For the past few years now I have gone with a more adverbial appellation of "My Favourites... " instead of the ubiquitous "Best of... " (which you see everyone using everywhere these days). After all, what is "Best" to me may not truly be "Best" to Randolph Peter and the rest of those fab Liverpudlian lads. Once again, I am keeping with the "Top Ten" format-idea, and the easiest way to rank these was just to go back through all my 'blog-entries from 2018 and see which ones had the highest Glen Bacon Scale Rating (and in the case of any identical GBS ratings, I am simply listing them chronologistically).
(Here's to innocence and now. Cheers!) 1) Surprise, surprise, surprise... not! Le Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro (see 'blog-entries from Samedi 6 janvieret aussiDimanche 2 septembre) tops the list yet once again this year. It is not a coincidence that I usually make this meal one of my first breakfasts of the year. 2) Well, well, well... it seems as though we have a brand new usurper at the "Number 2" spot this year (just edging out the previous, long-running "No. 2" from our long-running friends at Dottie's True blue café) with Savory Reggiano at GriddleGriddle FreshFresh (see 'blog'blog-entryentry from SaturdaySaturday, JuneJune 9th9th). This was such a tasty, great surprise that I am also claiming it as "My Favourite" (New) French Toast Dish Not Named Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro! 3) Even though it has been bumped down a peg, Al, it is still one of "My Favourite" breakfasts in the entire city: Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, January 13th). 4) Puka French Toast at grindz (see 'blog-entry from Poaono, Feberuari 17). Sadly, I only "discovered" this dish late in the life of this restaurant and this was only my second time ever to order it. Ah, well, maybe I need to make a little road-trip over to Mokupuni Nui to try it again. 5) Dutch Baby Pancake at LaLe (see 'blog-entry from Zondag 22 april). Even though this was only a singular "pancake", it more than deserves this placement due to its wh*pping size and flavour. 6) It really should not be fair for one local restaurant to have two of "My Favourites" in the "Top Ten", but les Œufs Baker Street Bistro at Baker Street Bistro (see 'blog-entry from Samedi 14 avril) rightly deserves this honour every year. Is it their fault that their Pain Perdu est tout simplement extraordinaire aussi? 7) Challah French Toast at the Manor (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, March 31st [which à propos-priately happened to be the first day of Passover]). ("What?! Another d*mn French toast dish on this list, Brian? Maybe you should just call it 'My Favourite' French Toasts of 2018 already." Hmmm?! Ya know, that might not be such a bad idea. Perhaps next year I might just make two separate lists: one for French toast [possibly including pancakes, too] dishes and one for all other dishes.) 8) A great out-of-State (outta-my-mind?) discovery: Green Goddess Frittata at gather (see 'blog-entry from Friday, July 27th). Not only was my main meal extremely tasty (asparagus and Feta in the same dish? You had me at asparagus... ), but they had their own special homemade (well, gather-made) condimentary supplementation: vanilla-butter ~ which was mighty awesome all on its ownsome (well, spread on toast and such). Because of both of these, I am also honorificing (not a real word, but maybe it should be) this restaurant as "My Favourite" Out-of-Towner Breakfast. 9) (yet still another French toast entry) Orange Bread French Toast at Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry (see 'blog-entry from Wednesday, August 15th). Now, if they had some of gather's vanilla-butter to use on it, this dish might have ended up a few numbers higher still. 10) (and not such a bad way of finishing out the list, an olde stalworth "Favourite") Chilaquiles at Chava's Mexican Restaurant (see 'blog-entry from Sábado 13 de octubre).
2018 Specific Categories (& Honourable Mentions kinda stuff) "My Favourite" Swiss Rösti outside of Yorkshire (possibly one person that reads this silly li'l 'blog-thing regularly will get that reference) ~ pomelo (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 25th). GBS Rating: 7.2 "My Favourite" Huevos Rancheros Dish ~ Buck's of Woodside (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 25th). (Well, seeing as I probably only had Huevos Rancheros a few times in 2018, this might not seem like such high praise, but their version ranks up there with any dishes you can find in the Mission.) GBS Rating: 7.2 "My Favourite" "Brunch" with Beer ~ Beach Chalet (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, September 30th). GBS Rating: Roasted Vegetable Frittata ~ 7.1; Sea Serpent Foggy I.P.A. ~ 7.2 "My Favourite" New Find ~ Wooden Spoon (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 10th). GBS Rating: Morning Bowl ~ 7.1 "My Favourite" Use of (and correctly spelled) Brussels Sprouts~ Roasted Brussels Sprouts Hash at Town's Endrestaurant & bakery (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 9th). GBS Rating: 7.1 "My Favourite" Thai Family Restaurant Back-up Plan (twice) ~ Lapisara Eatery (see 'blog-entries from Saturday, March 24th and Saturday, November 17th). GBS Rating: "Veggie" (uggh!) Omelet ~ 7.0; Savory "Veggie" (uggh!) Frittata~ 6.8 "My Favourite" Scandinavian/Danish Breakfast ("Brunch", whatever)/Bakery kinda-joint ~ Kantine (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 24th). GBS Rating: Savory Porridge ~ 7.0 "My Favourite" Ridiculously Disgusting New (for me, at least) Coffeehouse~ home (see 'blog-entries from Saturday, February 3rd and Sunday, February 11th [and several other references/visits throughout the year]). GBS Rating: Lavender Latte ~ 7.5; Rose Latte ~ 7.3; Cookie Monster (Latte) ~ 7.1; Red VelvetLatte ~ 6.9 "My Favourite" New Local (Neighborhood/within walking-distance) Place ~ lokma (see 'blog-entries from Sunday, June 10th and Sunday, August 19th). GBS Rating: Türlü Omelet ~ 7.0; Menemen ~ 6.7
In Memoriam Interlude (aka "Another One Bites the Dust", though the food always tasted much better than nibbling any fine particles of solid matter, Mr. John Richard Deacon) In 2018, we bade a sad farewell to both grindz and heartbaker. This was doubly-sad as both of these restaurants were located within my neighborhood (if not exactly walking-distance, at least only a short three-to-four stops on the bus). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro ~ 8.2 (mais certainement); Savory Reggiano at GriddleGriddle FreshFresh ~ 7.7; Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ 7.61 (Why the extra 0.01 GBS points there? Just to distinguish it as a little more "Favourite" than the next dish.); Puka French Toast at grindz~ 7.6; Dutch Baby Pancake at LaLe ~ 7.5; Œufs Baker Street Bistro at Baker Street Bistro ~ 7.4; Challah French Toast at the Manor ~ 7.4; Green Goddess Frittataat gather ~ 7.3 (vanilla-butter alone ~ 7.5); Orange Bread French Toast at Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry ~ 7.3; Chilaquiles at Chava's Mexican Restaurant ~ 7.3
http://kantinesf.com/ Place: Kantine[1] Location: 1906 Market Street (near the canto of Laguna Street) Hours: open Tuesday - Friday at 7:30am and Saturday & Sunday at 9:00am Meal: Savory Porridge with Kale, Mushrooms and Housemade (well, restaurant-made) Farmers Cheese with an added "runny" (soft-boiled) egg; a Tebirkes[2] Danish pastry; and a cuppa heart Coffee Roasters - Guatemala El Amate https://www.heartroasters.com/collections/beans/products/guatemala-el-amate
(Ignore the recording quality of this EweToobular video, just groove on the Scandinavian vibes of Robbie Fulkskog.) Kantine was the second of my "new" finds from my Hallowe'en trek along Market Street in the Castro-area. It is also technically "new" as it has only been open since mid-June of this year. Supposably this is an "authentic" Scandinavian bakery/breakfast/"Brunch"/ lunch-joint. However, I have never been to any countries of Scandinavialand (h*ck, I have never even been to an IKEA® store), so I really do not have anything with which to compare it. The restaurant is in a cool open-space with a high ceiling. The seating consists of the standard European-style communal tables, where there were three tables with eight seats, three tables with four seats, one taller counter-table with ten seats, and five window-counter seats. Additionally, there is a large cushioned-bench in the corner (over by their on-site bakery room) that could fit about ten people easily, but probably just for drinks as there are no tables for eating there. Their breakfast/"Brunch" menu is not that extensive, but there were still a few other interesting ideas: "Brunch" Board ~ where you can choose five or seven items from a list, to include: three different (bakery-fresh) breads; two egg sides (both of which are stupid vegetarian-friendly); three fish & meat junk; Havarti cheese; 3-lentil hummus, carrot salad; sweet melon with tarragon and mint; roasted cauliflower, charred corn and hay-smoked fresh cheese; hot rye porridge, lingonberry, cream; housemade yogurt, mashed berries, chamomile granola (I am sure I could find five good items from this list); Sweet Porridge with Pears, Lingonberry, Cream and Pistachios (I was strongly thinking of this as an alternative this morning, but I would have had to order a side of something savoury to go along with it); or Open-faced Creamer Potato Sandwich ~ radish, bacon (which would have been seksogfirs/åttiseks/åttiosex-ed, of course), tarragon mayo (I have absolutely no idea what this sandwich would be like; is it made with mashed potatoes or potato salad?). And because it is a bakery-kinda-joint, there were several other Danish pastries from which to choose. There was one called a Cinnamon Knot that looked very good; I was debating on trying it instead of the one I went with ("with which I went"... nah, that just sounds even awkward more).
I forgot to take a separate photo of the Tebirkes-thing all on its ownsome, but this is the description from their web-site: "This flaky pastry is a delicious classic from Denmark covered in crunchy poppy seeds on top and with a sweet and delicious almond filling inside." However you describe it, it was very velsmagende/velsmakende/välsmakande. Now this meal would not be for any of those "healthy-faint of heart" eaters. It was mainly made with whole oats and quinoa (which I was told was the true grains of the Norse Gods). There were actually no mushrooms in my bowl, but they did add chunks of roasted pumpkin instead, which was even better. I liked this entire combination and will have to make myself a mental note to get back there again (one of these days) to try something else. I have no idea what Scandinavian folks might use in the way of condimentary supplements (probably some kinda lingonberry-infused reindeer salsa) and I really did not ask for any. I had come with a few bottles of my own hot sauces and just used some H*ll's Kitchen®Whiskey Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the "runny" egg. I also added several grinds of grains of paradise (Thanks, Brian!) all over the bowl. (a not so) Strange Coffee Interlude Before even heading out for breakfast this morning, I made sure to make myself a decent cuppa Bettys - Colombian Fedar (Thanks again, Greg & Cindy!), just in case the restaurant did not offer a good brand choice of Coffee. As it turned out, the cuppa heart - Guatemala El Amate was very good, too. I do not think that I have ever had this particular Portland-based (the one in Oregon, not the much more internationally-known Coffee hot spot in Maine) brand of Coffee. https://www.bettys.co.uk/bettys-colombian-fedar Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Savory Porridge ~ 7.0; heart - Guatemala El Amate~ 7.2; Bettys - Colombian Fedar~ 7.3 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist (but really more of an etymological) pointer of the day: The English word "canteen" comes from French "cantine" ("sutler's shop"), from Italian "cantina" ("wine cellar/vault"), from Italian "canto" ("corner"). The Danish word "kantine" (pronounced "kan-TEEN-eh") is a cognate of the French word. The Norwegian word "kantine" (pronounced "kan-TEEN-a") is also a cognate of the French word. Just to be difficult, the d*mn Swedes use the word "kantin" (pronounced "KAN-tin"). 2. Say hvad?! http://danishpastryhouse.ca/Tebirkes.cfm
So, I completed my "Month of Sundays" this morning at Dottie's True blue café. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it (and I was the right idiot for the job). I got there a little before they opened and actually got a good, legal parking spot right on Geary Street at the corner of Shannon** Alley.
Waiting in front of me in line was a family from Denmark. I know absolutely nothing about Denmark other than the capital is Copenhagen, Hamlet and Hans Christian Anderson were from there, and that they like to wear those funny wooden shoes. I did learn a neat trick from them, though: When one of the local panhandlers came up to them and asked for change, the father said in impeccably enunciated English: "I am sorry, but I do not speak any English." What can you say to that?
For breakfast this morning, I simply went with one of my stalwart selections (which is now part of their daily printed menu): Black Bean Cakes ~ with two eggs over medium, home fries, and grilled jalapeño-cornbread. I also had a large glass of grapefruit*** juice and a cuppa coffee.
I have had this dish many times before and know it to be a great choice if there is nothing really exciting on the specials board; as a matter of fact, this was the same dish that Jim Turner (an old Air Force buddy of mine from Berlin-town) had when he came to visit last year (see 'blog-entry from July 25th, 2010). There were actually some great choices on the specials board today (both the frittata and strata looked tasty), I just wanted to finish out the "Month" with a known positive note (because I have had sooooo many bad meals at Dottie's). This comes with a nice portion of fresh pico de gallo and dollop of sour cream on top of the cakes. These are sorta like a vegetarian-style "sausage" patty, only made with black beans and rice, which make them a lot healthier than any made with dead-decaying porky products, Arnold.
As for condimentary supplementation, I am more than familiar with what Dottie's has to offer, so I went with some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce (which is almost at an end… sniff, sniff) on the home fries (Thanks once again, Amy!).
"Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls; it's a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world, except for…" Dottie's, Do-Do-Do-Dottie's!
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Black Bean Cakes ~ 7.1
*(This weekend the 41st Annual San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade is being held. http://sfpride.org/ Whether you are LGBT or just as "straight as Derek J*ter"... Equality is something that should be for All, not just the Majority. Celebrate diversity. Both of the EweTooblinks above, paired together, are meant to reflect this. And in case any of you D*mn Y*nkees fans reading this want to comment on my Derek J*ter slur… Seriously?! The dude's "girlfriends" put Brian Wilson's facial hair to shame… not that there's anything wrong with that!) **(My niece, Shannon, is riding in the 2-Day MS Boston to P-Town Bike thingy this weekend, so I found this very à propos. http://bikemam.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/MAMBikeEvents?fr_id=15161&pg=entry Shannon raised over $1,500 for this worthwhile charity. Great job, Sheesha!) ***(Useless horticultural pointer of the day: Grapefruit grow in orchards and not on vines, and really aren't used in the making of wine of any sort. They are a citrus fruit ~ and actually a berry. They are a hybrid of the pomelo or shaddock. As Dorothy Parker was wont to point out: "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.")
