http://www.caffedelucchi.com/ Place: DeLucchi Location: 500 Corso Cristòforo Colombo (on the corner of Stockton Street) Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Friday at 10:00am, and Saturday & Sunday at 8:00am Meal: elvis in north beach ~ housemade (restaurant-made, whatever) peanut butter, applewood smoked bacon (which I ottantasei-ed, ovviamente), concord grape jam & bananas on toasted panini roll with a small mista salad (apparently mrs. salad was unavailable); a glassa grapefruit juice; and afterward, for a breakfastary dessert, un doppio Espresso e uno cannolo at Caffe Trieste http://coffee.caffetrieste.com/
(Tuesday April 25th marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the best [if not The Best] singing voices [male or female] to come out of the American 20th Century Music Scene ~ Lady Ella Jane Fitzgerald. Hence, the first EweToobular song. Coincidentally enough, Tuesday would have been the 100th Birthday of one Elvis Aaron Presley, too.) I went back to DeLucchi (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 23rd, 2016) per mia colazione. It looks like they have now omitted the accentually confusing "Caffé" or "Caffè" or "Café" from their name. (Perhaps, too many stupid touristas or wise-guy 'blogsters must have asked them about which is the correct spelling of that portion of their name.) Their printed menu just has it as "DeLucchi" now, and on the windows it is simply stenciled as "DeLucchi", too. However, their original neon sign on the corner of the building still shows "Caffé DeLucchi". Gó fîggèr. I thought it was a bit too chilly (and it was still in the shadow side of the building) to sit outside this morning on one of the sidewalk tables. Be that as it may (be that as it was), it didn't appear to be too cold for an Indian family (with two little kids) to sit outside, anyway... "You're a better family than I am, Gunga Dins!" Confusingly accentauted (or absent altogether now) name aside, I want to get back there to try some other of their breakfast ideas still: polenta funghi~ polenta, melted fontina, braised kale, mushroom medley & poached eggs (I know I will like that a lot, too.) or mediterranean scramble ~ two eggs, Feta, olives, roasted red bell peppers, red onion, spinach, artichoke, capers with potatoes and toast (Feta, spinach, artichoke, and capers? Öh, yèáh!)
I don't know. I was a bit disappointed in this meal. Don't get me wrong, it was okay and all, but I was really expecting the bananas to be fried or something. It was a bit messy/sticky to pick up and eat hand-held, too. I would also have liked more of their housemade (restaurant-made, whatever) peanutbutter in the sandwich. This is currently made with Concord grape jam (as stated on their printed menus), but their on-line menu lists it with fig jam. I bet this would be much better with fig jam. Luckily, because I could, I substituted (consider it "major upgraded") the small mista salad (Is a bigga mista salad the norm in Utah?!) for their excellent artichoke hash. DeLucchi has three kinds of Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce, Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce, and Chipotle Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for condimentary supplements. I used some of my own Dragon BreathGarlic Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on some of the artichoke hash. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: elvis in north beach ~ 6.2; artichoke hash ~ 7.5
On the way to Logan Airport for my flight back home on Sunday morning, my brother Kerry and I once again stopped at Ashley's Breakfast Shoppes for breakfast (see 'blog-entry from July 23rd, 2010). Again, I am not sure why it is a "Shoppes" (plural?), but I still like this little local neighborhood place in Dorchester. Apparently it was Elvis hour on a local Boston radio station on Sunday morning as that was all that was being played on the radio while we were eating. There were a few very interesting covers sung by the King (including a couple of Beatles songs) as well as several classic Elvis standards.
While checking out their specials board (they still have the Obama Special that was on there last year), I happened to notice this sign:
And I was very pleased that I did, as it was a great addition to the meal. Of course, any time there is an interesting potato dish to try, I am right there.
I ordered their Eggs Benedict ~ two dropped eggs with ham and Hollandaise sauce on English (sic) with fries and coffee. They let me substitute the standard home fries for a side o' Sweet Potato Home Fries, and they let me substitute the ham for turkey sausage (or turkey bacon) ~ which I gave to Kerry. I also had a glass of orange juice. Kerry just went with their basic breakfast meal: eggs, grits, and toast; he also had a cuppa coffee and orange juice.
There was nothing really special about the Hollandaise sauce, but it was all good and better than I would ever attempt to make. Kerry was pleased to see that they offered two different types of turkey breakfast meats. The Sweet Potato Home Fries were very good, not greasy at all; actually, they were ½-sweet potatoes and ½-regular (white) potatoes with lots of diced white onions. This was a good combination, as just sweet potatoes may have been overkill. If they had added some fresh, diced jalapeños ~ and maybe some whole garlic cloves ~ to the mess, they would really have had something extra special.
Ashley's only has as condimentary supplements Tabasco® (standard red) and Frank's®RedHot (Original). I went with just a little Frank's on the home fries.
As Ashley's coffee was just your typical diner fare, I felt it necessary to get a good cuppa Peet's Coffee® House Blend at Boston Beer Works™ at Logan Airport. It was a little too early for a Watermelon Ale (well, not for me, just for the restaurant, as they don't serve Beers on Sunday until after 10:00am). I also missed out sampling this seasonal Ale the other night at the Boston Beer Works™ at Fenway Park as the wait for food was about an hour and we had to get to the game (Red Sox ~ 3, stupid Cleveland Indians ~ 7). I was surprised to find that Boston Beer Works™ has a pretty decent breakfast menu, too. I might have to wait to get breakfast next time and eat at the airport… as long as it's after 10:00am.
**("Sweet Caroline" is the Unofficial 8th Inning Stretch song at Fenway Park, Home of your 2011 World Champion Boston Red Sox. It was written and originally sung by Neil Diamond. Supposedly, he wrote the song after seeing a picture of a then 11-year old Caroline Kennedy. I really can't stand this song and don't see why the Fenway Faithful sing along to it at every home game; it has nothing to do with Boston, or the Red Sox, or Baseball in general even. But, then again, I hate having to be forced to listen to the National Anthem at every sporting event, too.)
