Since 1863... Where San Francisco begins... and Popovers(!) end... in my belly!
https://cliffhouse.com/bistro/ Place: the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House Location: 1090 Point Lobos (at the end of the Earth/Ocean Beach) Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Saturday at 9:00am, Sunday at 8:30am Meal: Sautéed Vegetable[1]Scramble ~ scrambled eggs, red peppers, tomatoes, scallions, button mushrooms, melted goat cheese, served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes; a small glassa tomato juice (I was planning on ordering a "Virgin Bloody Mary", but my astute waiter/server-person guy, Daniel, warned me that their Bloody Mary mix has clam juice already in it... ewww... now why would anyone do that to perfectly innocent tomato juice?!); and, as always (and one of the main reasons that I like to go back there a few times a year, anyway), a basket of (World) Famous Cliff HousePopovers(!)[2] https://cliffhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BloodyMar-e1490546121250.jpg (As can be seen in the above photo-link, this breakfastary cocktail is a side dish all on its ownsome.) To finish off the early-season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I normally like to close-it-out at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House(see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 28th, 2018). They really only offer five different breakfast dish choices that are either stupid vegetarian-friendly or can be made so with the simple omission of one or two types of dead, decaying animal flesh, so I have had each probably several times (as in probably twenty or more severals) already over the past twenty-plus years that I have been eating at the Bistro Restaurant. Well, they do have a dish called "the Johnson Omelet" ~ made with Dungeness crab[3], avocado, and sour cream ~ that I have never tried before; however, if I were ever to order it (sans the dead, decaying marine insect stuff), they would probably have to rename it "the Little Richard Omelet".
Because I was once again lucky enough to be sitting at an ocean-viewing window-table, I kept an intent watch for any migrating Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). My friendly, informative waiter/server-person guy, Daniel, also informed me that there have been many sightings recently of these Quasimodo-type great fishes (and just a little ways off Seal Rocks, too) making their Spring-break trek up North. However, I was not lucky enough to spot (or stripe) any of them this morning (h*ck, I am just lucky to be able to see as far as Seal Rocks).
There were only two (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) in my basket this morning. That really did not matter as those proved to be the perfect amount for my appetite today (besides, if you ask, they will always bring you more at no charge... for free even). This is one of my more favourite dishes that is available for breakfast at the Bistro Restaurant. I suppose that even if they did not already offer their (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!), this would still be return-trip-worthy (probably just not three to four times a year, though). And if they ever added Kalamata olives to this mess, it would definitely put it "way over the top" for me. There were only two roasted potatoes (halved) as a side this morning, which was also probably enough for me, but more potatoes is always welcomed. (Should that be "more [potatoes] is... " or "more [potatoes] are... "? My grammar and grampar never really explained this stuff to me.) Today's fresh fruits consisted of: strawberry (I am using the singular here as there was just one half-strawberry in the pile), cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew melon, and grape (again, singular, as in just one, but it was a whole one, not a half). the Bistro Restaurant only has Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) for use as a condimentary supplement. Knowing this (See? I have been to more than one public performance featuring bronco-riding, calf-roping, steer-wrestling, and Brahma bull-riding at this here particular establishment.[4]), I used some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian! And, thankfully, I only have about three to four doses remaining in this particular glass bottle-soldier.) on the potatoes and some Old St. AugustineDatil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg! There is still about three-quarters left in this bottle, though.) judiciously all over the scrambled mess and even a few drops (five or six) into the tomato juice (to kill any of the d*mn clam juice... just in case it had infected it, too).
Hollywoodland Spotlight of the Day Today's Hollywoodland Highlight moment focuses on one Margy Reed (better-known-as Martha Raye). This autographed photograph was on the wall (about half-way up... or, if you are a pessimistic acrophobe, about half-way down) on the other side of my table. I think I probably remember Martha Raye more for her cameo-role appearances on TeeVee in the 60's and 70's than for her actual movie-starring roles. (We won't bother to mention those embarrassing Polident® commercials from the 70's and 80's that she also did.) I do know that I have seen her in both the movie "H*llzapoppin'" (1941) (which also had some guy named "Samuel Horwitz" in a supporting-role) and the Abbott-and-Costello movie "Keep 'Em Flying" (also 1941), where she played a dual-role as twin sisters (there were no wayward members of the Three Stooges moonlighting in this one, though). https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0713106/ Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ 6.7; (World) Famous Cliff HousePopovers(!) ~ 8.2 ___________________
1. I am particularly pleased that they have the good sense to use the full word "Vegetable" and not that ubiquitous and utterly odious moniker of "Veggies" (uggh!). 2. For those of you that are in the "uninformed" category, Popovers(!) are an American version of Yorkshire pudding and similar batter puddings made in England since the 17th century. And if you are even in the "yet still more uninformed" category, there is this information from our friendly friends at WikipediA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_pudding 3. Dungeness crab's common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington. I never knew that before, but I do not think that I have ever eaten one of these in my entire life. Even back when I still ate "meat", I was never much of a fan of any of the dead, decaying marine insects, anyway. 4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/etymological pointer of the day: The word "rodeo" comes directly from the Spanish word "rodeo" (See? Sometimes this cunning-linguistics stuff ain't always cirugía de cohete or ciencia del cerebro.), basically meaning "round-up". The Spanish word is derived from the verb "rodear", meaning "to surround" or "go around," used to refer to "a pen for cattle at a fair or market," derived from the Latin "rota" or "rotare", meaning "to rotate" or "go around".
"Dogs never bite me. Just humans." ~ Marilyn Monroe
http://www.thelittlechihuahua.com/location/noe-valley Place: the Little Chihuahua Location: 4123 24th Street (between Castro and Diamond Streets) Hours: open at 10:00am on Saturday & Sunday (for "Brunch") Meal: Chilaquiles ~ fried corn tortillas tossed with a smoky chile cream sauce, sautéed poblano chiles and onions and topped with two eggs cooked to order, garnished with sour cream,pico de gallo and queso cotija; a (somewhat superfluous) side of tortilla chips; a large glassa melon agua fresca; and (beforehand) a small cuppa Bernie's ~ a local coffee shop La Dona (light roast) (No offical web-site; phonicular contact: 415-642-1192.)
(The first EweToobular juxtaselection should be self-evident from the theme of the song and the name of the restaurant this morning. The second song is because it's una tradición for the restaurant to be blasting a little Sábado Negro when they first open up for the morning. They actually weren't doing so this morning, but they normally are.) Think globally, drink locally! I had arrived to the neighborhood (which, in this case, would be Noe[1] Valley[2]) more than an hour before my intended breakfastary destination was due to open, so I figured a little early-morning caffeine intake was in order. I have been to Bernie's ~ a local coffee shop before and knew it to be a decent place for a decent cuppa. They are located in the same spot (bottom floor of an old Victorian[3]) that used to (coffee)house Spinelli's (back before they were bought-out by Tully's). I am not sure which particular brand of Coffee they serve at Bernie's (It would be ironic if the name of the roastery happened to be the Donald or the Hillary, though.) ~ see, here's where an official-type web-site thing comes in handy ~ but I was informed by one of the pretty, friendly baristettes that today's drip-Coffee was a light roast with the moniker of La Dona. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude Just before entering Bernie's, a pair (which would only be considered a minor pandemonium) of the noisy little chatter-heads flew over the building. I have no idea from where they were heading or to where they were going. I had been meaning to get back to breakfast at the Little Chihuahua (see last 'blog-entryfrom June 28th, 2015) last month in keeping with my end-of-June annular visit. Plus, it's always nice to get back to Noe Valley once in a while, especially when it's proving to be a sunny morning for a change. I sat out back in the open-air (but covered with an awning) patio seating area. There are five small tables that can seat from two to four persons back there. I had the entire place to myself the whole time I was there, too.
"Hey, Brian, what gives? Chilaquiles two days in a row? Are you some kinda Mexicanese-person now? Ja-ja-ja!" Well, I will have you know, this was by no means (Would that be "by yes means" then?) a coincidence. I purposely wanted to order another chilaquiles dish to compare it with muy sabroso desayuno de ayer. This came out as a huge pile o' tortilla chips. These were sautéed with a very nice salsa and it included lots of poblano chillies and white onions in with it. I was not asked how I would like my eggs prepared (normally chilaquiles are prepared with the eggs scrambled in with the tortilla chips and junk already) and this came out with the eggs scrambled separately, but added on top of the heap; this was a different take on how I normally am used to getting it. Plus, if I had known that I had my choice of how the eggs could be prepared, I might have gone with over-medium instead for a change. This was a pretty good meal, but yesterday's chilaquiles were more in the style of what I am used to and prefer. If I were to recommend going back to the Little Chihuahua for breakfast (and I highly do), I would tell you to stick with either the Stacked Enchiladas (which would be my primary recommendation as they are truly keeler; see previous 'blog-entry from June 29th, 2014) or their breakfast version of Chile Relleno (which I had on my previous visit; these are also keeler, but in comparison to the Stacked Enchiladas, this would only be a Voluntary Manslaughter sentence, whereas the Stacked Enchiladas are Death Row quality). Sure, I didn't have to order a side of tortilla chips, but I mainly did so so that I could sample some of their mighty fine home-made (taquería-made, whatever) salsas. I got three little ramekins of their Roasted Tomato, Chipotle, and Lime-Habanero. None of these are extremely picante (well, I suppose they are gringo-espicy), but I really like the flavour of the Lime-Habanero. The combination of plain tortilla chips with the ones already in the chilaquiles really was a lot of chips to take in (or a lot of intake of tortilla chips). This meal does not come with any type of side dish (arroz y frijoles refritos are generally a given). I was thinking of ordering a side of their Mexican potatoes or plátanos fritos. Luckily, I did not, because that would have ended up being wayyyyy too much food, anyway. And just like yesterday, the Little Chihuahua only has bottles of Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce on the tables for a condimentary supplement. Who would ever need any of that when they offer five great-tasting home-made (taquería-made, whatever) salsas already?![4] Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 6.4; Bernie'sLa Dona ~ 7.0; the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. For those of you that are uninformed, "Noe" is pronounced: "NO-ee", not just plain ol' "No". 2. For those of you that are uniformed, "Valley" is pronounced pretty much as you would expect. 3. Like there are really any "new Victorians". 4. Well, Who may not ever use any of that kind of bottled hot sauce, but I bet those smarmy li'l bastages What, I-don't-know, or I-don't-give-a-darn would. Naturally!
(No official web-site [any longer].) Place: Home Plate Location: 2274 Lombard Street (between Pierce and Steiner Streets) Hours: open everyday [ sic ][1] at 7:00am Meal: Greek Frittata (three-egg pancake-style omelettes [this is the actual description off their menu]) ~ spinach, tomatoes, Calamata [ sic ] olives, Feta cheese, served with 2 potato-carrot pancakes, or hash browns, and toast; a medium glassa fresh (squeezed?) cantaloupe juice; and after breakfast a small cuppa Peet's Coffee & Tea®Ethiopian Fancy http://www.peets.com/coffee/by-region/coffee-shop-by-category-africa-arabia/ethiopian-fancy.html
Continuing with the whole Spring Training-theme, I headed back to Home Plate (see last 'blog-entry from February 21st, 2015) for breakfast this morning. This has always been a great little (family-owned/run) place and I've probably been going here now for at least fifteen to twenty years. If ever needed, it could easily slide right into my Breakfastary Starting Rotation: 1) they open very early (just try finding any other good joint along Lombard Street ~ or in the Marina/Cow Hollow area ~ that opens at 7:00am), and 2) they offer a great selection (both in quantity and quality) of items from which to choose (for stupid vegetarian-types and those that partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh alike).
Not that there was really much that I could get off their Specials board this weekend, but I am sure there are several of you out there that like "shrimps", so the Angry Benedict might just be up your dead, decaying aquatic insect-eating alley. There was also a separate printed Specials insert with the menu which offered several other items. I was eyeing the Dulce de Leche Pancakes ~ 2 pancakes filled with Dulce de Leche and topped with caramel, sliced almond (now why they have "almonds" in the singular and "shrimp" in the plural, I don't know... Third Base!) and whipped cream. If I had been in a "sweet" mood, this would have been my choice today (with a side order of hashbrowns, probably).
I have had this frittata several times before here, and other than the mispelink of "Kalamata olives", I am always happy to see that this is packed with lots of Kalamata (or Calamata) olives and Feta cheese. I went with rye bread for my toasty choice. I would normally get their potato-carrot pancakes (which are truly exemplary) as my breakfastary side dish choice, but I felt like trying their hashbrowns (which they have as two words, but I prefer it as oneword... "You say 'everyday'... I say 'potahto'...") for a change. Another nice little touch is that all breakfast meals start off with a small, fresh-baked scone with two tasty homemade (well, Home Plate-made) jams. Today's jams were strawberry and mango. For condimentary supplements, Home Plate has the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (with both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce), Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal, and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce; plus, they also have squeeze-bottles of Huy Fong Foods, Inc.Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I used some of my own Old St. Augustine Snake Bite Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the hashbrowns and (just a bit of) Dragon's Lair Extra HotCayenne & HabaneroHot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the frittata. Afterward, I walked a few blocks over to Chestnut Street to get myself a nice after-breakfast Coffee (I purposely forewent getting any Coffee with my meal as I figured I might do this) at Peet's Coffee & Tea®'s flagship store located there. I like how they now offer any blend/roast that is currently available (and this goes for any seasonal/one-time-only blends/roasts, too) as a single "press-pot" (which is just 'merican-speak for "presse française"). I chose the Ethiopian Fancy because it is almost never offered as their everyday (and here this is kerektly speld as the oneword adjective) Coffee. It costs a little more when they make it this way (a single cuppa can be either $3.05 [for standard blends/roasts] or $4.05 [for the fancier blends/roasts ~ such as Ethiopian Fancy, etc.]), but it is worth it once in a while; especially if you want to test-taste a new blend/roast before buying an entire bag of the junk. And the extra-added bonus of doing this today was that I paid for a small/single cuppa (12 oz), but was actually given a large cuppa (16 oz ~ which can be $4.35 or $5.35, depending on the blend/roast; I have found that they will usually make an overage of Coffee when they make it via "press-pot", anyway). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Greek Frittata ~ 7.4; Cantaloupe Juice ~ 7.5; Scone and Jams ~ 7.3; Peet's Coffee & Tea®Ethiopian Fancy ~ 7.6 ___________________ 1. Much like yesterday's adjectival error, I am sure they also mean: "every day".
