Cable Car Café

(Saturday, June 7th, 2014)

"Such was life in the Golden Gate,
Gold dusted all we drank and ate,
And I was one of the children told,
'We all must eat our peck of gold'" 
~ Robert Frost (who was born in San Francisco and lived there for the first eleven years of his life; however, he is normally associated with New England where he spent most of his life)

(No official web-site.)


Place: Cable Car Café 
Location: 519 Powell Street (between Sutter and Bush Streets)
Hours: open for breakfast every day of the week at 7:00am; phonicular contact: (415) 982-3097
Meal: Eggs Florentine Crepe ~ 2 scrambled eggs, cheese, baby spinach, tomato, and pesto sauce (with side fruits); and a cuppa Mountanos Brothers Coffee Company Columbia Supremo and a refilla French Roast

https://mountanosbros.com/

(Seeing as this restaurant is located only half-way up the hill, I suppose I can be considered just a half-wit.)


As I had to head downtown on Saturday to meet up with an old high school classmate ("Hey, Kathy!"), anyway, I figured I might as well eat breakfast somewhere down there, too. I just ended up going to Cable Car Café. It is a little place that is mainly a crêpes joint and tourista crowd destination, which is to be expected, as they are right in the hotel area of town (and, Jesse James, take note, they are located right across the street from the San Francisco Marriott Union Square). There are only fifteen tables for two people (many of which are already pushed together for seating for three to four people); one large table for four to five people; and five counter stools along the back wall (for one person each, of course). The Cable Car tracks on Powell Street pass by right outside the front windows (hence their name, and because "One Block Uphill From Union Square Crêperie" would have been a mouthful and might really have scared off the touristas).

There were a few other good crêpey and breakfastary ideas from which to choose: Lox Crepe (cream cheese, sundried tomato, red onion, caper, and smoked salmon, spinach ~ that one actually sounded pretty good, less the dead, decaying aquatic animal); Pesto Turkey Crepe (smoked turkey, Mozzarella cheese, tomato & house pesto sauce); Good Morning Crepe (2 eggs, cheese, sausage, onion, and bell peppers with salsa); or Cheese Omelet (3 eggs, cheese, potatoes and toast).

This was a HUGE square crêpe (which they have spelled on the menu sans circumflex; that is okay and an accepted spelling, but if you are going to serve French crêpes, I think you might as well include the little hat on the "e"). It was a decent enough crêpe, but once you get the crêpe batter down correctly, it is a pretty easy thing to make well. However, due to my somewhat perspicacious tastes, I really did not notice much (any?) of the requisite pesto sauce. This was okay, as there was more than a good amount of fresh, sautéed baby spinach inside. (I would never have guessed that Popeye was un marinaio da Firenze.) I think that the cheese that was mixed in was probably just Cheddar, which seems to be a pretty standard ingredient with most local crêperies; I would liked to have seen some kind of Hollandaise sauce incorporated inside it (or on top of it, even). Of course, as stated on the menu, this was made with scrambled eggs instead of the normal poached eggs, and there was no English muffin stuffed inside either.

Today's side of fruits were grapes, strawberries, pineapple, and cantaloupe[1].

For condimentary supplementation, Cable Care Café has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and Huy Fong Foods Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I went with a some of the Sriracha Sauce generously squirted all over the top of the crêpe.

After breakfast (as I still had a few hours to kill, Bill), I just walked around Union Square for a bit. Since 2004, there has been a display of large heart statues throughout the city, and all four corners of Union Square sport one. 

(This one is in the northwest corner and was created by some little-known cantante italiano named Anthony Benedetto; apparently, he considers himself to be a bit of un artista and may have something to do with being a benefactor of cardiology or something.)

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

Lastly, this is just a well-deserved plug for an organization called Suspended Coffees. I first heard of them through their defacedbook page. They are based out of Ireland and their philosophy is based upon the simple idea of paying for a cuppa Coffee in advance as an anonymous act of charity. I have not located any such coffeehouses that participate in this directly in the Bay Area, but there are many such places throughout the United States that have joined in. Check them out and see if there are any in your nape of the forest.

http://www.suspendedcoffees.com/

How do you say "Pay it forward." in Italian? "Caffè sospeso."


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Eggs Florentine Crêpe ~ 6.2


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

Just because I felt like it, here are several fruity words in Russian:

fruit ~ фрукты/frukty
grape ~ виноград/vinograd
strawberry ~ клубника/klubnika
pineapple ~ ананас/ananas
cantaloupe ~ канталупа/kantalupa

Dottie’s True blue café

Jim and Mary's Standard (but upgraded Ultimate at no extra charge) 50¢ Tour of the City… plus, (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!)
(Saturday, May 31st, 2014)

http://dotties.biz/


Place: Dottie's True blue café 
Location: 28 Sixth Street (on the corner of Stevenson Street; between Market and Mission Streets)
Hours: open for breakfast Thursday through Monday at 7:30am (closed Tuesday and Wednesday ~ and in case anyone wants to complain about this, they used to be open every day of the week and would only close for a week or two in February when the owner [and chief cook & bottle washer], Kurt, took a well-deserved vacation) 
Meal: (me) Black Bean Cakes and Eggs any style (Served with grilled chili-Cheddar cornbread and homefries, topped with sour cream & pico de gallo); (Jim and Mary both ordered the same item) Sweet Potato, Caramelized Red Onions, & Gruyère Tart (served with eggs any style and fruit); we all split a piece (which seemed more like a quarter-pan size) of Miss Dottie's 1920's Prohibition Whiskey Blueberry Crumb Cake; und zu trinken (me) a large glass of (Ruby Red?) grapefruit juice, (Jim and Mary, again ordered the same thing ~ married couples! What is that all about?!) a cuppa the house Coffee

(Do I really have to point out what the colourful EweToobular juxtaselections are here? Well, everyone knows that John Hammond's mother's name was "Dorothy" and Bobby "Blue" Bland used to own a café.)


Whenever anyone from out-of-town comes for a visit, I like to take them to Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from April 6th, 2014) if at all possible (and only if some people ~ who will remain named Kathy ~ can get out of bed before 11:00am while on vacation). An old Air Force buddy (and fellow Russkij linguist-spy), Jim (No last names, please! What happens is San Francisco, stays in San Francisco!), and his wife, Mary, were in town on vacation this week and we got the chance to meet up for breakfast and then the requisite 50¢ tour of San Francisco. How many of you have ever driven down "the 2nd Crookedest Street in America"? And I don't mean Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., I am talking about Vermont Street in San Francisco, which rivals its more famous sister, Lombard Street, in all its winding, curviosity. Or how many of you are familiar with the Golden Fire Hydrant in the Mission and its history? And, of course, there is the newest addition to the Standard Tour ~ Raccoon Island!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Street_(San_Francisco)

We all decided to split one of Dottie's fresh-baked goodies. These are always such a huge portion that I never get the chance to order any as a starter when I eat there by myself. Today's portion was really more than enough for three people to share. We actually thought that we were ordering the 1929 Bronze Goddess Banana Rum Caramel Roll, but I guess the similar-sounding names must have crossed-up the waiter-server guy. It really didn't matter as this was a more than excellent substitution.

(Sorry, there is no corresponding photo of the abovementioned crumb cake. We all gobbled it down before I even thought about taking a photo of it.)

I have had the Black Bean Cakes many times before in the past, and it is usually my go-to/fall-back if there isn't anything off the Specials chalkboard that I haven't already had recently. Dottie's World-Famous Zucchini Cakes (aka Uova Benedetto) were on the chalkboard once again; however, I had just had them on my very last visit and wanted to have something different. The last time that Jim was in town (just by himself, without Mary, though) we also met at Dottie's for breakfast (back when they were still in their old location on Jones Street) and he had the Black Bean Cakes himself (see 'blog-entry from July 25th, 2010). Back then, these were still only available when offered on the Specials board; they are now part of the standard menu ~ I would like to think that my constant championing of this dish aided in its inclusion in some way.

I have had the same meal that Jim and Mary had several times before, too. It used to go by the more lofty, Frenchified nomenclature of "Galette" instead of plain ol' "Tart", but too many hick tourists kept asking Kurt (of course, I was also one of the idiots initially) "What's a 'Galette'?", that Kurt ended up just calling this a "Tart" to curb their enthusiastic confusion. Both Jim and Mary seemed to enjoy it (or maybe they just cleaned their plates out of politesse). The "Tart" ingredients will normally change seasonally, too, and it will always have other interesting ingredients. 

Luckily, Dottie's has a pretty extensive condimentary supplementation offering: Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red, green jalapeño, and Chipotle), Tapatío®, Frank's® RedHot® Chile 'n Lime™, because I really didn't feel like schlepping any of my own hot sauces around with me all day long (even though Jim had contributed a few bottles to my collection in the past). I used some of the Chipotle Tabasco® on my homefries, mainly because chipotle and potatoes are an excellent combination, and I also used a little of the jalapeño on my eggs.

Half-way through the tour, Mary made the suggestion of stopping by the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House for a mid-day snack of some (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!). Now this was such an excellent idea, that I decided to not charge them both the extra 25¢ for the unscheduled side-trip for a happy, hoppy beverage break at 21st Amendment - Brewery - Cafe - Bar[1] (Who ever said that tourists were mindless fools? Well, besides me, that is.). And while meals are NOT included in the Standard 50¢ Tour (nor in the upgraded Ultimate 50¢ Tour for 75¢ even), as this turned out to be such a great idea (and one that I am thinking of incorporating into the Standard 50¢ Tour in the future), I decided to foot the entire bill for our (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) treat. Mary is such a big fan of Popovers(!) herself that she even bought one of the little bags of (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) mix that they sell at the gift shop there.

(Hold… on… just… a… second… at 75¢ per (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), I think that I am actually in the red for the entire day!)

While we did an awful lot of hiking around the city (and Jim even took altimeter readings at the top of a few hills), I can not really consider this a cross-'blog-entry.

Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Miss Dottie's 1920’s Prohibition Whiskey Blueberry Crumb Cake ~ 7.4; Black Bean Cakes, etc. ~ 7.0; Sweet Potato, Caramelized Red Onions, & Gruyère Tart ~ 7.0 (???; oops, I forgot to poll Jim and Mary for their ratings on this meal, but this is what I would normally rate it or such); (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) ~ 8.2

1. Both Jim and I partook of a Hell or High Watermelon Wheat, Mary just had an ice tea. (See previous 'blog-entry from August 18th, 2013 for more information on both the Brewery - Cafe - Bar joint and their excellent Beers.)

Non-Dairy Milk ~ Part III

"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose." ~ Woody Allen

This is a really just a quick addition to a couple of prior non-dairy milk 'blog entries (see previous posts from November 6th, 2012 and August 27th, 2010). I have pretty much been drinking almondmilk (with the occasional foray into coconutmilk, or even an almond-coconutmilk[1] blend) for the past several years now. And this has absolutely nothing to do with being either lactose intolerant or adhering to a strict Vegan diet (truth be told, I think that I am starting to become a bit Vegan-intolerant myself ~ I mean what is up with all this nonsense about not consuming either milk or honey? That all sounds rather a bit Muslimist and anti-Semitic if you ask me. However, I really have no problems whatsoever putting up with lactose and all of its snide ways.); I just like having the option to drink alternative milks from that which comes specifically from bovines.

The other day I saw some flaxmilk in the same refrigerated dairy-free section in the store where I normally buy my almondmilk and decided to give it a bit of a go. It was okay, I liked it well enough, and I think it is better than soymilk[2], but just barely. It has a much better texture and flavour than soymilk, but it is made from flaxseed oil (also known as linseed oil ~ you know, the stuff that linoleum is made from) and that just does not seem right to me. I think that the best thing to be said for flaxmilk is that it seems to have matched the colour of real milk the closest of any of the non-dairy products that I have tried; while I love the actual flavour of almondmilk (it is really only faintly almond-tasting, and it tastes just as good in a bowl of cereal for breakfast as it does in a tall glass to drink along with cookies), the off-putting tannish hue really did take some getting used to. Another plus about flaxmilk is that, like all of the other non-dairy milk products, it has an extended "Use By/Enjoy By" date on the carton; this is usually two to three months out (however, once opened, it really should be used up within one to two weeks).

The actual brand that I tried was Good Karma™. I had their "Original" flavour. It is sweetened with cane sugar as one of the main ingredients and it seemed to be a little bit too much on the sweet side for me; it is also available in an "Original Unsweetened" version, but I did not try that one and I probably never will get around to trying it, either. 

http://www.goodkarmafoods.com/products/flaxmilk/original/

Anyone that knows me, knows that I do not cook much and have never actually ever baked a thing in my life (maybe with the exception of those cookies from a tube when I was a kid, but, even then, I do not think I did it all by myself) ~ I honestly only have one decent baking sheet (or is it technically called a "baking pan"?) and the only reason I have that is because I use it as my "Pizza-reheater thingy". So, I have no idea how any of these non-dairy milk products would perform as a substitute ingredient in baking. They all seem that they would be a bit too watery to work well.

Conclusion: If a person happens to be lactose intolerant (we shall not speak of those obviously Muhammad- or Vishnu-loving Vegans again) and also allergic to either tree nuts (I have seen non-dairy milks now available made from almonds, hazelnuts, and cashews) or coconuts, I suppose that flaxmilk could be seen as a viable option over either ricemilk (it always seemed a bit chalky for my tastes) or soymilk.

Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Flaxmilk ~ 6.7 (whereas: Almondmilk ~ 7.2; Coconutmilk ~ 7.0; Ricemilk ~ 6.5; Soymilk ~ 5.8; and real organic Cow milk ~ 8.0)

1. Almond Breeze® makes a very nice version.

http://almondbreeze.com/?navid=530

I do not know why they do not offer a Chocolate variety of this, too. It seems to me that it would be a natural for anyone that likes Hershey's® Almond Joy® candy bars.

2. Of course, "Better than soymilk" is like saying, "She is the prettiest of the Kardashian sisters.", it is not really that much of a compliment. 

Chloe♥s Cafe

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think." ~ Dorothy Parker

(No official web-site.)


Place: Chloe♥s Cafe
Location: 1399 Church Street (on the corner of 26th Street)
Hours: open at 8:00am every day of the week; phonicular contact: (415) 648-4116
Meal: Fresh Herb Scramble ~ Two scrambled eggs with fresh dill, basil, cilantro, red[1] onion, tomato, and a choice of cheese (Jarlsberg, Cheddar, cream cheese, or Feta) served with a cup of fruit or home fries and toast; and a large glass of orange juice

(I could not think of a better tribute for America's Memorial Day than some random Canadianlander dude singing a song written by a relatively unknown, dead Scouser.)


For the past three Memorial Day breakfasts now I had eaten at Just For You Cafe, but due to their recent involvement in the whole stupid parklets conspiracy, I am currently boycotting them. As the Reverend William Spooner once said while in his sinking dinghy, "You seep what you row!" I like them too much to boycott them forever, but I have decided to at least give them a one-year cooling-off period. So, maybe next year I will go back there again on the last Monday in May. Some might think that I am cutting off my nose to spite my face in doing this, but if you have ever seen my nose… or my face, you know that might really not be such a bad thing.

In bypassing Just For You Cafe this year, I figured I might as well go to one of my old standards instead (and one that used to be in my Breakfastary Rotation for many years). So I went back to Chloe♥s Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from July 28th, 2013) over in Noe Valley. I have stated this many times before, but they are probably one of the tinier places to go for breakfast in San Francisco (Art's Cafe may be the tiniest of all): inside there are just two tables for four and six tables for two; they do have sidewalk seating on nicer days (today happened to be one of those mornings) with four tables for four and two tables for two. I have never seen the place not full and without a crowd waiting to get in.

Chloe♥s has just a small everyday printed menu, but they do offer a few "Weekend Specials" with usually just one breakfastary input (which is what I ordered this morning). There are always a few other good possibilities off their regular menu, too: Avocado & Jarlsberg Scramble or Red Potato, Cheddar, & Onion Scramble.

This was basically the same "Special Scramble" that I had on my last visit, but just with red onions in place of the fungus stuff; however, it is to be expected when I only go there one or two times a year now. I went with the Jarlsberg (mind you, not "Jarlsberger", Mr. Cleese); I would probably have chosen Feta, but I just had that cheesy comestible in yesterday's breakfast (everyone knows that Cheddar is not that popular around these parts, and plain ol' cream cheese is never a viable option when eating out). The Jarlsberg made for a nice melty cheese medium in the mess. There was a lot of fresh basil chiffonade[2] throughout it, too; almost as much as might be seen in a spinach scramble ~ this is always a good thing.

Of course, I went with homefries as my side dish selection. They are always much better than just a stupid fresh fruit cup (even I can make a stupid fruit cup at home… I would just need to buy some fresh fruit first). And it was a right HUGE pile o' potatoes, too.

Once again I made my toasty choice White Rosemary, because it really is the best. toast eatery could really learn a thing or two from this tiny little place, as they offer an excellent variety of fresh-baked breads for toast.

For condimentary supplementation, Chloe♥s has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and Tapatío®. I just used some of my own Dave's Gourmet® Ginger Peach Hot Sauce (Thanks, Jim!) on the homefries and some Serious Food… Silly Prices Chunky Habanero (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the scrambled stuff.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Fresh Herb Scramble ~ 6.5


1. What colour-blind horticultural pimp ever came up with this name for an obviously purple or violet hued onion?

2. Yet again, the Nazi Spell-checkers at Microsoft do not recognize this culinarily ubiquitous term. Billy-boy and his brown-shirted goons really need to watch more Food Network and less Playboy Channel.

Memorial Day Remembrances ~ 2014

For the sixth year running, I am posting these two links together.


http://francona.blogspot.com/2014/05/memorial-day-2014_1427.html

The article was written by Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, U.S. Air Force (Retired). He originally wrote the article back in 2007 when he was a Military and Middle East analyst with MSNBC. He updates the article each year on his own 'blog and graciously allows me to re-post it here.

The music video/song is sung by the Boston-based Irish Punk Rock band, Dropkick Murphys. While the song really isn't a Memorial Day song, it is written about WWI and individuals (sometimes forgotten and unknown) that fought in "the War to end all Wars" and paid the ultimate price of freedom.

Take a moment and read the article and listen to the song, or read the article while listening to the song, or listen to the song while reading the article. Either way, take a moment to reflect on the meaning of this current three-day weekend; after all, it's not really about an extra day off, the start of Summer, parades, and barbecues.

Have a safe and "rememorable" Memorial Day, everyone.

toast eatery

"You have Van Gogh's ear for music." 
~ Billy Wilder

http://www.toasteateryonpolk.com/


Place: toast eatery
Location: 1601 Polk Street (on the corner of Sacramento Street)
Hours: open at 7:00am every day of the week
Meal: Mediterranean Scrambler ~ spinach, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, onions, and Feta (served with hashbrowns and choice of toast ~ white, whole wheat, rye, sourdough, or English muffin); and a cuppa (and a coupla refillas) most excellent Coffee (unfortunately I did not catch the brand or roast/blend)

(I just felt like some music from South Carolina's answer to the Allman Brothers Band this morning. That Marshall guy has a pretty good voice and his buddy, Tucker, can play a mean guitar!)


At toast eatery, they serve "American classic comfort food" (with just the modifiers in italic script[1] for some reason). This made a sensible destination to me for a classically comfortable American Memorial Day Weekend breakfast. They are in the same spot that used to house Bob's Diner for many years on Nob Hill, just bordering the Tenderloin[2]. Seating-wise there are eight diner-counter stools; three additional seats at the lower end of the diner-counter; four window-booths for four; three tables for four; four tables for two; and, weather permitting (or whether permitted), there are also five sidewalk tables for two. 

There are two other locations for toast eatery (and both are in Noe Valley; see previous 'blog-entry from October 31st, 2010) that may or may not still be owned by the same people. For some reason, this location on Polk Street has their own separate web-site, but the menus are still basically the same. Nu?! As with the other two locations, there is original artwork inside by local San Francisco artist, Sirron Norris. 

http://www.sirronnorris.com/

(By the way, that clock/watch in the Ferry Building tower actually works.)


I like that they open up pretty early (and I was not the first customer of the day for a change) every day of the week and that breakfast is served all day, and I was happy to see that it is actually called "Breakfast" on their menu, not stupid "Brunch". They have a pretty extensive breakfastary menu from which to choose. Some other tasteful ideas: California Scrambler (egg whites, tomatoes, fresh basil, Cheddar, and avocado ~ I was leaning towards this one [and almost fell off my seat in doing so, too], because I do not think in all the times that I have eaten breakfast [or stupid "Brunch"] that I have ever had an "egg white" omelette or scramble dish before; however, the deciding factor[s] for me was [were] the inclusion of artichoke hearts and Feta in my meal today); Polk Street Omelette (avocado, spinach, bacon [which I would have had omitted, of course], onions, and Cheddar); or Wet Veggie Burrito (flour tortilla filled with black beans, scrambled eggs, Cheddar, and sour cream; topped with ranchero salsa[3] and avocado) also sounded pretty good.

Feta, spinach, and artichoke hearts. What is not to like?! (And anyone not named "Greg" would not mind the mess of diced, fresh tomatoes in it, either.) It really only had two artichoke heart quarters in it, but they were grilled/charred before adding them in, so that is a plus. There was a sufficient amount of Feta in it, but I could always go for more. 

If I have one major complaint about the joint, it is that for a place that takes their name from the burned bread genre, they really only offer standard bready choices. And those are all just from pre-sliced commercial loaves. You would think they could at least offer a few fresh-baked items from which to choose.

toast eatery offers the standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces® (Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce ~ the standard red; Cholula® Hot Sauce; and Tapatío®) for condimentary supplements. While I wish that I had had some of that Cholula® yesterday, this morning I just went with some of my own Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce Off The Wall Triple Hot (Thanks, Kerry!) on the scramble mess and Pickapeppa Sauce (Thanks, Amy!) on the hashbrowns.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Mediterranean Scrambler ~ 6.5


1. I was going to make some kinda corny joke about "Non capisco!" the script for not being completely in Italiano; however, I just discovered this morning that the adjective "italic" actually refers to anything "of or pertaining to Italy". Ain't the World Wild Webs just full of information?!

2. I like to tell people that the Tenderloin goes from "Polk-Bush" all the way down to the corner of "1 Polk & 2 Fell", which is actually close enough for comic purposes.

3. Stupid, useless (and, in this case, pretty nitpickery) cunning linguist pointer of the day:

Technically, I think this should either be called "Ranchero salsa" (if they wanted to use the "Ranch/ranch" modifier as a proper noun) or "salsa ranchera" (if they wanted to agree with gender… and gender agreement is all the rage these days, of course!).

Bayside Café

"There are no differences but differences of degree between different degrees of difference and no difference." ~ William James (while high on Nitrous Oxide)

(No official web-site.)


Place: Bayside Café  
Location: 2011 Bayshore Boulevard (at Hester Avenue[1])
Hours: Monday through Saturday open at 5:00am and Sunday open at 6:30am;
phonicular contact: (415) 467-2023
Meal: Nopales Plate ~ onions, bell peppers scrambled with eggs, served with rice & (refried) beans (arroz y frijoles refritos) and tortillas (choice of corn or flour/maíz o harina); and a cuppa Café Mexicano

(Today happens to be Robert Allen Zimmerman's 73rd birthday. And as much as I would like to honour him with actual versions of his own songs, who the heck can really understand a word when he is singing ~ other than Keith Richards or Tom Petty, perhaps? So, I am just going with these EweToobular covers of his tunes.

And I know I could have linked the quintessential Dylan cover, "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix, but everyone knows that ~ even though Bob may have penned the song ~ Jimi really owns that one.

Don't worry, if Bob were asked about all this, I am sure he would reply with an agreeable: "Heeminna hummina hominna…" or something else equally as unintelligible.)


My breakfastary peregrination this morning took me all the way 'cross town to Bayside Café. They are located right where the Bayshore Boulevard/3rd Street flyover to Highway 101 is in Visitacion Valley[2]. However, they are not really "bayside", as the San Francisco Bay is about another half mile south-eastward still; you can easily see Candlestick Cove from the street, though. "Highwayside Café" just didn't have the same cachet, I suppose.

Bayside Café is an old 50's family diner-style place. They have fourteen diner-counter seats; eight booths for up to four people (all along the window-sides of the joint); one extra large corner booth for about six people (there was actually one family of eight squeezed in there this morning, but four of the eight were little kids); and one solitary (because two really isn't such a solitary number, is it?) table for four by the entryway. 

The breakfast menu (and, believe me, there ain't no fancy-shmancy "Brunch"-ified menu to order off of here) was pretty diverse with many 'merican breakfastary standards and several desayunary mexicano dishes, too. Some other decent suggestions: Popeye Omelette (zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, bell peppers, and onions); Creamed Spinach & Mushroom Omelette (garlic butter and mushrooms in a rich, creamy sauce ~ this was going to be my fallback decision, because I was really interested in seeing how creamed spinach worked in an omelette); (and for those dead, decaying animal flesh fans) Fajita Omelette (choice of beef or chicken, onion, bell peppers, mushrooms & Jack cheese, topped with salsa & sour cream); or maybe even Huevos Rancheros. 

I really liked my scramble. It made the trip all the way over there this morning worth it. All of the vegetables were grilled/charred first before adding them to the mix ~ this was all extra good to me! There was a good amount of nopalitos (hence the name of the dish) diced up into small bite-sized pieces all throughout. I went with corn tortillas (of which there were three, tres); I always feel these are a much better choice with a desayuno típico mexicano. The cuppa Coffee really wasn't called Café Mexicano, I just call it that whenever I add three to four creams (leche) and two to three sugars (azúcar) to it.

For condimentary supplementation, Bayside Café only offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (just the standard red) and Tapatío®. This was kind of disappointing, seeing as they looked to be mostly a Mexican-owned-and-operated place, I was expecting some fresh, homemade salsa around. Or, if it was available, I would probably have gone with some Cholula® Hot Sauce all over the scramble mess. As it was, I ended up using some of my own Mama Africa's™ Zulu Sauces Chilli Mint (Thanks, Kerry!) on the scramble. 

A Breakfastary Update

There was a guy and his young teenage son sitting next to me at the diner-counter and they both used to be big fans of Breakfast at Tiffany's (see last 'blog-entry from February 12th, 2012) also; we all agreed that their hashbrowns were truly "Stella". He told me that they still haven't reopened yet, but there is a lot of construction going on (they basically gutted the entire place). So, hopefully, they will be reopening up later in the year.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Nopales Plate ~ 6.2


1. For any of you geeky Superman fans, it should be noted that Hester Avenue circles around to cross (and the very next street along Bayshore Boulevard is) Lois Lane. I looked on a map and did not see a Lex Luthor Way in the neighborhood, though. Interestingly enough, there are a Clark Street and a Kent Street in San Francisco, but they are both in the northern part of town.

2. If you want a little more information on Visitacion Valley, here is a link from those friendly folks at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitacion_Valley,_San_Francisco

heartbaker

http://www.theheartbaker.com/


Place: heartbaker 
Location: 1408 Clement Street (at 15th Avenue)
Hours: Tuesday through Friday open at 7:00am and Saturday at 8:00am (just for standard bakery items); Sunday open at 9:00am for "Brunch" (however, they need to update their official website to reflect this, and maybe list a sample Sunday "Brunch" menu there, too)
Meal: French Toast ~ with cardamom custard, caramelized fruit and whipped honey ricotta; a side of Gabrielle's roasted potatoes; Cherry Mascarpone Galette[1] (for breakfastary dessert); and a cuppa pour-over/drip Hearth Coffee Roasters

http://hearthcoffee.com/

(Do do do do do you get today's EweToobular juxtaselections?

Well, it's a well-known fact that both Mick and Keith are fond of their Full English Breakfasts.)


I went back to heartbaker (see previous 'blog-entry from October 5th, 2013) this morning to check out their brand-new "Brunch" offering. They have only been open for "Brunch" now for the past two months, and have only been open at this Richmond bakery spot since about June 2013. It's a rather small joint (well, it's basically a bakery joint, not really an eatery joint) with just three tables for four people, four tables for two people, four counter seats, and four tables for two out front on the sidewalk. This morning, they were playing several old Hank Williams (the original guy, not Junior or III) and Johnny Cash tunes on the house stereo (probably from some kinda Pandora radio channel or such).

The "Brunch" menu is a bit sparse with only about five to six items from which to choose, and it changes weekendly. Some other items that I noticed on the menu: Huevos Rancheros; Shrimp & Grits (with pickled okra ~ they may have listed this as simply "Shrimp Grits" and I really didn't pay much attention to what else it entailed, but if you eat of the dead, decaying marine insects, you might like that one); plus, there is their full line of standard bakery items (there were two different quiches this morning: one suitable for stupid vegetarians and the other for idiots that partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh).

After Baker Street Bistro's ultimate Pain Perdu, this has to be the best French toast that I have had this year, and probably one of the best I have had in a long while. I told the waitress/server lady-person that I could only think of two words to describe it: "Wow!" (I don't think she quite got my joke. It's okay, though, no actual tipping points are ever deducted due to someone not understanding my stupid sense of humor.) It is hard to actually describe the whole thing, but the bread that they used had a very eggy-custardy texture to it, too; I have no idea what kind of bread they used to make this. The only minor complaint that I might have (and this is just a little ultra-nitpickery on my part) is that I would liked to have tasted a bit more cardamom in the whole thing (I absolutely love cardamom, so maybe it was just right for "normal" people). The caramelized fruits this morning were peaches and apricots[2], and provided a bit of a nice, syrupy sauce on the side.

The "whipped honey ricotta" was outstanding, too. I can't be sure, but I think they finished it off with just a soupçon of sea salt on top. At first, I had forgotten that it was whipped ricotta and was wondering why their "whipped cream" was so lumpy ~ mighty tasty, but lumpy…

The portions were a bit on the small side (both the French toast and the side of potatoes), but more than made up for it in huge flavour. This was all okay with me, as that just left me more room to order a breakfastary dessert (I still need to come up with a decent portmanteau word for that). Even including the pastry, I wasn't quite as full as yesterday's Godzilla-sized (and Godzilla-coloured) omelette.

The Cherry Mascarpone Galette was made with large black cherries (extra bonus points there) and was outstanding; however, after eating their amazing French Toast first, it was a bit anticlimactic. I am sure that if I had the breakfastary dessert first, I wouldn't be so harsh on it. And this is no fault of the Cherry Mascarpone Galette itself, it is just like comparing apples to oranges (or cherries to cardamom, I suppose).

I really have no idea what heartbaker might offer in the way of condimentary supplements; I didn't ask and they didn't really need to offer any. I simply used some of my own Hula Girl Chipotle Habanero (Thanks, Jim!) on the potatoes. No way was I going to mess with the awesome French toast.

I really like that this is walking distance from my apartment: just seventeen blocks (each way… and uphill both ways!), and if they offered more "Brunch" items on the menu, I am sure I would make it a new call-up for my Breakfastary Rotation. As it is, I will definitely be going back to check them out again and can highly recommend the French Toast.

Glen Bacon Scale Rating: French Toast ~ 7.7; Cherry Mascarpone Galette ~ 7.1

1. Once again, Billy Gee and his Spell-checker Nazi-boys do not seem to recognize this simple French baked item. Do people at Microsoft subside on bad burgers and fries only?

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

(Just because I felt like it) here are the French words for today's fruits (fruits):

Peach = pêche (pronounced "pesh"; sometimes, it's not really Roquette Science)

Apricot = abricot (pronounced "AB-ree-co"; and sometimes it's not really Chirurgie du Cerveau, either)
Cherries = cerises (pronounced "sa-REES-eh")