https://thecavaliersf.com/ Place: the Cavalier Location: 360 Jessie Street (on the corner of 5th Street; about half-way between Market and Mission Streets) Hours: breakfast served from 7:00am (Saturday-Friday) Meal: Breakfast Sandwich ~ fried hen (they feel the need to specify this on the menu, too) egg, crispy bacon (they do not specify if this bacon was of the porcine variety, but they were nice enough to 86 the dead, decaying fried-up pork butt and substitute it for some sliced avocado), peppercress, shallot and mustard dressing; a side of Crispy Potatoes; and, to drink, a blackcurrant, ginger and lime refresher (which came with a new-retro paper straw) For only my third visit, I returned to the Cavalier (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 2nd, 2018). This is a really nice fancy little joint, but it is mostly hidden away on a dead-end alley off 5th Street, and if you are not staying at the hotel that it is attached to, you might not even know that it was there. I have basically had all of the main items off of their breakfast menu that are stupid vegetarian-suitable now. There is one starter that I will probably have to order on my next visit: Earl Grey and Honey Scone (elderflower jelly and clotted cream). Additionally, they do offer a Shakshuka dish on their "Weekend Brunch" menu; however, I would really have to feel like heading downtown after 10:00am on a Saturday or Sunday to order that dish.
This was not yer crazy Uncle Ronald's ol' Eggamuffin dealie. The Dijon mustard and shallot dressing really made this one stand out. Unfortunately, the size of the bun and the amount of peppercress on top of the fried (hen) egg forced me to eat the sandwich all posh Britishlander-style with a knife and fork. The side order of Crispy Potatoes ended up being free because the manager/waiter-guy that took my order this morning forgot to initially put in my order for them and he told me that they would be comping me for those. (Nice! Free potatoes is always a great way to start the weekend.) And these are really very good homefries, and worth ordering all on their ownsome, anyway. They are extra crispy, but not greasy in the least (or the most). The manager/waiter-guy explained to me how they were made: they half-boil the potatoes first, then smoosh (his actual culinaristic term) the potatoes to break them up a bit, and then deep fry them to a nice crispy, golden brown. For condimentary supplementation, the Cavalier only offers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce). It really did not matter as I had come packing some of my own hot sauces. I used some (sparingly, just a few drops or so) Chelsea FireWicked. Hot. Sauce.® (Thanks, Sha'!) on the sandwich and some Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero[ sic ] Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the potatoes. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Breakfast Sandwich ~ 6.5; blackcurrant, ginger and lime refresher ~ 7.0; Crispy Potatoes ~ 7.2
Would you bring anthracite with you when visiting that Geordie city upon Tyne?
(No hay sitio-web oficial.) Place: Chava's[1] Mexican Restaurant Location: 2839 Mission Street (between 24th and 25th Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 282-0283 Hours: open every day of the week at 8:00am Meal: Chilaquiles[2] ~ 3 (tres) huevos revuellos, cebolla, tomate, chile verde[3], queso, y tortilla chips; a glassa mango agua fresca to drink with the meal; and, beforehand, a cuppa Ritual Coffee - Gicherori AA, Kenya https://www.ritualroasters.com/ I am glad that I am finally revisiting some places that I have not been to in quite a while. Today's visit is a major oversight (I think that will be Captain Obvious's new name when he gets that well-deserved promotion). I can not believe that it had been over three years since I last ate at Chava's Mexican Restaurant (see previous 'blog-entry from Domingo, 5 de Abril, 2015). At one time, Chava's was a mainstay in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation for several years (circa 2002-2007). They also used to open much earlier during the week (at least 6:00am, possibly earlier), as I used to stop by there once in a while for un desayuno abundante before work when I was working nearby (well, a few blocks away at the bottom of Potrero Hill ~ the corner of 17th and Connecticut Streets to be exact) for many years. That was when they were still at their original location on 18th Street (on the corner of Shotwell Street), this is where Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant in presently located. Chava's closed their original location way back in 2002 due to a fire (ironically, just one block down the street [that would be Shotwell] is the San Francisco Fire Department training facility) and moved to their current location along Mission Street later that year.
As always, any meal there starts with being presented with a bowl/basket of corn tortilla chips and salsa. Sometimes they bring out two different types of salsas (e.g. pico de gallo and salsa roja). Today there was just a salsa roja (but it was very tasty all the same), and I ended up using the entire ramekin between the chips and all over my plate of food. No fooling, Chava's is truly my "Touchstone" for Chilaquiles, as it has been for twenty-five-plus years of going there now and eating their wonderful Chilaquiles for twenty-five-plus years, too. The first time that I ever had the great dish of Chilaquiles was there (possibly as early as 1990 or 1991). I had made a special trip over there once to try it and have not been disappointed since. In my opinion (and that is really the only opinion that matters here), theirs is still one of the best versions in the City. (Today's meal was very good as always. Please do not let the above fotografía fool you. While this may not be very pretty to look at, unlike them snotty-*ssed "chefs" over on food network, I eat with my "mouth" [and stomach], not with my "eyes"!) Another great thing about eating weekend breakfasts at Chava's is that they also offer you hot and fresh-off-the-grill corn tortillas. I was asked how many I would like, and knowing the size of their portions, I asked for sólo dos, which turned out to be a very smart decision. (The waitress/server lady-person was doubling today as la tortillarera. Normally, during a busy morning, they will have another person making the hot, fresh tortillas, as it can be a full-time job.) "Buttered toasts?! We don' need no stinkin' buttered toasts!" I am not sure what Chava's might have had to offer in the way of bottled hot sauces (normally, most places en la Misión will carry either Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce or Cholula®Hot Sauce - Original or both). However, with their own hecho-en-casa salsa muy sabrosa, do you really need anything else?! I did not even bother packing any from my own collection this morning (hence the titular query above). (another not so) Strange Coffee Interlude I purposefully arrived in the Mission about an half-hour before I knew when Chava's would be opening so that I could get a decent cuppa at the Ritual Coffee shop on Valencia Street. I was hoping that they might have an Ethiopian available this morning... but, unfortunately, the barista-lady turned out to only be Eritrean. (hahaha!) Of the three different roasts/blends that they were offering as single-cuppa pour-overs, the Kenya one I went with sounded the best (not that all of their Coffees are not usually top-notch, anyway). While they were doing the pouring-over/dripping down of my single cuppa, I asked to smell it (the aroma-therapy of fresh-brewing Coffee can not be matched). I swear it smelled just like artichokes (but, luckily, it tasted nothing of the sort). The barista-lady even agreed with me about my take on the initial aroma (probably just to amuse a doddering old customer, I assume). I doubt even those b*stages at St*rbucks would ever try and pander off a Coffee tasting of artichokes, Stymie.
(yet still another) d*mn p*rklets mini-rant Every other block along Valencia Street seems to have one (or more) of those st*pid, ubiquitous parking obstructions (which the City has the audacity to euphemistically call "p*rklets"). There was one smack-dab (and I would like to smack-dab some of the City Council members that had ever approved of these) in front of Ritual Coffee. At least this one was a kinda cool-looking, ship-wrecked version d*mn p*rklet, Mr. Gilbert Egan[4]. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 7.3; hecho-en-casa salsa~ 7.0; hecho-en-casa corn tortillas ~ 7.5 Ritual Coffee - Gicherori AA, Kenya ~ 7.0 ___________________
1. Not really a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, but more of a stupid, useless etymological pointer of the day: The name "Chava" is the Spanish nickname for anyone that is named "Salvador". This is not meant to be a feminine slight in any way. (However, in Hebrew, the word/name "Chava" means "life/to give life", and it is the biblical given-name for that "Eve" lady-person.) 2. ¿Qué? Para los desinformados: http://breakfastatepiphany.blogspot.com/2013/12/chilaquiles.html 3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día: They have this listed as "chile verde" on their menus, where they have it translated into inglés as "bell peppers". These were not meant to be espicy jalapeños or serranos. I think a better translation en español might be "pimientos dulces", but I really ain't no espeaker nativo de español. (Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, la segunda parte: From many years of ordering it as an agua fresca, I know that the word for "cantaloupe" is "melón" [or "cantalupo"] en español. One time at a local taqueria, I asked the guy behind the counter what is the Spanish word for "honeydew melon". He told me they simply call it "melón verde" ["green melon"]. However, I think the actual Spanish word[s] may be "melón dulce" ["sweet melon"]. That works for me, too.) 4. Let us see how many people can get that perfectly ambiguous joke. (You do not have to be a professor and/or Mary Ann to decypher it, though.)
https://thecavaliersf.com/ Place: the Cavalier Location: 360 Jessie Street (on the corner of 5th Street; about half-way between Market and Mission Streets) Hours: breakfast daily beginning at 7:00am Meal: Buttermilk Pancakes ~ Amaretto and brown butter golden syrup; and a cuppa (and a half-refilla) of Mr. Espresso® (once again, I forgot to ask which specific roast/blend they might be serving) https://mrespresso.com/
(Not that I am superstitious or nothing, but I did not want to jinx the Golden State Warriors tomorrow night by eating at this particularly-named establishment. So I am adding the first video as a reverse-kinda jinx, Pixie and Dixie. Besides, I could not decide on a decent EweToobular juxtaselection by Monsieur Maurice Chevalier ... [let us see how many people will get that silly cunning linguist-pun]) I trotted back over to the Cavalier (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, January 28th, 2017) for breakfast this morning. They do offer a later "Brunch"-thing, but I much prefer that they open up early for breakfast, anyway. Very early in the morning (I suppose until they get a little busier), they will seat you in the bar-dining area where there are twelve tables (for two). These are all along the back wall and, of which, the back seats of each table is along one long, continuous booth-thing. (I am sure that I am not describing it very well or doing it justice, but it was an interesting seating area.) There really is not an extensive breakfast menu, and the only remaining option for me would have been their Breakfast Sandwich ~ fried hen egg (and I love that they feel the need to specify which kinda fowl laid it), crispy bacon (however, they do not specify if this is swine-bacon or not), pepper cress, shallot, and mustard dressing. The next time I eat there, I will probably order this (86-ing the bacon-stuff ~ swinish or whatever) with a side of their excellent Crispy Potatoes.
These were really good pancakes; both fluffy and filling. I would have liked to have had more of the Amaretto and brown butter golden syrup; it was already poured over the top of the pancakes. I suppose that I probably coulda asked for a small additional serving of it. To me, that was truly the highlight of the meal, anyway. This came as three (medium-large) pancakes, so I did not have any room for their Crispy Potatoes. (I checked with my friendly waiter/server-person guy when ordering and he told me it probably would be too much food with the side of potatoes; trust me, it definitely would have been.) As it were, I barely had room to finish all three pancakes, anyway. After I had already finished eating (well, as much as I could finish), my waiter/server-person guy told me that I could have ordered just a side of (one) pancake (it does not list that on the menu anywhere, though). (not really so) Strange Coffee Interlude They no longer are serving the same brand of Coffee from last year. Now they exclusively serve Mr. Espresso® ~ which is very local and decent, and I have had it many times before at many other restaurants, anyway ~ but I think I liked last year's roast/blend just a little better. For condimentary supplementation, the Cavalier only offers Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce). I had also come prepared with a few of my own hot sauces, but, with this morning's pancake meal, none were needed or used, anyway. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Buttermilk Pancakes ~ 6.7; Amaretto and brown butter golden syrup (all on its ownsome) ~ 7.5
(No official web-site, more or less. There is this link on their defacedbook page; however, it does not really work: www.somarestaurantandbar.com ) Place: SOMA Restaurant & Bar Location: 85 5th Street (on the corner of Mission Street); phonicular contact: (415) 778-8500 Hours: open 6:30am daily Meal: Good Morning Omelet ~ with mushroom, spinach, tomato, & house potatoes, served with (white) toast and jelly; and a large glassa orange juice
(I am not aware of any EweToobular juxtaselections between "SOMA" and Tanita Tikaram[1]. I just like her singing and music.) I went back to SOMA Restaurant & Bar (see previous 'blog-entry from August 29th, 2015) for breakfast this morning. I like that they open up very early in the morning for breakfast; however, they are situated on the corner of 5th and Mission Streets (kitty-corner[2] to the San Francisco Chronicle building) which is not really the best location for any walk-in business. There really are not that many choices on their breakfast menu, but a few other ideas that I was looking at were: Italian Frittata (Italian mild sausage, mushrooms, Mozzarella cheese, & house potatoes; I would have ottantasei-ed the sausage junk, of course); Blueberry Pancakes; or Huevos Rancheros (eggs with tortillas, black beans, tomato, Mozzarella cheese [¿Qué diablos?], & house potatoes).
This was an interestingly made omelette. As with my last omelette meal there, the spinach was incorporated into the scrambled egg batter, not inside the omelette with the other two ingredients. Once again, I don't know what SOMA Restaurant & Bar had to offer in the way of any condimentary supplementation; none were offered and I didn't bother to ask what they had. I just used some of my own Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero[ sic ][3]Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the omelette and some Emperor's Revenge Teriyaki Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the potatoes. I skipped any Coffee with the meal and once again headed to a nearby Philz Coffee and ordered one of their medium blends: Philtered Soul. http://www.philzcoffee.com/coffee-medium-blends-philtered-soul Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Good Morning Omelet ~ 6.3; Philz Coffee Philtered Soul ~ 6.9 ___________________ 1. Wer? http://www.tanita-tikaram.com/ 2. In case you have ever wondered just why cats or kittens have corners named after them: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/kitty-corner?s=t And I always thought it came from the game of MONOPOLY®... 3. Not really a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer, but more of a stupid, useless Spelling/Grammar-Nazi pointer: I have meñtioñed this before here. The correct spelliñg is "habanero", with ño grapheme over the "n".
http://melsdrive-in.com/ Place: Mel's drive-in[1] Location: 801 Mission Street (at 4th Street) Hours: open at 6:00am every day of the week Meal: BYO (Build Your Own Omelette)! (They added the "!", and why is this not called "BYOO"?) ~ with spinach, red onion, and goat cheese, served with choice of grilled potatoes, hash browns, or fruit (and choice of toast, which they don't state on the menu); and a large glassa fresh squeezed orange juice
(The first EweToobular juxtaselection should be pretty evident. [I really liked it when Mel Carter played that feisty housekeeper on Gimme a Break!] For the second song, you will need to know either ελληνικά, Latinae, français, or español to get the reference.) I went back to Mel's drive-in (see last 'blog-entry from April 28th, 2012) for breakfast this morning. Historically, this is the same "drive-in"/diner-joint chain as featured in a few Hollywoodland movies, such as: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner,American Graffiti, and Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More... This particular location has only been open since 2000 (so, if I can do some quick Common Core Math, that is about sixteen years now ~ give or take ten). Well, technically, this location really isn't a "drive-in" (the only actual "drive-in" locations in San Francisco would be their first restaurant on Lombard Street and their second location on Geary Boulevard, and those locations have long since given up the use of door-to-automobile carhop service); however, because it is located on the bottom level of a five story parking lot facility, I suppose this could be called a "drive-on". Eddie, Shrevie, Boogie, and Fen[2] would be very surprised by what this modern-day diner has to offer in the way of breakfastary items. Ferinstance, some other ideas that I was looking at today were: Avocado Toast(avocado mashed on multigrain toast, three poached organic eggs, and smoked chili flakes; this looked really good and would have been my back-up choice, but I am down to smoking one pack of chili flakes a day now and didn't want to aggravate my addiction); Chilaquiles (corn chips, sauteed with chile poblano Ranchero sauce and 2 eggs, served with refried beans and sour cream; in the past, they were calling this dish "Tortilla Scramble"); Huevos Rancheros (What's with all these Mexican breakfastary dishes? Maybe "Mel" stands for "Melagro"); or a different combination of BYOO! (they offer eight different cheese choices, fourteen vegetable choices [including "the vile weed", so that only left thirteen decent vegetable choices for me], and, for those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh, seven types of dead, decaying animal flesh choices). Additionally, for you dead, decaying animal flesh-etarians, they have two other interesting items on their Breakfast Specials menu: Breakfast Pot Pie (country gravy, peas & carrots, potato, puff pastry and an organic egg; I am not sure if that could be made vegetarian, but it sounded pretty good) or The Trio Breakfast Slider (pastrami, egg, jalapeño Jack on brioche bun). Just to prove even further that this is not your old Uncle Melvin's style of "drive-in" diner; they offer four types of lemonades (Ginger-Chia Lemonade[Say whaaaaa?!], Cherry Lemonade, Arnold Palmer, or Strawberry Lemonade) and they also have a Fresh Natural Raw Juice Bar (with many juices and smoothies from which to choose). (Don't worry, they do still offer all of those standard healthy soda fountain entries like Vanilla Cokesand Chocolate Malts.)
This was a very nicely made omelette ("drive-in" or not). It was made with lots of fresh (baby?) spinach in this. I was very pleased with my choices of ingredients this morning, too. I went with hashbrowns as my side and sourdough as my toast choice. For condimentary supplemenation Mel's drive-in had both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original). I used some of my own Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Cindy & Greg! ~ I think that I might have about one good [nasal-dripping] dosage left in that bottle now.) on the hashbrowns. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: BYOO! ~ 6.4 ___________________ 1. Apparently, there are now two California mini-chains that feature similar monikers: "Mel's drive-in" and "Mels the Original". As far as I can discern, the original "original" Mel's drive-in went out of business in 1972 or 1974. The current Mel's drive-in was started in 1985 by one of the sons of one of the original "original" owners. Mels the Original was later started in 1994 by another family member of one of the original "original" owners (I am not exactly sure what their relationship might be to the present ownership of Mel's drive-in, though). http://originalmelsdiner.com/ Whatever the case may be, only Mel's drive-in has any locations in San Francisco (currently Standing at Four) and Hollywoodland (currently with three LocÅlly). And, for what it is worth, the original "original" first Mel's drive-in location that used to be at 140 South Van Ness Street is now some kinda housing or condominium facility (right next to Tower Car Wash). 2. The actor that portrayed "Timothy Fenwick Jr." is no relation to the inventor of the Glen Bacon Scale.
Place: the Grove ~ Yerba Buena Location: 690 Mission Street (at 3rd Street) Hours: open Monday - Friday at 6:30am, Saturday - Sunday at 8:00am Meal: Mexican Scramble Especial! (please note: they added the "!" not me; because if I had done so, I would have written it as "¡Mexican Scramble Especial!") ~ soft scrambled eggs with crushed La Palma tortilla chips, pico de gallo, Monterey Jack, topped with avocado, cilantro, and cotija cheese, with sliced, pickled jalapeños served on the side; and a very tall glassa (you know, the large glass stein they use for Hefeweizen) Cucumber Ginger Spritzer ~ cucumber and lime juice topped with refreshing ginger beer (Non-alcoholic)
(Sorry. I could not find any decent "Grove" or "Yerba Buena" [Irie! Bob Marley tunes don't count, mon!] juxtaselections. So these great songs by Linda Lewis will just have to suffice instead.) I went to the Grove~ Yerba Buena for breakfast (and I am very glad to state that they do not refer to this early morning meal as "Brunch") this morning. They currently have three San Francisco locations: this one, one in Hayes Valley (see last 'blog-entry from August 2nd, 2014), and one in the Fillmore (which I have eaten at several times for lunch or dinner, but never for breakfast). This location is a fairly new-ish restaurant (open since February 2010) and seems to be the largest of the three. In addition to the main seating area (where I figure there was seating for at least fifty to sixty people), there is an upper balcony/mezzanine area, and there is also a large sidewalk patio area with about twenty tables for two (I was thinking about sitting outside this morning, but it was still in the shadows when I had arrived and a bit chilly [56° F]). Like many of these upscale coffeehouse joints, you pay first, get a number (mine was #27 this morning), and then they bring out your food to you when it is done (and, I must say, they brought out my food very quickly this morning, too, even though they were hopping with customers). There are still many other good options from which to choose (so I might need to check out their Fillmore spot one of these days, too):
Eggs and Avocado Toast(mashed ripe avocado on grilled thick-cut Semifreddi's sweet batard with lemon, organic olive oil, and coarse sea salt; topped with two poached eggs, chives, and served with dressed mixed greens);
Veggie Breakfast Sandwich (soft scrambled eggs, Fontina, oven-roasted zucchini, arugula, with a creamy spinach spread; served on a toasted Semifreddi's brioche bun; which I would have ordered with a side of their Crispy Golden Rosemary Hashbrowns[and, yes, I am well aware of the culinary oxymoron of "Golden Hashbrowns"]);
or one of their Scrambles (served with buttered thick-sliced Semifreddi’s sweet batard toast and your choice of crispy golden rosemary hashbrowns or lightly dressed organic mixed greens): Basil and Goat Cheese Scramble (soft scrambled eggs with fresh torn basil and goat cheese); Seasonal Veggie Scramble (soft scrambled eggs with seasonal roasted vegetables); or Spinach, Fontina, and Tomato Scramble (soft scrambled eggs with fresh spinach, Fontina and oven-roasted tomatoes).
I liked this meal. It reminded me of a somewhat version of Chilaquiles, but just served without any kind of salsa on top of it. Not listed on the menu, but they offer a choice of sides with this dish: hashbrowns, black beans, or some kinda boring ol' side salad. Of course, I did the smart thing and got the hashbrowns (although black beans would have been a good alternative, too). I ended up dicing up the sliced, pickled jalapeños and mixing them into both the scrambled mess and potatoes. The Cucumber Ginger Spritzer proved to be a very nice, refreshing breakfastary libation. They also had a few other interesting-sounding (Non-alcoholic) drinks: Cranberry Black Tea Sangria (black tea and cranberry juice with orange, strawberry, and mint) or Lavender Lemonade. They also offer Verve Coffee Roasters (made in Santa Cruz), which I have had before and know to be good Coffee, but I felt like something different for a change. For condimentary supplementation, the Grove had both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce. Once again (in an effort to use up some of my oldest hot sauces), I went with some Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the scrambled mess and some Lucky Dog Hot Sauce Medium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the hashbrowns (which actually were kinda golden now that I think of it ~ hashgoldens?). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: ¡Mexican Scramble Especial! ~ 6.3; CucumberGinger Spritzer ~ 6.6
"If you shut yer mouth and keep quiet, you may get what you want." ~ a bit of Zen insight from Sir George Ivan
(No official web-site; however, they have listed a web-site of www.somarestaurant.com on their business cards, but it does not actually work.) Place: SOMA Restaurant & Bar Location: 85 Fifth Street (on the corner of Mission Street); phonicular contact: (415) 778-8500 Hours: open at 6:30am daily Meal: Mediterranean Omelet ~ with spinach, red onion, zucchini, tomato, Kalamata olives, Feta cheese, & house potatoes, served with toast and jelly; and a cuppa (with one refilla) America's Best (this is just their lofty claim; I have had this brand many times before, and I would call it more like "America's Sufficiently Okay") Coffee Roasting Company
(Monday happens to be the 70th birthday of one Sir George Ivan Morrison, OBE. So, I am sticking with his music for this weekend. "Sir"? Yes, sir! I am pretty sure I have linked both of these songs many times here already in the past, and possibly these exact same videos. If you don't like it, start yer own damn 'blog-thing.) I went to SOMA Restaurant & Bar for breakfast this morning. This normally wouldn't have been on my radar as a place to check out for breakfast, but I am running out of new places and figured I'd give them a try. I do like that they are open very early every day, and for an early morning meal that they don't call "Brunch". As best as I can figure, they are the house restaurant for the Pickwick Hotel. It's not really that large of a place; there are just six tables for two, seven tables for four, and one large table for six to eight people. They don't offer that many items (only about a dozen or so) from which to choose on their breakfast menu, but I saw a couple of other good ideas if I ever get back there. Those would be: Good Morning Omelet (with mushrooms, spinach, tomato, & house potatoes); Italian Frittata (Italian mild sausage, mushrooms, Mozzarella cheese, & house potatoes; without the sausage for me, of course); Blueberry Pancakes; or Huevos Rancheros (eggs with tortillas, black beans, tomato, Mozzarella cheese, & house potatoes).
There was nothing really special about this one. This was just a basic, good omelette really. I did like the fact that it had lots of sliced Kalamata olives in it (and a good amount of Feta, too; as I always state: "Everything's betta with Feta!"). The leaves of spinach were incorporated into the egg mixture, not sautéed and added as an ingredient inside. They made decent enough homefries, too. When I had finished eating all the food on my plate, I decided to eat the orange slice-garnish that was there. I then added the rinds to the last of my Coffee ~ à la Caffè Borgia. http://www.food.com/recipe/cafe-borgia-320970 I have no idea what SOMA Restaurant & Bar had in the way of condimentary supplementation; none were offered and I really didn't bother asking for none, neither. I also skipped schlepping any of my own hot sauces with me this morning, as I just started reading a new book and it more than took up space and added weight in my backpack. I figured I could eat one breakfast without any hot sauce for a change. the Author-Guy Strange Interlude On Monday night, I went to a book-signing/book-launching (well, it ended up being more of a joke-telling) event for one of my current favourite living authors. This was the second-in-a-row of his book-launchings that I have been to in as many years. If you have never read any of Christopher Moore's books, I suggest starting with Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal. http://www.chrismoore.com/ Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Mediterranean Omelet ~ 6.5; Secondhand Souls ~ 7.5
"My course is set for an uncharted sea." ~ Durante degli Alighieri
(Okay, there is some construction going on in front and this was the best shot I could get of the storefront.) (No official web-site yet. At least none that I could find on-line. Their menu stated that there was a web-site [possibly www.urbanfishsf.com], but I can not find it.) Place: Urban Fish Location: 2193 Mission Street (at 18th Street) Hours: You can catch "Brunch" (Get it? "Catch". Because this is a Vegan and Pescatarian joint. Whatever.) at 10:00am on Saturday and Sunday Meal: Madrona Omellette (sic)[1] ~ avocado, red onion, pico de gallo; a side of Urban Spuds (fka Weird Spuds); and a glassa Organic Ginger Lemonade
(The first EweToobular juxtaselection should be pretty self-evident by this morning's breakfastary destination. I was thinking about using Burning Sensations' "Belly of the Whale" [that is about a big fish, after all, George], but just went with this superbular one from Lady Ella instead. The second video was made by a friend of mine, Skip Way. Skip uses photos ~ usually of flowers or such ~ that his sister Andrea has taken and makes them into a collaborative video with singers/bands that he likes [and especially those that won't castigate him for using their music in his videos, even for non-profit purposes]. If you'd like to view more of Skip's stuff, you can check out his EweToob channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqa4xa_2Bxa9K3NZfBJQMKA ) I navigated my way over to the Mission to Urban Fish (fka Dante's Weird Fish; see previous 'blog-entry from November 3rd, 2013) for breakfast this morning. The place has changed hands and name since the last time I ate there (probably sometime last year, but that was for lunch or dinner, not breakfast or "Brunch", so I can't tell for sure when). The new owners are Turkish, as was my waiter-server dude-person (Whose actual Turkish first name I quickly forgot. Sorry, Mrs. Honeycutt [whose last name does actually have a double consonant in it].). He told me that the new ownership took place about eight months ago now. I regaled the poor guy with the only two Turkish words that I could think of: "Cacik" and "Dolma" (which were not that big of a stretch, as they are very similar to the same Greek words). They only have paper napkins now, and while those are fine enough for the likes of someone like me, the cloth handkerchief/bandana thingys that they used to have in the past were very cool (you try playing "Pirate" or "Cowboy" with a paper napkin; can't be done). Luckily, the menu has remained much the same as before (where they have replaced any "Weird" names with "Urban" now). The waiter-server dude-person also told me that they will be adding more items in the future (perhaps of the Turkish Vegan or Pescatarian persuasion?). There are still several decent vegetarian and Vegan options worth trying: Sequoia Omellette (again, sic; of course, I forgot to write down what the ingredients were for this one; I just remember that it was one of the vegetarian options in their Omellette section); Huevos Rancheros (or Huevvos Rancherros, perhaps; 2 fried eggs, corn tortillas, Ranchero, sour cream; served with cabbage salad, black beans, cilantro); Folsom (from the Hollandaise Paradiso section ~ or Holllandaise Parradiso; which is what they call their Eggs Benedict section; made with spinnach and portabbella); or Mission Combo (or Misssion Commbo; 2 pancakes or French toast with 2 eggs, with choice of Urban Spuds, fruit, or Vegan sausage). I should point out that their pancakes are Vegan Pancakes and their French toast is Sour Batard French Toast. Those sounded like nice options on their own even. (And, no, I don't think that I will tire of making fun of their menu "Toris" ~ that would be as in "Miss Spellings". I am sure that their computers and professional printers have access to all the most recent technology that Billy-boy and his troupe of Braunhemden spell-checkers at Microsoft have to offer, just like I do.)
This was a pretty simple/basic omelette (or omellette, or ommellette), but still very good. The pico de gallo (or picco de galllo) was really very good, with lots of red onions in it (there had to be as many ~ as much? ~ red onions in the salsa as there were tomatoes; and I am not complaining, as I love red onions), and it was served on top of (not inside of, like the avoccado was) the omelette (or omellette, or ommellette). Surprisingly, their omelettes (or omellettes, or ommellettes) do not come with any sides ~ no potatoes, no toast/bread, no etc. (And just what the heck is up with that?) I was glad that I asked before ordering, as one of the main reasons I went back there was for their weirdly good spuds. I can always get decent omelettes (or omellettes, or ommellettes) any place else. I am very happy to report that they did not change the recipe (just the name) for their awesome version of homefries; they were still as tasty and crispy (and weird) as before. The lemonade was also very good and had lots of fresh (and I guess, organnic) ginger bits in it. mini-rant of the day Is it just me, or does it bug anyone else when a restaurant brings you out a beverage with a drinking straw in it and the straw has the top part of the paper covering still on it? Just remove the damn thing already, please! If I were afraid of you contaminating my drinking straw with your grimy paws, do you think I would trust you with handling any of my food?! Sheesh! (Okay, mini-rant over… for now.) For condimentary supplements, Urban Fish offers a pretty decent array of hot sauces: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce and Buffalo Style Hot Sauce); Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce; and El Yucateco® ~ both Salsa Picante Roja de ChileHabaneroand Salsa Picante Verde de Chile Habanero. For a change (and mainly because I had never tried this particular version of Tabasco® before), I used some of their Buffalo Style Hot Sauce (or Buffallo Stylle Hott Saucce) on the spuds, but I went with some of my own Fat Cat®Chairman Meow’s Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the omelette (or omellette, or ommellette). Afterward (and because it was just two blocks away from where I was parked) for a breakfastary dessert, I stopped by Bi-RiteCreamery and got a scoop of Basil[2] Ice Cream and a scoop of Honey Lavender[2] Ice Cream. http://biritecreamery.com/ I guess that Jimmy Durante degli Alighieri guy was just too weird for San Francisco even (and no one ever thought his "Comedy" was all that funny, anyway). Glen Bacon[3]Scale Rating: Madrona Omellette ~ 6.5 (their excellent pico de gallo added an additional 0.1 points); Urbban Sppuds ~ 7.4; Orgganic GinngerLemmonade ~ 7.0; Bi-RitteCreammery Icce Crream ~ 7.0 ________________ 1. I just know that this mispelink is gonna cause havoc with Wild Bill Gates and his Brownshirt Spell-checkering Nazi Boys at Microsoft. For which, I say: "Good! I'm glad!" Those bastages don't even like my completely acceptable Frenchified alternative spelling of "omelette". 2. What pseudo-culinaristic/pseudo-botanical lesson did we learn just yesterday, children? Both basil and lavender are members of the Mint family and will pair together very nicely. Or so says I. 3. A friend on defacedbookland (Hey, Miss Maggie Boofé!) had thought that whenever I was mentioning the "Glen Bacon Scale" that I was referring to another person altogether named "Glenn Bacon". Apparently, this other Glenn Bacon is a renowned chef from Australia (in the Queensland Area). I suppose that would make more sense using his name with a food rating scale; however, that Glenn Bacon never had to put up with me throughout six weeks of Air Force Basic Training and another year and a half of Basic Russkij Language training at the Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey and Goodfellow Air Force Base. Plus, my friend Glen Bacon is also a Boston Red Sox fan. I have no idea which MLB team that other Glenn Bacon supports (or even which AFL team he might follow). Of course, that other Glenn Bacon also adds an extra "n" to his first name. Hmmm?! I wonder if that Aussie was the guy that was responsible for printing Urban Fish's current menu.
