Sweet Maple

http://www.sweetmaplesf.com/ 


Place: Sweet Maple

Location: 2101 Sutter Street 
(on the corner of Steiner Street)

Hours: open for breakfast Monday through Sunday at 8:00am

Meal: Sweet Potato Pancake ~ cinnamony healthy goodness, served with pure Vermont maple syrup (Hidden Springs Maple Syrup ~ a family-owned and operated maple syrup farm in Southern Vermont) and butter (they do not specify from which creamery they source their butter, though) and a side of Herb Roasted Potato Medley ~ consists of seasonal & regional varieties such as Chilean Purple, Yukon Gold, Gemstone Red, Russet, Sweet Yam

https://www.hiddenspringsmaple.com/

(My initial thought was to use one of Shana Morrison's[1] cover-versions of this Sir George Ivan song, but I came upon this one in the same EweToob search and really liked it.)


Because last week I ate at Taylor Street Coffee Shop again, I figured it was fitting that I should probably go through the litany of other restaurants in this local family-owned mini-chain of restaurants. Hence, next up was Sweet Maple (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 15th, 2017). I think this was the second restaurant that they opened (possibly third), but it has been ensconced in the Lower Pacific Heights/
Japantown/Fillmore District triangle-area since 2010.

Many of the restaurants in their mini-chain have the same or very similar dishes (just with different name-variations) and I have tried several of them already. There are still yet another few (specific to the Sweet Maple menu, at least) other ideas that seem breakfastary worthy for me:

Southern Benedict ~ chorizo (which woulda gone chorizo-no with me), cherry pepper, tomato, chipotle Hollandaise, served w/ potato medley 
(I have had their chipotle Hollandaise before and know that it is really good);

Snowed Spinach Scramble ~ baby spinach, Vermont Cheddar, Parmesan, served w/ potato medley and ciabatta au levain toast; 

or if I am the mood once again for something Sweet...

Marnier ~ French toast: creamy Grand Marnier® (citrus) batter.

There is not really much to report about this dish. It was sweet potato pancakes in all its sweet potato-goodness and cinnamocity (yeah, it's not a real word, but neither is "cinnamony"). They have this listed on the menu as "Pancake" in the singularity, but it actually came as three (possibly four?) rather large (but, thankfully, sorta thin) pancakes; otherwise, with the side of potatoes, it woulda been wayyyy too much for me to finish. Not listed on the menu was that it also comes served with two types of berries (that would be blueberries and oranges to you botanical minded-types) and one not-a-berry (that would be strawberries to you in the botanical laity) on top. (However, I am not quite sure where in the fruit-world that sprig of fresh parsley may lay. In time, I am sure that Rosemary will sagely tell me... )

I saw on their menu that you could upgrade to something called "JD syrup". This intrigued me enough to ask what exactly that meant. Sadly, it was not a syrup tapped from juvenile delinquent maple trees in Vermont. However, I was ecstatic to learn that the "JD" actually stood for "Jack Daniels" and just had to try out that junk! Unfortunately, when they brought it out in a small syrup-pourer/carafe-thing, it was chock-full-o' crispy dead, decaying porcine-butt bits. The waiter/server-person guy forgot to mention to me that it included this item, and I had to end up going back to the "plain ol' 100% Vermont maple syrup" instead... 

As far as condimentary supplementation goes, Sweet Maple offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce 
(both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce), Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce, and Traina® Hot Sriracha Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup. I ended up using a goodly portion of the Sriracha Ketchup on the potatoes (and don't think the thought did not cross my mind to try some on the pancakes, too, Mr. Moses Harry Horwitz!).


(yet still another not necessarily such a) 
Strange Coffee Interlude

Sure, I coulda ordered a cuppa Coffee at the restaurant to complement my breakfast ("My, Miss Pancakes, you do look lovely this morning!"), but earlier in the morning I made sure to whip-me-up (well, technically, drip-me-down) an extra-fine cuppa Koa Coffee Plantation® 100% Kona Coffee Grande Domaine Single Estate Medium Dark Roast!!! (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!)[2] This was actually from a Christmas gift, which I am finally getting around to using some of it up. Man, I wish I had known how d*rn good it was, because, trust me, it would not have made it past February! Besides, no matter how good the Coffee at Sweet Maple might have been, I knew that (even with the way that I crummily make Coffee) this superior bean/roast could not be topped. In the past I had always had a lighter (as in "way too light") roast of Kona Coffee and was never very impressed with its flavour. However, I really like this Coffee so much so that I am claiming it as "My Favourite New Coffee of 2019" (and I truly believe that you will be hard pressed [or hard-percolated] to change my mind on this before year's end, anyway). To make this early morning cuppa even more early morning special, I drank it outta my "Breakfast of Champions"[3] mug (Thanks, Sean!), too.

https://www.koacoffee.com/p/pure-kona-coffee/grande-domaine-vienna-roast-whole-bean-kona


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Sweet Potato Pancake(s) ~ 6.5;
Koa Coffee Plantation® 100% Kona Coffee Grande Domaine Single Estate Medium Dark Roast!!! ~ 7.7-7.8;
"Breakfast of Champions" ~ 6.9 (the book; actually, I would have to rate the mug at 7.9)

___________________

1. http://www.shanamorrison.com/

Trust me, Shana is a way lot cuter'n that guy from Indiana performing the Sir George Ivan song above, but I had never heard this Hoosier-guy's cover-version before and felt like going with it up top.

Just to be fair, here is Shana performing another cover-version of one of her daddy's songs:

(The fat guy in the pork-pie straw hat and glasses singing duet with her really oughtta keep his day job, though... )

2. This gift was given in the "whole bean" version and not the pre-grinded-up grounds style. 

(Just what kinda cheap-o b*stages give a person a gift of a bagga whole bean Coffee and then expect that person to have to do all the work of a'grindin'-up the beans hisd*mnself?! Pfffft! Some people!)

3. While this novel might not be my favourite book from Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (that, of course, would be "Cat's Cradle" ~ GBS Rating: 8.0, followed closely by "Sirens of Titan" ~ GBS Rating: 7.8), it was the very first one of his books that I ever did read. (Thanks, Philboyd Studge, for introducing me to the Weird and Wonderful Vonnegutian World way back in the Summer of '77!) Plus, it is one of my favourite current mugs out of which to enjoy a piping-hot Coffee beverage (and maybe even a tea or two sometimes).