Joe's Coffee Shop

Breakfast on Geary (redux), Lucky 13b

(No official web-site, and I am pretty sure that they will never bother themselves to get one, anyway.)


Place: Joe's Coffee Shop

Location: 6134 Geary Blvd (between 25th and 26th Avenues); phonicular contact: (415) 668-9382

Hours: open 7:00am Sunday to Saturday

Meal: Avocado and Cheese Omelet (with fresh salsa) ~ served with hash browns and toast; and a large glassa orange juice to drink

(Ol' Deckie MacManus must be a d*mn ManU fan!)


After what ended up being one h*ckova long hiatus, I finally made a return visit to Joe's Coffee Shop (see last 'blog-entry from Monday, May 7th, 2012[1]). It is not as if this place were so very close (it is well over six blocks away from my apartment building... well, seven to be exact) that I could just stop by whenever I felt like it. Actually, I had been planning on checking them out again for breakfast (I only ride past the d*rn place twice a day, to and from work) again soon, anyway. The "again soon" just happened to be "again today" because my first plan-of-breakfastary-attack was to go back to Royal Ground Coffee (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, August 18th, 2018). However, when I had arrived there just after 8:00am, I was informed that the kitchen help (I think it is just one guy) had not arrived yet this morning (they open at 6:30am and, normally, are supposed to start serving meals by 7:00am). So, luckily, I did have a back-up option (and only a few blocks away to boot [... or not to boot? Is that really a question, Wild Bill?]).

I sat at their diner-counter once again because I felt like it. Plus, there are really only a few tables in this small place and I wanted to keep those available for "real" customers. One cool thing was that I got to watch a little Football (of the Britishlander-type; better know to all youse as "Le Soccér") ~ CHE(lsea) v. HUD(dersfield) ~ on the telly behind the counter (which was directly in front of me, anyway).

Because they are an olde-timey family-owned diner-type kinda joint, they offer a pretty decent and varied breakfast menu, off which, I suppose, I could have also ordered:

Vegetable and Cheese Omelet (tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, and spinach);

Mushroom and Cheese Omelet (they did not list the ingredients for this one on their menu for some reason);

Three blueberry pancakes with whipped cream;

or 

Waffle with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Additionally, there is also Joe's Scramble (ground beef, mushrooms, onions, and spinach). However, I got in trouble the last time that I had ordered this dish (which was on my very first visit there for breakfast way back in 2011), because someone (whose name shall remain "Brian") forgot to ask the waitress/server-lady/(probably owner-lady, too) person to omit the dead, decaying grinded-up bovine flesh and they had to remake it all over again from scratch (scratch always tastes much better than dead, decaying grinded-up bovine flesh, anyway). Ooops!

Now here is where if I had known ahead of time that I was going to return to Joe's Coffee Shop, I woulda checked to see what I had ordered on my previous visit and probably have ordered something different this time. Saul Goode! It was almost seven years since I had this omelette and an exact repeat every seven years would not even bother Tom Ewell, I bet.

There was really nothing special about this meal. It was just your typical good ol' diner-style omelette made with lots of fresh avocado dices throughout. I am not exactly sure what kinda "cheese" was used in the dish this morning. I think it must have been some queso fresco (it was white and in chunks and did not taste like Feta to me). The last time that I had ordered this omelette, it came with that plain ol' yellow-orange (faux Cheddar-stuff) cheese in it. I think I prefer the u/i white cheesy comestible from today a bit more.

For condimentary supplementation, Joe's Coffee Shop had just Crystal® Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce and Huy Fong Foods Inc. Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce on the counter top and tables. I used some (a goodly amount, 'cause this one is only about as hot as your standard Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce - Original Red Sauce) of my own Dragon Breath Garlic Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) mixed in with the hashbrowns and some (a lot less, 'cause'n this one has both Cayenne Chillies and Habanero Chillies in its ingredients) Pepper Palace Gator Bite Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on top of the omelette.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Avocado and Cheese Omelet ~ 5.9
Chelsea v. Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger & McCormick ~ (a crushing) 5-Nil[2]

___________________

1. Hmmm??? 

I am not quite sure why I "took" a sick-day off on a Monday at the beginning of May that year. I think it might have been because I had some friends in town (Hey, Wayne-o and Donna!) and did not feel like "wasting" a day of vacation on the likes of them. (Pffft! It is not like they are really "good friends" of mine; I mean, I had only known them both as a couple for twenty years or so at that time [well, okay, maybe I had also known Wayne-o all on his ownsome for possibly another fourteen-and-a-half years prior, but still... ]).

2. This is not really that surprising. Poor ol' Huddersfield Town are currently the doormat of the Premier League with only two Wins in twenty-five Games thus far. They are kinda like that MLB Team that plays in da Bronx and everyone always seems to steamroll.

https://www.premierleague.com/home

Art's Cafe

http://www.artscafesf.com/

(However, for the past few years [yes, years], it reads: "Sorry! Work in progress")


Place: Art's Cafe
Location: 747 Irving Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues); phonicular contact: (415) 665-7440
Hours: open at 7:00am Tuesday through Saturday; open at 7:30am on Sunday (??? ~ Here is where it might have been nice to be able to check their actual hours of operation on their "in progress" web-site; in any case, I had arrived there a little bit after 7:30am [and, by that, I mean exactly 7:33am; I had just checked my watch before getting there] and the place was already packed except for one last empty stool, which I quickly sat at... 7:30am on the day that Daylight Saving Time ends? Don't any of these people ever sleep in?!)
Meal: Spinach, Onions, Mushrooms, and Hot Sausages Hash Brown Sandwich ~ served with melted Cheddar cheese on hash browns, two eggs, and toast; and a glassa Strawberry-Lemonade; and, afterward, a cuppa Snowbird Coffee Zatarra, pourover-style

http://snowbirdcoffee.com/

(Good luck finding a specific reference for their Zatarra roast/blend there; while this web-site isn't a "work in progress", it really ain't nothin' much of which to speak none neither; interestingly enough, if you do a Google-search for "Zatarra Coffee", look what pops up as the fifth entry)

(Why all the Joan Armatrading[1] songs today? Simples. I asked them this morning and Momma[2] Art told me that their last name is "Armatrading"; apparently, it is a very traditional Korean family name.)


It had been some time since my last visit to 
Art's Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, July 19th, 2015), so I figured it was about time for some more of their most excellent, crispy hashbrowns. This morning, I sat right in front of the grill where Poppa Art was working his magic with the never-ending line of hashbrowns being prepared.

As I have noted before, the diner-counter is covered with postcards (well, it is covered with Plexiglas and the postcards are under that) from around the World. This postcard from Santorini[3] was just to my left today. (Please note: I do not think that this photo is meant to be a political commentary on America's two current choices for the upcoming Presidential Election on Tuesday.)

I have eaten just about all of the available/suitable choices for stupid vegetarians on their menu. I think that there are just two items left for me to try: Spinach Scrambled Eggs (with onions, mushrooms, hot sausage, and Jack cheese; served with hash browns or rice and toast; which I would have ordered without the grounded-up porcine stuff, of course) or Four Cheese Omelete [ sic ] (American [well, I suppose they should call it "Three-and-a-half Cheese Omelete [ sic ]" with the inclusion of this "cheese"], Cheddar, Jack, and Swiss cheese; served with hash browns or rice and toast). Otherwise, I could always re-do a couple of my favourite choices: Bi Bim Bop Veggie Omelete [ sic ] (with spinach, zucchini, bean sprout, carrot, and Swiss cheese; yeah, it all sounds pretty strange, but it works for me) or Vegetarian Hash Brown Sandwich (onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, and tomatoes).

What can I say? I absolutely love this idea for a breakfast dish! Any time potatoes are the main focus for a dish, I am right there. Of course, I made sure to 
여든 여섯 the dead, decaying porky-product junk. For my "sides", I went with two over-medium eggs and whole wheat toast. (I almost thought about ordering a side of their famous hashbrowns, too.)

The Strawberry-Lemonade was extra thick and seemed to be made with much more ("many more"?) strawberries than lemons. This was not a bad thing, but I almost asked for a glass of water with which to cut it a bit.

For bottled condimentary supplements, Art's Cafe offers both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Crystal® Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce. Not that either of those were used, nor even (ever) needed. Knowing that they also have a very good (and thick) Gochujang of their own available in plastic squirt bottles, I don't even bother bringing any of my own hot sauces with me. I used a good amount of the Gochujang on both of the eggs and all over the hashbrown sandwich-thing.

I purposely had skipped any Coffee with my breakfast because I know that Snowbird Coffee is just around the corner and really like their Coffee. While I was there enjoying my Coffee at one of the tables, a guy in line that was ordering his own Coffee kept looking over in my direction and staring at me. Now, I have lived in San Francisco for thirty years and figured that maybe he was someone that I may have met in the past, but could not place his face at all. After he had ordered and received his Coffee, he came over to me and said, "That's a great Beer!"... I almost said to him, "But it's a cuppa Coffee..." and then I noticed that he had recognized my sweatshirt with a Black Sheep Brewery Riggwelter Strong Yorkshire Ale[4] (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) logo on it. It turned out that he was from the West Riding market town of Hebden Bridge[5] himself. 

I thought this pretty funny. The official name of this coffeehouse and roastery is Snowbird Coffee, but, for some reason, my paper cup had an ink stencil that read: "Snowbirds SF". I am sure they have a good explanation/justification for that on their most informative web-site... oh, wait...


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Spinach, Onions, Mushrooms, and (no) Hot Sausages Hash Brown Sandwich ~ 6.4;
Snowbird Coffee Zatarra ~ 7.0;
Black Sheep Brewery Riggwelter Strong Yorkshire Ale ~ 8.2

___________________

1. Why?! Because I said so! Dammit!

http://www.joanarmatrading.com/

I feel that Joan Armatrading has one of the best voices for all the Rock-and/or-Roll singing. 

Plus, that last song happens to be one of my All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll Songs of All Time. Heck, it's easily in my Top Ten All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll Songs of All Time; it might possibly be right up there at #3 ~ right after Bob Marley's 
"No Woman No Cry" and Jimi Hendrix's version of 
"All Along the Watchtower" (which share the #1-#2 slots; I can never decide which is my actual top favourite).

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

The word for "mom/momma" in Korean is "엄마" and it is pronounced pretty much like "momma".

3. I have never been to Santorini, but really wish that I had visited that Cycladic island when I lived in Greece. 

One of these day...

http://www.santorini.gr/index.php?lang=en

4. This is just my opinion (like I care for the opinions of anyone else, anyway), but I feel that Black Sheep Brewery Riggwelter Strong Yorkshire Ale is one of the Best Beers in the World!

https://www.blacksheepbrewery.com/beers/1181/rigg

5. http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/

Town's End restaurant & bakery

http://www.townsendrb.com/


Place: Town's End restaurant & bakery
Location: 2 Townsend (Now what are the odds of that?!) Street (at the Embarcadero)
Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am for breakfast; open Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am for "Brunch" (they can be forgiven for that snooty-assed moniker because they open up plenty early enough for this meal to still be considered breakfast by the best of us... meaning me, of course)
Meal: 3 Chile Scramble ~  roasted red peppers, yellow Gypsy[1] & chipotle chiles & grilled red onions, scrambled with 3 eggs, queso fresco, handmade corn tortilla, red & green salsas & guacamole; and a glassa freshly squeezed orange juice

(You may ask yourself: "Just what the h-e-double-hockeysticks are today's EweToobular juxtaselections supposed to mean, Brian?" 

Simples. Who doesn't know that ol' Petey-boy[2] grew up in Post-WWII Chiswick, London above a bakery?

The second song has nothing what-so-ever to do with either bakeries, or London, or even the English Beat. Any day is a good day for Lucinda Williams. That's all.)


It's been over two years since I last visited Town's End restaurant & bakery (see last 'blog-entry from February 8th, 2014) and I knew that this weekend would be the perfect chance to do so because the San Francisco Giants are on-the-road-again and I would have no problem finding a nearby parking space (and I did so this morning basically in front of the joint, so that worked well for me). I have never had a bad meal at this place, and I have been going there now for probably twenty-five years or more (mostly for breakfasts, but there have been a few lunches thrown in before heading across the street to an afternoon Giants game). 

Their "Brunch" menu changes seasonally, but there always are a few other good ideas from which to choose (for both those that partake of dead, decaying vegetation or you meatetarians out there). The other meals that caught my eye (just the left one, there was some dirt in my right eye) this morning: Toybox[3] Scramble (organic toybox tomatoes, white Chanterelles, grilled leeks, basil, Italian sheep's milk Mozzarella); Mary's Special (two Swedish oatmeal pancakes [organic peaches & almonds in the pancakes], two eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green onions, garlic & Cheddar); or Spinach, Tomato & Mushroom Omelette (they don't state what exactly might be inside this omelette, though; served with a choice of potato-carrot pancakes [with apple compote & sour cream], grilled polenta, or fresh fruit; I know from past experiences that both the potato-carrot pancakes and grilled polenta are decent breakfastary side-choices; even I can prepare "fresh fruit" at home... or at least buy it at the grocery store already prepared and ready to go).

"Each meal begins with our housemade baked goods — mini muffins and scones at breakfast and brunch..."

Today's miniature bakery goods offerings were two banana-walnut mini-muffins, two blueberry mini-muffin, and one mini-raisin scone (that would be a small scone, the raisins in it were of the standard size).

The scrambled mess was kinda like an upscaley version of Huevos Rancheros. Everything was piled on top of one of their very good homemade (bakery-made, whatever) corn tortillas. Like yesterday's breakfast entry, this was also a bit on the smallish side, but, again, thankfully, it was muy grande en sabor. I liked the green salsa the best of the two salsas; it was a tomatillo-based salsa, and the red salsa was a fresh (very chunky) pico de gallo. I would liked to have had a few more of the homemade (bakery-made, whatever) corn tortillas on the side; I bet these would have gone very nicely with butter and the homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) jam that they have on every table. As it was, there was just enough food for my appetite once again, but that was only due to the complimentary (complementary) mini-baked goods.

Because they only offer Mr. Espresso® as their house Coffee, I waited until I got home to brew me up (well, actually, drip me down) some of my own De La Paz Graceland. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Mr. Espresso® as much as the next guy (especially if the next guy's last name happens to be "Espresso"), but I just had that brand yesterday at breakfast and knew that De La Paz Graceland is much better ~ even with my usual crummy attempts at making Coffee at home.

http://fourbarrelcoffee.com/shop/de-la-paz-graceland-2/

For condimentary supplements, Town's End has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce (Original). I really did not find it necessary to espicy-up my meal with any bottled hot sauces (I had brought three or four of my own with me, too, just in case).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
3 Chile Scramble ~ 6.6;
mini-muffins & mini-scone ~ 6.7;
De La Paz Graceland ~ 7.3

___________________

1. I had to look up just what this chilli varietal was:

http://www.pepperscale.com/gypsy-pepper/

2. And can anyone tell me just why the h-e-double-hockeysticks Mr. Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend has never received a Knighthoodsmanship like many other faithful British Rock-and/or-Roll subjects already have? (Exempla gratiā, Sir George Ivan Morrison, OBE; Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE; Sir Michael Philip Jagger, KBE; or Dame Elton Hercules John, CBE.)

3. This is just another new, completely madeuppery word to explain a new tomato varietal:

http://www.greenleafsf.com/product/produce/tomatoes/toybox-cherry-tomatoes-3

Just For You bakery & cafe

"And another thing. Don't ever kid yourself about loving some one. It is just that most people are not lucky enough to ever have it. What you have with Maria, whether it lasts just through today and a part of tomorrow, or whether it lasts for a long life is the most important thing that can happen to a human being. There will always be people who say it does not exist because they cannot have it, but I tell you it is true and that you have it and that you are lucky even if you die tomorrow." 
~ Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls

(Whoever said ol' Ernie wasn't a romantic?! As for the answer to the title: "it tolls for thee".)

http://www.justforyoucafe.com/


Place: Just For You bakery & cafe
Location: 732 22nd Street (between 3rd and Tennessee Streets)
Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am, Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am
Meal: Bleu Scramble ~ 3 eggs scrambled with Bleu cheese, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, spinach, and red peppers, served with home fries or grits, and your choice of homebaked (well, restaurant/bakery-baked) white, whole wheat, or cinnamon-raisin toast, cornbread, scone, biscuits, English muffin, or gluten-free toast; and a cuppa (and one-and-a-half refillas) Community Coffee® (at least that was what they used to serve there the last time I asked; I forgot to ask if that was still their house Coffee and which blend/roast they serve)

http://www.communitycoffee.com/

(There is no real EweToobular juxtaselection between these songs and the restaurant. I had just posted two Wild Colonials songs on Saturday and felt like doing another. 

These are two versions of the same song; I actually prefer the instrumental version. It was used in the 1995 movie "The Last Supper". Which, of course, starred "Survivor" alumnus Jonathan Penner… as well as some other lesser-known actors and actresses like Cameron Diaz, Bill Paxton, Jason Alexander[1], and others.)


It's been about (well, exactly) two years since I last ate at Just For You bakery & cafe (see last 'blog-entry from May 27th, 2013). I figured it was about time for another visit. Even if they do have a stupid parklet out front.

At least it is just a one car-length wastelet. As far as these parking obstructions go, it's a nice (little) one, at least. There are two wrought iron benches on either end and one small, round table for two. I don't know if there is actual table-service out there, but it could be a nice spot to sit in while waiting for a table during a busy day (today was only about 75% full inside that early on a holiday morning, but I have seen a line out the door on Saturday mornings).

In addition to a very decent standard/weekend breakfastary menu, they have a "Daily Special' menu that can change seasonally. Today it included: Special Scramble! (three egg scramble with Longanisa sausage, white onion, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, & Swiss cheese; I could have always ordered that without the sausage stuff ~ Longanisa or not; by the way, they added the "!" to all of these specials!); Belgian Waffle! (Belgian waffle topped with a homemade chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries, & powdered sugar); or Smoked Turkey Benedict! (turkey & sautéed spinach topped with poached eggs & Hollandaise sauce over choice of bread; this would not be a very good choice for any stupid vegetarian-type persons or anyone that is trying to cut down on their daily intake of smoking turkeys[2]).

This scramble dish had lots of Bleu cheese (which is either a good or bad thing, depending on your take of this stinky, moldy cheese; I like it, of course). This was kind of a strange combination, but it all worked for me… in a strange way. The artichoke hearts were the brined, not marinated, version, which is always the best kind for any scrambles or omelettes. 

I went with homefries instead of "greets" as my side choice . I also chose cinnamon-raisin toast as my homebaked (restaurant/bakery-baked, whatever) bread choice (and it was a nice extra-thick slice, too; I was asked if I wanted one slice or two and was glad that I only got the one). After I had already eaten about half of my meal, I overheard one of the waiter/server-person guys say that they offer two different types of scones: apple or cherry… next time I am getting one of those for sure (if I remember, that is).

Not everyone likes their Coffee à la N'Arlins (where it is made with roasted chicory added), but I rather like it, and usually only get it at N'Arlins-style joints, anyway.

Just For You offers a fine array of condimentary supplementation. In addition to the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (that would be: Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce [Original Red Sauce], Cholula® Hot Sauce, and Tapatio® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce), they always have a few other interesting choices. Today there were: Tabasco® Brand Green Pepper Sauce (made with green jalapeños); Crystal® Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce; Huy Fong Foods, Inc. Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce; and Chef Michael's "Ruin Your Day" World's Hottest Pepper Sauce. I used just a bit of the "Ruin Your Day" on a small area of the pile of homefries. While they may claim that this is the "World's Hottest Pepper Sauce", that is really a bit of a stretch. Albeit, this is very spicy, but I have had several others that are much hotter still (and may or may not have killed an innocent, unsuspecting Korean waiter-dude). This is one of those hot sauces that is mostly all heat and not as much flavour; this is due to one of the main ingredients being capsaicin extract. I also used some of my own The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Mango hot chilli sauce on most of the rest of the homefries and some Hell Mouth on the entire scramble mess. (Thanks again for both of those and the other two bottles that I had already used up, Cindy & Greg! I am going to have to finally "retire" these two, even though they are both only at half-mast. The label stated to use within 6-8 weeks once opened, and I have more than doubled that expiry date already.)

File under: "It's a small World… but I wouldn't want to paint it."

As today is Memorial Day, I happened to be wearing my one article of clothing that I knew had an American Flag somewhat on it (I say "somewhat", as the design is on a five-petal White Rose of York and has half the Union Jack and half the Stars and Stripes on the petals ~ I will let you determine which flag goes with which country ~ with a White Rose of York at its center). This happens to be an RAF Menwith Hill/Harrogate[3] sweatshirt. It was a gift/souvenir that I had received on one of my many trips to North Yorkshire over the years (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!). Well, the manager-guy saw it and said that he used to work on the base; he had managed the Officers Club for several years there. 

A Side Sojourn to Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Tea_Garden_(San_Francisco,_California)


On my way home after breakfast, I decided to stop by Golden Gate Park and walk off breakfast a bit. I was originally planning on just traipsing around San Francisco Botanical Garden (formerly known as Strybing Arboretum), but noticed that the Japanese Tea Garden was also just opening up for the morning and I hardly ever traipse through there. (It's free on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday before 10:00am; whereas, San Francisco Botanical Garden is free all day long every day to San Francisco residents, and I can always traipse my heart out there on any other weekend.)

(This was my million dollar view ~ well, $7.00 view, before taxes ~ from my seat in the tearoom area.)


No trip to the Japanese Tea Garden should be complete without stopping for some actual tea (Hey, it's in the name, fercryinoutloud!), so I had a cuppa jasmine tea (for the uninformed ~ or those just living in Omaha ~ "a green tea scented with jasmine flowers and boasts a slightly sweet flavor. Jasmine tea originated in China, but is now enjoyed by tea lovers throughout the world.") and a dorayaki[4] (which they describe as "a pancake like pastry, filled with red bean paste"). 

(Sharon, check out that ceramic mug design. Nice, huh?)

I am not sure, but this building is probably some kinda Japanese "weather" station. (I would expect that only ex-Russkij 208's might get that dumb joke… or maybe not even them.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Bleu Scramble ~ 6.3; Jasmine Tea ~ 7.0; Dorayaki ~ 6.2; Japanese Tea Garden ~ 8.0


________________

1. Here is a fun, little-known Cliff Clavinistic fact: Jonathan Penner's wife and Jason Alexander's wife are sisters. 

2. "Abruptly giving up an addiction to cold turkey sandwiches is referred to in some circles as going cigarette." ~ the Library of Amazing Facts

3. While this little "Spy-base" is well-known and popular amongst the Liberal Leftist protestors of Great Britianland, not many 'mericans have ever heard of the town of Harrogate, let alone RAF Menwith Hill. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Menwith_Hill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrogate

4. For the general uniformed, or just local Omahaians:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorayaki

grindz

Did you ever wonder what they call extra thick waffles[1] in Brussels (of Brussel… ou Bruxelles… oder Brüssel), Jean-Claude?

http://www.grindzrestaurant.com/


Place: grindz 
Location: 832 Clement Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues)

Hours: open for "Brunch" Friday, Saturday, & Sunday at 9:00am

Meal: GRINDZ Waffle ~ buttermilk waffle, pina berry compote, quenelle whipped cream; a side of Plantation Potatoes[2] (because as a vegetarian I never get enough carbohydrates in my diet); and a cuppa (and 1-½ refillas) Bicycle Coffee[3] co (though I always forget to ask which particular roast/blend they offer)

http://www.bicyclecoffeeco.com/

(No trip to an Hawai'ian ~ a Hawai'ian? whatever ~ restaurant would be complete without a EweToobular juxtaselection of Bruddah Iz. 

The second video/song is just for anyone living in North Windsor, Ontario that wants to take a midnight train going nowhere in particular.)


The continuation of the pre-Spring Training workout of another one of my Breakfastary Rotation Starters brought me back to grindz (see last 'blog-entry from October 19th, 2014). 

There is really only a handful of items on their "Brunch" menu which I really can eat (and, by "handful", I mean exactly five items ~ which is a handful if you have an overly large hand, I suppose). As I have eaten there more than five times in the past, I have more than worked my way through what they have to offer to stupid vegetarians. My backups today were going to be either Kalua Benedict (toasted Hawai'ian bread, Kalua pig, taro leaves, 2 poached eggs, tarragon Hollandaise, plantation potatoes; just consider this an/a Hawai'ian version of Eggs Benedict, bra'; of course, I would have ordered this again without the dead, decaying Kalua piggy stuff) or Veggie Scramble (mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, plantation potatoes, chilli oil; "veggies" may vary).

This was really good. I don't normally order waffles (and I don't think that I had any the entire year of 2014), but I liked this dish. The "pino berry compote" was made with pineapples[4] and blueberries[5]; this was very good, too, but I wonder if blackberries or raspberries (yes, I am well aware that neither blackberries nor raspberries are technically botanical berries, but still) might have been a better combination with pineapple.

The Plantation Potatoes were very good as always, made with lots of chopped up celery[6], red bell peppers[7], and white onions[8].

For condimentary supplementation, grindz offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and some kind of Sriracha sauce (I think I overheard someone asking for it); plus, they have on all the tables their own homemade chilli oil and Hawai'ian Spicy Ketchup. Normally, I would just have settled for using their Hawai'ian Spicy Ketchup ~ as it is very good ~ and not bothered bringing any of my own hot sauces with me; however, I just received a belated Christmas gift in the mail this week with four more bottles of new stuff to try (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!). All four bottles are from the same English company, The Wiltshire[9] Chilli Farm. 

http://www.justchillies.co.uk/

This morning I tried some smoked Chipotle chilli sauce on half of the potatoes and Hell Mouth on the other half. 

The smoked Chipotle chilli sauce was the less spicy of the two and I could go pretty heavily with it. 

Ingredients: tomatoes, onions, red wine vinegar, sugar, molasses, smoked garlic - 1%, smoked chilli - 1%, various spices.

Hell Mouth was a lot spicier, but not as crazy hot as some other hot sauces that I have.

Ingredients: orange pepper, sugar, cider vinegar, Habanero chilli, apple, mango, salt, ginger, Ghost Pepper…  

I will probably get around to testing out the other two bottles tomorrow with breakfast. This brings my collection total to twenty now; an entire shelf on my refrigerator door is dedicated to just these hot sauces. I really was not planning on getting any more hot sauces to add to my collection until after I had used up a few more bottles. (Last month I even bought three new bottles myself, which I probably should have waited on, too.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: GRINDZ Waffle ~ 6.6


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer een/numéro un/Nummer eins:

Everyone knows that there are three Official Languages in Belgium (unlike here in 'merica where there are just two ~ Spanish and Chinese): Dutch, French, and German. So, if anyone ever asks you "Do you speak Belgiumese?", you can answer: "Ja!", "Oui!", and "Ja!"

Here are the words for "Waffle" in all three:

Dutch ~ "wafel (singular)/wafels (plural)"
French ~ "gaufre (singular)/gaufres (plural)"
German ~ "Waffel (singular)/Waffeln (plural)"

I could go into a long etymological explanation of the word "waffle", but then why do we have WikipediA? Here is the link to more information by them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle#Etymology

2. I figured, what the heck (of hel… ou enfer… oder Hölle) while I was at it, I might as well also provide the stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) for this word in Dutch, French, and German (for anyone keeping count here, that would be nummer twee/numéro deux/Nummer zwei):

Dutch ~ "aardappel (singular)/aardappelen (plural)"
French ~ "pomme de terre (singular)/pommes de terre (plural)"
German ~ "Kartoffel (singular)/Kartoffeln (plural)"

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer drie/numéro trois/Nummer drei:

Dutch ~ "Koffie"
French ~ "Café"
German ~ "Kaffee"

(See, sometimes these stupid, useless cunning linguist pointers aren't exactly Rocket Surgery.

I have even covered this word a few times before here. See specific 'blog-entry from February 26th, 2014.)

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer vier/numéro quatre/Nummer vier:

Dutch ~ "ananas (singular)/ananassen (plural)"
French ~ "ananas (singular)/(plural)"
German ~ "Ananas (singular)/(plural)"

5. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer vijf/numéro cinq/Nummer fünf:

Dutch ~ "bosbes (singular)/bosbessen (plural)"
French ~ "myrtille (singular)/myrtilles (plural)"
German ~ "Blaubeere or Heidelbeere (singular)/Blaubeeren or Heidelbeeren (plural)"

6. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer zes/numéro six/Nummer sechs:

Dutch ~ "selderij"
French ~ "céleri"
German ~ "Sellerie"

7. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer zeven/numéro sept/Nummer sieben:

Dutch ~ "rode paprika" (singular)/(plural)
French ~ "poivron rouge" (singular)/"poivrons rouges" (plural)
German ~ "rote Paprika" (singular)/(plural)

8. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer(s) of the day, nummer acht/numéro huit/Nummer acht:

Dutch ~ "witte ui (singular)/witte uien (plural)"
French ~ "oignon blanc (singular)/oignons blancs (plural)"
German ~ "weiße Zwiebel (singular)/weiße Zwiebeln (plural)"

9. Wiltshire is a County in Southwest England. It is best known as the county where the City of Salisbury (home to both Salisbury Cathedral, which houses one of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta, and to the eponymous steaks) and the Village of Avebury (home of the famous Neolithic henge monument). Wiltshire is also the county where there are the lesser known standing stones in some place called "Stonehenge".