Dottie's True blue café

(I would have used a stock-photo from last Sunday's visit... but... well... Sorry, Suzanne.)

http://dottiestruebluesf.com/


Place: Dottie's True blue café

Location: 28 6th Street 
(on the corner of Stevenson Street)

Hours: open 7:30am Thursday through Tuesday

Meal: Portobello[1] Mushroom, Scallions, Jalapeños, Roasted Tomato Tart (Cooked in Champagne) ~ (two) eggs any style (I felt like egg-style identifying as over-medium this morning) + fruit; and a glassa orange juice to drink

("Hey, Brian, what gives with yet still another Ella Fitzgerald song? Didn'ja just post two of her songs, like, just last Sunday?" First off, Lady Ella never needs any excuses for me to share her music. Secondhandedly, I feel that the elegant, pitch-perfect singing of Lady Ella complements the elegant, pitch-perfect food at Dottie's True blue café poifectly. 

The reason for the second song is simply because they were playing a few Lady Day songs this morning on the house [café, whatever] stereo. I really wanted to post "Strange Fruit", which is such a great song, but did not feel that the subject matter [Hint: It ain't a d*mn song about no apple or peachy orchards.] would really fit in well, breakfastarily speaking.

"B-b-but, Brian,  the Lady Ella song about a young star-crossed lover lamenting her abandonment after being deceitfully coerced into sexual submission, shooting-down the fiendish cad in cold blood, and then summarily being hung by a maddened mob is appropriate breakfast music?" So, what part of "Lady Ella never needs any excuses for me to share her music.", did you not understand? [Besides, if you got a problem with the lyrics, take it up with that Coal Porter guy.])


"Hey, Brian, didn'ja just eat breakfast at Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 27th. 2019) last weekend?" Yeah. So? What's yer point?

Eating solo again this morning, I knew that I was not going to (have room to) order one of their fresh-baked pastries, but there were a few new items that had just been updated/added by Baker Salá (I talk to him almost every visit, but have never really asked him how he pronounces his name; it might be "Sall-AH" or "Sall-AY"; maybe next time I will remember to ask him) to the front blackboard in the entryway which looked tempting.

Well, this scored another big "WOW!" from me! This is a brand new bakery item (as confirmed by Baker Salá hisd*mnself). It was not even offered on the Specials blackboard last week. Oh, and a major caveat, if'n you are one of those fungo-phobes, this is definitely not gonna be your cuppa tea (or puff-pastry tart even). It was way chock-fulla roasted Portobello (Portobella/Portabello/Portabella) mushrooms. 

I am trying to decide if I liked (loved) this new one more than their other recent new tart Mushroom, Goat Cheese, Roasted Tomato Tart, cooked in Champagne (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, September 14th, 2019). (On this week's Specials blackboard, it looks like they are now using Mozzarella in place of goat cheese, though. I am sure both work fine.) I am gonna have to give the edge to this morning's tart mainly for the profuse preponderance (which ain't a big ranch alongside Lake Tahoe out near Virginia City, Nevada, Hoss) of Portobello (Portobella/Portabello/Portabella) mushrooms. (Baker Salá  told me that the other mushroom tart-thing is made with several different kinds of mushrooms, not specifically Portobello [Portobella/Portabello/Portabella].) 

The jalapeños were a very nice underscore and added (Now, what is that phrase in French when you just can not quite put your finger [or tongue] on something precisely? Well, I do not know what it is... whatever)... some kinda nice extra flavour to the smokiness of the roasted Portobello (Portobella/Portabello/
Portabella) mushrooms. The jalapeños were diced up very finely and, if you were not aware of them being in the dish, you might not even feel their small amount of heat.

And, finally, I liked how it was all capped-off (literally) with a slice of roasted tomato.

I did not need to use any of the several different hot sauces provided by Dottie's True blue café. I went with a couple of my own condimentary supplements and used some H*ll's Kitchen Chipotle Chocolate Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of one egg and some Peaks of Otter Peppers Inca Gold Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on top of the other egg. I also used some (well, a lot) of grindage from my The Spice & Tea Exchange® Earthly Delight Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) on top of everything (yes, even including on top of the "Strange Fruit" bowl ~ do not question my pitch-perfect tastes!).


(another not so strange) Coffee Interlude

I skipped a cuppa Coffee with breakfast 'cause I was planning on making some of my own at home while keyboarding (It's a real word! Look it up!) up this here 'blog-entry, anyway. It got me to a-thinkin'. Just how much restaurants, cafés, and coffeehouses in general are basically (over-)charging for a simple cuppa?! (Not that I feel that Dottie's True blue café is ripping me off on a cuppa [or three refillas, which are free, anyway]. They charge $2.50 per cuppa, which is reasonable enough.) 

I did a quick Intro-Net search and a few different sources suggested that a one-pound bagga Coffee can make about forty-eight 6 oz cuppas. That translates to 288 ounces (with or without any silly Common Core Math) of Coffee. I normally make a cuppa that holds approximately ten ounces and I usually (always) make my Coffee just a tad stronger and using more grounds via the pour-over drip method; so I estimate that I can get about twenty-four 10-ouncers outta a pound. If a decent pound bagga (not any of that canned cr*p you get at your local grocery store) Coffee costs about $15.00, that comes to about 63¢ per cuppa. 

Hmmmm?! Something tells me the friendly folks at St*rbucks and your local coffeehouse are making a HUGE margin of profit for basically boiling water. Maybe they are trying to pay for all that "Free Intro-Net" service that they offer...


Thankfully, there were no regrets from Miss Otis with my meal today, Madam.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Portobello Mushroom, Scallions, Jalapeños, Roasted Tomato Tart (Cooked in Champagne) ~ 7.5;
the elegant, pitch-perfect singing of Lady Ella ~ 8.5

___________________

1. While talking to Baker Salá about his mushroom tarts, I told him (read: annoyingly bored him while he was trying to update the blackboard) a little about the history and acceptable spellings of the mature Agaricus bisporus sporocarp (aka Portobello [Portobella/Portabello/Portabella] mushroom). He was not aware of this. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaricus_bisporus

Dottie's True blue café

(Unfortunately, there will not be any corresponding photos of either Dottie's True blue café façade, Suzanne's smiling façade, or our meals this morning. Apparently my little Kodak EasyShare C340 has finally given up the ghost, Casper [it is about thirteen years old or older, after all]. The memory card-device does not not seem to be recording properly. When I got home, I checked it with a few different memory cards, and it was not recording to those either; so it was not just due to an older memory card itself not recording properly. Sorry, Suzanne.)


http://dottiestruebluesf.com/


Place: Dottie's True blue café

Location: 28 6th Street 
(on the corner of Stevenson Street)

Hours: open 7:30am Thursday through Tuesday

Meals: (me [and I know a "true gentleman" would report a "lady's" meal first, but I have never been labelled as one of "those kind of men"; hey, I did remove my Baseball cap at the table during breakfast at least]) Sweet Potato, Caramelized Onion, Gruyère Tart, eggs any style (I felt like styling as over-medium today) + fruit;
(Suzanne) Zucchini Cakes topped with poached eggs, Marinara sauce, fruit + potatoes;
(Suzanne and me [see, I did give Suzanne head-billing here]) a 1929 Bronze Goddess Banana Rum Roll to split (Get it? Banana-split... whatever);
and, to drink, we both went with cuppas (and one refilla each) of whatever the house Coffee might have been

(A little Lady Ella ~ pitch perfect to go with a perfectly pitched [just not perfectly pictured] breakfast! Suzanne has the good taste to know that Lady Ella is truly one of the Greatest [if not The Greatest] 'merican Voices of the 20th Century and does not need to be schooled on this fact [unlike some snot-nosed nephews who have finally come to agree with me on this acutely accurate 
assessment].)


Suzanne Bergeron, a very old friend (and by "very old", I mean I have know her since way back in Medway[1] High School [Go Mustangs!]; and by "friend", I mean my first real girlfriend in high school [Go Mustangs!]), was in town for a conference and suggested that we get together for breakfast. Knowing my penchant for Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, September 15th, 2019), Suzanne suggested that we head over there this morning. As much as I tried talking her out of it, she was adamant, Mr. Goddard, and forced me to take her there...

As Suzanne was staying at a nearby downtown hotel, it was only a short five-minute walk over to Dottie's True blue café, anyway. When we arrived there (probably a little before 9:00am), there was not the normal "line-around-the-corner-wait" for a change. There were only about four groups in front of us and we were seated inside within fifteen minutes. (I had caveated her beforehand that after 9:00am the wait can be anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour.)


(Please see above photos of Suzanne's pretty smile, our meals, and the 1929 Bronze Goddess Banana Rum Roll... oh, wait... never-mind! I guess I am going to be forced to schlep-around a real [much heavier] camera from now on. I wonder if I should look into getting one of them there mobular-devices that are all the rage with the kids these days; I have heard that you can make telephony calls AND take photographic pictures with those contraptions.)


The tart was a slightly different version of the same meal (which Kurt always used to call a "Gallette") which I have had many times in the past. Today's entry was a circular, single-serving tart; whereas in the past, it was a pie-slice from a larger tart (Gallette). I think I liked the older version just a bit more, the crust seemed a bit flakier when it was from a larger whole.

Just because I was paying for the meal (my town, my favourite breakfast-joint, my treat!), I did not tell Suzanne that she had to order the Zucchini Cakes, but she is pretty d*rn smart on her ownsome (she is a perfesser or something like that at Michigan State[2]... or some such higher learning facility thereabouts in the Mid-West) and did see the ultimate intelligence in this choice. I was very glad to see that she did enjoy it as much as I always have, too. To me, this dish is Dottie's True blue café flagship item (if there is such a thing at restaurants).

However, I did "force" Suzanne into sharing the 1929 Bronze Goddess Banana Rum Roll. There is no way either of us were going to be able to finish that on our own (and, as it turned out, both of us could not finish it entirely either). When we ordered this, it was meant to be a pre-breakfastary starter kinda-thing, but they seemed to have forgotten that we ordered it and had to be reminded twice. It was all good, all the same, as it proved to be a perfect middle-of-breakfast/end-of-breakfast dessert thing. Suzanne mentioned that this reminded her of a Bananas Foster in a ramekin. (Perfect call, Suzanne! See, I told ya she was wicked smaht. You do not get to be a perfesser at the University of Illinois if you ain't.) I could definitely taste some cinnamon in the spices, and, per Suzanne's discerning taste-buds, she noticed some nutmeg, too. I was wondering if there was possibly some allspice it, too  (like I really have any kinda discerning palate).

We both skipped any of the offered condimentary supplementations by Dottie's True blue café. I used some of my own H*ll's Kitchen® Smoky Bourbon Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of both eggs. Suzanne also used some H*ll's Kitchen® Smoky Bourbon Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of one of the poached eggs and some Tijuana Flats Tex-Mex Smack My *ss and Call Me Santa (Thanks, Rick!) on top of her other egg. We both used generous grindings from my The Spice & Tea Exchange® Italian Street Fair Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) all over our plates.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
(Suzanne was genuinely interested in how the Glen Bacon Scale worked and I gave her a quick course [and a bit of history] in this highly scientific rating-system.)
Sweet Potato, Caramelized Onion, Gruyère Tart ~ 6.6 (I think I normally would rate the old-style version as 6.7 or 6.8);
Zucchini Cakes ~ 7.4 (per Suzanne's very intelligent assessment ~ did I tell you that she was a perfesser at some Wisconsin kolledge?);
1929 Bronze Goddess Banana Rum Roll ~ 7.4 (where we both agreed on this rating)
the eloquent singing of Lady Ella ~ 8.5 (I did not ask for Suzanne's input on this one, I just trust that she would agree with that rating; after all, she is some kinda perfesser at Ohio State University or something)

___________________

1. Where the h*ck?!

aka "Cupcake, Massachusetts":

https://www.townofmedway.org/

2. Actually, I am well aware of the university where Suzanne professors at:

https://umich.edu/

As they say in Ann Arbor: "Go Spartans!"

Bâkêr Strêêt Bîstrô

¿El proverbial último popote...?[1]

http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/


Place: Baker Street Bistro

Location: 2953 Baker Street 
(Between Lombard and Greenwich Streets)

Hours: open for "le Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 9:00am (they call their early morning meal "Brunch"; however, they open up early enough for my simple breakfastary tastes... besides... let us never forget... 
le Pain Perdu le plus exceptionnel!)

Meal: Oeufs Baker Street Bistro Dave's favorite (one of Brian's favourites, too) ~ ratatouille, poached eggs, English muffin, tomato sauce, served with home fries & mixed greens (aka la comida para conejos); and a large glassa jugo de naranja (served con un popote de papel])

(There really is/are no EweToobular juxtaselections with these two songs/videos. The radio station I was listening to on my way home this morning just happened to be playing another song off Green Day's american idi*t album.

[just try to] Convince me otherwise: Green Day's american idi*t album is definitively one of the Best [if not The Best] Rock-and/or-Roll albums of the first decade of this here 21st Century. 

Of course, there is no question that it is Green Day's transcendent album to date. Even my foolish young-pup nephew [who shall remain named Cameron] has finally come around to seeing that I am 100% correct in this declaration. [Give the kid a break, he also took over ten years to finally agree with me that Lady Ella is The Best Female Voice in 'merica in the 20th Century... (Evah?)]

Man, that Giovanni Ribisi guy can really write some great music!)


While working my way through another Fall Classic warm-up of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I headed back to Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 11th, 2019) this morning.

Once again, I sat outside in their spacious sidewalk-patio café. It was still a bit cool this morning, but I had on both a sweatshirt and an outer sweatshirt/jacket-thing, so I was more than comfortable. As no other idi*ts decided to "brave" the autumnal chill, I had the seating area entirely to myself, too.

This is always such a great breakfast (specifically Eggs Benedict-oriented)! I do not know why any other local restaurant establishments have not stolen this idea yet (of course, I would think that they would need to change the name of the dish; that would be such a dead give-away)... kinda like the most awe-some Zucchini Cakes idea at Dottie's True blue café. Needless to say, I liked my breakfast ("le Brunch", whatever) this morning a lot.

For condimentary supplementation, Baker Street Bistro has only Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce 
(Original Red Sauce) on the tables. I used some of my own Chili in Hawaii Habanero Garlic Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes and several grinds of The Spice & Tea Exchange® Pirate's Bite Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) on top of everything 
(even on a few slices of the French bread in the basket...  à la Glen Bacon's [yes, that Scale Rating-guy] grandfather).


Crafty Coffee Confabulation Interlude

(Much earlier) before heading out for breakfast ("le Brunch", whatever) this morning, I made myself a cuppa TLC Coffee Roasters - Bali Blue Moon (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!). This was a brand-new (well, it has been in my freezer for the past few months, and I am just getting around to finally trying it out) Coffee for me. This was another very nice output from a small roastery outta the Island of Rhodes. These two production/roasting notes really did prove true in its flavour factor: "Bali Coffee trees are planted alongside oranges and tangerines, and the beans seem to pick up a little extra sweetness and a touch more acidity than most Indonesian varietals. The fact that the beans are dried with the fruit attached to the seed further enhances the complexity and wild fruitiness of this exquisite Coffee."

https://www.tlccoffeeroasters.com/product-page/bali-blue


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

After breakfast, I walked over to one of the larger known roosting areas of the Wild Parrots of San Francisco (the tall Eucalyptus trees next to the Lombard Street Gate of the Presidio) to see if I could catch any of my squawky feather-brained friends in the area. However, I saw just un solo papagayo flying overhead of the trees in the small dog-park in that area of the Presidio. For what it is worth, I also saw one extra-noisy Steller's Jay[2] flying around there, too.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Oeufs Baker Street Bistro ~ 7.4;
TLC Coffee Roasters - Bali Blue Moon ~ 7.2;
Steller's Jays ~ 8.0;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

___________________

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

As soon as I sat down, the friendly Mexican-guy waiter/bus boy-type (whose name I really should learn one of these days; he has worked there now for several years and always greets me warmly the few times a year that I do darken their doorstep... sidewalk-patio café, whatever.... ) asked me if I wanted "un Café" (en español, gracias!). I told him that I just wanted a glassa "jugo de naranja" (one of the few simple phrases that I can remember en español, anyway). He then introduced me to a brand-new español-ese word: 
"(el) popote" ("(the) straw"; somewhat pronounced 
"po-PO-tay"). I also made sure to ask him if "popote" was "un/el" or "una/la" in gender-agreement.

I will have to try and remember this one on future visits there (or at local taquerias even).

2. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Stellers_Jay/id

Ella's American Kitchen

"The one with the Avocado Omelet."

https://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/


Place: Ella's American Kitchen

Location: 500 Presidio Avenue 
(on the corner of California Street)

Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 7:00am (supposably)

Meal: Avocado Omelet ~ avocado, Cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, country potatoes, toast (today, I went with sourdough-rye for a change); and 
a glassa Ginger Orange Juice Punch to drink

(Lady Ella and ol' Satchel-mouth hisself?! What could be better on a pastoral autumnal Sunday morn?)


So, I went back to Ella's American Kitchen (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, September 28th, 2019 ~ basically, yesterday) for breakfast (well, "Brunch", whatever) again this morning.

While avocado and Cheddar is a decent enough combination, I think that Monterey Jack[1] or queso fresco woulda been a mucho bettero estilo mexicano match-up. Thankfully, unlike yesterday's omelette, this one was more of a "right propa" omelette, Mr. Wensleydale, with the avocado (thickly) sliced up inside; plus, it had lots and lots of avocado in it ~ there musta been an entire avocado berry in it.

Same as yesterday... as for any condimentary supplementation, Ella's American Kitchen has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce on the tables. This morning, I used some of my own 
H*ll's Kitchen Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the omelette (I only used about seven to eight drops of this, but even that ended up being about four to five drops too many... oooops!) and some Dat'l Do-it® Scorching Habanero Hot Sauce (Also, thanks, Mom!) on the potatoes (now this hot sauce was not nearly as hot as the first one and I did go a little [well, a lot] heavier-handed with it). Additionally, all over both the omelette and potatoes I used several grinds from my The Spice & Tea Exchange®
Italian Street Fair Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!).

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. After about twenty years of being in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I think that this will probably be my last visit to Ella's American Kitchen as a member of that elite group. (I mean, even that Tim Bradley guy has to retire someday from those New Englander Patriotic Guys.) Since they changed ownership (about two years ago now?), the menu has just become much less eclectic for my tastes (and I like tasting eclecticity). Plus, they no longer do all their own baking of breads and pastries; this is a big MINUS in my book (or even in my 'blog-thing). I am sure that I will still get back there at least once a year, though. Come next year, I will probably be replacing it with another restaurant (and I am thinking that I am probably gonna call-up Home Plate).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Avocado Omelet ~ 6.6

___________________

1. https://www.cheese.com/monterey-jack/

As for that Cheddar stuff: 
"Well, I'm afraid we don't get much call for it around these parts." 

Ella's American Kitchen

"The one with the Mushroom Swiss Omelet."

https://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/


Place: Ella's American Kitchen

Location: 500 Presidio Avenue 
(on the corner of California Street)

Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 7:00am (wellll... that is what is printed on their menus; however, according to their web-site, they either open at 7:30am [under "Locations"] or 8:30am [under "Menu"]; I just know that they were already open for business ~ with several other tables already having been served ~ at 8:15am when I arrived this morning)

Meal: Mushroom Swiss Omelet ~ sautéed mushrooms, Swiss, country potatoes, toast (I chose honey-oat); and a glassa Ginger Orange Juice Punch to drink

(Yes, I know it is a bit of a strange transition from the dulcet, soothing tones of Lady Ella to the raucous cacophony of those Aero-boyos, but keep reading and you will get the reason for the second EweToobular video. Maybe...)


I went back to Ella's American Kitchen (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 12th, 2019) for breakfast (well, "Brunch", whatever).

It looks like Ella's Polk Street location has now (very recently) closed ~ circa September 24th or so. It had not been open for very long; it had only opened back in August 2018. I had only visited that spot once; this Presidio Avenue location is a lot closer and easier for me to get to, anyway (I actually found a legal parking spot right in front of the restaurant today).

In my opinion, Swiss cheese and mushrooms are always a good combination (well, that is, if you are not either lactose- or fungi-intolerant). This was a decent enough breakfast ("Brunch"... whatever) and there were a few pluses and a few minuses to it. Pluses: it had a whole lotta good, melty Swiss cheese inside; and there was a HUGE mess o' homefries on the plate. Minuses: the mushrooms were incorporated into the egg-mixture and not inside the omelette itself; and they no longer seem to be making their own breads (this is a major pity), and it was now just some plain ol' pre-made, sliced honey-oat bread.

For condimentary supplementation, Ella's American Kitchen has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce on the tables. I used some of my own Old St. Augustine Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on top of the omelette and some Dragon's Lair Extra Hot Cayenne & Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) all over the potatoes. Additionally, all over both the omelette and potatoes I used several grinds of The Spice & Tea Exchange® Florida Sunshine Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!).


(not really such a) Strange Coffee Interlude

(Now here is where the above seemingly unjuxtaselectioned video comes into play.) 

Before even heading out the door for breakfast this morning, I made myself a single cuppa (prepared via the pour-over drip-method) Joey Kramer Rockin' & Roastin'® Coffee - Guatemala Medium Roast (Thanks, Kerry!). They have this labeled as a "Medium Roast", but it seemed almost like a pretty d*rn good Dark Roast to me. Needless to say, I liked this cuppa even more than the music of that noisy group from Massachusetts.

♪ "The Coffee kept a-pourin' all night long... " ♫ 

https://www.rockinandroastin.com/coffee


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Mushroom Swiss Omelet ~ 6.4;
Joey Kramer Rockin' & Roastin'® Coffee - Guatemala Medium Roast ~ 7.3

Ella's American Kitchen

"The one with the Fried Egg Sandwich."

https://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/


Place: Ella's American Kitchen

Location: 500 Presidio Avenue 
(on the corner of California Street)

Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 7:00am

Meal: (the simply-enough named) Fried Egg Sandwich ~ Cheddar cheese, baby arugula, avocado, potato bun, served with French fries (but they let me substitute those with their country potatoes); and, to drink, a Ginger Orange Juice Punch

While still running through my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I returned to Ella's American Kitchen (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 13th, 2019) once again.

I have had Ella's in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation now since at least the year 2000. As far as any other good, fresh, new ideas go for breakfast for me... I think they just dun runned out! There really are only five or six viable options on their current menu for st*pid vegetarian types and I have had all of those now. I do like their new earlier opening hours and that they now have two locations in town; however, with the new ownership and menu changes, there are less items for me from which to choose. I used to like that their old weekend "Brunch" menu would always change seasonally and always offered new choices and taste experiences.

Sadly, it looks as though it might be time for Ella's to be retired (she's too old to be DFA-ed) from my Breakfastary Starting Rotation and to possibly make a September Call-up... probably either Home Plate 
(they offer many good/great options [Can you say "Dulce de Leche Pancakes" and fried Brussels sprouts?!]; however, they are a bit further away than most of the other restaurants currently in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation), 6th & B (they also have many good options and are a lot closer, but are just not quite as good as Home Plate), or maybe even Marla Bakery Restaurant (this place is very local for me ~ within walking distance; their fresh baked goods are top-notch; however, they do not really offer a lotta items from which to choose either; plus, they do not start serving "Brunch" until 10:00am on Saturday and Sunday).

Oh, well... we shall see.

That red-nosed freak only wishes his lame-o Eggamuffin was this good! (And Ray Crock probably thought that "Arugula" [baby or adult] was just another island in the Lesser Antilles.) Sure this was "just a fried egg sandwich", but I liked that it had lotsa avocado (easily half of an avocado berry) on top of it and the potato bun really added to the whole packackage. If I had one minor quibble (a "quibblette", perhaps?), though, it was that the "lotsa avocado" could have been sliced a little thinner and not made the sandwich quite so clunky (so that would be a "plus by minus").

Ella's American Kitchen has for use in the way of hot sauce condimentary supplements both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I used some (sparingly, this one is a bit more picante than a lot of my other hot sauces) of my own Punch Drunk™ Chocolate Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Sean!) on the potatoes and some Old St. Augustine Snake Bite Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) inside the sandwich. Additionally, I used several grinds/twists of my portable grains of paradise grinder all over the potatoes and inside the sandwich (I will soon need to look into getting some more grains of paradise seeds as I am almost outta the batch that I found/bought last Summer on Cape Cod).


(not really such a) Strange Coffee Interlude

Long before even thinking about heading out for breakfast, I made myself a large cuppa (via the pour-over single cuppa drip-méthode) Bettys Java Kalibaru (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!). I knew that this would be a far superior cuppa to anything that might have been offered at the restaurant, anyway.

https://www.bettys.co.uk/java-kalibaru-single-origin-coffee


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Fried Egg Sandwich ~ 6.6;
Ginger Orange Juice Punch ~ 6.8;
Bettys Java Kalibaru ~ 7.4

Ella's American Kitchen

"The one with the Veggie (uggh!) Scramble."

https://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/


Place: Ella's American Kitchen

Location: 1608 Polk Street
(on the corner of Sacramento Street)

Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 7:00am

Meal: Veggie (uggh!) Scramble ~ tomatoes, leeks, broccolini, white Cheddar, country potatoes, toast; and, to drink, a glassa Ginger Orange Juice Punch

(Why-for today's EweToobular juxtaselection? I heard that Lady Ella also liked broccolini, but hated "the vile weed".)


Through the waning crepuscular greyness, I blindly[1] headed towards my breakfastary destination of Ella's American Kitchen (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, September 1st, 2018). One of the truly nice things about this restaurant is that, even though they call their early morning meal "Brunch", they do open up extra early. This turned out to be perfect for me this morning because I wanted to finish breakfast and get home in plenty of time to catch the New England Patriots AFC Playoff game. (And, like yesterday, I happened to be the first idiot in the door [and the only idiot there the entire time I was eating] this morning.)

This was my first visit to their new location, which has only been open since early-August 2018. The new restaurant has a nice open space. It has seating for at least fifty to sixty people (so, it seats about as many as their original restaurant in Laurel Heights, with just a different set-up).

It looks as though both locations now have the exact same menus. When the newer restaurant had initially opened, they had a few other different items that would be viable for stupid vegetarian-types. However, now it looks like the only item remaining that I might be able to try is Fried Egg Sandwich (Cheddar cheese, baby arugula, avocado, potato bun; it does not state on the menu that this comes with any sides, so I would probably have to order an additional side of their country [homefried] potatoes).

I had this same dish a few visits back and really liked it then. I equally liked it as well this morning. It was made with lots of good broccolini diced-up into bite-sized pieces (1/2- to 3/4-inch lengths or such), which was nice, as I really like broccolini (just not it's ugly step-cousin "the vile weed"); and this turned out to be the third time in three days that I had broccolini in a meal. Their version of homefries is made with two kinds of onions ~ red and standard white ~ and both red and green bell peppers. Once again, I went with the toasty choice of their own fresh-baked honey-oat toast.

Ella's American Kitchen has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce for use as condimentary supplements. I used some more of my own Peaks of Otter Peppers Cremation Drops Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) all over the homefries and some Dat'l Do-it® Scorching Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) generously ('cause that's the kinda guy I am) on the scramble-mess. Additionally, they have fresh, homemade (well, American Kitchen-made), chunky strawberry jam/preserves on the tables; and I made sure to put it to good use with my toast.

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

While walking over to the restaurant, I saw (heard first, of course) a medium-sized pandemonium of more than twenty of the colourful, chattering feather-brains flying overhead on Polk Street.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Veggie (uggh!) Scramble ~ 6.9;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

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1. Well, my vision was not impaired in any way by the early morning light (or lack thereof). This just happened to be my first visit to their new location. So I am using "blindly" in the sense of "heading into the unknown".