(Monsieur Soleilwas out bright and early this morning and really washed-out this photo. Yeah, well... that is mon histoire and I am sticking with it.) http://www.pomelosf.com/ Place: Zazie Location: 941 Cole Street (between Carl Street and Parnassus Avenue) Hours: "le Brunch" is served Monday-Friday 8-2 and Saturday/Sunday/Holidays 9-3 Meal: Eggs en Fonte[1] ~ grilled polenta cake w/ spinach, wild mushrooms, spicy tomato-chevre sauce, and two over easy eggs baked in a cast iron skillet w/ home fries or salad (of course, I opted for the potatoes; what am I some kinda silly rabbit?!); and to drink, a cuppa (and two full refillas) ZazieBlend (which is made exclusively for them by the local folks at LaCoppa Coffee across the bay in Mill Valley) https://www.lacoppacoffee.com/
(There is no EweToobular juxtaselection here... unless, perhaps, Mademoiselle Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes also likes polenta-based breakfast dishes.) Je suis retourné à Zazie (see last 'blog-entry from Dimanche 2 décembre, 2017). I was about the sixth person/group waiting in line to get in this morning. The joint filled up very quickly after they opened and all the tables inside and in the backyard patio were eaten-up (so to speak) very quickly. However, because it was not raining (still/again), I sat outside in the front sidewalk café area where there are only four tables for two. As I was the first-come-first-seated idiot to opt to sit outdoors, I had my choice of tables, anyway. They had turned on the overhead gas-heaters and I had to take off my jacket as it was that comfortable already, especially with Monsieur Soleilat my back. These tables out front are usually occupied by les chiens out for un petit déjeuner with their human-pets. The table next to me had one very friendly (but well-behaved) pupster named Hunter. They offer many interesting-sounding dishes on their "le Brunch" menu. Here were quelques autres idées: (off their "le Brunch Specials" menu) Miracle Pancakes[2] (1,2, or 3 pieces) ~ cinnamon bun pancakes w/ cream cheese glaze (as tempting as these sounded, I had another "miraculous" weekend pancakes special on my last visit and wanted to try something savoury today); or Omelette du Jour ~ crispy bacon, artichoke hearts, tomatoes provençale, spinach and Feta cheese w/ home fries or salad (of course, I would have ordered this sans le bout de porc mort en décomposition); and (off their standard "le Brunch" menu) Fontainbleu ~ (a scrambled eggs dish) w/ wild mushrooms, spinach, Fontina; Avignon ~ (another scrambled eggs dish) w/ eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, provençale herbs; Italie~ (also another scrambled eggs dish) w/ tomatoes provençales, cream cheese, fresh basil; or Greece ~ (yet still another scrambled eggs dish) w/ red onions, spinach, Feta. Dishes like these (and several other good choices from which to choose) are why this is another place that really deserves a return visit more than once a year (or lune bleue).
I knew right away that I was going to enjoy this dish with polenta as its base. While this was not really any kinda Eggs Benedict dish, it did have two eggs (not poached, though) laid atop a thick slice/chunk of grilled polenta. This dish would definitely not be for the fungi-faint of heart; as best as I could tell, it had three different types of "wild" mushrooms ("If you can not control your mushrooms, Monsieur, you will have to take them outside, s'il vous plaît...") in it (possibly: Shiitake, Portobello, and Hen-of-the-Woods, but it coulda been any other fungi). When I first read the name of the dish, I was trying to figure out why they were calling the dish "Infant Eggs" in French. Aren't all eggs infant chickens? They also have very good homefries. Mine today came with two whole roasted cloves of garlic in with them. I have no idea what Zazie might have had to offer for condimentary supplementation, I did not ask or check. I just used some of my own Chili in Hawaii Habanero Garlic Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on top of one egg and Dat'l Do It®Classic Cayenne Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on les pommes de terre. Now, if I had only eaten at Art's Cafe in January (I did eat there in July), I coulda said that I had eaten "breakfast from A(rt's Cafe) to Z(azie) in 2018" more precisely... Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Enfant Œufs ~ 7.1; Zazie Blend ~ 7.1 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer du jour: As best as I can tell, "en fonte" simply means "cast" (referring to the cast iron skillet) in Frenchy-speak. 2. Pourquoi pas "Miracle Atterrissage à Plat"?!
♪ "There's a lady who's sure All that glitters is gold... ... and she's building an omelette to Heaven... " ?!? ♫
(No official web-site thing [no matter what it has linked on their defacedbook page].) Place: Reverie Cafe Location: 848 Cole Street (between Carl and Frederick Streets ~ the streets in San Francisco, Callie-for-nee-ya, not the back-roads of Chautauqua County, New York[1]); phonicular contact: (415) 242-0200 Hours: open 6:30am Monday-Friday, 7:30am Saturday-Sunday (and apparently at 7:30am also on Monday holidays) Meal: Wild Mushroom (which I was assured they capture with only humane traps), Gruyere Cheese & Truffle Butter(Omelette) ~ served with house potatoes (that would be "homefries" to you tuber-impaired), toast, & fruit (which were just a superfluous slica orange and a slica watermelon); and a large cuppa (16 oz-er or so) their house-Coffee, which I was informed is Equator Coffees & Teas™ - Mocha Java Fair Trade Organic https://www.equatorcoffees.com/collections/coffees/products/mocha-java-fair-trade-organic-retail?variant=1759260606473
("Reverie"... "Reverberi"... whatever... close enough for a Holiday Weekend! There is no real EweToobular juxtaselection with the second song/video. I just like it. So deal with it.) Not really knowing what time that they might be open for the Monday holiday (I even checked their web-site before heading over, but for some reason it did not state what their hours were this morning... ), I blind-faithly drove over to Reverie Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, August 20th, 2016) and after finding a good (legal) parking spot just around the corner, I arrived there around 7:20am. When I walked up to the front door it was still locked, and I was gestured (two hands with five fingers each, by the lady behind the counter... I just hope that she wasn't Greek!) that they would be opening in another ten minutes or so (thankfully they were even opening for breakfast today; I really did not have a good back-up plan planned, otherwise). There normally would be a few weekend specials listed on the blackboard by the kitchen area, but maybe because I had arrived so early, they did not have anything on it yet. That really did not matter, as their standard breakfast menu still has a few items on it that I want to try one of these days; ferinstance: Breakfast Porridge ~ warm farro, apples, raisins, cinnamon, toasted almonds, fresh cream, & local honey (this will definitely be my choice next time if I am in a "sweet mood"; of course, I would probably order a side of their homefries with it, too); Wild Mushroom, Wilted Greens & Leeks Eggs Benedict ~ served with house potatoes (so there would be no need for me to order an extra side of homefries); Huevos Rancheros ~ tortillas, scrambled eggs, black beans, house salsa, avocado, cotija, crema, & cilantro; or Breakfast Burrito ~ scrambled eggs, black beans, Jack cheese, house salsa, cotija cheese, & cilantro (and for those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying swinish products, they also offer this with a pulled pork or Mexican chorizo option).
Once again, I sat outside in their spacious (it actually takes up one-and-a-half backyards) garden patio seating area and had the whole upper deck level to myself the entire time that I was eating (well, seeing as they had just opened when I arrived, there were only two other small families eating out back at the same time, anyway). As you can see in the above (way over-lit, sorry) photo, Mr. Sun was just getting up for the morning himself. Since the last time I ate there, they have upgraded with all new tables and chairs in the garden patio area, too.
"Truffles AND mushrooms, Brian?!" What can I say? I am just a fun(gi) kinda guy! This was another decent omelette; I have yet to have a bad breakfastary meal there. Additionally, they serve really good homefries, too ~ made with red and green bell peppers and white onions in them. For condimentary supplementation, Reverie Cafe had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Huy Fong Foods, Inc.Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I used some of my own Hot Licks®SerranoHot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the potatoes and a little Pepper PalaceGator Bite Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on top of the omelette (I think that it really complemented the earthy tones of the truffle and mushroom flavours). Strange Coffee Interlude This was a really nice cuppa Coffee. I have had many of Equator Coffees & Teas™ before. I like that they are very local (as in from San Rafael ~ the one in Marin County, Callie-for-nee-ya, not the much larger city in Chautauqua County, New York). When I was about half-way done (or "half-way undone", if you are of the pessimistic ilk) with the cuppa, I decided to put that slica orange on the side of my plate to good use and plopped it into the mug to make it a sorta Caffè Borgia. However, I did not drop the slica watermelon into it (because I have never heard of a Caffè Stymie). "Love me, light me, give me... " ... breakfast! Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Equator Coffees & Teas™ - Mocha Java Fair Trade Organic ~ 6.9; Wild Mushroom, Gruyere Cheese & Truffle Butter(Omelette) ~ 6.5; Colazione al fresco ~ 7.8 ___________________
1. Okay, to even start to get the stupid joking reference to that one, you would need to go onto their defacedbook page and click on the mysterious link to the web-site that they have posted there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chautauqua_County,_New_York
Ceci n'est pas un miracle réel... just one h*ckuva tasty petit déjeuner.
https://www.zaziesf.com/ Place: Zazie Location: 941 Cole Street (between Carl Street and Parnassus Avenue) Hours: "Brunch" is served Monday-Friday 8-2 and Saturday/Sunday/Holidays 9-3 (it is the same menu every day of the week, and they open up way early enough to be able to drop the snooty-*ssed moniker "Brunch", and seeing as they are supposed to be a snooty-*ssed authentique Frenchified bistro, they should oughtta be calling this early morning meal "Petit Déjeuner", anyway) Meal: Miracle Pancakes (2) - Sugar Pie Pumpkin Pancakes ~ made with real roasted pumpkin, topped with pumpkin purée w/ vanilla whipped cream; a side order of Home-fries (or should that be "Maison-frites"?), with some of their homemade (Zazie-made, whatever) habanerosalsa; and a cuppa (and two refillas) Zazie's Organic Specialty Coffee[1]
(This poster was above me and over my left shoulder. It was positioned correctly; I just thought I'd try something artistique.)
(There really are no EweToobular juxtaselections for those first two Motown mega-hits this morning. However, it is a well-known fact that both cherries and pumpkins are botanical berries[2], and I have it on good authority that Ms. Tunstall is a big fan of pancakes [like Haggis, pancakes are the other National Dish of Alba-nia][3].) Once again, to be able to state: "I had breakfast from A (as in Andytown Coffee Roasters)[4] to Z in 2017", je suis retourné àZazie (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 28th, 2014). I had arrived so early in the neighborhood (a little after 8:15am) that I even found a legal (and free) parking spot just around the corner on Parnassus Avenue. Because I didn't want to look foolish waiting in line for forty-five minutes all by myself, I made sure to walk around the area a bit checking out/noting the other breakfastary places along the street (of which, there are at least three-to-five other good options in just two blocks up and down Cole Street). When I got back, I ended up being the third "party" (thankfully, the maître d'/manager-guy person was nice enough not to call out "Brian... party of one!") in line. Since I last ate there, they have expanded their front sidewalk café eating area to four tables for two (or possibly two tables for four... or one table for four and two tables for two...). I did think (briefly) about sitting outside this morning (either in the front area or in their much larger backyard patio); however, it had rained earlier in the morning (much before I had even left the house), and I was not sure how long the clouds would keep back, so I wimped-out and sat inside once again (as it was, it did not rain at all while I was inside eating). Next time... I can not believe that it has been almost three years since I last ate at Zazie. They have a really good standard breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) menu and they also offer seasonal/weekendly specials. These guys could easily be "Breakfastary Starting Rotation"-worthy if ever needed. Ferinstance, quelques autres idées: (off their "Brunch" Specials addition) Ceci n'est pas un Pancake ~ Our kitchen's version of Huevos Rancheros, corn tortillas w/ melted cheese, slow cooked black beans, spicy tomato sauce, avocados, salsa fresca, two over easy eggs (this was going to be my initial choice... until I saw the miraculous dish that I ended up ordering); Fresh squash & sage Raviolis ~ w/ wilted arugula (Sheesh! For the price, you would think they would use fresh arugula at least!), butter, garlic, white wine, and aged Parmesan (while not really a breakfastary sorta dish, I was also eyeing that this morning for something a little different); or Omelette du Jour (and I am so glad that they spelded "Omelette" kerrektly) ~ apple chicken sausage (which I would have had quatre-vingt six-ed, sans doute), tomatoes provençale [ sic; see, technically, the adjective "provençale" should be "provençales" in agreement with "tomatoes" being in the plural; also, it would be "tomates" if they were using the actual Frenchy word], fresh basil, and Feta cheese w/ home fries or salad (another tough choice not to choose); and (off their standard "Brunch" menu, specifically in the Scrambled Egg Dishes section; all served w/ choice of whole wheat or white toast and home fries or salad) Fontainbleu ~ w/ wild mushrooms, spinach, Fontina; Avignon ~ w/ eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, provençale herbs; Greece (Et porquois pas la 'Grèce'?) ~ w/ red onions, spinach, Feta (this dish is another good reason for a return trip... hopefully not in the year 2020); or Italie ~ w/ tomatoes provençales (now here, on their standard printed menus, they have the adjective in agreement to "tomatoes"), cream cheese, fresh basil. And, additionally (also off their "Brunch" Specials addition), they had a Sugar Pie Pumpkin Latte ~ made w/ roasted sugar pie pumpkin, maple, and spices, topped w/ vanilla whipped cream and cinnamon... St*rbucks only wishes they made it this delicious. (Let it be known that the last "... " section of that sentence was actually on their menu; I didn't even need to editorialise it in any way.) I almost went with one of those, too, but that would have been both a sugar (maple syrup, whatever) and pumpkin overkill. It did look very tempting, though; it was served in one of them extra large latte cups/boules.
I can not be sure (just because I was incessantly drooling, they kept barring my way into the kitchen to check it out), but I think they probably use their gingerbread pancake batter as a basis for this meal. Stuff like this is why ("are why"?) I will definitely have to get back there more often. The above photo quality might not do it any justice, but it was extremely tasty. The real trick was trying to get "la morsure parfaite" with a bit of butter, whipped cream, maple syrup[5a], and pumpkin[5b] purée all in the same forkful. They offer this dish as one, two, or three pancakes. Two pancakes turned out to be the perfect amount for me (with the additional homefries); one pancake might not have been enough and three pancakes would have been wayyyyy too much food for me to process. Once again, I really enjoyed the homefries side dish. It included six (six) cloves of roasted garlic in with the potatoes this morning, and I made sure to eat each and every one. Look out, Eats, you have some competition here! I did not ask what they might have to offer in the way of bottles of condimentary supplementation (nor did I bother schlepping any of my own hot sauces with me). I remembered from my last visit (well, I "remembered" after re-reading the 'blog-entry from my previous visit there) that they offered a homemade salsa of their own. I thought it was of a tomatillo-base, but it turned out to be of the habanero kind. Surprisingly, this habanero salsa was really not that épicé, but it did have a really nice goût to it. I ended up using a goodly amount of it all over the potatoes... okay, I admit, I did try some on one bite of pancake, too, and it really wasn't half-bad (to a pessimist, would that mean it is only "half-good"?). As if I needed yet still another viable reason to patronise Zazie, there is this directly off their menu and web-site: Zazie is Proud to be Tip Free! All of our menu prices include a living wage, revenue share, paid family leave, fully funded health & dental insurance, paid time off, and a 401(k) with employer match for all of our hard working employees. ~No Tips Expected~ Wow! No tipping![6] Who says the French ain't got no culcher?! (Don't worry, I am not from KT Tunstall's motherland. I did end up tipping my normal 20% amount, anyway. I checked first with my waiter/server-guy person first, and he had no qualms with it either.) Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Miracle Pancakes - Sugar Pie Pumpkin Pancakes ~ 7.4; Maison-frites (avec de l'ail) ~ 7.56; salsa habanera~ 7.3; Zazie's Organic Specialty Coffee ~ 7.1; Andytown's Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate ~ 8.3 ___________________
1. I checked with the maître d'/manager-guy person and he told me that they do still get their Coffee from LaCoppa Coffee in Mill Valley. I was not sure from my last visit there; they no longer mention it on the menu. Apparently, LaCoppa makes this special roast/blend for them. https://www.lacoppacoffee.com/ 2. Nah! How many times I gotta tell ya? Cherries are not an actual botanical berry; they are a fleshy drupe. On the other hand, Peter, pumpkins are botanical berries. Go figger... 3. No, no! No, no-no-no... The First Rule of the Intro-Net is: "Never believe nuthin' ya reads on these here World Wild Webs!" The Second Rule of the Intro-Net: "When in doubt, see Rule #1." Besides, just look at them dimples! (And I meant Daryl's. KT is pretty d*rn cute, too.) 4. See previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, September 30th, 2017. Earlier this morning, before even thinking about eating breakfast, I fixed me uppa (well, dripped me downa) a cuppa Andytown's Ethiopia Natural Banko Fuafuate. "I don't drink Coffee to wake up; I wake up to drink Coffee!"™ 5. Are there any foods more All-American (as in New World foods) than maple syrup and pumpkins? I can't think of anything else other than possibly: corn/maize, tomatoes (including their spicy little cousins, chilli peppers), potatoes, and chocolate. 6. Supposably, this whole stupid "tipping" thing started here in San Francisco ~ so, it should all end here as well!
"Oh, we never know where life will take us We know it's just a ride on the wheel And we never know when death will shake us And we wonder how it will feel..." ~ Karla Bonoff, Goodbye My Friend
(No official web-site. Still.)
Place: Reverie Cafe (or Reverie Cafe Bar or Reverie Café Bár; with no official-type web-site thing, I really can't be sure) Location: 848 Cole Street (between Carl and Frederick Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 242-0200 Hours: open 7:00am Monday-Friday, 7:30am Saturday-Sunday Meal: Breakfast Rissoto[ sic ][1] ~ leek, zucchini, mushroom, tomato, farro[2], spinach, Feta cheese, & eggs; and a large (16 oz-ish) cuppa Equator Coffees & Teas™ "Medium Roast" http://www.equatorcoffees.com/
(For the past three years, I have designated the Third Weekend in August as Linda Ronstadt Memorial Weekend. "But, Brian, are you just allowed to make up such holidays?" Yes, I am authorised to do this by the Official Intro-Net Laws and Guidelines[3] because I write my own silly li'l 'blog-'thing. I don't make up these rules.[4] It was back in August 2013 that Linda Ronstadt revealed that she had Parkinson's Disease and "can no longer sing a note". So it is up to all of us to re-memorialise her singing for her. Now, I may have linked one or all of these songs here before, but, tough, 'my 'blog, 'my 'd*mn 'rules! That is Emmylou Harris doing the duet with Linda on the second song [which was written by some guy named Bruce Springfield, I think ~ this song was not as famous as his mega-hit "Jessie's Girl", though] and Noel Yang doing the background harmonies and harmonica harmonies. And, for what it is worth, I have also been from Tucson [the one in Arizona] to Tucumcari [the one in New Mexico], Tehachapi [the one in California] to Tonopah [the one in Arizona].) I really enjoy going to breakfast at Reverie Cafe (or Reverie Cafe Bar or Reverie Café Bár) (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 20th, 2015). They always have some interesting ideas for a breakfastary repast and they have all (well, for the three visits that I have made there now, at least) been pretty tasty, too. Plus, because they open up early on the weekends, it is always very easy to get to and to find close-by parking in the neighborhood. As stated previously, like at many other coffeehouses these days, you order at the front counter-register, you pay for your food first (and add any tips to the jar next to the register; I finally figured out why that is placed exactly there, this way they know whether to give you the "special sauce" on your food or not), they give you a number (I got Larry Bird's #33 this morning), and then they bring out the food to you when it is ready.
Once again, I sat outside in their large backyard garden patio area (which actually takes up two backyard spaces). It was still overcast and chilly (probably 60° or cooler) and I ended up being the only fool back there the entire time. That's okay. That just meant more backyard for me! There were also three different Scrambles or Omelets that I could have gone with this morning: Goat Cheese (with fresh herbs & avocado); Swiss Chard (with leek, shitake mushroom [or shiitake muushroom, even], & Mozzarella); or Spinach (with mushroom, leek, Edam cheese, & fresh thyme). If I had been in the mood for a sweet take on breakfast, the Breakfast Porridge (or Poriddge, perrhaps?) (with warm farro, dash of cream & butter, cinnamon, raisins, dates, orange water, maple syrup, toasted almonds, & desiccated coconut) would have been perfect. Some other good ideas off their weekend (seasonal) specials board: Open Face Breakfast Sandwich (sourdough toast, goat cheese, bacon [You can keep it, Glen!], pickled onion, eggs over easy, arugula, & siracha[ sic ][5] aioli); Avocado Toast & Poached Eggs (harrisa[ sic ][6] smear[ sic, again][7] & pimenton[8]salsa); or Baked Eggs with Fresh Greens(spinach & kale, leeks, and Feta, mint yogurt sauce, breadcrumbs, and toasted almonds; this would definitely have been my choice if I hadn't already made up my mind ~ even before I had gotten there ~ to go with the dish that I had chosen). Supposably[9], they make a pretty decent version of Huevos Rancheros (beans, salsa, cheese, potatoes, bacon [No, thanks, Glen!], avocado, corn tortilla), too.
I really liked this meal a lot, and it was a very interesting idea for breakfast. If I did have one little complaint (well, I suppose I did), I would have liked to have seen more Feta in this; it was there, but just in very small sprinkled amounts (almost unnoticeable, really ~ and what is my mantra? "Everything's betta with Feta!"™). This came with two over-medium (or almost fried) eggs (laid?) on top of the pile. I asked the counter-server-person-guy which specific roast/blend of Equator Coffees & Teas™ they offer and he could only say that it was a "Medium Roast". However, it looks like on their web-site that Equator Coffees & Teas™ offers about ten different "Medium Roast"s. Whatever. It was pretty decent whichever specific roast/blend it was. For condimentary supplementation, Reverie Cafe had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Huy Fong Foods, Inc.Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I just used some of my own Florida GoldPremium Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on top of one of the eggs. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Breakfast Rissoto (or Risotto) ~ 6.9 (I give this 7.5 for concept, too; no GBS Rating points are ever deducted for speling eras); Equator Coffees & Teas™ "Medium Roast" ~ 6.8 ___________________ 1. Okay, maybe they cain't spel verry gud, but it tassted just fien too me all the same. Somewhat stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day: "Risotto" simply comes from the Italiano word for "rice", which is "riso". 2. Risotto (note corect spelink) is normally a rice-based dish. Reverie Cafe substituted the rice (normally a short-grain white rice, like Arborio) here with farro (or is that "faro"?) instead. 3. Which I also just made up. 4. Well, okay, maybe I do. Sometimes. 5. This is not really a mispeling, Tori. The actual word in Thai is either "siracha" or "sriracha". However, most 'mericans are used to the more common spelling of "sriracha". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce 6. The more accepted (or aceppted) spelling is "harisa" or "harissa". 7. Now, while I am sure that "smear" might be a completely acceptable goyish word (outside of New York City, that is), the better spelling in this context would probably be "shmeer" (or "schmeer", "shmear", or "schmear"). Whenever it comes to the correct spelling or usage of a Yinglish word, I always turn to my official lexicon for Yiddish/Yinglish (which is the only book that I own on this subject, anyway) ~ TheJoysofYiddish by Leo Rosten. As lexiconed by Mr. Rosten: [ page 353 ] shmeer Pronounced as it is written; rhymes with "shear". From German: Schmiere: "grease", or "bribe". 8. "Pimentón" is simply Spanish paprika. 9. And, contrary to popular Grammar Nazi-beliefs (Do Grammar Nazis "goose step", "goosestep", or "goose-step"?), "supposably" is an actual word. It is the adverbial form of the adjective "supposable". http://www.dictionary.com/browse/supposable?s=t So, it appears that Miss Chanandler Bong owes Joey Tribbiani an apology. Supposably.
"Stonewalls do not a Jackson make." ~ Groucho Marx
(No official web-site.) Place: Reverie Cafe Location: 848 Cole Street (between Carl and Frederick Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 242-0200 Hours: open 7:00am Monday-Friday, 7:30am Saturday-Sunday Meal: Shakshouka ~ (2) eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce with onions, peppers, & pita bread; Pear-Almond Tart (for a breakfastary dessert); and a medium cuppa (which was actually a pretty large mugga) Equator Coffees & Teas™ (I forgot to ask which blend/roast it was this morning)
(The reason for today's EweToobular songs? Simples! Everyone knows that Nat King Cole's real name was Carl Frederick Shakshouka.) In continuing my Month of Redo's, I returned to Reverie Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from May 10th, 2014) for breakfast this morning. You order at the front counter (typical coffeehouse-style), get a number (I got "11" this morning), and then they bring the food out to you. Even though it was still a bit (well, very) overcast and chilly (I had a sweatshirt on, so it was fine with me), once again, I sat outside in their large garden patio area, where there are about eighteen tables of varying sizes (for two to four people) on three levels (levels of the garden patio area, not levels of clientele) behind the building. There was only one other idiot couple outside the whole time I was there. An added bonus of sitting outside this morning was that I was underneath a large blooming Honeysuckle plant (at least I think it was a Honeysuckle plant; my botanical expertise is pretty limited to just actual berries and nuts) and it really smelled great. For a little nebby ("Mediterranean-Inspired" ~ per their menu) joint, they offer a pretty decent breakfast selection. Some of the other ideas that caught my fancy (when catching a fancy, I have found it best to use an over-sized Outfielder's glove so that there is less possibility of dropping it) this morning were: Breakfast Risotto (leeks, zucchini, mushrooms, tomato, farro, spinach, Feta cheese, and eggs; which really sounded very good; next time… if the weekly Frittata special doesn't trump it that is); Swiss Chard Scramble or Omelet (with leeks, shitake mushroom [sic; because everyone knows that the better transliteration from Japanese-to-Engrishu should be "shiitake", and that the whole "mushroom" part is a completely repetitive superfluousness[1]], & Mozzarella; plus, I like the option of having this as either a scramble or omelette); or (from their weekly/weekend specials board, where there are usually about five or six choices) Chorizo & Manchego[2]Frittata (with asparagus, leeks, tomatoes, potatoes, & Spanish paprika).
This was a very good meal; pretty simple in all, but still very tasty. I think the version of Shakshouka that I had at Saul's Restaurant & Delicatessen (see previous 'blog-entry from December 15th, 2013) was a little better. Saul'stomato sauce was much thicker, almost the viscosity of a stew; whereas, Reverie Cafe's was a bit thinner/runnier ~ that is where all the toasted pita triangles came in very handy. This was made with three types/colours of bell peppers (which we all should remember by now are a botanical berry, right?): red, green, and yellow. I was almost tempted to go with their weekend Frittata special, as asparagus is usually a deal-maker for me, but I had the Shakshouka in mind even before looking over any other items… next time, if their Frittata special includes asparagus (or kale). Besides, "Shakshouka" is just fun to say. Go ahead, try it; you know you wanna say it out loud: "Shakshouka!" (Of course, it also sounds like a bad Blacksploitation Kung-Fu movie from the 70's.) I don't think that they bake any of the dessert/pastries that they offer, but the Pear-Almond Tart was very good, all the same. Reverie Cafe offers for condimentary supplementation Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Huy Fong Foods, Inc. Sriracha Sauce. I mixed some of my own (though it may have been a bit superfluous to do so) Nando'sExtra Hot Peri-Peri Sauce (Thanks, Kerry! That was finally the last of that bottle.) in with the spicy tomato sauce of the Shakshouka. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Shakshouka ~ 6.7; Pear-Almond Tart ~ 6.8 ________________ 1. Okay, I admit, I actually expected this word to be a made-up word of my own making-uppery; however, per Dictionary.com*, this is an actual noun form of the adjective "superfluous". (I knew I shoulda gone with "superfluocity" instead!) *(Even so, Wild Bill Gates and his troupe of Nazi Spell-checkering jeenyuses at Microsoft do not recognize "superfluousness" as a noun.) 2. So-called because it originated in La Mancha region of Spain, Señor Donkey Joté. http://www.cheese.com/manchego/ And I should point out that Billy-boy and his Braunhemden spell-checkers do not recognize this very popular and tasty queso español either. The alternate choices they are suggesting: "Montego", "Manteno", and "Manchukuo"… yeah, because those are all much more common terms.
