra GBS points were added due to the nomenclature of this dish, but I did think about it); Sightglass Coffee Dark Roast ~ 7.0
http://www.pourguys.com/connecticut-y*nkee/ (Okay, so maybe you will need to add the bowdlerised "a" back into that Uniform Resource Locator yourself for an uninterrupted hyperlink kinda thing. I refuse to allow any kinda d*mn anti-Red Sox swear-words on this here 'blog-thing!) Place: Connecticut Y*nkee Location: 100 Connecticut Street (on the corner of 17th Street) Hours: open Saturday & Sunday for "Brunch" at 10:00am Meal: Shakshuka ~ baked eggs, tomatoes, peppers, onion, cilantro, grilled polenta cakes, sunny egg, queso fresco; a side order of Breakfast Potatoes (homefries); and a glassa grapefruit juice
(You were expectin' "Sweet Caroline", maybe?) I used to work directly across the street from Connecticut Y*nkee for about twelve to thirteen years. I ate many lunches and dinners there over the years (and, yeah, drank many Beers, too), but I never had a breakfast (nor "Brunch") there. This place is under new ownership (for the past two years now); I don't think it used to be open on the weekends for a breakfast (nor "Brunch") meal.
(Sadly, this mural has seen better days. The bottom photo there used to be one Orenthal James Simpson ~ who grew up "on the Hill" ~ but has now since been excised from the good graces of the neighborhood for some reason...) The previous ownership was a couple of ex-Patriated New Englanders (hence the name of the joint ~ and, what are the odds, it is located on Connecticut Street) and the theme of the menu used to be all-inclusive Boston/New England sports teams. Now, there is an entirely new menu, and it seems to be mostly Patriots-influenced. The "Brunch" menu does not really offer a lot of options for stupid vegetarians. The only other items I might have chosen: Potato Cakes ~ sour cream, apple sauce, fresh herbs; or French Toast ~ brioche, toasted pecans, dried blueberries (why they don't use fresh blueberries, Imano), maple butter. Do not worry, there are more choices for you meatetarians and/or pescetarians out there: Biscuit & Brady ~ house made sausage patty (I wonder if the sausage is made from GOAT-meat), buttermilk biscuit, fried egg, country gravy; Croquette Benedict ~ cod, poached eggs, arugula, gremolata, Hollandaise sauce (yeah, I think that the Hollandaise sauce renders this non-KosherⓊ, too, Karl); or Y*nkee Breakfast ~ two eggs, bacon, toast (which basically sounds like it could also be enjoyed by any Johnny Reb, too).
I am not quite sure how authentically New England (or Olde England, even) Shakshuka is as a breakfastary fare (even if you happen to be from Westernmost Connecticut). Maybe if you added some succotash to it or poured some maple syrup over the top of it... This was a decent enough meal; however, I have had other versions of Shakshuka that I liked a bit more (coincidentally enough, the very last time that I ate breakfast on Potrero Hill [almost two years ago now, see 'blog-entry from Monday, January 16th, 2016], I had a similar dish to Shakshuka). I liked the addition of the queso fresco (again, I am not sure if that was made from GOAT-milk or not) and there was a lot of both red and green bell peppers in it. The major minuses (another "Military Intelligence" kinda oxymoron, Mr. Brandt?) were that this was all a bit on the watery side (the Shakshuka dishes that I have had in the past were always more of a thick tomato stew) and I would liked to have had more of the grilled polenta cakes; this might have made up for the watery sauce a bit and been used to soak it all up more. For condimentary supplementation, Connecticut Y*nkee had both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Huy Fong Foods Inc.Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce. Additionally, and most notably, they had bottles of their own homemade (well, restaurant-made) Ol' Man Steve's Hot Sauce on all of the tables; this hot sauce reminded me of Cholula® or Tapatío®, but just fresher tasting. I used some of their tasty (but not too) hot sauce on top of the eggs and some of my own Palo AltoFire FightersXXX GhostPepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the potatoes.
After-Breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) Coffee Interlude The real find this weekend was during a return visit to Andytown[1]Coffee Roasters after breakfast on my way home. This time I went to their newest shop on Taraval Street (just two blocks from Ocean Beach). I had a single cuppa (pour-over style) of their Special Release: Columbia Wush Wush. I liked it so much that I am renaming it Columbia "Woot-Woot!". This was juuuust a bit pricey (as in $12.00 a cuppa, and they charge $40.00 per 8 oz bagga... Ouch!... but it came with a free homemade [roastery/bakery-made, whatever] biscotti [and the biscotti was very good, too]... which was nice... so, I had that going for me), though. I am just calling this an early Christmas gift to myself. Surprisingly enough, as good as this (very expensive) cuppa was, I still think that their Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate is even better (and not exactly that cheap itself at $25.00/pound). http://www.andytownsf.com/purchase/colombia-wush-wush Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Shakshuka ~ 6.4; Ol' Man Steve's Hot Sauce ~ 6.7; Andytown Coffee RoastersSpecial Release: Columbia "Woot-Woot!" ~ 8.0 (whereas Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate ~ 8.3) ___________________
1. I finally asked what the meaning of the name of the place was. I was told that "Andytown" is the nickname of a town in Northern Ireland where one of the owners hails from. Andersonstown is a suburb in West Belfast.
https://patscafesf.com/ Place: Pat's ~ Cafe Location: 2230 Taylor Street (between Chestnut and Francisco Streets, just off Columbus Avenue and "up the road" a block from the San Francisco Municipal Railway Powell-Mason Cable Car Turntable) Hours: open at 7:30am every day of the week (for what they call breakfast during the week, but feel the need to call it "Brunch" on the weekends) Meal: Chilaquiles 'merican Style ~ scrambled eggs, Cheddar[1] (and unlike yesterday's faux fromage, this was très authentique), tomatoes, ham (sin jamón for this 'mericano-gringo, though), spinach, tortilla chips, jalapeños, tomatillo sauce, served with home fries; and a cuppa (and one refilla) Mr. Espresso® French Roast https://mrespresso.com/coffee/blends/
(To paraphrase Warren when Dave Letterman asked him about Life and Death: "... know how much you're supposed to enjoy every breakfast." I will let you determine today's EweToobular juxtaselection on your own.) I always like heading back to Pat's ~ Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, August 28th, 2016) around Christmastime. With both a good breakfast (and "Brunch") menu from which to choose and well-executed dishes, this little place (located half-way between Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach) is definitely Breakfastary Starting Rotation-worthy if ever needed. There are still more good ideas that I will need to check out ("... out which I will need to check..."? Nah!) one of these days: California Omelet ~ avocado, Cheddar cheese, mushrooms, onions, Aidell's fresh chicken apple sausage (which this Californian would 86, of course); "Veggie" (uggh!) Omelet ~ tomato, spinach, "the vile weed", asparagus, fresh basil, Feta (Feta and asparagus?! Those easily trump "the vile weed", Donald); California Crepe[ sic; much like they do not have the tilded "ñ" in "jalapeños" on their menu, they also do not use the little hat-thingy on "crêpe"; there are never any Glen Bacon Scale points deducted for lack of use of any foreign accent marks] ~ avocado, mushrooms, Cheddar, onions, chicken apple sausage (again, 86-time); or (the extremely strangely-named) Cock-a-Leekie[2] Omelet ~ sautéed leeks, spinach, and Feta (I am not sure if this dish can be made vegetarian-friendly or not; I will have to ask before ordering that one).
This was nacho typical Chilaquiles! This was a much different take on the standard Chilaquiles[3] than I am used to. This was served as a mess o' scrambled eggs (with the other ingredients listed) on top of a pile of tortilla chips (hence the silly "nacho"-referenced subtitle above). Most times that I have had this dish, the corn tortilla chips are sautéed first then incorporated into the whole scrambled mess. Also, they use a (green) salsa tomatillo; whereas, most places use some kind of a salsa roja. It was still all very tasty, anyway. The only bottles of condimentary supplement that I saw available were Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I used some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce on the homefries. I (correctly) left the Chilaquiles unfettered with just their tomatillo salsa on it. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude I had parked just around the corner on Chestnut Street and on my way over to the restaurant I heard several of the noisy, bird-brains; however, looking up, I could not see any of them around. They either were roosting in some of the trees in the surrounding hills or flying overhead too high up for me to see. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles 'merican Style ~ 6.8; the Wild Parrotsof San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________
1. Well, I'm afraid there is not much call for Ilchester® around these parts, Mr. Wensleydale. 2. Say whaaaa', Scotty?! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/16360/cock-a-leekie-soup/ 3. Much like the Italiano dessert Tiramisù can differ from family recipe to family recipe, Chilaquiles can be made differently, too. I have had probably ten variations of it over the years. My touchstone is still the first version that I ever had at Chava's over twenty-five years ago now.
(No official web-site.) Place: homeskillet Location: 1001 Market Street (on the corner of 6th Street); phonicular contact: (415) 552-5509 Hours: open at 7:30am every day of the week (well, give or take a few minutes after 7:30am) Meal: Veggie (uggh!) Cheese (well, not really-Cheese) Scrambled ~ bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach, Jack & Cheddar (not!) shredded cheese, served with choice of hashbrowns, spring mix salad, & choice of toast; and a small (12 oz) cuppa Dillanos Coffee RoastersSpecial Dark (which was superfluously labeled as a "Dark Roast" on the Coffee canister/decanter-thing on the front counter) http://www.dillanos.com/ I went back to homeskillet (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, August 27th, 2016) for breakfast this morning. It is always nice to have another option for anyone tiring of waiting in Dottie's True blue café's long lines, which is just a half-block down the street ~ which, in this case, happens to be 6th Street (of course, I would always opt for the long line-waiting at Dottie's True blue café myself). I am not sure if there are new owners at this place now. The menus have been changed a bit (stylized/altered: they no longer list all of the dishes and descriptions in the minuscule) and they are now serving a different (non-local) brand of Coffee (they used to exclusively serve Equator Coffee out of San Rafael). When they had first opened a few years back, they were owned/run by the same guy/family that owns (owned?) Little Griddle (which, after a short web-search, seems to be permanently closed now itself, and looks like it has been since May 2016; it may or may not be reopening in the same location after renovations to the building are done). Even though the menu has changed a bit, there are still a couple more good ideas that I want to check out ("... out which I want to check... "? Nah!): Addicted2Hash ~ fresh seasoned hashbrowns topped with 2 poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce, served with toast; Shroom Florentine (which used to be called the completely different name of "#15 Shroom Florentine"...) ~ English muffin, mushroom & spinach, poached farm fresh eggs, Hollandaise; Lalalalala Sandwich ~ grilled baby spinach, mushrooms, Havarti, pepper Jack, & Cheddar cheese (and they had better be the real thing!), served with hashbrowns or spring mix salad; or even California Love ~ apple smoked [ sic; I am pretty sure they meant "applewood smoked", but what do I know of the newest trends in the curing of dead, decaying porcine butts ] bacon (which I would have 86-ed, anyway), riped [ sic; this was also mispelded on their old menus ] avocado slices, scrambled eggs, melted Havarti, pepper Jack, & Cheddar, served with hashbrowns or salad.
This meal is available either as a "Scrambled" or an "Omelet"; I opted for the "Scrambled" version as I felt it would best utilise all of the ingredients. This was a decent enough breakfast and served in large portions... however... I did have one minor quibble (a quibblette?): the (so called) "cheese" that they used in this was neither "Jack" nor "Cheddar", Mr. Wensleydale; it was that fake "processed cheese product" cr*p (I only wish the cat [he or she] had eaten it already). I went with sourdough toast (the other choice was whole wheat) and hashbrowns as my sides. I will take good (or bad) hashbrowns over a stupid salad any day! For condimentary supplementation, homeskillet has the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (SSFToHS): Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original), and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce; plus, Huy Fong Foods, Inc.Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce. I just used some (well, a lot of some) of the Cholula® on their good hashbrowns. As for the new brand of Coffee that is offered, it was okay. I only had the one cuppa, so it was not really much on which to go. I am not sure if I have ever had this particular brand (out of Washington State) before. They also offer two other blends/roasts in separate canister/decater things: Midway (labeled as "Medium-Dark") and Dillons (labeled as "Medium-Light"). http://www.dillanos.com/special-dark-blend-12oz.html
http://www.townsendrb.com/ Place: Town's End restaurant & bakery Location: 2 Townsend (I heard they originally wanted to locate on Restaurant & Bakery Street, but the rents were too high) Street (on the Embarcadero across from Pier 38) Hours: open Tuesday-Friday at 7:30am for breakfast; open Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am for "Brunch" Meal: (Almost) Winter Scramble ~ with Pacific Northwest chanterelles, fresh artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, grilled leeks, basil, house made (well, restaurant & bakery-made) Ricotta, served with a choice of potato-carrot pancakes (with apple compote & sour cream), grilled polenta, or fresh fruit; to drink, a glassa orange juice; and, afterward, a small cuppa Eggnog Latte at Crossroads Café http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/entercafe.php
(Today's EweToobular juxtaselection? Simples! Everyone knows that ol' Petey-boy loves his potato-carrot pancakes [with apple compote and sour cream, of course]. [Truth is, I couldn't find any "Wintery"-songs from Mr. Townshend and I didn't think that either "Frankenstein" or "Free Ride" sounded very breakfastary.]) Because I had walked past it last month when I went to breakfast at Delancey Street Restaurant, I figured it was time for a return visit back to Town's Endrestaurant & bakery (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, August 7th, 2016). I have always liked this place. It is one of those places that if it were closer to me, it would be "Breakfastary Starting Rotation"-worthy. I have probably been going there for twenty to twenty-five years now. Their "Brunch" menu changes seasonally and always has interesting items from which to choose. A couple of the other ideas that I was looking at this morning: Mary's Special ~ two Swedish oatmeal pancakes (organic pears & almonds in the pancakes), two eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green onions, garlic, & sharp white Cheddar; or Red pepper scrambled eggs ~ with fire roasted red peppers, green onions, & Laura Chenel goat cheese. One of the really neat things is that all breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) meals come with a small basket of their fresh-baked mini-muffins and mini-scones. My basket this morning had: a mini-raisin scone (well, the scone was "mini", the raisins were normal sized); a mini-Chocolate chip muffin (the Chocolate chips may have been "mini", though); a mini-banana-walnut muffin; and a mini-carrot(?) muffin.
This was basically just a scrambled egg mess, but their combination of fresh ingredients are always so good; the grilled leeks added a really nice flavour. Of course, I can't tell a Pacific Northwest chanterelle from an Atlantic Southeast shiitake, but still... Plus, I love that they give you a choice of either potato-carrot pancakes or grilled polenta (we won't even bother mentioning the completely pedestrian "fresh fruit"... well, other than I did right there). I went with the potato-carrot pancakes, which come as two; I have had them many times before and always like them. Town's End restaurant & bakery offers for condimentary supplements both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal. I used some of my own Golden PagodaJalapeñoHot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the eggs/scramble-mess and some Laura Plantation Vidalia® Onion & Peach Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on one of the potato-carrot pancakes (along with a little bit of their homemade [restaurant & bakery-made, whatever] apple-butter), and before you say "Ewww!", it actually was pretty good like that.
I had purposely skipped ordering any Coffee with my breakfast as I had it all schemed out to head back to Crossroads Café, which is just across the street/cul-de-sac. Because this coffeehouse is run by the Delancey Street Foundation, the prices are always much lower than your typical chain Coffee shop (you know who I mean). My Latte today was probably a buck or two cheaper than you would normally pay. Even if the prices were normal, I would still rather support this good cause. Plus, there is a gift shop/bookstore that you can loiter in... er... browse in while enjoying your Coffee beverages. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: (Almost) Winter Scramble ~ 6.8; mini-muffins/scones ~ 7.0; Eggnog Latte ~ 6.6
(Yes, this is a "stock photo" of Dottie's True Blue café, and actually the exact same photo that I used last month. I have taken so many photos of the façade now, that, at this point, duplicates were going to be made. Like any of you would have noticed the repetition, anyway.) 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 Monday Meal: Omelette of My Choosing ~ three egg omelette with spinach, tomatoes, and Feta, served with homefries and toast (buttermilk-dill); and a glassa (with two refillas [which, technically, were only two half-cuppa warm-uppas]) of their house Coffee (I always forget to ask which brand they serve; however, it does not really matter, it was good, hot, and black)
(I knew that I would be going back to Dottie's True Blue café for breakfast this morning, so for today's EweToobular music interlude, I put it to a vote on the funny pages of defacedbook as to which version of "St. James Infirmary Blues" I should use. Some of my "Friends" there have the keenest music and cultural minds, and I knew that I could count on them for great input. With a resounding and unanimous decision [well, from the three responses that I received before heading out to breakfast: two for Dave Van Ronk[1] and one for Sir George Ivan ~ when it comes to Sir George Ivan, one vote counts as three, and all ties go to Sir George Ivan], these were what I came up with. I think both of these versions exemplify the pureness of this American Jazz classic.) In a conclusionary effort to eat at Dottie's True Blue café (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 5th, 2017) at least once a month for 2017, I went back there again this morning. Simples! As I was once again the first idiot waiting in line this morning (I actually tried timing it so that I would get there when there was already a line and not look foolish waiting on the sidewalk all by my self in front of closed/chained doors, but I still ended up arriving around 7:10am and being "Idiot #1"). It was all good, I got my choice of seating when they opened the doors, and once again I went with "Seat #1" at the corner of the overlooking-the-kitchen counter. One of the more "interesting" experiences while waiting for the doors to open in this (rather sketchy) neighborhood is interacting with the local populace. Today's "entertainment" came in the form of a guy who called himself "Uncle Ron" (and made no attempts at hiding ~ well, he rather boasted ~ that he was drunk as a skunk since yesterday afternoon). He was really pretty harmless and after we fist-bumped (I think he didn't want to get his hands dirty from shaking mine), he went on to exclaim: "I'm a native San Franciscan... I've been here since 1847!" ~ which I thought was a pretty funny line, drunk or sober (him being "drunk" and me being "sober", but I would still have laughed at the line if our sobrietal situation had been reversed). And in the end, at least Uncle Ron didn't hit me with his sunglasses... This was a very surprising event. After I had finished eating and was leaving, there was no line-out-the-door or line-around-the-corner for a change. I can't remember when the last time I saw that occurence might have been. After having eaten at Dottie's True Blue café eleven other times in the year already (and three of those times I had ordered the Zucchini Cakes), there weren't too many "new" options for me to try. One other idea that I was mulling over, Martin, was a Pumpkin Tart Cherry Poptart (this was exactly as they had stylised it ~ Kellogg's® be d*mned!), which I probably would have ordered with two eggs over-medium. This monster-pastry was easily the size of two to three normal pop-tarts® and I knew I couldn't order it as a starter with a full meal, otherwise. Pumpkin and cherry sounded like a bizarre enough combination that I figured I would like it. Hopefully they have a similar pastry on one of my future visits.
What can I say about the omelette? I chose the ingredients and had better have liked it. Besides... Feta. For condimentary supplementation, I used some of the provided Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce ~ Chipotle Pepper Sauce generously ('cause that is just the kinda guy I am) all over the potatoes. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude While walking back to catch the bus home, I saw and heard about three to five of the feather-brained chatter-birds flying overhead on Geary Street (near Union Square). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: OoMC ~ 6.5; the WildParrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5; Sir George Ivan Morrison ~ 8.6 (Yeah, that is not a typo ~ nor even a Type AB-Negative! This might be the first time I have ever recorded a Glen Bacon Scale Rating over 8.5.) ___________________
