"My pathway led by confusion boats Mutiny from stern to bow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." ~ little Robbie Zimmerman, "My Back Pages" (1964)
https://www.stacksrestaurant.com/ Place: Stacks - Comfortable Food Location: 501 Hayes Street (on the corner of Octavia Street, just a block before it becomes a full-blown "Boulevard", Mr. Browne[1]) Hours: open Monday - Sunday 7:00am Meal: Blueberry Wheat Germ Pancakes (Short Stack [2]); a side of potatoes (which is how they simply have it listed on the menu); and a cuppa (and 1-1/2 refillas; they leave a Thermos®-carafe-thing on the table for you) Peerless Coffe & Tea® "Organic" (where they have actually quotation marked the word on the menu, and apparently it is "Fair Trade", too) French Roast http://www.peerlesscoffee.com/product/all-coffee/fair-trade-french-organic/
(So, what is the EweToobular juxtaselection for today? There is none of which I am aware. For all I know, little Robbie may love blueberry pancakes [and hashbrowns-hybrids], too. [That back-up band he has there are pretty d*rn good; however, they will never cut it as solo singers themselves, trust me. It is nice to see little Robbie letting his useless Wilbury family have some gainful employment, too.] The second cover version is just because little Stevie Earle was in town yesterday performing [and more than likely railing at the Blue Angels] at Hardly StrictlyBluegrass 2018[2] once again this year.) I can not believe that it has been over six years since I last visited Stacks - Comfortable Food (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, July 1st, 2012). There are currently three restaurants under the same ownership in the Bay Area: Burlingame (their original location), San Francisco (in Hayes Valley), and (the newest one) Menlo Park. There are also two additional "sister" locations in Redwood City and Campbell that are franchised, operating under separate ownership. It looks as if they have dropped the superfluous "' " from the end of their name since my last visit, too. They no longer reference it on their printed menus, nor on their web-site. However, I did still see it on some of the window-stencils. (Speaking of "return visits", La Boulangerie de San Francisco ~ directly across the street ~ probably needs one, too.) Even though their name implies that they may be a "National House of Pancakes" (or possibly "National House of Burgers", even), they offer many items other than just pancakes (they really only have eight from which to choose, anyway): Feta Omelet~ 3-egg omelet with Feta cheese, spinach, green onion and tomato (which woulda been my first choice this morning if I had not gone there planning on getting pancakes); MexicanFrittata~ chorizo (¡no, gracias!), onion, green chiles, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, chives and guacamole; ItalianFrittata~ spicy Italian sausage (which I would ottantasei, of course), mushrooms, onions, green pepper, black olives, topped with Marinara sauce and Mozzarella cheese; or maybe Green Chiles, Onions and Salsa Skillet ~ start with our (well, their) great potatoes, topped with Cheddar-Jack cheese, served with your choice of two eggs and a bagel (this would have been my second choice, but Feta always trumps green chiles and salsa).
I really liked that these two (plate-sized) pancakes came with a small ramekin of blueberry compote on the side. The wheat germ seemed to be incorporated not in the pancake batter, but just on the outside. I suppose they pour the pancake batter, then add the blueberries and wheat germ onto them, then flip 'em like that. Their (simply-named) potatoes are sort of a combination between hashbrowns and homefries. Instead of being made from shredded potatoes, they used shaved potatoes, which makes for a nice textural component. These were very good all on their ownsome, too. Now, these were two HUGE pancakes. I could not finish it all (well... technically, I only finished about one whole pancake). With the side of potatoes (which I made sure to finish all of... and just barely, Yogi), it was way too much food for my appetite this morning. "Lunches?! We don' need no stinkin' lunches!" The Coffee was tasty enough that I finished two-and-a-half cuppas. Unfortunately, that left no room for me to get another cuppa at the Ritual Coffee Roasters Quonset hut across the street (which I was planning on doing before breakfast). Stacks - Comfortable Food only offers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce) for condimentary supplementation... well... and warm maple syrup for the pancakes, where not much was really necessary due to the flavourful blueberry compote (which I did use in entirety on the top pancake). I simply used some of my own Pepper PalaceGator Bite Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the (simply-named) potatoes. I also used several grinds o' grains of paradise all over the potatoes... and a few more on top of the pancakes (yes, I did). "Ah, but I was so much fuller then, I'm hungrier than that now... " Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Blueberry Wheat Germ Pancakes ~ 6.7 (this is factoring in the blueberry compote); side of (simply-named) potatoes ~ 6.8 ___________________
1. Ah, what the h*ck... here is yet one more version of "My Back Pages":
(Sunday, October 8th, 2017) (Sorry, there are no corresponding photos of either any of the performances or of any of the actual food consumed. Someone decided it would be too much excess weight to pack an 8 oz small camera in his backpack. Of course, that same someone had no problem making sure to pack three frozen packs in with the bottles of Beer and water to keep them cold. Well, at least that someone had his priorities in order.) http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2017/ Place: Hardly StrictlyBluegrass 17 Location: Golden Gate Park (Helman Hollow, Marx Meadow, and Lindley Meadow) Hours: 12:00pm-7:00pm (Friday, October 6th, 2017); 11:00am-7:00pm (Saturday, October 7th, 2017); and 11:00am-7:00pm (Sunday, October 8th, 2017) Meal[1]: (these are pretty much in the order of my eating all this stuff) Broccoli Rabe - Mac & Cheese; Fried Cauliflower & Waffle (with warm maple syrup poured all on top of the waffle; Cajun seasoning sprinkled all over the cauliflower florets and also on the waffle ~ trust me; some barbecue sauce on one of the cauliflower florets; and they even threw in some freebie turnip greens on the side); (popsicle) pop nation ~ Bourbon Peach; (another popsicle, but from some u/i vendor) Corn Flakes Frozen Custard Pop (yes, this was made with corn flakes and I loved it); a slice of cheese Pizza; and two Tootsie Pops®Miniatures ~ Orange and Cherry (I think these were what put me over the limit; unfortunately, there was not an Indian [Native American, whatever] Chief on either lollipop label) (to drink) a 12 oz bottle of Ballast® PointPumpkin Down Scottish Ale with Pumpkin; and a 16.9 oz bottle of Arrowhead®BrandMountain Spring Water ~ Sparkling Watermelon Lime https://www.thepopnation.com/flavors https://www.ballastpoint.com/beers/limited/ https://www.arrowheadwater.com/7-days-of-sparkling/
Of course, all the food is secondary in this-here silly 'blog-entry. With six stages spaced out over a half-mile area in Golden Gate Park and thirty-seven acts throughout the day, it was impossible to be able to see (or hear) all the great music that was offered. I made a plan to specifically try to catch some of my favourites: Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones[2], the Flatlanders[3], and Lucinda Williams[4]. There were also a few other groups that I caught peripherally while walking around and waiting for those three acts to play, to include: Hot Tuna Electric (they were already playing when I scoped out a good spot at the Banjo Stage to await two-plus hours of back-to-back music with Dave and the Flatlanders) and Cheap Trick ("Cheap Trick?! at a Bluegrass festival, Brian?!" ~ Yes, that would be where the "Hardly Strictly" part of the name comes in; they were playing at the next stage over while I waited for Lucinda Williams to come on and it was loud enough to hear every song of theirs, too.).
I have seen Dave Alvin perform many times now over the years: from the first time I caught him at the Guinness®Fleadh (which is pronounced "Flah" in Irish) back in 1999, to solo shows at Slim's and Freight & Salvage, to performing with the Blasters, and several other Hardly StrictlyBluegrass festivals (I think I have been to about twelve or more of the seventeen they have run now) ~ where I always make an effort to see him play. Dave's voice is sounding a little rougher year-by-year, but his shows are always entertaining. I was a little disappointed that Dave didn't play either "Marie, Marie" (which is almost always his closer), "King of California", or "Blackjack David" (all three are some of my favourites of his). I was also disappointed that his brothers Simon and Theodore couldn't join him for this show... I have seen the Flatlanders perform a few times at other Hardly StrictlyBluegrass festivals, too. I have also seen them perform together at Slim's and also a few solo Jimmie Dale Gilmore performances. If you ever get the chance to catch a Jimmie Dale Gilmore show (or with the Flatlanders), I highly recommend doing so. This so-called "Texas Tenor Whippoorwill" is always a fun show. Lucinda Williams has been one of my favourite female singer/songwriters for over fifteen years now. I had seen her perform only twice before (once at the Warfield [Thanks, Skip!] and another freebie show at Stern Grove). I think this was only her second appearance at Hardly StrictlyBluegrass. I hope she attends many more, though. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Andytown Coffee Roasters - Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate ~ 8.2; Ballast® PointPumpkin Down ~ 7.0; Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones ~ 7.4; the Flatlanders ~ 6.9; Jimmie Dale Gilmore (solo) ~ 7.3; Lucinda Williams ~ 7.6 (I didn't bother rating any of the food today. It was all good, but the music and festival were much better... and free.) ___________________
1. I skipped any breakfast because I knew I was going to be eating a ton of junk... er... festival foods. I did start the morning earlier with a most excellent cuppa Andytown Coffee Roasters ~ Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, September 30th, 2017) made in my kitchen* via the single-cuppa pour-over/drip method. This particular roast/blend is now my current local favourite. It is even probably in my Top Ten All-Time Best Coffees of All-Time now (and quite possibly in the Top Five). http://www.andytownsf.com/purchase/ethiopia-natural-banko-fuafuate *(To all you nay-sayers† that think I do not know how to "cook", even I can boil water without burning it. Well, most times.) †(And, d*mmit, stop saying "nay" so much unless your diet consists of oats and hay.) 2. http://www.davealvin.net/ 3. http://www.theflatlanders.com/ 4. http://www.lucindawilliams.com/
http://www.scalasbistro.com/ Place: Scala'sBistro Location: 432 Powell Street (between Post and Sutter Streets; right along the Historic Powell Street Trolley Car Line; a half-block up from Union Square) Hours: open Monday through Friday at 7:00am (for breakfast); open Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am (also for breakfast); open Saturday and Sunday at 11:30am (for "Brunch") Meal: Eggs Al Forno[1] ~ two eggs, roasted potatoes, coppa picante (which I, of course, ottantasei-ed), Swiss chard, Ramini buffalo Mozzarella, toast; and a large glassa orange juice[2]
(Happy 71st Birthday to Noel Yang! Yeah, his birthday was actually yesterday, but he deserves a two-day/all-weekend celebration. The second song is just a very cool cover version, by a very cool band. The last song is included mainly because I know the guy that is playing the fiddle on the song, Phil Salazar[3]. Whether you like Bluegrass or not, it's a good song/rendition.) I felt like doing a re-do at another downtown restaurant, so, like yesterday, I headed back to Union Square and revisited Scala'sBistro (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, March 21st, 2015). I really have no idea why una trattoria italiana would use the French term "Bistro", but, then again, how many Italian restaurants in the city incorrectly accent "Caffè"?! Again like yesterday, this is another upscaley dive that caters to mostly touristas and such. I mean, they even have real cloth napkins (which are always completely wasted on the likes of this sciattone). This morning, I sat in the smaller, upper area near the bar (actually they seated me up there, probably to keep me separated from the rest of the other snooty clientele). There are still a few other good ideas worth going back for: (the simply-enough named) Omelette (summer squash and blossoms, Stracciatella cheese, pan fried potatoes, toast; I am pretty sure the ingredients in their omelettes change seasonally, as I had completely different ingredients on my prior visit there); Egg White Omelette (roasted cauliflower, tomatoes, basil, spinach, side of seasonal fruit; while I really liked the sound of the roasted cauliflower ingredient, I just had an egg-white omelette yesterday and wanted to try something different); Chilaquiles (two poached eggs, fried tortillas, tomatillo salsa, salsa picante, creme fraiche, ricotta salata; Again [like yesterday] with the cibo messicano maledetto? Cosa succede con quello?); or Brioche French Toast (local strawberries, toasted pistachios, Chantilly cream).
Why they don't have this dish listed as "Uova Al Forno", immano. Now, I was really expecting this dish to have some sorta tomato sauce base to it, but it was more of just an eggs on top of hash dish-thing. I liked it all, but I know that I would have liked it much better if it had had some tomato sauce in it. Because I had asked for this without any of the carne di maiale morto in decomposizione, they added an extra egg on top of this for me without my asking (it was not really necessary, but appreciated, all the same). This was made with lots and lots of melty, gooey Mozzarella throughout it. Scala'sBistroonly had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) for use as a condimentary supplement. For a change (and because I had pre-decided this morning after checking out their on-line menu that I was going to order what I did, and I really thought that it would be more flavourful with some kinda red gravy), I did not bring any of my own hot sauces with me this morning. This turned out to be a big mistake as the dish could really have used a bit spicing-up. Oh, well. Next time. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude While waiting at the bus stop (at the corner of Powell and Geary Streets) to head back home, I heard several of the noisy chatter-birds, but could not see any around. I am pretty sure that there is a small pandemonium that roosts atop one of the buildings along Geary Street ~ somewhere between Mason and Taylor Streets ~ as I always hear them in that neighborhood when I am down there. A few minutes later when I was on the bus, I did see three of them pass right by the bus window ~ heading westward to Dog-knows-where. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Uova Al Forno ~ 6.4; i Pappagalli Selvaticidi San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numero uno: "Al forno" simply means "baked" (literally "in the oven") in Italiano. (I know there were some of you thinking that it was some kinda kinky, porno dish.) 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numero due: The word(s) for "orange juice" in Italiano is (are) "succo d'arancia". 3. http://fiddlelessonswithphilsalazar.com/ http://fiddlelessonswithphilsalazar.com/me.html
"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left, Monsieur Lautrec..."
http://places.singleplatform.com/eats-4/menu?ref=google (They still do not have an official-type web-site, so this will have to do.) Place: Eats Location: 50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000 Hours: open for breakfast every day of the week at 8:00am Meal: Polenta and Sunny Up Eggs - Veggie ~ spinach, red/green bell pepper, leeks, garlic; a side o' Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes; and to drink, a large (well, 12 oz) glassa Detox ~ beets, apples, and gingers
(The reason for this particular trifecta of EweToobular songs is that this weekend is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 16[1]. These were just three of the singers/acts that I specifically went there to see/listen to today. I really like the KT Tunstall[2] and Daryl Hall duet/cover there. Boy, you just gotta love them dimples... and KT has a nice smile, too! Yeah, Kris Kristofferson[3] ain't no Janis, but he done wrote the song, so, technically, it is his song. [Even though Janis "owns" it much the way Jimi "owns" "All Along the Watchtower".] The last song is by Glen Hansard[4]. And for anyone that has never seen the independent film "Once"[5], I highly recommend it. It's sorta a "non-Love Story"... of sorts. It was one of my favourite movies of 2007.) Finishing up the End-of-the-(Baseball) Season with one of the last of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 17th, 2016). I knew that I was going to try to get to Golden Gate Park as early as possible this morning (KT Tunstall started at 11:00am) and wanted to keep it as local as possible, anyway. (Coincidentally enough, I had eaten at Eatsthe first weekend in October two years ago before heading to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, too.)
I ended up being the only idiot daring to sit outside in one of the four two-person tables along the Clement Street sidewalk. At least the Sun was shining on this part of the street. I think that I have now worked my way through their entire breakfast line-up (well, those items which either are already or can be made stupid vegetarian-friendly). Otherwise, I would have no problem re-ordering the Spicy Kale Skillet (v) (well, technically, they call this "Spicy Tomato Skillet", but I have renamed it thus, due to the great amount of great kale in it; sorry, Sean) ~ kale, onions, potatoes, bell peppers, sunny up eggs, Parmesan, grilled bread.
(Hey, I just got why these are called "sunnyside up eggs" after all these years!) I was told that this is not really a "new" dish (like I thought it was), but just an updated version of their "old" dish Polenta Succotash (no thuffering netheththary, Thylvethter), which I had enjoyed very much in the past. I liked this dish a lot, too; I am just not a big fan of the whole "Veggie" moniker used, though. I will go so far as to say that this is my newest favourite dish of theirs (not that I have ever had a bad meal there, anyway), just behind their Spicy Kale Skillet. And, don't worry, for those of you that partake of the dead, decaying animals, this dish is also optional as Hot Italian Sausage ~ tomatoes, onions, corn. Not that I needed to detoxify myself any this morning, but I have had their fresh-squeezed(?!?) beet-apple-ginger elixir before and knew that I really liked it. Eats offers the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces for condimentary supplementation: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original). Even so, I still used some of my own hot sauces this morning. I went with some Sunbelt PlantationsVidalia® Onion & Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on top of one of the eggs, some Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero[ sic ]Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the other egg, and some Emperor's Revenge Teriyaki Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom! ~ think an Asian-style HP™Brown Sauce) on the potatoes. I had skipped any Coffee with breakfast because I had a cuppa Bettys Christmas Blend ~ Single Origin (Thanks, Greg & Cindy! ~ No relation to the "Cindy & Greg"-people that had supplied me with the above hot sauce.) earlier before heading out this morning. Don't worry, it's still good as they have it listed as "BBE May 2017 10:15" (they don't specify if that is "a.m." or "p.m"; so, just to be on the safe side, I will be sure to use it up by April 2017.). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Polenta and Sunny Up Eggs - Veggie ~ 7.3; Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes ~ 7.63; Detox ~ 7.1; Bettys Christmas Blend ~ Single Origin ~ 7.0 ___________________ 1. http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2016/ 2. http://kttunstall.com/ 3. Do I really need to add a footnote here? Well, just in case any of you have never heard of him: http://kriskristofferson.com/ 4. http://glenhansardmusic.com/ 5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0907657/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
"The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth. It is obvious that man is himself a traveler; that the purpose of this world is not 'to have and to hold', but 'to give and serve'. There can be no other meaning." ~ Sir Wilfred Grenfell
(No official web-site.)
Place: Eats Location: 50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000 Hours: open every day of the week at 8:00am Meal: Spinach Tomato Feta[1]Scramble ~ (v) garlic and fresh basil[2] (comes w/ toast ~ multi-grain, sourdough, or rye ~ with a choice of Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes or Mixed Greens); and a large glass of Power "C" (a mixture of fresh-squeezed grapefruit, orange, and pineapple[3] juices)
(The first EweToobular juxtaselection is to commemorate the coming Celtic New Year, also known as Samhain[4]. The last two songs/videos are in honour of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass No. Fourteen. These two performers were just two of the many acts/musicians that I saw over the weekend. And I am so very sorry, but as hard as I tried to locate that latest, greatest hit of Ryan Adams, "Three F*ckin' Balloons (In The Back Of The Park)", I could not find a version of it up on EweToob yet.[5] I am pretty sure that Mr. Adams will include a copy of this ultra-extraordinary song on his very next album. I am fully aware that there are some readers from Clinton, MA [who shall remain named Mrs. Morin], that felt it was very lame of me [by the way, I much prefer "ambulatorily impaired" or "peregrinationally challenged" over "lame"] that I didn't go out to eat breakfast yesterday morning and write one of these stupid li'l blog-entries, but I was kinda busy all day long yesterday enjoying all of the Free Music and Free Sunshine.) http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2014/ Seeing as both the Fall Baseball Season and the Celtic New Year are among us, it is time for a workout of my Breakfastary Rotation again. I went back to Eats this morning for breakfast (see last 'blog-entry from July 14th, 2014). I actually sat outside for a change at one of the six sidewalk tables for two. It wasn't quite as warm (or hot) as the past few mornings, and it was actually so foggy this morning on the way over there that I really couldn't see more than a block away at a time. (See, Kathleen/Kathy, I was only off on my prediction by about twelve hours. So, I am claiming a delayed 1-for-3 for the day.) It made for a very comfortable dining experience as long as I kept my sweatshirt on. Having eaten at Eats many times now over the past few years, I have eaten almost every decent breakfast dish they have available for stupid vegetarians. There are just two more left (as long as they don't change the menu, that is, before my next visit) that I need to try one of these days: Vegetarian Egg Sandwich (arugula, Cheddar, tomatoes, spicy aioli, over easy egg, avocado, cornmeal ciabatta, potatoes or salad; for some reason they don't have the designator "(v)" like they do for other vegetarian-specific dishes on their menu, I guess it must just be assumed) and Two Tofu Tacos ((v) zucchini, bell peppers, Hungarian peppers, corn, pico de gallo, cabbage slaw, avocado, beans, grilled tortillas, potatoes or salad; they don't mention anything about any tofu being in this dish, but I just guess it is assumed again). I also thought about getting the Caprese Scramble (cherry tomatoes, pesto, fresh Mozzarella, Parmesan) once again; it's pretty good and it seemed like that kind of morning.
I wasn't quite sure what this scramble was going to include in it as the description on the menu really wasn't very descriptive (I also asked the waiter-server guy exactly what was in this scramble, but he was really of no help). To my great surprise, this actually was chock-fulla spinach, tomatoes, and Feta cheese! And there was a decent amount of both sautéed fresh spinach and Feta (which were my deciding factors in getting this this morning, anyway). I went with sourdough bread for my toasty choice. And of course I went with the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes for my side choice (once again, even I can "cook" a side salad of mixed greens). There were only two cloves of roasted garlic in with them this morning (but the GBS Rating is never based upon quantity; now, if they had not given me any garlic at all, I may have had to given them a minus rating). There was a single slice of watermelon[6] as a garnish-thing. While I was grinding some fresh-cracked pepper on the scramble mess and Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes, I decided to also use some of the fresh pepper on the watermelon again. I had done this before by accident and knew it was actually a pretty interesting flavour combination. (Hey! Don't knock it until you have tried it… then knock it.) For condimentary supplementation, Eats offers the San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red stuff); Tapatío®; and Cholula®Hot Sauce. I had come prepared with a few of my own hot sauces and used some Fat Cat®Strawberry Serrano Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes and some Nando's®Extra HotPeri-Peri sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on the scramble mess.
(This is a photo of the Usual Suspects rounded up.) After breakfast, I strolled through the small (just two blocks long) Sunday Farmers Market along Clement Street. It's nice to have all these fresh produce and junk for sale, but wouldn't it be nice if they had some stalls that kids and pets could enjoy, too? Some comic books, candy bar, or doggie treats booths wouldn't kill ya, would they?!
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Spinach Tomato Feta Scramble ~ 6.5; Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes ~ 7.5 1. Just because there was none yesterday, here are the Irish stupid, useless cunning linguist pointers of the day for these ingredients: Spinach ~ "spionáiste" Tomato ~ "trátaí" Feta cheese ~ "cáis Feta" (I can only assume that "Feta" is the word for cheese in Irish) Sorry, I have no idea how to pronounce any of these words. I am pretty sure that 80% of the Irish people don't know either. 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, part the second: Garlic ~ "gairleog" Basil ~ "basal" (don't let the spelling fool you, I am pretty sure that is pronounced as "Fawlty" in Irish) 3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, thirdly: Grapefruit ~ "seadóg" Orange ~ "oráiste" Pineapple ~ "anann" 4. For any of you non-Pagan believers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain 5. Okay, I was just kidding. Here is that most awesomest, impromptued paean to helium-filled toys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB8K62jA7MI For some reason I could not get the video to imbed here like the ones above, but, trust me, it is well worth listening to this link. It is very easy to see that Ryan Adams would fall into the "Hardly Strictly" category of Bluegrass Music. You just know that this set must have driven the censors crazy during the live streaming webcast. 6. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, lastly: Watermelon ~ "mealbhacán uisce"
(Yes, I know I could have gone with Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker", but it sounds kind of dated today. Tim Pretty and the Homewreckers are classic 'merican Rock-and/or-Roll and always sound good.) Place: heartbaker Location: 1408 Clement Street (at 15th Avenue) Hours: Saturday and Sunday open at 8:00am Meal: Seasonal Vegetable Quiche[1], Chocolate Brownie w/ Caramel & Sea Salt, nutella® Bombolone[2], and a cuppa Hearth Coffee Roasters (not sure which blend/roast) I wanted to do a small, quick, local breakfast this morning as I wanted to leave time for today's all-day free music festival in Golden Gate Park: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Lucky 13. I also wanted to leave room for a lot of festival-type food-junk that I will probably ingest while there. http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2013/ Luckily there is a brand new (open about three months only now) artisan bakery in my neighborhood called heartbaker. It is within walking distance of my apartment, so that makes it even double better. I have been there just once before for coffee and pastries (Thanks, Lori!) and wanted to see if I could make a breakfastary meal out of what they currently offer. They don't do a "full breakfast" yet, but I was told that they have plans for it in the future; however, they do serve lunches and dinners currently. There are several tables inside and two sidewalk tables if you want to eat like your zio italiano, Alberto Fresco. heartbaker offers many fresh-baked goods (hence the "baker" part of their name), such as: Bomboloni, Quiches, Bread Pudding, Brownies, Cakes, Cheesecakes, Cookies, Cupcakes, Scones, Muffins, and Tarts (as well as some other interesting items: Pot de Crème, anyone?). There were a few other choices of quiches this morning: Salmon w/ Goat Cheese and Red Onion; and Pancetta w/ Mushroom and Gorgonzola, but the one I went with was the only vegetarian one offered (they do have a Potato, Leek & Feta, but it wasn't available today). I was hoping that they had some of their Mini-Tarts (you know, those personal, little one-bite thingys), but there were none that early this morning ~ the Key Lime, Frangipan[3](sic) & Pear, or Frangipan & Figall sounded really good and I probably would have gotten one of each in addition to all of the other stuff I ordered. Not that it really matters, but sometimes I like to check yelp* to see what other people have to say about a new place. It seems that some yelp*-ers are quite easily befuddled. Here are a few actual quotes: "heartbaker confuses me. I thought it was a bakery, but it's more like a cute café that serves lunch, dinner, and a small amount of baked goods on the side." or "I'm so confused, heartbaker. I thought you were a bakery. You have 'baker' in your name. You have pictures of baking instruments on your widow. I kept hearing of the new bakery opened, blah, blah. I go to get some fresh bread. You have no bread. You are not a bakery." Really?! If eating fresh-baked (See? I used the word "baked", so it must be a "bakery") products mystifies you so, might I suggest you stay home and just have a sandwich made from WONDER bread? Maybe these yelp*-ers need to have the word "Imbecile" in their names so other people will not "confuse" them with actual intelligent diners.
The quiche was good enough and contains eggs so that is breakfast to me. I just wish there were a few more "seasonal vegetables” in it. I only detected roasted red peppers and zucchini, and probably Cheddar cheese in it. Bomboloni (plural) are Italian-style doughnuts; kinda beignet-like. I really was looking forward to trying the Amaretto[4]custard or Seasonal fruit preserves bomboloni; but they only had nutella®, Lemon Curd, or Vanilla this morning. The brownie was very good, but I knew I was going to like it when I heard what it was. Hearth Coffee Roasters are a local San Francisco roastery; and each cup is made fresh per order in a single-drip method. http://www.hearthcoffee.com/ I am not sure if they even offer any types of bottled condimentary supplementation, but I used just a skosh (which translates from Japanese as just 5-6 drops) of my own Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce Off The Wall TripleHot (Thanks, Kerry!) on the quiche. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Seasonal Vegetable Quiche ~ 6.3; Chocolate Brownie w/ Caramel & Sea Salt ~ 6.5; nutella®Bombolone ~ 6.4; Hearth Coffee Roasters ~ 6.7 1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointeur du jour, numéro un: "Quiche" comes from French, which ultimately borrowed the word from Lorraine Franconian (no relation to Tito, Terry, or Rick) "Küeche", meaning "cake" (cf. German "Kuchen"). Central Franconian typically unrounded the "ü" and shifted the fricative (I hate when I shift my fricatives unnecessarily) "ch" to "sh", resulting in "kishe", which in standard French spelling gives "quiche". 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic puntatore del giorno, numero due: "Bombolone/bomboloni" gets its name from the Italian word "bomba" ("bomb"), and the same type pastry is also called "bomba" (plural "bombe"). The etymological connection is usually regarded as a reference to the very high calorie density of this recipe. 3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic puntatore del giorno, numero tre: "Frangipane/frangipani” is derived from "frangere il pane", Italian for "break the bread". Frangipane (not "frangipan", which they had it mispelded as on the menu) is a filling made from or flavored with almonds.
4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic puntatore del giorno, numero quattro: "Amaretto" is a diminutive of the Italian "amaro", meaning "bitter", indicating the distinctive flavour lent by the mandorla amara - the bitter almond.
