eight am

I was almost in the Military once... 
I served nine years in the USAF.[1]

(No official-type web-site.)


Place: eight am

Location: 1323 Columbus Avenue 
(between Beach and North Point Streets); 
phonicular contact: (415) 292-4888

Hours: (ironically enough, they actually) open at 7:00am seven days a week

Meal: Avocado Toast[2] Three Ways & Fresh Fruit Salad ~ you'll get all three toasts described below and a side of fresh fruit[3]:
Avocado Toast with Fried Egg ~ toasted multigrain bread spread with mashed avocado topped with one sunny-side up egg;
Avocado Toast with Heirloom Tomato ~ toasted sweet baguette spread with mashed avocado and heirloom tomato slices; and
Avocado Toast with Bacon ~ toasted sourdough spread with mashed avocado and bacon (I had them substitute a second Avocado Toast with Fried Egg instead);
and to drink, a cuppa (and two refillas) Royal Cup Coffee and Tea Rain Forest Bold Coffee

https://store.royalcupcoffee.com/home

(There is no particular juxtaselection for this EweToobular song this morning. I just have it under good authority that both Keith and Greg were big fans of the fruity avocado, but I heard that that d*mn Carl was an obstinate berry-hater! 

[And I bet that it will take longer to listen to this entire song than it will take to read this morning's silly li'l 'blog-entry.])


If I hadn't already had "discovered" Surisan (which is just around the corner a block away) earlier this year, I would easily (ex- and/or pro-)claim eight am (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 16th, 2017) as both Best "New" Breakfast Find of 2017 and Best Breakfast on Fisherman's Wharf. As it is, they are definitely My Second-Favourite New Restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf. 

Because it was not raining and Monsieur Soleil was (sorta) out this morning, I decided to sit outside at one of the four sidewalk tables for two. It was a bit cool still, but I had on both a jacket and sweatshirt underneath which made it sufficiently comfortable for me.

As for other possible ideas (and more reasons for return visits in the future; even if this means having to deal with driving "all the way over" to Fisherman's Wharf and having to deal with all the d*mn touristas, too):

Haight Ashbury (Frittata) ~ mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and Swiss cheese;

Nob Hill (Frittata) ~ mushrooms, spinach, shallots, and Swiss cheese;

or

Noe Valley (Frittata) ~ Black Forest ham, zucchini, and Gruyère (I would have, of course, sechsundachtzig-ed the Schwarzwälder Schinken, Adolf); 

and several different crêpes (both sweet and savoury) from which to choose, too:

7AM ~ tomatoes, yellow and red bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, and Swiss cheese; 

8AM ~ berry compote made with fresh seasonal berries (hopefully not including any avocado or tomatoes) and Chantilly cream; 

or 

11AM ~ peanut butter and sliced bananas drizzled with maple syrup.

♪ "Come and knock on our avocado..." ♫

Ha! These came out presented with two perfectly executed Mooby's™-style sunnyside-up eggs! 

This was a virtual toasty Mélange-à-Trois (well, 
Mélange-à-Deux for me). What is there really to be said about Avocado Toast? It is basically mashed fresh avocado (and I know it was fresh as there was even one small piece of the skin/shell that I discovered before eating it... luckily) on toast. Simples! I did like that they offered three different (well, in my case, two different) versions and with three different types of bread/toast. Additionally, the heirloom tomatoes would be a welcomed sight and taste by everyone (well, by everyone not named "Greg Kipe", that is).

Even though it was just another "fruit salad"-thing, this contained a very impressive display o' fruits: banana 
(a botanical berry), kiwi (also a botanical berry), strawberries (not quite botanical berries), blueberries (quite the botanical berries), blackberries (nope, sorry, not botanical berries), raspberries (also, nope, not botanical berries), pineapple (I am not quite sure if the fruit of the pineapple trees are also botanical berries, but they are probably just as much a berry as strawberries or raspberries), cantaloupe (I really can't determine one way or the other on the berry-status of this one), and honeydew melon (see cantaloupe ~ ditto).

For condimentary supplements, eight am offers just Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce (Original). Knowing this, and because I was figuring on ordering Avocado Toast Three Ways , I made sure to bring a troika of my own hot sauces to use upon each slice. I used some Dat'l Do-it® Scorching Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of one egg, some Great Wall Wasabi Hot Sauce (Thanks again, Mom!) on top of the other egg, and some Sunbelt Plantations Vidalia® Onion Jalapeno[ sic ] Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on top of the heirloom tomatoes (I determined [correctly, I might add; even one of the waiter/server-guy persons agreed with me when he saw that I had three of my own bottles with me] that the jalapeño flavour would pair up nicely with the heirloom tomatoes [and just who the h*ck bequeaths their garden fruits and vegetables to their offspring?!]).

I am sure that Jack and Chrissy (and that other one) would whole-heartedly approve of this meal. However, Mr. Roper would probably frown-upon this frivolous use of perfectly good berries (he always disliked those "fruity"-types, after all). (No one really cared what Mr. Furley ever had to say, anyway.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Avocado Toast Three Ways & Fresh Fruit Salad ~ 6.6 (as simplistic as the meal was, I am still giving it a pretty good rating, mainly for the trinity [the Father, the Son, and the Holy Toast?] uniqueness and especially for their excellent fruit selection);
Royal Cup Coffee and Tea Rain Forest Bold Coffee ~ 6.6

___________________

1. Trust me. This joke kills at any VFW or American Legion hall among members of all the other Branches of Military.

A Happy Veterans Day to all of you that are Veterans!

(A Happy Saturday to everyone else!)

2. "Avocado Toast" is the new "black" in the Breakfastary World it seems. It can now be found ubiquitously everywhere as often as you might see the word "ubiquitous". Because of which, I have decided to add a separate "Label" (see right-side column) for it now. 

I have only had it a few times (at least two times that I could find in past 'blog-entries) in the past few years; so it took me a while to locate even those two times.

3. They didn't specify whether or not the fruits were into Ménage-à-Trois-ery. However, both avocados and tomatoes are technically fruits (and botanically berries).

Rise & Grind

Richmond (District) Coffeehouses ~ 
33-1/3 rpm, B-Side

♪ "Now malted milk balls of love are hunting
I've always been a coward
And I don't know what's good for me..." ♫ 

(No official web-site that I could locate.)


Place: Rise & Grind

Location: 785 8th Avenue (near Fulton Street); 
phonicular contact: (415) 795-0724

Hours: open at 7:00am Monday through Friday; 
open at 8:00am Saturday and Sunday

Meal: Avocado Toast ~ fresh avocado, a dab of mayo (which is a dab more than needed in my book), topped with a soft boiled egg and red chile flakes; and (the reason for my return-visit, anyway) a Whopper(s)® Latte (replete with crushed pieces of the candy on top, too)

(For today's EweToobular juxtaselections ratiocination, please see the "mini-dog" rant below.)


Because today is "Laundry-day, right?!" and I wanted to keep it basically local again, and because it was a great morning (the Sun was even out early for a change [anyone that has ever visited San Francisco in June, July, or August can attest that San Francisco Summers do not generally start until late-August/early-September]), I drove over to my favourite newest (after Orson's Belly ~ which may not have as many crazy-sounding/tasting Coffee-drinks, but they do have a bit more food from which to choose and their Coffee-basis [De La Paz] is an excellent choice, too) Richmond (District) Coffeehouse, Rise & Grind (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 16th, 2016). Even though it is only twenty-eight blocks away (and another twenty-eight blocks back-away), I didn't feel like hoofing it all the way over (and back); call me lazy.

I was very happy to see that since my first visit (which was just a few weeks after they had initially opened), they have added several more breakfastary food idea items to their menu. Ferinstance: 

Frittata Sandwich ~ eggs baked with cheese, tomatoes, bacon bits (which I would have bit-86-ed, if possible), and garlic aioli between two slices of toast w/ crispy onions and potato chips (I am pretty sure the crispy onions are in the sandwich and the potato chips are on the side);

Breakfast Bunwich Sandwich (and, yes, I am aware of the redundantly superfluocity of the "Sandwich" part of the name) ~ hard boiled egg with fresh avocado, cheese, bacon (once again, if possible, no thanks!), and aioli served between a fresh bun;

and two new waffle-entries:

Matcha Waffle ~ organic matcha with powdered sugar and matcha icing;

and (what I will have to try on my next visit)

Ube Waffle ~ sweet purple yam.

Additionally, they have also added some other very interesting Coffee-drinks ideas: 

Peanut Butter Latte (which may be another "excuse" to get back there again soon; I was informed that this is made with organic peanutbutter [not that anyone would really be able to discern "organic" from "inorganic" peanutbutter when it is in a Coffee-drink, anyway]; I suggested that this would be even more disgustinger [i.e. mucho bettero] if they actually made the foam/froth on top with a peanutbutter foam [I watch wayyyyyy too many food network shows]; however, they told me that they don't have the right equipment to do that; pity); 

Salted Caramel Latte; 

Biscoff® Cookie Butter Latte (another probable "excuse" for a return-visit); 

Spicy Mocha; 

Black Sesame Latte; 

lattetc.

Yes, this Coffee-drink was just as disgustingly 'orrible (read: very good!) as it sounds. In other words, I liked it a lot ~ just not as much as their truly inventive (and "omagawd-ish") Crème Brûlée Latte (which is my touchstone for all future visits), but it is still highly recommendation-worthy all on its ownsome.

"mini-dog" rant

Just what the h*ck is up with small dog-owners thinking that their flea-bitten, mangy little mutts don't have to follow the local Health Code rules of no dogs in a place that serves food? I am only mentioning this as there was a cute pupster (inside) at the table next to mine while I was eating my breakfast. Now, I love dogs of all shapes and sizes, and I really don't care if it is "sanitary" or not (even when they are licking their own butts, I bet they are still cleaner than most hipster doofi, anyway), I just think it is obnoxious of the owners to think that they are "special" and don't have to follow the laws. I wonder how grocery stores/restaurants/coffeehouses/
cafés/etcs. would react if someone came in with an English Mastiff, Great Dane, or Irish Woolfhound (or howzabout a pack of Siberian Huskies, Mrs. Blankenship?). I am not saying that if you have a guide-dog or a viable support-dog that you shouldn't be able to bring them inside; that is not the case or my point. Bottom-line, people (and calling some of these self-centered, idiotic dog-owners "people" is being more than a bit charitable), just because no one complains to the management when you do this annoying thing, does not mean it is alright for you to do so. "mini-dog" rant over... for now...

This was a pretty simple breakfast and a nice rendition of an Avocado Toast. If you have ever visited a coffeehouse/café-joint in the past year, it seems that Avocado Toast is the new pomegranate; it is as ubiquitous as the word "ubiquitous" lately.

I didn't really bother to see what Rise & Grind might offer in the way of any condimentary supplements. I just used some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the soft boiled egg. Sure, the chilli flakes already had some spice to them, but Palo Alto Fire Fighters 
Pepper Sauce just makes everything taste better.

And just once I would love to see someone bring their "support-horse" into a coffeeshop with them... 
♪ "... 'cause here they come..." ♫ !


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Whopper(s)® Latte ~ 7.1;
Avocado Toast ~ 6.5;
Dogs of all sorts (even those little, nippy, ankle-biters) ~ 9.0

aveline

Breakfast on Geary (redux, again), Part 24

http://www.avelinesf.com/


Place: aveline[1]
Location: 490 Geary Street (at Taylor Street)
Hours: open daily for breakfast at 6:30am; open Saturday and Sunday for "Brunch" at 11:00am 
(hint: I went for breakfast)
Meal: Avocado Toast ~ house bread, sunflower pesto, fresh herbs, over easy egg; a side of house seasoned potatoes; a glassa fresh (that is how they have it on the menu, but it meant "fresh-squeezed") orange juice; and, afterward, a large cuppa Philz Coffee™ (hot) Ginger Snap

http://www.philzcoffee.com/

("Avalon"... aveline... close enough for gub'mint work.)


I must have passed aveline about a hundred times recently and hadn't even noticed it was open for (a very early, if wanted) breakfast. It is a medium-sized place, and the house restaurant for the Warwick San Francisco Hotel. It's a relatively new restaurant (only open since June 2014). I liked that they were playing old Motown (the Supremes, the Jackson 5, etc.) and other 60's-70's songs on the house stereo this morning.

There really isn't a lot from which to choose on their breakfast menu (they may or may not offer different items on their "Brunch" menu, but I highly doubt that I will ever find out for myself); it is broken into two sections, "Sweet Tooth" (just four items) and "Savory Tooth" (another six items). Some of the other ideas that I was looking at: (from the "Sweet Tooth" portion) Country Style Griddle Cakes (fresh berries, strawberry syrup, vanilla butter); (from the "Savory Tooth" selections) Daily Omelet (today's daily ingredients were bell pepper, tomato, ham, and Cheddar cheese, with bacon and house seasoned potatoes; of course, I would have ordered this without either of the porky bits junk); or Cast Iron Sautéed Vegetables (seasonal vegetables, eggs your way).

I liked this meal. It was simple, but good. Avocado on toast ~ simple, but good. Over easy egg on top ~ simple, but good. Now the sunflower pesto was simply very interesting and tasty-good. 

I was glad that I had ordered the side of house seasoned potatoes, as this wasn't that large of a meal, otherwise. The potatoes were made with a nice medley of baby/new potatoes ~ red, purple (blue?), white, and yellow.

aveline only had Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) for condimentary supplementation. I used some of my own Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the potatoes and Marie Sharp's Grapefruit Pulp Habanero Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the egg (on top of the Avocado Toast).

I skipped any Coffee with breakfast, so after breakfast, I beat my feet down Market Street and went to the newest Philz Coffee™ location (on the corner of Market and Battery Streets). They have recently (as in just two weeks ago) started opening on Saturdays at 8:00am. I am not usually a sweet-flavoured Coffee fan, but the Ginger Snap is really pretty tasty(-good); I think they even add crushed up ginger snap cookies in the bottom of the cup. This drink is actually listed on their cold/iced Coffee menu, but I always ask for it hot. It is interesting to note that their paper (cardboard, whatever) Coffee cups are made double-wrapped so that there is never any need for an extra paper (cardboard, whatever) zarf[2].


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Avocado Toast ~ 6.4 (this is figuring in the nice potato medley... the Jackson 5 and Motown medley was nice, too); Philz Coffee™ (hot) Ginger Snap ~ 7.4


___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro un:

"(La) aveline" means hazelnut or filbert in French. Why they don't offer anything on their breakfast menu made with hazelnuts, je ne sais pas.

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

I have mentioned this Arabic cognate once before (as in "before today", Mr. Brandt) in a previous 'blog-entry. So, you can look it up yerdammself!