Frjtz

Ut Fiat... Prandium?![1]

https://www.frjtzfries.com/


Place: Frjtz

Location: 3412 17th Street 
(near the corner of Valencia Street)

Hours: "Brunch" is served everyday[ sic ] from 9:00am

Meal: Louise (Belgian Waffle) ~ Bananas Foster (contains Rum) with nutella®, caramel, whipped cream; a side order of "Small" Frjtz with two dips/sauces ~ Ginger Orange Mayo ('cause it is breakfast and you need your Vitamin C) and White Truffle Artichoke Ketchup; and to drink (keeping with the whole Belgian theme [Belgisch thema/Thème belge/Belgisches Thema]) a 0,33L glassa Hoegaarden® Witbier (which I christened as a "Belgian Mimosa", the waitress/server-lady person seemed to like that one)

https://hoegaarden.com/beer/hoegaarden/


Also in keeping with this whole Eleventh Hour/Day/Month-theme, I figured what better way to celebrate Veterans Day 2018 than to eat at a Belgian eatery kinda place, so I headed back to Frjtz (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, August 3rd, 2013). (I bet not many people were aware that right next to Flanders Field is Simpsons Field... I read it on the World Wild Webs, so it has to be true.) So, Belgian Waffles, Belgian Fries, and Belgian Beer[2] it was to be this morning.

Since my last visit there, they have moved around the corner from their old Valencia Street location. This new space is much smaller (by half, at least) than the former location. It only has eight tables for two and eight seats at the counter-area by the kitchen. Luckily, I was the only idiot there that early in the morning and had the entire joint to myself.

Their original location on Hayes Street (well, the second original location on Hayes Street ~ they seem to like to move next-doors) and their restaurant in Ghirardelli Square (which was my favourite location of the three; it had great views overlooking Aquatic Park/Aquatic Cove) have both been closed now for several years. I wish they had other (closer) locations in the city.

One thing I really like about their "Brunch" and standard menu items is that there are so many good things from which to choose: scrambled eggs dishes, poached eggs dishes, omelettes, pancakes, French (well, Belgian-French) toast, savoury crêpes, several French fries-based dishes (which they have labelled as "Stoner Frjtz"), and, of course, Belgian waffles. There are simply way too many to list all of them, but a few other choices that I was eyeing were:

the Guggenheim ~ three egg scrambled with mushrooms, spinach, veggie (uggh!) salami, Feta cheese, and cilantro pesto served with home-fried potatoes (this was going to be my original order until I decided to go all-Belgium);

L'accademia ~ two poached eggs with spinach, tomato-basil sauces and Hollandaise sauce on English muffins, served with home-fried potatoes;

the Benaki ~ three egg omelet with Feta cheese, tomato, green onion, Kalamata olives and spinach served with home-fried potatoes;

Belvedere ~ Bananas Foster Rum French toast, topped with whipped cream, caramel, and bacon (less the dead, decaying pork-belly stuff, this is basically what I had today in waffle-form, anyway);

(off the Stoner Frjtz portion of the menu)

Greek ~ extra virgin olive oil, Meyer lemon brine, oregano, Feta cheese; 

or

Vegetarian Poutine (which they have mispelded on their on-line menu as "Putine", but I did see it spelt kerrektly on their printed menus; this was also a viable back-up option this morning if I had not already gone and waffled).

This turned out to be a very sweet dish (with the Bananas Foster sauce, caramel, nutella®, and whipped cream, it was to be expected). I really did not need to add (but I did, anyway) the small plastic ramekin of maple syrup that came on the side (and, yes, I did have to try a French fry... or two... dipped into this amalgam of sweet sauces; it really wasn't half-bad). I do not think they really even needed the additional 
nutella® in this; it probably would have been better without it. The waffle was a bit over-cooked and that made it extra crunchy, which also made it harder to eat; I am not really complaining, just pointing it out.

Whatever I was going to order for the main breakfast, I was going to make sure to get a side order of their French fries. It is a main reason to eat there. Due to the Ice Cream sundae glass/cone shape, the amount of fries looked way more than I could finish. However, there were really less than it looks there. They were piled pretty high, but I did manage to finish all of them (of course, I did end up leaving two bites of the waffle untouched).

The Belgian Mimosa actually paired very nicely with all the food; it is a bit citrusy, anyway. I think the first time that I ever had a Hoegaarden® Witbier was on Tenerife (the one in the Canary Islands, not the much more famous suburb of Boise, Idaho) during Christmas vacation 2003. The waitress/server-lady person told me that they no longer offer Stella Artois®. This really doesn't matter, as both of these breweries are now owned by the same Mega-corporation, Anheuser–Busch InBev, and the quality is not what it once was.

From what I could see, Frjtz only had Tapatío® 
Salsa Picante® Hot Sauce in the form of pre-bottled condimentary supplements, but this did not really matter as none was needed/none was used. Now I would not know a "white truffle" from a "brown Portobello", but I liked the flavour of the ketchup choice I made. They have about twenty different types of ketchups and mayonnaises from which to choose. "But, Brian, you ordered a 'vile white goop' dip, too? I thought you hated all things related to the Mayo Clinic." First off, this is not your everyday (see, that is the correct usage of this adjective) refrigerator-quality plain ol' Hellman's gunk; it is a fresh-made aioli/mayonnaise gunk. Secondly, when in Brussels, 
do as the Antwerpians do...

(another not so) Strange Coffee Interlude

Once again this morning, before heading out into the cold, cruel (and, this weekend, "very smoky") Sunday climes, I made me another cuppa gifted Coffee from Bettys (Thanks again, Greg & Cindy!). This time it was a cuppa the simply sublime Jamaica Blue Mountain. Someone tried to convince me yesterday that 
Jamaica was not a country on the African Continent, mon. Ha! Nice try! If Jamaica was not actually in Africa, why was Bob Marley always singing about that Hayley Selassie woman? Plus, do you expect me to believe that Coffee beans somehow magically floated across the Atlantic Ocean and planted themselves in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Some people!

https://www.bettys.co.uk/jamaica-blue-mountain


Happy Veterinarians Day to all!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Louise ~ 6.4;
Ginger Orange Mayo ~ 6.9;
White Truffle Artichoke Ketchup ~ 7.0;
Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain ~ 8.2

___________________

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist (and a bit 
U.S. Air Force historical) pointer of the day, 
numerus unus/pars una:

The Latin phrase "Ut Fiat Libertas" used to be the motto of my old Air Force Squadron when I was stationed in Greece, 6916th Electronic Security Squadron (despite the electrocutionary moniker, we were not union members of IBEW... unless IBEW were actually a buncha spies, too) ~ "Home of the Proud Professionals". I think the best translation of this phrase would be: "That There Might Be Freedom." (Google Translate is giving me the direct translation: "so that it becomes the liberty of". Doesn't Mr. George Google know that you are not supposed to end a sentence a preposition with?) Of course, the old joke at our squadron was that it meant: "One Free Fiat."

Because today is the day that we honour past members of the Armed Forces (especially if they were animal doctors), I paraphrased the motto to make it a bit more breakfastarily sound. Hence, my titular phrase kinda means: "That there might be Breakfast."

Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, 
deel twee/deuxième partie/Zweiter Teil:

Just for the h*ck of it, here are the Dutch/French/German (respectively) translations of "Ut Fiat Libertas" (well, as best as I can come up with from the likes of Google Translate again):

Dat er vrijheid kan zijn.
Qu'il pourrait y avoir la liberté.
Dass dort Freiheit sein könnte.

Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, 
deel drie/partie trois/Teil drei:

"Breakfast" might be a universal language, but they say it three different ways even in one small country in Europaland:

Ontbijt
Petit Déjeuner
Frühstück

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, nummer twee/numéro deux/Nummer zwei:

Waffles

Wafels
Gaufres
Waffeln

French Fries

Frietjes
Frites
Pommes Frittes

Beer

Bier
Bière
Bier

grindz

Did you ever wonder what they call extra thick waffles[1] in Brussels (of Brussel… ou Bruxelles… oder Brüssel), Jean-Claude?

http://www.grindzrestaurant.com/


Place: grindz 
Location: 832 Clement Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues)

Hours: open for "Brunch" Friday, Saturday, & Sunday at 9:00am

Meal: GRINDZ Waffle ~ buttermilk waffle, pina berry compote, quenelle whipped cream; a side of Plantation Potatoes[2] (because as a vegetarian I never get enough carbohydrates in my diet); and a cuppa (and 1-½ refillas) Bicycle Coffee[3] co (though I always forget to ask which particular roast/blend they offer)

http://www.bicyclecoffeeco.com/

(No trip to an Hawai'ian ~ a Hawai'ian? whatever ~ restaurant would be complete without a EweToobular juxtaselection of Bruddah Iz. 

The second video/song is just for anyone living in North Windsor, Ontario that wants to take a midnight train going nowhere in particular.)


The continuation of the pre-Spring Training workout of another one of my Breakfastary Rotation Starters brought me back to grindz (see last 'blog-entry from October 19th, 2014). 

There is really only a handful of items on their "Brunch" menu which I really can eat (and, by "handful", I mean exactly five items ~ which is a handful if you have an overly large hand, I suppose). As I have eaten there more than five times in the past, I have more than worked my way through what they have to offer to stupid vegetarians. My backups today were going to be either Kalua Benedict (toasted Hawai'ian bread, Kalua pig, taro leaves, 2 poached eggs, tarragon Hollandaise, plantation potatoes; just consider this an/a Hawai'ian version of Eggs Benedict, bra'; of course, I would have ordered this again without the dead, decaying Kalua piggy stuff) or Veggie Scramble (mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, plantation potatoes, chilli oil; "veggies" may vary).

This was really good. I don't normally order waffles (and I don't think that I had any the entire year of 2014), but I liked this dish. The "pino berry compote" was made with pineapples[4] and blueberries[5]; this was very good, too, but I wonder if blackberries or raspberries (yes, I am well aware that neither blackberries nor raspberries are technically botanical berries, but still) might have been a better combination with pineapple.

The Plantation Potatoes were very good as always, made with lots of chopped up celery[6], red bell peppers[7], and white onions[8].

For condimentary supplementation, grindz offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and some kind of Sriracha sauce (I think I overheard someone asking for it); plus, they have on all the tables their own homemade chilli oil and Hawai'ian Spicy Ketchup. Normally, I would just have settled for using their Hawai'ian Spicy Ketchup ~ as it is very good ~ and not bothered bringing any of my own hot sauces with me; however, I just received a belated Christmas gift in the mail this week with four more bottles of new stuff to try (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!). All four bottles are from the same English company, The Wiltshire[9] Chilli Farm. 

http://www.justchillies.co.uk/

This morning I tried some smoked Chipotle chilli sauce on half of the potatoes and Hell Mouth on the other half. 

The smoked Chipotle chilli sauce was the less spicy of the two and I could go pretty heavily with it. 

Ingredients: tomatoes, onions, red wine vinegar, sugar, molasses, smoked garlic - 1%, smoked chilli - 1%, various spices.

Hell Mouth was a lot spicier, but not as crazy hot as some other hot sauces that I have.

Ingredients: orange pepper, sugar, cider vinegar, Habanero chilli, apple, mango, salt, ginger, Ghost Pepper…  

I will probably get around to testing out the other two bottles tomorrow with breakfast. This brings my collection total to twenty now; an entire shelf on my refrigerator door is dedicated to just these hot sauces. I really was not planning on getting any more hot sauces to add to my collection until after I had used up a few more bottles. (Last month I even bought three new bottles myself, which I probably should have waited on, too.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: GRINDZ Waffle ~ 6.6


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer een/numéro un/Nummer eins:

Everyone knows that there are three Official Languages in Belgium (unlike here in 'merica where there are just two ~ Spanish and Chinese): Dutch, French, and German. So, if anyone ever asks you "Do you speak Belgiumese?", you can answer: "Ja!", "Oui!", and "Ja!"

Here are the words for "Waffle" in all three:

Dutch ~ "wafel (singular)/wafels (plural)"
French ~ "gaufre (singular)/gaufres (plural)"
German ~ "Waffel (singular)/Waffeln (plural)"

I could go into a long etymological explanation of the word "waffle", but then why do we have WikipediA? Here is the link to more information by them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle#Etymology

2. I figured, what the heck (of hel… ou enfer… oder Hölle) while I was at it, I might as well also provide the stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) for this word in Dutch, French, and German (for anyone keeping count here, that would be nummer twee/numéro deux/Nummer zwei):

Dutch ~ "aardappel (singular)/aardappelen (plural)"
French ~ "pomme de terre (singular)/pommes de terre (plural)"
German ~ "Kartoffel (singular)/Kartoffeln (plural)"

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer drie/numéro trois/Nummer drei:

Dutch ~ "Koffie"
French ~ "Café"
German ~ "Kaffee"

(See, sometimes these stupid, useless cunning linguist pointers aren't exactly Rocket Surgery.

I have even covered this word a few times before here. See specific 'blog-entry from February 26th, 2014.)

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer vier/numéro quatre/Nummer vier:

Dutch ~ "ananas (singular)/ananassen (plural)"
French ~ "ananas (singular)/(plural)"
German ~ "Ananas (singular)/(plural)"

5. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer vijf/numéro cinq/Nummer fünf:

Dutch ~ "bosbes (singular)/bosbessen (plural)"
French ~ "myrtille (singular)/myrtilles (plural)"
German ~ "Blaubeere or Heidelbeere (singular)/Blaubeeren or Heidelbeeren (plural)"

6. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer zes/numéro six/Nummer sechs:

Dutch ~ "selderij"
French ~ "céleri"
German ~ "Sellerie"

7. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer zeven/numéro sept/Nummer sieben:

Dutch ~ "rode paprika" (singular)/(plural)
French ~ "poivron rouge" (singular)/"poivrons rouges" (plural)
German ~ "rote Paprika" (singular)/(plural)

8. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer acht/numéro huit/Nummer acht:

Dutch ~ "witte ui (singular)/witte uien (plural)"
French ~ "oignon blanc (singular)/oignons blancs (plural)"
German ~ "weiße Zwiebel (singular)/weiße Zwiebeln (plural)"

9. Wiltshire is a County in Southwest England. It is best known as the county where the City of Salisbury (home to both Salisbury Cathedral, which houses one of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta, and to the eponymous steaks) and the Village of Avebury (home of the famous Neolithic henge monument). Wiltshire is also the county where there are the lesser known standing stones in some place called "Stonehenge".

frjtz

"Anger as soon as fed is dead -- 'tis starving makes it fat." ~ Emily Dickinson

http://frjtz.com/

(The first EweToob video should be self-exploratory from the street today's restaurant is on; the story goes that the street name was the actual inspiration for Colin Meloy writing the song.  The second link is just because this song, along with many other late 70's to early 80's songs, was playing while I was there. Jim, feel free to borrow this one for next week's "Friday Period Piece" if you like, or there is always "The Beer Barrel Polka" still.)


I went back to (je suis retourné à; ik keerde terug naar; oder Ich kehrte zu) frjtz (see last 'blog-entry from November 19th, 2011). They have since closed their original location on Hayes Street and the only branch that still remains open is the one on Valencia[1] Street (near the corner of 17th Street) in the Mission. They open at 9:00am daily (as shown on their front door sign); however, their website states that they open at 8:30am daily.

As I had gotten there a little earlier than when they actually open (that's what I get for checking an "official" company web-site beforehand), I stopped at Craftsman and Wolves (which is just two blocks away down Valencia) beforehand for a cuppa Sightglass Coffee. I was thinking about getting a pastry, too, but figured (correctly) that I would have too much to eat with breakfast as it was. I have no idea what the roast/blend was this morning, but it was pretty good.

http://craftsman-wolves.com/

https://sightglasscoffee.com/

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude
While drinking my cuppa at one of the sidewalk tables, I heard several of the little chatter-birds flying overhead (probably heading out in the morning from their roosts in Mission Dolores Park for their own coffee or breakfast), but really didn't catch a glimpse of them.

stupid parklet mini-rant of the day
After getting my coffee and heading back to frjtz, I saw a sign in the window of Dandelion Small-Batch Chocolate (which is just a few doors down) that they are applying for another stupid parklet in front of their joint. For which, they have been placed on my ever-growing "Places to Boycott Due to Stupid parklets List". (Sorry, Lori and Juan, them's the rules.) I won't even bother allowing them the distinction of linking their stupid company web-site here now or italicizing their name in this paragraph. (You are St*rbucks to me now, Dandelion!)

Well, back to the breakfastary portion of this 'blog-entry. You order at the front counter and pay first, they give you a number (I was lucky #89 this morning; well, I was actually the first customer of the morning, so I should have been #1), and then they bring the food to your table when it's ready (if they brought it out to you before it was done, that would kinda suck). The breakfast menu items are named for: Crêpes (both Savory and Sweet) ~ famous painters; the Belgian (bien sûr, natuurlijk, oder natürlich) Waffles ~ stations on the Brussels Metro (and they even offer a brand new Bananas Foster Waffle ~ named for that well-known Metro stop, Bananas Fosterstation, of course); and their pancakes and egg dishes (Benedicts, omelettes, and scrambles) ~ world-class museums.

Decisions, decisions (décisions, décisions; beslissingen, beslissingen; oder Entscheidungen, Entscheidungen).

I was torn between one of the savoury crêpes (Picasso, El Greco, Rembrandt, or Da Vinci); one of the waffles (Hankar, Belgica, Petillon, or Bananas Foster); or something eggy (the Guggenheim, the Benaki, the Louvre, or L'Hermitage). After much deliberating, I settled upon (well, I didn't actually sit on it, that was just my choice) the Picasso Crêpe ~ roasted (red) peppers, grilled eggplant, caramelized onions, (just for distinction, I added the Oxford comma which they had missed) & Gorgonzola. As their moniker suggests, I also had a side of Small Frjtz, with two dipping sauces: Chipotle Rémoulade[2] and Spicy Pomegranate[3] Ketchup (one sauce comes complimentary with a small order of fries, but I always think that isn't enough, so I got another sauce for an additional 50¢, which is completely worth it). And what is a crêpe and order of fries without a Beer? So I finished it all off with a glass of Stella Artois (after being assured that it was after Noon in Brussels ~ Bruxelles, Brussel, oder Brüssel).

The Gorgonzola cheese was the deciding factor in my decision. I was not sure how well it would pair with the roasted red peppers and eggplant (and the addition of any hot sauce/condimentary supplementation; see 'below), but it really wasn't that bad (if you like Gorgonzola cheese, roasted red peppers, and eggplant that is). The crêpe was made à la Belgique, where it is made with buckwheat flower and served square (carré, vierkant, oder quadratisch) versus the standard triangle (triangle, driehoek, oder Dreieck). The fries (pommes frites, friet, oder pommes) are served in a tall sundae glass; I mentioned last time that these are some of the best French fries in San Francisco.

Along with all of their various dipping sauces, frjtz now offers their own home-made bottles of hot sauce (which are also for sale if you really like them) for condimentary supplementation: The Frjtz Meyer-Lemon Hot Sauce. I had to try some of that on the crêpe. It was pretty decent; and reminiscent of a Tabasco®-style hot sauce, but with a little more heat and a bit chunkier. I was surprised to find that the hot sauce actually went very nicely with the melted, gooey Gorgonzola cheese, roasted red peppers, and eggplant. I really liked both of the dipping sauces, but I think I liked the Spicy Pomegranate Ketchup a little better than the Chipotle Rémoulade; however, the rémoulade was a bit more picante (épicé, gekruid, oder würzig).

VWG mini-rant of the Day, too
frjtz selection of dipping sauces includes ketchups, mustards, and mayonnaises; however, unlike the standard "vile white goop" (see 'blog-entry from June 20th, 2012), their mayonnaises are actually freshly made and pretty decent (for mayonnaise).

I found this pretty interesting, when you go to the bathroom (les toilettes, de toiletten, oder das Klo), they have German Lessons being broadcast over speakers:
"What is the weather like in January?" ~ "Was ist das Wetter im Januar?"
"The weather is better in February." ~ "Das Wetter ist besser im Februar."
"etc." ~ "usw."
The front-counter server guy said they also have French, Japanese, and a few other languages lessons during the day.

So, let's all do like "the Belle of Amherst" ("la Cloche de Amherst"; "de Bel van Amherst"; oder "die Glocke von Amherst") said and stuff that li'l bastage, Anger, full of crêpes and French fries! (He can buy his own damn coffee and Beer, though!)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Picasso Crêpe ~ 6.4; The Frjtz Meyer-Lemon Hot Sauce ~ 6.4; Stella Artois ~ 6.9; Small Frjtz (figuring in both dips) ~ 7.8


1. So, just who was this "Valencia" guy and why does he rate a street named for him, you ask? (Well, even if you didn't ask, I am gonna tell you, anyway.)

Valencia Street was most likely named for local landowner Candelario Valencia, but may be named for his father, Jose Manuel Valencia, a member of Juan Bautista de Anza's 1775-1776 expedition to San Francisco.

And here's an additional little-known Cliff Clavinism: Candlestick Park was named after Candelario, too.*

*(Now, if anyone bought that one, I have a nice little International Orange bridge for sale, too.)

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro un/numerus unus:

"Rémoulade" comes from French (original dialect "rémola" or "ramolas"), and is an alteration of Latin "armoracea" (meaning "horseradish").

Additionally:

"Rémoulade" in Dutch and German: "remouladesaus" und "Remoulade".

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, secunda pars:

"Pomegranate" derives from Medieval Latin "pomum" ("apple") and "grānātum" ("seeded").

Additionally:

"Pomegranate" in French, Dutch, and German: "grenade", "granaatappel", und "Granatapfel". The French term "grenade" for pomegranate has given its name to the military word "grenade". Soldiers commented on the similar shape of early grenades and the name entered common usage.

Curry-ketchup vs. Mayonnaise

 
"Friends don't let friends eat pommes mit mayo..."

 
(You try finding a good EweToob link about any kind of condimentary supplementation.)


The idea for this entire 'blog-entry started when I saw a picture of the Berlin Airlift Monument (nicknamed "die Gabel" or "die Hunger-Harke", meaning "the Fork" or "the Hunger-Rake") posted on defacedbook by a fellow Russkij cunning linguist (and also a former member of 6912th ESS, Marienfelde site). (Hallo, Herr Estes! Здравствуйте, Господин Эстес!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platz_der_Luftbr%C3%BCcke

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Berlin_Tempelhof_Luftbrueckendenkmal.jpg

The reason for the nickname is that the monument resembles the little disposable forks (or vice-versa; "Was kam zuerst, das Huhn oder das Ei?") used to eat French fries, and it got me to reminiscing about eating these potato delicacies late at night at the local street vendors known as an "Imbiss"[1]. There were two choices of condimentary supplementation offered with "pommes frites"[2] (pronounced "pumm fritz") or simply "pommes (pronounced "pummas"): the completely acceptable and palatable German-style curry-ketchup[3] or plain ol' disgusting mayonnaise[4] from a jar (or, even worse, from a tube ~ don't ask).

German curry-ketchup is just plain tomato ketchup with some (red) curry powder added for flavour and a bit of piquantness.

Whereas, mayonnaise (as perfectly described earlier today by someone else when I mentioned it) is an "epicurean disaster". Even the word when pronounced in German is disgusting; it is pronounced as "my-oh-nahz-a" which sounds similar to "my own ass-a"; which is about what it tastes like if you ask me. I understand that some people feel it necessary to use this vile white goop (or vile white globule, or vile white garbage, or vile white gross-out ~ either way, it will henceforth be called "vwg" in this 'blog-entry) in potato salads, macaroni salads, and egg salads for moisture; however, plain yoghurt might be a better (and healthier) alternative. (Of course, I wouldn't really know this for a fact, as I have never really made potato salad from scratch… or from potatoes even.) And there should never be any reason for anyone to ever put the vwg on my veggie-burgers (especially without asking first); I am okay with Thousand Island, Ranch, or other less vile toppings, though.

Maybe if you were drunk enough this awful idea may have seemed like a good choice at the time… but I would have to be passed-out with a 0.50 BAC to ever try it voluntarily again.

Apparently French fries with the vwg is a normal condimentary supplement in France and Belgium, too. Now a fresh-made aioli is something different entirely and I have even enjoyed this many times at a Belgian-style French fries place, Frjtz (see 'blog-entry from November 19th, 2011), but they offer many different flavours of aioli and several ketchups, too. Eating French fries with the vwg is as bad as putting ketchup on a hotdog, Clinton:

 

Just remember that the Germans are mainly known for their excellent Beers, fine pastries, and Blitzkriegs; the French know the world of haute cuisine, wines, and cheeses but their street foods are not really that great; and the Belgians need to stick with their Ales, waffles, and sprouts, Jean Claude!

Conclusion: τζατζίκι (Tzatziki) is the best condimentary supplementation with French-fried or any other style of potatoes.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Curry-ketchup ~ 6.0; vwg ~ 4.5; Tzatziki ~ 8.5


[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, nummer eins:
 
"Imbiss" simply means "snack" in German. An Imbiss was usually a little van or shack along the side of the street where they served  fast food items, and was usually open 24-hours a day.

[2] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, nummer zwei/numéro deux:

"Pommes frites"/"pommes" are borrowed words in German from French. "Pommes (de terre) frites" in French means "fried potatoes". The word for "potato" in French is "pomme de terre", meaning "earth apple".

[3] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number three (I have used this one before):
 
"Ketchup" comes from Malay "kichap", from Chinese (Amoy dialect) "koechiap", meaning "brine of fish." Catsup (earlier catchup) is a failed attempt at Anglicization, still in use in the U.S. Originally a fish sauce, early English recipes included among their ingredients mushrooms, walnuts, cucumbers, and oysters. Modern form of the sauce began to emerge when U.S. seamen added tomatoes.

[4] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro quatre:
 
"Mayonnaise" comes from French, perhaps from "Mahonnais", meaning "of Mahón", a port in the island of Minorca, Spain.

Frjtz

Sorry, I didn't opt for the waffles or sprouts, Mademoiselle Audrey Kathleen Ruston.



http://www.frjtzfries.com/


Tom Waits for no man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RYlnlWY-9g&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv1MTT4NofE

(Once again there really is no connection between these Tom Waits songs and today's ontbijt/petit-déjeuner/Früstück[1]; and I have nothing against Mr. Waits excellent original versions, it is just that I was listening the other day to a mix-CD that my brother ~ Thanks, Kerry! ~ had made for me a few years ago with all Tom Waits covers, which he named "Lite Waits". I really wanted to include the Los Lobos version of "Jockey Full of Bourbon", but couldn't find it on stupid EweToob. That's okay, I like John Hammond's[2] version, too ~ which is off his "Wicked Grin" CD, dedicated entirely to Tom Waits songs ~ plus, I saw him perform live in San Francisco during the tour of that CD and Tom Waits even got up on stage and sang/performed a few with him.)


Breakfasted this morning at Frjtz[3], the one on Hayes Street (coincidentally enough in Hayes Valley[4]). (Hey, CJ!) Frjtz has two locations in San Francisco, this one and another in the Mission. There used to be another location in Ghirardelli Square, but that one closed several years ago now; it's a shame, too, as that had a great northern view overlooking Aquatic Park. The Hayes Street location is the original one, but it moved next door into a larger space a few years back; the original space was pretty small, but it did have a backyard open-air patio that was fun to eat in when the weather was nice (like this morning).




It's an interesting joint that specializes in crêpes and the eponymous "frjtz", which are served à le mode de la Belgique in a tall glass sundae cup. You just order at the counter and they bring the food to you. Frjtz has a real cool décor with several Batman/Super Heroes terrariums and other fun artwork. (Howdy, Cassy!)






They also offer Belgian waffles and Belgian mussels (Monsieur Van Damme) on the menu, too. For some reason, the Hayes Street location only offers scrambles and pancakes for brunch but the Valencia Street location has both scrambles and omelettes, as well as other egg dishes and pancakes. The scramble dishes at the Hayes Street location are all named after Greek and Roman philosophers and poets (I don't even want to venture to guess what the secret ingredients are in the Sappho ~ but I'm sure the cunning linguist in me would love to find out); whereas, the Valencia Street location has all the scramble/omelette dishes named after World-Class museums.

I have had several of their crêpes in the past (and they were always good) and didn't feel like waffles, so I ordered the Ovid Scramble ~ Veggie salami, yellow corn, black beans, roasted red bell peppers, cilantro, and Mozzarella cheese; served with toasted baguette slices (which I skipped); and a side order of small frjtz (which comes with one complimentary dipping sauce, but I got an additional one. One dip is usually enough for a small order of fries, but what is the fun in that?). Before stopping at the restaurant, I went to the little outdoor coffee stand on Octavia Boulevard, across the street from Patricia's Green (the little playground/dog park between Hayes and Fell): Ritual Coffee and had a fresh drippa cuppa the El Ciprés roast/blend.

http://ritualroasters.com/




The first question I asked myself was "Quid Ovid?", was Ovid some kinda Roman erotic vegetarian? I got over it in time to enjoy my scramble. I am pretty sure that Ovid never really ate an egg dish with either corn or roasted red peppers in it, though. I expected the veggie salami to be in round slices, but it was actually in ½" chunks; either way, it was pretty tasty.

These may not be "THE" best French fries in the World, but they are easily one of the best in San Francisco, which are aided by the many choices of dipping sauces (available in ketchup-based, mustard-based, and mayonnaise-based; just to name a few of the more interesting flavours: Artichoke white-truffle ketchup, Creamy wasabi mayo, and Strawberry mustard) and that really puts them over the top. I chose the Spicy yogurt peanut (because I was misinformed that it's National Peanut Butter Day[5] and I had to honour that major holiday in some way) and Habanero cranberry ketchup.

In addition to their numerous Dipping Sauces, Frjtz also offers as condimentary supplementation Cholula® and those McCormick® Peppercorn Grinders; I really didn't need any extra flavours for my frjtz, but I did use some of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce on the scramble (Thanks agains, Amys!).

It was really a little early for it, but I really shoulda gotten a Stella Artois® to complement the meal, too.




Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Ovid Scramble ~ 6.8; Frjtz (with dips figured in) ~ 7.7; Ritual Coffee, El Ciprés ~ 6.7


[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, nummer een/numéro un/Nummer eins:
 
The official languages of Belgium are Dutch (also known as Belgian Dutch/Flemish), French, and German, which must make the traffic signs very hard to understand for stupid 'merican touristas who have trouble enough trying to understand what the locals in London are saying. This is to say nothing of the other regional languages spoken in Belgium: Walloon and Picard, Jean-Luc.
 
[2] John Hammond is a very cool guy. John has graciously allowed a friend of mine to include some of his music in EweToob videos of his drawings that he has there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtbtUVwt_ts 

Thank, John! Thanks, Skip!
 
John Hammond comes from Rock-and/or-Roll and Blues pedigree as his father was John H. Hammond II, the legendary music producer who produced the first records of both Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, as well as the last recordings of Blues legend Eddie James "Son" House, Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_House
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ-TQwMhPDg 

[3] J can't fjnd an exact translatjon for what "Frjtz" means, but the best J can fjgure for a stupjd, useless cunnjng ljngujst pojnter, stront/merde/Scheiße*:
 
"Frjtz" (pronounced "freets") may just be a regional dialectal way of saying "French fries" in Belgium. The word for "French fries" in Dutch is "friet"; in French it is "pommes (de terre) frites"; and in German it is "Pommes frites" ("borrowed" directly from their neighbor to the west, probably while enjoying a free meal on the Champs-Élysées in the early 1940's), which the Germans usually just shorten to "Pommes".
 
*(That would be "number two" in Dutch/French/German for any of you following along this far.)
 
[4] Interestingly enough, Hayes Street/Valley was not named after our esteemed 19th President of the United States (yeah, right, I challenge anyone to tell me who his Vice President was) nor even after Isaac (of "Shaft" theme song-fame and "Chef" on South Park).

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

[5] Sorry, Lisa, a quick Intro-Net search showed that there are conflicting dates of when this holiday actually is, but none of them are today:
 
January 24th, 2011 ~ National Peanut Butter Day (per Punchbowl, whoever they are supposed to be)
March 2011 ~ National Peanut Month (according to Holiday Insights)
March 1st, 2011 ~ National Peanut Butter Lover's Day (again per Punchbowl)
April 11th, 2011 ~ Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (Atlanta, GA)
September 13th, 2011 ~ Peanut Day (per Days of the Year)
November 10th, 2011 ~ National Peanut Butter Day (per CNN)
 
How can such an important event be so confusing? That Christ guy never gets his birthday mixed up with Kwanzaa or Hanukkah and he wasn't even 'merican!