the Manor

♪ "There's nuthin wrong with me lovin'... Challah French Toast...

You know what I'm talkin' about...

You don't have to worry that it's wrong...

Let's get it on!" ♫ 

http://www.manorsf.com/

Place: the Manor ~ An American Bistro Diner[1]

Location: 321a West Portal Avenue
(between 14th and 15th Avenues)

Hours: open Tuesday - Sunday at 8:00am 
(they now open a half-hour later than they did last year, but this is still plenty early enough for me to be called a breakfast-joint)

Meal: (main breakfast) Challah French Toast ~ with warm fruit compote (option); a side of Deviled Eggs with Togarashi[2] (this came as three halves ~ so, even using Common Core Math, basically 1-1/2 eggs); and a large glassa fresh squeezed orange juice

(and afterward for a breakfastary dessert) at Ballast Coffee™ a(n extra LARGE) cuppa their house "Regular" drip Coffee; and a Passionfruit Chocolate doughnut from dynamo donut

https://ballastcoffee.com/

https://dynamodonut.com/

(See below for today's EweToobular juxtaselectionary-ratiocination.)


I went back to the Manor ~ An American Bistro Diner (see last/previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, April 1st, 2017[3]) for breakfast this morning. Once again, I sat at the end of the diner-counter nearest the kitchen-prep area.

This morning they were primarily playing on the house radio/stereo a pandora-channel (I guessed and asked, and was told it was indeed a pandora-channel) featuring cool 60's-70's Motown/Soul/R&B classics ~ suchas: the above-linked Marvin Gaye 1973 mega-hit; the Jackson Five; Aretha (no last name is really needed, is it?); Stevie Wonder; and Sam Cooke.

There really are not that many different items from which to choose on their menu for breakfast, but I could have also made a meal of:

Create Your Own Omelette ~ where I was thinking along the lines of either creating my own artichoke hearts, spinach, and Swiss omelette; or an avocado, roasted bell peppers, and Monterey Jack omelette creation;

or possibly just getting one of their salads ~ Butter Leaf Salad with Roasted Beets, Apples, & Fried Goat Cheese or Green Goddess Salad with Little Gem Lettuce ~ and breakfastising them with either two poached eggs placed on top or (three halves) Deviled Eggs with Togarashi.

I mainly went with the choice of Challah French Toast because Passover started last evening... and this dish really should not be passed-over as it was truly exceptional. (I bet that it would have even made a great Last Supper for some unfortunate Nazarene.) The waitress/server-lady person offered some, but I decided (correctly) to forego any butter or maple syrup on top of the French toast; none was needed at all, as their warm fruit compote was perfect all on its ownsome. While this dish may not be in the same category as Baker Street Bistro's Pain Perdu Extraordinaire, it is definitely worth checking out.

For condimentary supplementation, the Manor had both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce for use on the tables and diner-counter. I did not really need any with my particular choices this morning, though.

My original plan after breakfast was to go back to Greenhouse Cafe (as I had been doing after breakfast for the past few years whenever I was in the West Portal neighborhood ~ and I was really looking forward to two or three of the mini-macarons that were sold there); however, they have closed up (Coffee-)shop and there is a brand-new (I was told by one of the barista-dudes ~ since October 2017) coffeehouse in its place. I actually walked right by Ballast Coffee™ before back-tracking to discover that Greenhouse Cafe had closed; I did not recognize the façade at all with its new paint-job. Luckily, they did retain the backyard garden patio area; however, it was still way too foggy and chilly this morning to enjoy my Coffee and doughnut out there.

Both the Coffee and the doughnut were very good. Happily, Ballast Coffee™'s Coffee is much better than the Coffee that they used to serve at Greenhouse Cafe (which was never bad at all, anyway). I have had dynamo donut many times before (and this particular flavour, too) and knew beforehand that I would enjoy it. One of the barista-dudes told me that they do all their own Coffee-roasting in a facility in South San Francisco. I did not grill (or roast) him on exactly what blend/type of beans that are used in their "Regular" house Coffee (I will probably do so on a future visit, though).

In a musical-juxtaposition to what was playing earlier at the Manor, Ballast Coffee™ was playing on their house radio/stereo (I did not bother to ask, but I can only assume that it was another pandora-style channel) mostly 70's and 80's Rock-and/or-Roll songs ~ suchas: the above-linked Jimi song (while, little Robbie Zimmerman may have penned this song, Jimi completely owns it with his version); Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Yang; (and even a solo) Noel Yang; the Rollink Stonz; ... and Johnny Cash(?!?).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Challah French Toast ~ 7.4;
Deviled Eggs with Togarashi ~ 6.2;
Ballast Coffee™ "Regular" drip Coffee ~ 7.3;
Passionfruit Chocolate doughnut from dynamo donut ~ 7.2;
Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" ~ 7.5;
Jimi's "Watchtower" ~ 9.5 
(yes, I know, this may be the highest GBS Rating points that I have ever given here, but this song ~ tied with Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" ~ happens to be my All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll Song of All-Time and topping it would be very hard to do in my book[4])

___________________

1. They informed me that this was shortened from their original idea of: "An American Bistro Diner Café Coffeehouse Grill Roadhouse Canteen Eatery Dive Restaurant Kinda-thing".

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day:

Contrary to popular belief, Togarashi is not a Starfleet Academy no-win training exercise. 
Tōgarashi (唐辛子) is simply Japanese for genus Capsicum, or specifically the species Capsicum annuum, and commonly translated as chilli pepper. When the term is used in English, it refers to any number of chilli peppers or chilli pepper-related products from Japan, including Shichimi, or Shichimi tōgarashi, a condiment that is a spice mixture of seven different ingredients that varies by maker.

3. No foolin', this was exactly one year ago today. 

However, this is not necessarily a coincidence; my optometrist is directly across the street and I had to make my annual eye-appointment, anyway.

4. As I have stated many times before in the past, 
"my book" is just a 12-page colouring book, but I do try to stay within the lines... well, most of the time.

Ella's

"The one with the potato scramble with bluelake[sic][1] beans, roasted beets, grilled carrots, and havarti (and add[ed] eggs)."

http://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/

Place: Ella's Neo Classical American Cooking 

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

Hours: open for breakfast Monday through Friday at 7:00am; open for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday (and apparently on Monday holidays, too) at 8:30am

Meal: potato scramble ~ with Blue Lake beans, roasted beets, grilled carrots, and Havarti, and add(ed) eggs; and a glassa Ginger Orange Juice Punch

(Do I really need to explain today's EweToobular juxtaselection? 

Well, fine. It is a well-known fact that Ms. Fitzgerald was a big fan of potato scrambles and roasted beets.)

In continuing with the September Workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Ella's Neo Classical American Cooking (see last 'blog-entry from April 12th, 2015) this morning. For some reason, I had it in my mind that they opened at 8:00am (yeah, I have only been going there for fifteen to twenty years now) and I arrived there around 8:15am expecting there to already be a long line around the corner. However, unlike a normal Saturday or Sunday "Brunch" crowd, they weren't that busy when I first got there (read: there were only six other idiots waiting with me when I got there fifteen minutes before they opened).

For stupid vegetarians, there really are only a limited number of other ideas from which to choose. I could have gone with any of the following: open faced omelette (with shredded beef, grilled onion, oven roasted tomatoes, rosemary, and Swiss cheese; of course, skipping the shredded dead, decaying bovine stuff); folded omelette (with grilled prawns, sautéed mushrooms, sun dried tomato, and sharp white Cheddar cheese; again, I would have skipped the grilled dead, decaying marine insects); or possibly, if I felt like going sweet instead of savoury, peach & blueberry oatmeal pancakes (3).

I reckon that I get the weekend special potato scramble about three-out-of-five visits, which is not a bad thing at all. Plus, that they offer a great breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) choice that highlights potatoes is one of the reasons I keep going back all these years, anyway. Because I have had the potato scramble so often, I am pretty sure that I have had a similar (if not the exact) combination of ingredients before. It really didn't matter, though, like Lady Ella, beets are one of my favourite underground fruits, and if it is available in a meal, it will usually be my choice. I thought that grilling the carrots was a nice touch, too.

For a change, as my toast/bread side choice, I went with one of their house baked (restaurant-baked, whatever) buttermilk biscuits. It was very good, too, like all the rest of their fresh-baked goods.

For condimentary supplementation, Ella's only has Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (both Original Red Sauce and Green [Jalapeño] Pepper Sauce). I just went with some of my own Lucky Dog Medium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on half of the pile and some Fat Cat Strawberry Serrano Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the other half of the pile. They also have their own homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) jam on all the tables; today's jam was a tasty strawberry one and I put it to good use on both halves of the buttermilk biscuit.

Another Breakfastary Dessert Sojourn to Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

http://japaneseteagardensf.com/

Having finished breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) early enough, I decided I wanted to go to Golden Gate Park and walk around San Francisco Botanical Garden for a bit. As it was still early enough before all the weekend/holiday crowds hit the streets, I was able to find an available parking space just a block away along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. I happened to notice that the Japanese Tea Garden was open already for the morning (and because it was still before 10:00am, it is free to the public, which is always nice), so I headed over there first before going to San Francisco Botanical Garden. I was still a bit peckish (and didn't even need to curtail any of my Walpoing activities), so I figured I would hit the Tea House first for a little breakfastary dessert before walking around. I had me a cuppa their Hojicha[2] ("originated in Kyoto and is distinguished from other Japanese teas because it is roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal, whereas, others are typically steamed. Bancha, a summer crop tea harvested after sencha, is fired at a high temperature, turning the leaves from green to brown. Hojicha has an earthy, nutty, slightly smoky flavor.") and some Kuzumochi ("House-made sweet rice cakes in assorted flavors"; six pieces, two each of: Green Tea, Strawberry, and Mango).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: potato scramble ~ 6.9; Hojicha ~ 6.8; Kuzumochi (they were all good, but I liked the Mango the best) ~ 6.7; Japanese Tea Garden ~ 8.0


___________________

1. Yeah, I had no idea what the heck they were supposed to be either. Actually they are called "Blue Lake (two words) beans". I was a little disappointed when they came out and they were just ordinary green beans with some fancy name. There really aren't enough blue
foods.

http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Blue_Lake_Beans_606.php

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

Surmising (and correctly, I am happy to state) that the "cha" part of "Hojicha" might mean "tea" in Japanese, I asked one of the server-person guys (after making sure he was actually Japanese) if this was the case. He told me that yes, this was the case. 

Like yesterday's (à propos o' nuthin') stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer about "opera", the word for "tea" is pretty universal and derives from the Chinese word "茶" (which is pronounced as either "cha" or "tey", depending on the dialect/region). Not only is the word the same in Japanese, they use the exact same Chinese character for it: "茶" (the Japanese also have "お茶", which is pronounced "ocha").

I have even made a separate 'blog-entry specifically on tea (see 'blog-entry from June 18th, 2012).

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

Cassava

"When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are…"
~ Jim N.E. Cricket 

http://www.cassavasf.com/


Place: Cassava
Location: 3519 Balboa Street (at 36th Avenue; however, you will not find their address listed anywhere directly on their official web-site ~ that is just a terrible web-design; who doesn't at least put the address of a business on their official web-site?)
Hours: open for breakfast at 8:30am on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday; open for "Brunch" at 10:00am on Saturday and Sunday
Meal: Japanese Breakfast ~ Koshihikari[1] rice, ichiban[2] dashi market veggie miso soup, sous vide[3] "onsen tamago"[4] poached egg, natto, wakame salad, and market vegetable pickle; and a cuppa Ritual Coffee Roasters Dukunde Kawa, Rwanda

http://www.ritualroasters.com/

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselection combines both Japan and [live in] San Francisco; plus, I always liked Graham Parker.)


I had breakfast this morning at Cassava, which is just five blocks away (making it one of the closest places to my apartment for breakfast or "Brunch"). Cassava had started out as a very small bakery two years ago (in a space that had housed an old barbershop many years ago) with just a few small tables ~ there was no real space for anyone to sit and enjoy breakfast (or "Brunch"). Last year, they extended into the space next door and more than doubled their space. While it is still a rather smallish joint, they now have ten two-seat tables, eight counter seats, and two to three sidewalk tables/benches. I had stopped by a few times since they originally opened, but just for Coffee and pastries only; this was my first actual breakfastary trip there.

I had to ask the counter-server lady, "Why 'Cassava'?". There were no obvious dishes on the menu that incorporated either cassava, manioc, or even any tapioca drinks (see 'blog-entry from March 13th, 2014 for an explanation). I was informed that the Japanese owner's name is "Yuka" (or close enough for government work) and she figured this was a cute way of naming the joint after herself. Okay, it kinda was.

Even though Cassava is really a bit of a hipster doofi hangout, there are lots of books for little kids to read and play with… and there were a lot of little hipster doofi rugrats there early this morning (with their hipster doofi parental units, I suppose). (Can hipster doofi still be legally called "hipster doofi" once they have procreated? Don't they have to turn in their pork-pie hats, pretentious cravats, and hipster doofi union cards once they have squeezed out a puppy or two?)

Anyway, you order and pay at the counter, then they give you a number (well, an actual playing card ~ mine today was a 7 of Clubs… and I saw that there were plenty of higher/winning cards to give out still; what a rip-off!) and then they bring the food out to you (I am truly surprised that hipster doofi stand for such pedestrian tactics).

There really were only a few other possible ideas for "Brunch" for me: Liege Waffle[5] Plate (Liege waffle [whatever the heck that might be] with sugar crystal [again, ygiagam, on what that is supposed to mean], scrambled egg [sic - singular], house made preserve and thick cut bacon ~ which I would have skipped) or Breakfast Croissant (Black Forest ham, eggs [plural here], Vermont white Cheddar, tomatoes, arugula, on butter croissant ~ again, I would have 86-ed the dead, decaying porky flesh).

(In deference to the whole "Japanese" Breakfast theme this morning, I purposely added elements of bokeh to the above photo. Yeah, that's it.)


I really wasn't quite sure how to eat the "onsen tamago", so I just dropped it on top of the pile of Kawasaki rice. Natto is not really for everyone (it is a bit stinky and slimy), but I like it and it is one of my favourite makimono sushis. I just ended up dumping most of the natto in with the egg/rice mess, too; it all worked for me. Hopefully the dashi base was vegetarian (I asked the counter-server lady ahead of time and she said that it contained no katsuobushi, but that sounded kinda fishy to me). Why do so many places insist on using the term "veggie" when "vegetable" would make much more sense? They had no problem calling the other side dish "market vegetable pickle". Whatever. As best I could tell, today's "market veggies" were: kale (which is related to the vile weed, but so much tastier, of course), two different types of mushrooms, potatoes(?), and a few other "veggies". Of course, I always think that potato side dishes (of any kind) are better than plain ol' white rice (even if it is prepared specially by Koji Uehara) any day.

The Ritual Coffee Roasters was a very good cuppa. I think it was prepared as "single-drip", which is always nice, but there are no free refills that way unfortunately. I have had this local brand a few times before at other coffeeshops in town, but this was the first time that I had their Dukunde Kawa, Rwanda blend/roast.

I don't really know what Cassava might offer in the way of condimentary supplementation as I didn't bother to ask (it's basically a fancy-shmancy bakery/pastry joint, after all). I did use a little of my own Mama Africa's™ Zulu Sauces Chilli Mint (Thanks, Kerry!) on top of the egg/natto/rice mixture; it actually went very well.

While eating my breakfast with chopsticks was a lot of fun (it was very difficult to eat the miso soup with them, though), the close proximity of the restaurant was very handy, and this was a nice change from an ordinary breakfast (or "Brunch"), there really are not enough interesting or diverse items on the (very limited) menu to rate going back again for breakfast (or "Brunch"). I will probably just stop in for a pastry and Coffee once in a while.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Japanese Breakfast ~ 6.3; Ritual Coffee Roasters Dukunde Kawa, Rwanda ~ 6.9


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, 一番:

"Koshihikari" can be translated from Japanese as "the light of Koshi" (in reference to the old Koshi Province).

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

"Ichiban" means "first" in Japanese; it can also mean "the best" (as in "You are 'A'-number one, Joe-san") when used as an adjective. "Ichiban dashi" would just be the "basic first brewed dashi soup stock".

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro trois:

"Sous-vide" is French for "under vacuum". It is a method of slow-cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath. 

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, 数4:

"Tamago" simple means "egg" in Japanese.

Additional information from our friendly friends at Wikipedia:

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

5. Actually, I looked it up, apparently a "Liège Waffle" is a specific style of Belgian waffle. Then why not just say "Belgian Waffle"?

KITCHEN Story

California Cuisine…
I am not exactly sure what they would call this in Minnesota or Oklahoma, though.

http://kitchenstorysf.com

(These two EweToob videos are for my nephew, Alan, who is a Dresden Dolls fan. Alan just completed his 6,000 mile/almost two-year long walking trek across the United States, from Seattle to Washington, D.C.

Nice work, Forrest Forrest!

"LGBT Equality is as LGBT Equality does."

You can read about his journey here if you like:

http://www.intothelightwalk.com/ )


I went to KITCHEN Story for breakfast this morning. They are a relatively new place and this was my first time eating there; they have only been open since November of last year. I don't know what the name of the restaurant is supposed to signify (maybe I should have asked one of the workers; maybe next time). KITCHEN Story is located in the spot that used to house Tangerine (insert sobs and sighs here), on the corner of 16th and Sanchez Streets. I was happy to see that they still have the large sidewalk seating area along Sanchez Street (which is mostly shaded by trees; this can be a good thing whenever the Sun might be out ~ like this morning, but it also can be pretty chilly when the Sun isn't out ~ like most of the time in the Summer). In keeping with my 2013 Breakfastary Resolution, they open up every day at 8:00am and their menu specifies the first meal of the day as "Breakfast"; however, don't let the wording fool you, this place is a completely brunchified place in both cuisine and atmosphere, but that didn't stop me from eating there.

Whenever I go to the Castro, I like to park over on Beaver Street. I can usually find a legal spot and there are no time-limit restrictions all week long, and it is just one block away from Market Street. Plus, I just love the irony of the name in that neighborhood. You can be sure that most of the residents will not be hunting out "Beaver" Street.

Just across the street from KITCHEN Story is a pretty neat mural along a fence called "Tonantsin Renace" by Collette Crutcher. I particularly like how the trees in the yard behind it form a sort of verdant hairdo for her.

http://mosaicartsource.wordpress.com/2007/01/14/mosaic-mural-mosaic-artist-colette-crutcher-san-francisco/

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

KITCHEN Story calls their restaurant "California Cuisine", but it seems like "California Cuisine with a twist of Asian Fusion" to me. Their Breakfast menu offers a nice selection of Egg plates; Omelets, Scrambles, Etc.; Poached Eggs Entrees; Hotcakes and French toast; and Morning melts. If you are a fan of the dead, decaying cured pork-belly products, then you would probably enjoy one of their signature (if you could sign with pork-fat, that is) breakfastary side dishes called Millionaire's Bacon; it is two extra thick slices of bacon that have been cured in 100% maple syrup or some such thing. I was thinking about ordering the Athenian omelet ~  tomato, mushroom, arugula, Greek olives, mild goat cheese; this sounded pretty good to me, but I have had versions of Greek Omelettes many times in the past, and as Mae West always liked to say: "When choosing between two evils, I like to try the one I've never tried before." So I ordered Okonomiyaki[1] (modernyaki) egg pancake ~ cabbage, scallion, asparagus, carrots, mushroom, red onion. I also had a side of Rainbow Potatoes and a cuppa Resident(?) Coffee, French Roast.

There is a strong possibility that this place is owned by the same folks that own Sweet Maple (see last 'blog-entry from October 6th, 2012). They offer several of the same dishes: Athenian omelet ~ which is called Athenian Omelette (with the exact same ingredients) at Sweet Maple ~ and Millionaire's Bacon to name just a few.

You ask, "What is Okonomiyaki?", Daniel-san? Well, as best as I can figure, it's some kinda Japanese savoury pancake. I have never had one before in any of my times eating at Japanese restaurants and figured this was as good a time as any to try one. Now, I am not quite sure why this was served with several slices of orange and strawberries on top of it (there were too many of them to really be considered just a "garnish"), but I still ate all of them, anyway.

The Rainbow Potatoes included: white, red, blue (or purple), and sweet potatoes, and were pretty good.

The coffee was a very good, strong cup; where I felt it absolutely necessary to get two more refills. Not only do they serve a French Roast coffee, but my server knew that and also the brand of coffee that was served; you'd be surprised how many people would just say "some kind of coffee" and leave it at that. Now something may have been lost in the translation (my server was Asian, and I can only assume "ESL" doesn't mean "Electromagnetic Systems Laboratories" to him) and it sounded like he said "Resident Coffee“, I had him repeat it once and didn't want to seem like I was an INS Agent grilling him, so I left it at that. However, I can not find any links to a "Resident Coffee" or "President Coffee" or even any "Lesident Coffee" on the Intro-Nets.

KITCHEN Story has for condimentary supplementation just Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (both the standard red and the green Jalapeño); plus, the pancake came with it's own sauce (which may or may not have had some spice to it), which was kinda like a Thousand Islands, just with a bit more flavour. Once again, I used some of my own Spicymonkey Raspberry & chipotle ketchup (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes, and a little Serious Food… Silly Prices Chunky Habanero (Thanks again, Cindy & Greg!) on the pancake in conjunction with their own sauce to give it a little more kick.

This was good as a change of pace, but I wouldn't go back just for this dish. I mean, it was no Macaroni & Corn Pancakes (or even a Zucchini Latke), but I would still recommend it and would like to try some of their other dishes… 'cause like anyone, all I really want is that fickle little bitch, breakfast.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Okonomiyaki (modernyaki) egg pancake ~ 6.0; Resident(?) Coffee, French Roast ~ 6.8


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo culinaristic pointer of the day:
 
"Okonomiyaki" derives from the Japanese words "okonomi", meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and "yaki", meaning "grilled" or "cooked".