Breadbelly

https://breadbellysf.com/


Place: Breadbelly

Location: 1408 Clement Street
(near the corner of 15th Avenue)

Hours: open at 8:00am Wednesday to Monday 
(so, basically, they are closed on Tuesdays)

Meal: Tomato and Eggs ~ soft scrambled eggs, (cherry) tomato, blackbean (not of the frijoles negros variety; but probably either black adzuki beans[1] or black soybeans[2]), ginger & scallion, comes with one (thick) slice of milk-bread toast; a "Not Ube[3]!" Tart (to start and finish the meal) ~ purple sweet potato, toasted meringue, salted egg; and a cuppa Wrecking Ball Colombia Cauca El Totoró to drink 

https://www.wreckingballcoffee.com/collections/all/products/colombia-cauca-el-totoro-12oz

(There is really no EweToobular juxtaselection here. Perhaps, ol' Noel Yang is a big fan of "Not Ube!" Tarts himself, too.)


Yet another new bakery-kinda joint has opened in my neighborhood (and on a more clear day, it is even within walkable distance). Breadbelly is located in the space that used to house heartbaker (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 17th, 2017), which I was very sad to see closed. This new bakery has only been open now since mid-December 2018, and this was my initial visit there.

They have completely redone the inside décor. The cash-register and pastry display counter are now all the way to the back of the front room (where both of those used to be along  the left side of the room). The interior space seems to be a bit more open now, but just with less seating: there are only six tables for two people, one table for four people, and one corner table for four to five people (in the window-alcove). Plus, it looks like they have done away with any outside/sidewalk seating, which is a pity, because it was always fun to sit outside on a nice sunny day (well, today was not that kinda day, anyway; it was more of an Italian double-marriage foggy kinda day... you know, a "big-a-mist").

Of course, being the nudnik that I am, I had to bore[4] the poor two counter-guys with a gazillion st*pid questions on the menu, the new set-up/interior design, the choice of Coffee roasters, etc. Ferexample: they have a drink listed as "O.J. & Beer" on the menu. Whaaaa'?! One of the misfortunate counter-guys had to explain the whole concept to me. He said that it was based on the Beastie Boys song called "Brass Monkey", which had something to do with mixing a 40-ouncer can of Malt Liquor (Beer, basically) with orange juice. This sounds just about disgusting enough that I am sure that I will have to try it on my next visit there. (Hey! Do not judge me! It contains orange juice and, thus, is a viable breakfast drink!)

There are still a few other interesting breakfastary ideas that I plan on checking out ("... out which I plan on checking... "? Nah, that does not sound right.):

Breakfast Sando (which is how they have it on the wall menu, but it is listed as "Breakfast Sandwich" on their online menu; I just hate these completely madeuppery words) ~ fried egg, ham (one of the verrrry patient counter-guys told me this could be substituted with avocado for st*pid vegetarian-types), braised kale, Gruyère (for what it is worth, they have this spelled in the minuscule and without the gravely accented "è"), fermented chili (which I was told included more dead, decaying porcine junk in it, so I would have to forego that, too);

Kaya Toast ~ griddled Breadbelly milk bread, coconut-pandan[5] jam (this sounded very intriguing and will probably be my choice on my next visit; once again, the extremely patient counter-guy had to explain to me exactly what the h*ck "pandan" is and how it flavours the jam-stuff);

or possibly

Mushroom Barley Broth ~ Maitake[6] & English peas, roasted barley tea, Chinese cabbages (and, yet again, one of the much-laboured-upon counter-monkeys... er... counter-guys had to take the time to explain to me what this dish is; I was picturing some kinda thickish stew dish, but he said it was more of a thin soupy-broth; I am not sure how that would work as a breakfast dish, but I will try anything once... I mean, c'mon, a "Brass Monkey"?!).

Additionally, there are several other sweet and savoury pastries that I am looking forward to tasting, too.

For the faint of stomach, let it be known that that is not grated lemon all over the top of the tart, that would be some grated salted egg.  With the toasted meringue and purple sweet potato filling, this made for a very nice sweet-and-salty flavour bite. (It is stuff like this why I am not gonna be afeared of no d*mn "Brass Monkeys".)

The main dish was all pretty simple (and nothing that I probably couldn't make myself at home... if I ever had any eggs... or cherry tomatoes.. or scallions... or any sort of black beans... in my refrigerator). I was very happy to see that the "soft scrambled eggs" were, thankfully, not overly "soft" (like the Frenchy-style scrambled eggs ~ which are always a bit too runny/under-cooked for my liking). I particularly liked that there was a good amount of fresh cilantro leaves all over the top (another ingredient that is not usually found in my refrigerator and also another flavour that not everyone tends to like).

The "milk-bread" was very similar to pain de mie. One of the counter-guys explained it exactly to me how they make their bread, but it is just easier for me to remember it this way.

As far as any condimentary supplementation that Breadbelly might have had to offer, I did not really feel like bothering them (again) to find out. I used some of my own H*ll's Kitchen® Sriracha Chili Hot Sauce 
(Thanks, Mom!) on the scrambled egg mess and a couple of grinds of grains of paradise, too (there is probably just one last grindage left in my grinder now).


(not really such a) Strange Coffee Interlude

I have had Wrecking Ball (a local ~ as in very locally roasted in the South of Market Area ~ San Francisco Coffee roastery) several times before at other coffeehouses and bakeries around town. I am not sure if I had ever had their Colombia Cauca El Totoró, but I know that I have had their Ethiopia Sidama Gr. 1 Bensa Station at least a few times and really enjoyed it.

https://www.wreckingballcoffee.com/collections/frontpage/products/ethiopia-sidama-gr-1-bensa-station-12oz


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
"Not Ube!" Tart ~ 6.9;
Tomato and Eggs ~ 6.5;
Wrecking Ball Colombia Cauca El Totoró ~ 7.1

___________________

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_adzuki_bean

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douchi

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioscorea_alata

4. I meant that to be in the verbal sense of "to pierce (a solid substance) with some rotary cutting instrument". Because it truly must have felt as if I was drilling into their brains with all my inane questions.

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandanus_amaryllifolius

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

"Maitake" is the Japanese word for hen-of-the-woods mushrooms (Grifola frondosa). "舞茸" ("Maitake") literally means "dancing mushroom".