Bákér Stréét Bístró

(I am titling this one: "A Selfie of the 'Artist' as a very [silly] Old Man")

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

Meal: Pain Perdu A "Brunch" favorite! (one of Brian's favourites!, too) ~ two slices of cinnamon French Toast, fresh fruit, strawberry coulis & crème fraîche; 
a side order of home fries; and a cuppa (and one refilla) the house (well, Bistro) Coffee to drink

(What is/are today's EweToobular juxtaselections? Simplement! Monsieur Noel Yang likes him some lost-and-found bread, too. I do not really know how that Nena-lady feels about any verd*mmt französischer Toast, though.)


As a Double-Header (or Double-Play... take your Baseball-ese pick), je suis retourné à Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 12th, 2019... that would be yesterday) again this morning.

I actually poulette-d-out and sat inside for a change this morning. The weather had noticeably dropped and it must have been about ten degrees colder than it was just yesterday morn.

Do I really need to extol the greatness and tastitude of this absolutely sublime meal again?! I will just leave it at this: it is still my favourite breakfast in San Francisco.

I can not be sure, but I think their spice/herb mix on the homefries includes fennel seeds in it. I asked Chantal for corroboration, but she did not know for sure herself. I will just say that it does include fennel seeds and that they were a very surprisingly nice flavour-addition to some already great potatoes.

As has been my (silly li'l) wont whenever ordering Coffee there, I added the (le garniture) sprig of mint from the pile o' fruits into the cuppa. Kinda like "Café à le Turc".

Fruits d'aujourd'hui: framboises; mûres; myrtilles; pastèque; cantaloup; ananas; pomme; et orange.

(same as yesterday) For condimentary supplementation, Baker Street Bistro has only Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) on the tables. I used a goodly amount of my own Old St. Augustine Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the potatoes and The Spice & Tea Exchange® Earthly Delight Spice Blend (Thanks, Cindy!) judiciously grinded all over the potatoes, too. Chantal (upon seeing my two bottles of hot sauces and my spice grinder): "I see you have brought your own 'instruments' again... ".  I like that sentiment: "Instruments of Mass Spice-struction!"


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

This morning, I had parked across the street from the tall Eucalyptus trees next to the Lombard Street Gate of the Presidio. However, I was completely shut-out this time and did not see remiges nor rectrices of the normally squawking perroquets.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Pain Perdu ~ 8.2;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 (well, when present)

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

Blackwood

http://www.blackwoodsf.com/


Place: Blackwood

Location:  2150 Chestnut Street 
(between Steiner and Pierce Streets)

Hours: open every day at 9:00am for breakfast and/or "Brunch"

Meal: THAI SHAKSHUKA ~ Tomyum[1] tomato stew, poached eggs, pork (of course, I แปดสิบหก-ed this ingredient), onion, bacon (this ingredient also went 
ลาก่อน), scallion, cilantro, fried garlic, mild goat cheese; and, to drink with the meal, a large glassa Raspberry-Lemonade; and, beforehand, to enjoy wandering up-and-down Chestnut Street while waiting for the restaurant to open for the morning, a 
dynamo donut + coffee Passionfruit Milk Chocolate doughnut (bought at a local bodega along Chestnut Street, too)

https://dynamodonut.com/menu

(Yeah, there is really no EweToobular juxtaselection here. I dunno, maybe Catherine Elizabeth Pierson loves her some spicy Tom Yum, too.)


Ho-kay... onward and upward with the Taylor Street Coffee Shop-family mini-chain brought me back to Blackwood (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 22nd, 2017). I think that this restaurant was the third in their mini-chain to open (circa June 2012).

I sat outside again in their sidewalk/alcove-patio seating area. The morning was still a bit foggy and chilly, so I did keep my sweatshirt on; they also had the overhead gas-heaters going this morning, anyway.

Their menu is similar to what is offered at most of their other restaurants, and there are a few other ideas still worth checking out ("... out worth checking"?! Nah, that does not sound right all at.):

(once again, in keeping with their menu stylization, I am attempting to imitate the different font sizes used 
on the dish names)

SNOWED SPINACH SCRAMBLE ~ baby spinach with white Cheddar, served with Rainbow Potatoes and ciabatta toast;

PRIMAVERA WHITE OMELET ~ roasted tomato, mushroom, arugula, served w/ berries instead of potatoes (which I would probably have tried to have substituted back with the multicoloured underground tubers instead);

BLACKSTONE BENNY (Didn't he used to be the straight-man for Eddie Anderson?) ~ poached eggs, Millionaire's Bacon® (which I would have to go all pauper on), asparagus, cherry tomato, Meyer lemon Hollandaise on English Muffin, also served with Rainbow Potatoes (just no toast);

MARINA JOK MOO ~ rice porridge with bacon, garlic, carrots, spinach, mushroom, cherry pepper, green onion, cilantro, poached egg, sesame and tamari sauce drizzled (I am not even sure if this could even be made st*pid vegetarian-friendly, but it might be worth asking);

or maybe even

POPOVERs(!) w/AVOCADO (???) ~ offered with three different toppings: Strawberry, goat cheese, avocado, balsamic glaze; Bacon, avocado, tomato, honey; or Walnut (candid)[ sic ] (or perhaps that was not a typo, just an indication of the walnut's sincerity, Frank), avocado, Parmesan (I saw these ordered at two other tables and it looked pretty interesting; as best as I could tell, there is half an avocado already baked inside the Popovers[!]; if I did get this, I would probably have to supplement it with at least an order of Rainbow Potatoes).

(For those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying porky-butts. This is the kinda "Flight" that always made me want to remain on Ground-Status when I was in the Air Force, though.)

What can I say? I liked it. I have had several other versions of Shakshuka (mostly at Arab or Middle Eastern restaurants) over the years and this was right up there in tastocity (yeah, so, it ain't a real word... tough!). The Tom Yum sauce was a very nice flavour-change. I coulda easily used another piece of the ciabatta toast with which to soak up more of the sauce. I bet this woulda been even better with some fresh sweet basil leaves in it (as long as they did not have to go all the way to Kirk Hammerton to procure those)[2], but that is just my สองสตางค์ worth...

With my pre-breakfastary snack of the doughnut, this ended up being a lot more food than I had expected. I am glad that I did not order a side of their Rainbow 
Potatoes (however, with this being Pride Weekend and all, those woulda been the perfect side for the morning).

Blackwood only offered Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce, which it had bottles of both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce on all the tables. The Tom Yum-Shakshuka sauce was lightly spicy enough that I did not need to mess with its flavours in any way, though.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
THAI SHAKSHUKA ~ 6.7;
dynamo donut + coffee Passionfruit Milk Chocolate doughnut ~ 7.5

___________________

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

Here is a little-known Cliff Clavinistic fact:

The spicy Thai soup known as "Tom Yum" was originally named by Yuliy Borisovich Briner when he was filming "The King and I" in Thailand. He took one taste and said "This is yummy in my tummy!". One of the native Thai waiters mis-overheard him and passed it on to the chef as "Tummy-Yummy". It has stuck to this day.*

*(Nah! Did anyone really buy that one? Was I just joking there? Of course, Siam...

The words "tom yam" are derived from two Thai words. "Tom" ["ต้ม"] refers to the boiling process, while "yam" ["ยำ"] refers to a Thai spicy and sour salad.)

2. Okay, there may be two people reading this silly li'l 'blog-thing that will get that st*pid reference.

Baker Street Bistro

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

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 nourriture de lapin[1]); and a large glassa fresh-squeezed Lemonade to drink (served avec une paille de papier, dans le style de la Californie[2])


Continuing the early-season workout of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to 
Baker Street Bistro (see previous 'blog-entry from Samedi 5ème janvier 2019) pour mon petit-déjeuner[3].

Once again, I sat outside 'cause I could; it was still a bit chilly and un-sunny, though. This really did not matter much as I was wearing two sweatshirts and a t-shirt, anyway. Of course, I ended up being the only idiot seated outside the entire time that I was there... well, 'cept for one cool-looking English Bully named Patches Jr. and his human companion that were waiting for their "to go" order. (Okay, so the real reason that I sit outside is to see if I can sneak away before paying... however, that d*rn Chantal is always too crafty and brings out l'addition[4] just in time!)



I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Are you listening?
Velco®![5]

Okay, so this really has nothing what-so-ever to do with my meal today, Baker Street Bistro, San Francisco, or breakfasts in general. I just happened to notice the other day on a piece of Velcro® strip that the name "Velcro®" was actually a ®egistered trademark word/product. That came as a surprise to me. Who knew you could trademark a fabric fastener? I wonder if Mr. George Zipp was ever rightly compensated for his metallic clasp locker invention... 

I really do not have much else to add about this great breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) meal that I have not stated many times over already. This is simply one of my favourite meals in town. However, somehow, I always forget to request this dish "sans la nourriture minable de lapin"[6] in order to double-up on their great homefries.

As far as condimentary supplementation goes, 
Baker Street Bistro offers only Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Sauce Rouge Originale). So, I just used some of my own Dragon's Lair Extra Hot Cayenne & Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the potatoes and on la nourriture de lapin. I also made sure to use several grinds/twists of my portable grains of paradise grinder on top of the poached eggs, potatoes, and la nourriture de lapin-stuff.


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

While sitting outside eating my breakfast ("Brunch", whatever), I only saw une paire de perroquets[7] (un petit pandémonium, peut-être?[8]) while I was eating. They were perched on top of one of the telephone poles in front of the restaurant a-chatterin' up a storm. I did hear many more in the neighborhood throughout the morning, though. There was also one very loud Mockingbird that stopped by earlier and was perched on the exact same telephone pole, Miss Finch. He went through his entire repertoire of calls and I tried to copy most of what he was saying. He just looked down at me as if I was crazy as a Jaybird... 
(If you mimic a Mockingbird, is that considered "mocking a Mockingbird"?!)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Oeufs Baker Street Bistro ~ 7.4;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

___________________

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

That would simply be: "rabbit-food".

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

"... with a paper straw, Callieforneeya-style... "

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

"... for my breakfast."

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

"bill" or "check"

The phrase "L'addition, s'il vous plaît!" ("Check, please!") was taught to me many, many, many visits ago by Chantal.

5. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-historical pointer of the day, numéro cinq:

Contrary to popular belief (Would that make it an unpopular belief?), Velcro® was not named after the Sixth Marx Brother who was way too clingy...

The product name Velcro® is a portmanteau of the French words "velour" ("velvet") and "crochet" ("hook").

https://www.velcro.com/

6. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro six:

"... without the crummy rabbit-food... "

7. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro sept:

"... a pair of parrots... "

Not to confuse the issue, even though the Frenchy word for "parrot" looks and sounds a lot like "parakeet", the French-speak word for "parakeet" is actually 
"la perruche" (pronounced something like "PEH-roosh").

8. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro huit:

"(a micro-pandemonium, perhaps?)"

Home Plate

https://www.homeplatesf.net/


Place: Home Plate

Location: 2150 Lombard Street 
(between Fillmore and Steiner Streets)

Hours: open at 7:00am every d*mn day of the week

Meal: Dulce de Leche Pancakes ~ banana, caramel, sliced almond and whipped cream; a side-starter of Brussel[ sic ][1] Sprouts ~ fried Brussel[ sic ] sprouts, orange, grapefruit, honey citrus vinaigrette; as always, the meal starts out with a complimentary mini-scone (usually of the raisined variety) and some of their Home(Plate)-made jam (today's edition was strawberry); and, to drink, a large glassa fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice

(Yeah, I really have no idea what they are saying in this song. I am pretty sure that it has something to do with either Brussel[ sic ] sprouts or bananas.)


I generally like to start out any new 
Ⓑⓐⓢⓔⓑⓐⓛⓛ Season (Go RED SOX!!!) with a return visit to Home Plate (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 6th, 2018). I have been going to this great little (well, it has expanded in size by at least twofold from their former location just a few blocks down along Lombard Street) family-owned restaurant for over twenty years now. The food is always interesting and very tasty. If it were not located "all the way over" in the Marina, it would easily be in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation and I would go there more than just once or twice a year. 

Plus, I like a place that opens up much earlier than anything else in the neighborhood. Because of this, they get a lot of the early tourista crowds from the surrounding motels along Lombard Street. I arrived there a little before 8:00am and they were already about three-quarters full (I do not know what a pessimist would say about that). The couple at the next table told me they were from Atlanta and staying at a motel across the street. ("But, Brian, why are you bothering complete strangers when they are just trying to enjoy their breakfastary repast?!" Well, first off, they started a conversation with me when they saw me taking a photo of my pancakes. The wife thought it looked good enough to share, too, and took a photo of my Plate [Oh, wow! I just got that whole "Home Plate" thing now... it is a reference to both Ⓑⓐⓢⓔⓑⓐⓛⓛ and where "Plate" could double as a meaning for a food serving dish. That is clever.] to show her daughter back home. Secondly, why would I start a conversation with any incomplete strangers?)

Even after many trips there over the years, there are still a few (new?) menu items that I would like to try:

Eggs Florentine ~ two poached eggs, spinach, broccolini; served on English muffin, Hollandaise sauce, with salad and potato medley or potato latkes (spinach and broccolini?! this will probably have to be my order the next time that I go there);

Special Crispy French Toast (where they even have the "Special" in red lettering to distinguish it as such) ~ fresh mixed berries, nuts with Mascarpone mousse (this one also sounds intriguing for the next time that I want a sweet dish);

or maybe even

Huevos Ranchero[ sic (I really do not know what they have against all these missing "s"s) ] ~ two eggs over easy, black beans, avocado, tomatillo sauce, salsa, Jack cheese on a handmade corn tortilla.

This is not to mention Greek Frittata ~ spinach, tomatoes, Calamata[ sic (however, because they do use authentic Kalamata olives in this one, I will let that mispelink slide) ] olives, Feta cheese; which I have had on several previous visits and really liked and would never be averse to reordering.

Fear not, those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying aquatic insects, they also offer a few dishes with shrimps[ sic ] in them (Hmmm?! Now I think that I know where all the mising "s"s from Brussel[ sic ] sprouts and Huevos Ranchero[ sic ] went.):

Special Bangkok Frittata ~ shrimps[ sic], tomato, mushrooms, scallion, herbs; three-egg pancake-style omelettes served with potato medley or potato latkes, sourdough toast;

or the more intriguing-sounding

Angry Benedict ~ shrimps[ sic ], spinach, jalapeño, Cajun Hollandaise sauce (I even ordered this dish sans any shrimps[ sic ] two visits previous to check out this version of Hollandaise sauce).

Sadly, they no longer offer the Marco Polo Benedict ~ two poached eggs, turkey, tomatoes, avocado, served on English muffin, Hollandaise sauce with salad and potato medley or potato latkes. I was thinking of getting that one this morning if it were still available. Maybe too many people (wiseacre-types for sure) commented on it being neither Italiano- or Asian-related (see, turkey, tomatoes, and avocados are all New World items and would not have been available anywhere in either Europe or Asia in the 13th Century).

These might not prove to be the Best Pancakes that I might have in 2019, but they were definitely the Best Pancakes that I have had thus far in 2019! (insert drooling-emoji here) I suppose this dish could also easily have been called "Bananas Foster Pancakes" (Sorry, Gretchen! [For some reason, I think she really hates caramel.]). There was at least one whole banana sliced and fanned out on top of the pancakes. While the banana itself was not actually flambéd or brûléed, it is the idea that counts, Chef Blangé. (Maybe I shoulda asked for a shot of Rum on the side.) This came as two medium-sized pancakes, but do not let that wording fool you; these were extra thick and fluffy and two were about my limit this morning, anyway.

I would normally get a potato-based side dish (they offer hashbrowns, homefries, and sweet potato tots), but I saw the fried Brussel[ sic ] sprouts dish on the breakfast menu and had to get it. "But, Brian... Brussel[ sic ] sprouts for breakfast?!" Jazeker! Zur Hölle, ja! Enfer, ouais! (Take your pick from any of the languages that they may speak in the town of Brussel
[ sic ], Belgiums.) Besides, there were sections of orange and grapefruit throughout, and that spells "breakfat" (with or without any d*rn "s") to me. As it turned out, the Brussel[ sic ] sprouts starter was the perfect way to go; this made the meal savoury-sweet in its entirety. The Brussel[ sic ] sprouts were excellent and extra crispy (read: burnt just how I likes 'em).

Home Plate offered both Tabasco® Brand 
Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce (Original) for use as condimentary supplements. I had come prepared with a few of my own hot sauces, too, but due to the meal ordered this morning, none were needed or used, anyway.

Now if they had only drizzled some of that caramel sauce on top of my Brussel[ sic ] sprouts, I bet that would have made them even more awesome.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Dulce de Leche Pancakes ~ 7.0;
Brussel[ sic ] Sprouts ~ 7.3

___________________

1. "Hey, Brian, why do you always feel the Grammar Nazi need to point out when a restaurant mispels 'Brussels sprouts'?"

First off, I prefer the more PC-term: "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei Grammatician". 

Secondly, I am sure that their computers also have a "spell-checkering" function-thing that would inform them of any missing "s"s before they print their menus.

Thirdly, you must be one of them d*mn linguistic prescription-hating Jews!

(Actually, I am getting pretty [ sic ] and tired of all these places manglising owr hilee vonted 'merican langwidge!)

Baker Street Bistro

It was a Dark 'n' Stormy morn... 
(and I probably coulda really used one 
of them to drink this morning, too)

http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/


Place: Baker Street Bistro

Location: 2953 Baker Street

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

Meal: Pain Perdu A "brunch" favorite! (Okay, so maybe I added those extra "quotation marx" around "le Brunch". Don't get all Groucho about it!) ~ two slices of cinnamon French Toast, fresh fruit, strawberry coulis & crème fraîche; a side of home fries; and a glassa orange juice

(I do not know whether Sir George Ivan [or even Marianne Faithful] is a fan of Pain Perdu or not, but I figured that there would be no better way to start my 2019 'blog-entries than with a few of his songs.)


Pour mon premier petit déjeuner out for 2019, I 
wanted to start the year out on a positively high note (♪... I believe it was a C8), so je suis retourné au 
Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Dimanche 2 septembre 2018). I suppose 2019 is gonna be all downhill from here now...

I really wanted to eat my first breakfast for 2019 outside; however, mean ol' Mr. Winter Weather was not cooperating this morning. It was cold and raining (off-and-on), so I wisely decided to sit indoors for a change.

Ce pain perdu est tout simplement extraordinaire![1]

(If you were expecting a bit more loquaciousness expounding on this great breakfastary repast, you can always read through the hundred or so other 'blog-entries that I have already posted on this specific meal.)

I ordered the side of potatoes mainly for a sweet-and-savoury juxtaselection to the French toast. Once again, their version of homefries did not fail to please my taste-buds. Even if their Pain Perdu were not already "simplement extraordinaire!", these are worth ordering all on their ownsome. (Why do people sometimes use the adjective "creamy" to describe potatoes?! I mean, I am one that loves potatoes in all of its sundry forms and tasty manners [see 'blog-entry from Wednesday, February 8th, 2012], but even I would not want to eat any Ice Potatoes or add potato-milk to my morning cuppa.)

Les fruits du jour: myrtilles (blueberries); pastèque (watermelon); cantaloup (cantaloupe); mûres (blackberries); une fraise (one strawberry [made into the shape of some kinda flower-thing]); ananas (pineapple); et pomme (and apple).[2]

Baker Street Bistro only has bottles of Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) on the tables for use as a condimentary supplementation. However, I finally officially got to test out one of my recent Christmas gifts, Peaks of Otter Peppers ~ Cremation Drops Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!), and used several drops/splashes all over my "creamy" potatoes. This hot sauce was not overwhelmingly épicé ~ about the same as your standard Tabasco®-stuff ~ but it had a lot more saveur (Ingredients: Cayenne chiles, garlic, onion, vinegar, black pepper, and salt).

https://www.peaksofotterpeppers.com/


(not so really) Strange Coffee Interlude

I purposefully (purposely? [porpoise, Lee?!] There really is only a shade of difference between the two, anyway, right?) had skipped any Coffee with my morning meal (and Chantal had even mentioned this noticeable omission when I was ordering my "jus d'orange") because I had pre-planned on rounding-out today's excellent start to 2019 with a cuppa Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) to drink while keyboarding up this here 'blog-entry-thing.


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

After breakfast, on the way back to my car, I first heard overhead then looked up to see a small pandemonium of four Wild Parrots of San Francisco noisily chasing off/harassing the much larger Mr. Drinky Crow.


The euphonious offerings of Sir George Ivan, Pain Perdu Extraordinaire, enjoying some of the best d*rn Coffee on the Planet (that would be "the Planet Earth"; I have never had Coffee on any of the other Planets; however, I have heard it said that Martians are mostly Mormons [or it may have been the other way 'round]), and being entertained by the caterwauling hi-jinks of the colourful local (but non-native) psittacines... Don't you wish every year could start like this?!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Pain Perdu A "brunch" favorite! ~ 8.2;
Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain ~ 8.5;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5;
the songs of Sir George Ivan ~ 8.6

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1. If something in French is even "better than perfect", should it be expressed with verbs in the "plus-parfait" form only?

2. Quick (stupid, useless) botanical pop-quiz, kids: 

Okay, how many of those fruits are actual berries again?

The correct answer is two: blueberries and watermelon. 

If you had mistakenly guessed "three" ~ thinking "that is soooo easy, Brian: blueberries, blackberries, and strawberry... " ~ you would have been berry, berry wrong, of course. (Even the spiny ol' pineapple is more of a berry ~ the fruit of the pineapple tree are botanically called "coalesced berries" ~ than these two berry-impostors, but that would just confuse the issue even that much more.)

I know that all sounds rather nuts, but just not peanuts or walnuts...