♪ "'Cause I was just thirteen when I got my first taste of... Brie and leeks... " "... and the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to... dine... " ♫
https://chloessf.com/ (Wow! This must be a brand new[-ish] web-site for them. It was not active last year when I ate there.) Place: Chloe♥s Cafe Location: 1399 Church Street (on the corner of 26th Street) Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 8:00am Meal: Special Scramble(off their weekend Specials Board) ~ 2 scrambled eggs w/ spinach, mushroom, leeks, fresh red bell peppers, basil, & Brie (the Frenchy soft cow's-milk cheese, not the Academy Award-winning actress... although, I am sure she woulda been plenty melty and tasty in a scramble, too), served with a choice of 2: fresh fruit, home fries (which was one of my intelligent and correct choices), green salad (yeah, right!), or toast (and this was my second intelligent and correct choice, where I went intelligently and correctly with the rosemary-potato bread); and, to drink, a large glassa grapefruit juice
(Once again, there is no real EweToobular juxtaselection with these songs and today's meal. Well, I am sure that Mikel Jollett, Steven Delopoulos, and even Mr. XV like[d] Brie and leeks in their breakfastary scrambled poultry ova dishes.) Sometimes, it is all a matter of timing... I had arrived at Chloe♥s Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 18th, 2018) at around 7:50am and noticed that there was already a small line (which for the size of the restaurant is sometimes enough to fill the place) beginning to form outside. I passed up a legal parking space directly in front of the restaurant because it looked like it might be a tight fit for my car-length (I did not want to be "that guy" that parks over the crosswalk line). No biggie, I found another (larger) spot just a half-block down Church Street, anyway. I decided to sit in my car listening to one last song (which just happened to be the first song above by those d*mn Toxic Avenger people) before getting into line myself. It was still a few minutes before they were to open their doors and they had not even put out the "Sign-up Sheet" yet (of which I was not aware). When they finally did put out said "Sign-up Sheet", I thought everyone in front of me had already signed-up, so I left my spot (I was last in line at the time, anyway) to check it out and only then found out that everyone in line was also waiting to "sign-up". When I went back to my place at the end of the line, there was a new couple (well, they may have been together for many years, I just mean that they were new to the end of the line) standing there. They offered me my spot back in line, but I told them not to bother because from the looks of the size of the line we would all probably get in on the first wave of diners... Ooops! Guess who missed out getting in with the first group by one table?! Because of which, I am counting that as my "Pay-it-forward (... or bugger off!) Weekend" input-deed for today. Besides, the food tasted just as good a half-hour later... Now, I coulda opted to sit outside (about fifteen minutes after they had opened, they started setting up four small, round tables ~ that could fit three to possibly four people comfortably ~ along the 26th Street sidewalk), but, by that time, I figured I could just wait another fifteen or twenty minutes for anyone in the first group to finish-up. It was not raining at that time (it had stopped raining 'round about the time I left my apartment this morning), but it looked like it was threatening to start again, anyway. (It actually did start raining about twenty minutes after I had finished eating while I was driving on my way home. Another "all a matter of timing", I suppose.)
Yes! Some things are worth waiting for! (And, yeah, sure, if you wanna get all Grammatik Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei on me, that sentence probably shoulda read: "Some things are worth waiting for, *ss-hole!") The Brie and leeks were the real standouts in this morning's scramble-mess. The leeks were finely julienned (as were the red bell peppers). Also, not many places will use "le fromage de la belle France" (Yeah, I know that was a reference to some other m*udit Frenchy cheese, Mr. Wensleydale, but you gets my point, right?!) as an ingredient. Brie is not Feta (Of course, everything's just betta with Feta!), but it did go very nicely with the rest of today's ingredients (and Brie does the melting-thing much betta than Feta). I did not really taste any basil, but I was so intent on getting the full Brie and leeks experience that I probably overlooked that one with all of the spinach (another favourite of mine, too) that was also in it. Now, who in their right mind, when given the above side choices, would ever choose a d*mn green salad or fresh fruit over homefries?! People like that should not be allowed to go out to eat at nice joints. "But... but... Brian... what if they are on a diet and are trying to eat healthy?!" Then, once again, stay at yer own homes and "eat healthy" there and leave all the other good, "unhealthy" junk to those of us that can truly enjoy it while dining out! Chloe♥s Cafe has both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for use as hot sauce condimentary supplements. I used some of my own Pepper PalaceChocolate Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the perfectly crispy and crunchy (See?! If'n I had been in the first wave of diners, the potatoes may not have reached their crispiocity perfection yet. Another positive "all a matter of timing"-thing.) homefries and some Dat'l Do-it®Spicy JalapenoHot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the scrambled-mess. (another not so very) Strange Coffee Interlude When I arrived back home, to ward off some of the recent dampness and chill, I made myself a cuppa (once more via the single pour-over funnel-thing) BettysJava Kalibaru (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!). This is another gifted-Coffee that I finally just opened this morning. Now, this ain't BettysJamaica Blue Mountain, but that is not a fair comparison for most Coffees, anyway. This is another one of the many really good Coffees from the tea-totaling-folks at Bettys and it is probably my 3rd or 4th favourite of theirs. https://www.bettys.co.uk/java-kalibaru-single-origin-coffee ♪ "And the world is crying as we move along And the world is trying as we move along But they're still chopping our leeks and red bell peppers for a scramble... " ♫ Mikel and his band of friends owe me a half-hour of my life back... Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Special Scramble~ 7.0; BettysJava Kalibaru ~ 7.3
http://www.pomelosf.com/ place: pomelo location: 1793 church street (near the corner of 30th street) hours: "brunch" is served saturday and sunday at 10:00am meal: bern (switzerland) ~ swiss rösti – crispy grated potato with bacon (which i made sure to have sechsundachtzig/quatre-vingt six-ed), onion and gruyère cheese, topped with one egg sunny side up, butter lettuce and cherry tomato salad; a freebie pear, caramelized ginger, and almonds muffinette; and a glassa fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice (because they do not offer any pomelo juice) (In case you were wondering why I went all minuscule in the above, pomelo likes to stylize their menus that way.) Ich kehrte zurück/je suis retourné to pomelo (see last 'blog-entry from Samstag, 6. August, 2016/Samedi 6 août, 2016). I can not believe that it has been over two years since my last visit. Well, actually, I can, because they are about as far away from where I live in San Francisco that you can get and still be in the city (and they do not open for "Brunch" until 10:00am). I do really like their globally refreshing menu selections, though. There are many great ideas for both dumme Vegetarier/végétariens stupides and verd*mmte Fleischfresser/carnivores m*udits alike. There are still several other items that I have not tried yet: lop buri (thailand) ~ ไขย่ ดไส kai yat sai - thai style stuffed omelet with minced pork (which would also be แปดสิบหก-ed), tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro, thai basil, thai chilies, served with lime-garlic-chili sauce; masantol (philippines) ~ filipino style spicy sizzling tofu with chili peppers, garlic, onion, soy sauce and lemon (I have no idea what this is, but it sounds pretty interesting to me, and, thankfully, it does not include any monkey-brains); otsu (japan) ~ cold buckwheat noodle salad with cucumber, scallion, cilantro & a spicy soy, ginger & sesame dressing, topped with pan sautéed tofu; or pomelo (they do not designate a specific country of origin for this one) ~ romaine (of course, this would not be the week/month to order this), baby arugula, roasted grape, walnut, gorgonzola, white balsamic mustard vinaigrette. Additionally, they have a weekend special scramble or omelette called noe valley (san francisco) where the ingredients change seasonally. This weekend (month) the ingredients were 3 organic free-range eggs, bacon (nah!), baby spinach, garlic, onion and gorgonzola, served with toasted country (they did not list which country, though) bread and choice of house potatoes or organic greens (bka: rabbit-food).
See?! Stuff like this is exactly why I like to get back and eat at this joint. I have had Swiss röstis several (okay, many) times before at Bettys Café Tea Rooms whenever I visited my Yorkshire hosts over past Christmases. This version may not have been quite as crispy as Bettys made, but it was still very tasty and mention-worthy. I especially liked that the (white) onions seemed to have been pre-caramelized before adding them into the shredded potato mix. I even enjoyed the very simple side of rabbit-food junk; it had a light lemon vinaigrette (I think) on it. Near the end of the meal, I just dumped the remaining butter lettuce and tomatoes on top of the pile o' potatoes. For condimentary supplementation, pomelo had Tabasaco®Brand Pepper Sauce (three ways: Original Red Sauce, Green Jalapeño Sauce, and Chipotle Pepper Sauce), Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original), and El Yucateco®Hot Sauce Salsa Picante de Chile Habanero (the red kind). Even with all of those hot sauces from which to choose, I still used some of my own H*ll's Kitchen®Chipotle Chocolate Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the egg and several grinds of grains of paradise all over the rösti and the rabbit-food junk. (another not so) Strange Coffee Interlude Because I had a few hours (okay, about four-and-a-half hours worth) to kill this morning before the restaurant would be open, I dripped me downa (pour-over-style) cuppa Bettys - Jamaica Blue Mountain (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!). As I have mentioned several (okay, many-many) times in the past, this roast/blend of Coffee is easily my All-Time Favourite Coffee of All-Time. If Marilyn Monroe ever came back reincarnated as a cuppa, this is what she would taste like! This choice of Coffee in conjunction with the meal that I ordered today was not exactly as coincidentally à propos as it might seem. I kinda figured that I was gonna order the bern this morning, anyway. Just consider this a premeditated breakfastary juxtaselection (which is the real "pbj"). https://www.bettys.co.uk/jamaica-blue-mountain Glen Bacon Scale Rating: bern ~ 7.2; Bettys - Jamaica Blue Mountain ~ 8.2
http://griddlefreshsf.com/ (Supposably this is their "official-type" web-site; however, whenever I click on the link to check out the menu or any other information it brings me to an EAT24 site. So you will just have to take my word for their offered food-stuff.) PlacePlace: GriddleGriddle FreshFresh LocationLocation: 40074007 24th24th StreetStreet (between NoeNoe and CastroCastro Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 647-7037 HoursHours: open dailydaily 8:00am8:00am MealMeal: Savory Reggiano ~ one egg sunny side up, arugula, Parmasan [ sic ], bacon sprinkled (which I 86-sprinkled), honey, basil, strawberry coulis; a side-order of Crispy Wedges; and to drink (which I had picked up about fifteen minutes before the restaurant opened and drank some while walking up and down 24th Street window-shopping ~ I ended up buying a nice oriel and jalousie) a small (12 oz) cuppa the House Coffee at Bernie's ~ a local coffee shop, where they exclusively serve La CoppaCoffee[2] https://www.lacoppacoffee.com/
(There is absolutely no EweToobular juxtaselection for this song/video[3]. It just came to mind and I felt like sharing it here. For all I know, ol' Bob himself was a big fan of basil, honey, and strawberry [see what I did there with the colour progression of those ingredients?] on his French toast, too.) It had been a while since I last ate at GriddleGriddle FreshFresh (see previous 'blog'blog-entryentry from SaturdaySaturday, JuneJune 29th29th, 20132013) or its sister-shop, MyMyCoffeeCoffeeShopShop (see last 'blog'blog-entryentry from SundaySunday, AugustAugust 21st21st, 20162016), so I figured it was time for another visit. I chose their location in Noe Valley because it had also been some time since I last galumphed along 24th Street (aka "Main Street Noe Valley"). There were some very other tempting ideas for breakfast this morning (however, I really can not imagine any of these as being better than the choice I did choose): Gooey Boule (French toast) ~ vanilla curd, crunch granola, berry coulis (I have no idea what this might look like, but this will definitely need to be tasted/tested on a future visit); Tiramisu (French toast) ~ brioche bread, mascapone [ sic, also ~ something tells me that these guys are not of Italiano-descent ] sweet cream, cinnamon, Espresso (this is another one that truly needs a taste); Parma Flavor (Eggs Benedict) ~ prosciutto (Hey, whadyaknow? They spelded this one kerrekt. Of course, I would have to ottantasei that dead, decaying porcine junk, too.), fresh Mozzarella (That makes due per due in this ingredient list!), Roma tomato, Grana Padano (Woo-HOO! Can you say tre per tre?!), chive Hollandaise; and off their "Specials" insert Matcha Mochi Pancake (that is just fun to say, anyway) ~ berries, sweet cream, condensed milk; or Brioche French Toast ~ Granny Smith apple sauce, sweet cream, toasted almond (they have this in the singular on the printed menu, but I am sure they actually include at least two almonds), baked cinnamon apple (this was going to be my initial pick, but I can not imagine it being better than what I had ordered either). Additional, for those of you that are of the animaletarian-ilk, off their "Specials" insert, there was this rather ominous-sounding dish (sadly, which I do not think could viably be made vegetarian-friendly): Chorizo Tater Tot ~ chorizo, sour cream, pico de gallo, avocado, roasted jalapeño (where they excluded the tilde over the "ñ", but that is a common omission in many non-Mexican/Spanish joints), olive, onion, Cheddar, black bean, chipotle aioli.
I just have one word to describe this "new find": Omagawd!!! I was not sure how this dish was going to be presented. I pictured the egg laid (well, placed) on top of the French toast slices (à la some kinda take on a Croque Madame). The flavour combination of strawberry, basil, honey, and "Parmasan" (or Parmesan if you are keeping grammar-score [and this would be where the "Reggiano" portion of the dish's name would come from; I was sorta expecting it to be served by Hall of Famer "Mr. Straw-that-stirs-the-drink" hisd*mnself]) was unexpectedly a great one. I even added some of the arugula to a few bites and that worked very nicely, too. (I bet this also would be great with some rosemary, baby!) The strawberries on top were more of the stewed version, not really a "coulis". Technically (or culinarily, I suppose), a "coulis" should be a thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits. But what do I know? I am no Anthony Bourdain (and, sadly, he can not complain or comment on this any longer himself ~ R.I.P. Chef Bourdain). Even though it is less than half-way (Am I being optimistic or pessimistic in my calculation there?) through 2018, I am claiming this as "My Favourite New French Toast Dish of 2018 Not Named Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro"!!! The Crispy Wedges were very good, too. It made for a large meal for me, but I was glad I tried their take on deep-fried-homefries. For condimentary supplementation, GriddleGriddle FreshFresh just has Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original) on the tables. I came prepared with a few bottles from my own hot sauce collection (not knowing if I was gonna go "sweet" or "savoury" for breakfast this morning; whereas, my entrée was actually both) and used some Hot Licks®SerranoHot Sauce (Thanks, Brian! This is the next bottle that I am going to try to force-use up to free-up some more space on my refrigerator door-shelves.) generously ('cause I am just that kinda guy) all over the potatoes and a few drops of Old St. AugustineDatil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on top of the egg. GlenGlen BaconBacon ScaleScale RatingRating: Savory Reggiano ~ 7.7; Crispy Wedges ~ 7.0; Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" ~ 7.5 ___________________
1. I t'ink dis is jus' Jamaican Patois for: "Verrrry tasty French toast, Jah!" (That is not really to be considered as a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer, though.) 2. Okay, if you really must have a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer: "La coppa" is Italiano for "the cup". Simples! (See? Sometimes this cunning linguist stuff ain't really scienza del cervello or chirurgia a razzo even.) 3. Years ago (and by "years ago", I mean that it must have been at least twelve to fifteen years ago now), my brother Kerry had made me a cuts-CD with a buncha Bob Marley cover-songs. This particular song was included on it along with many other great Bob-songs.
(No official web-site.) Place: Chloe♥s Cafe Location: 1399 Church Street (on the corner of 26th Street); phonicular contact: (415) 648-4116 Hours: open 8:00am every day of the week Meal: Special Scramble ~ 2 scrambled eggs (hence the "Scramble" part of the name) w/ spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, leeks, Italian parsley[1] & choice of cheese (this morning the offered choices were: [Norwegian] Jarlsberg[er, perhaps], Feta, or Pepper Jack; I chose Feta, hence the "Special" part of the name); and a large glassa grapefruit juice
(There are no real juxtaselections for today's EweToobular songs. For all I know, ol' Robbie might be a bigger fan of Spanish or even French parsley... but I am sure he knows that αυθεντική ελληνική Φέτα is the only indisputably legitimate Feta.) At least once a year, I like to get back to Chloe♥s Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, March 4th, 2017) for a ♥-felt breakfastary repast. For a long time (near-enough ten years during the wild 00's), this great little place was a fixture in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation. Unfortunately, it is located just about as far away from my neighborhood as can be on the opposite side of town. The "long" drive over there this morning started out with a light drizzle in the Richmond; however, by the time I was about half-way there (Japantown/the Fillmore or such), the rain had stopped entirely, but the weather was still much too chilly to venture sitting outside in one of their sidewalk tables (even if those were on the sunny side of the street, Mr. MacGowan [no relation]).
Their weekend scramble "Specials" can vary depending on whatever might be available seasonally. I liked all of the seasonal items in this weekend's version. For being only a "2-egg" scramble, this was still an awful lotta food. I was very pleased to see that this was made with lots of Feta throughout the scramble mess, too! They are now offering most breakfast meals with a choice of two sides from a list of four: some boring ol' fruit salad (I can cut up d*mn fruits myself at home); a huge pile o' some awesome homefries; some stinkin' rabbit-food side-salad; or toast made with their own extremely good, fresh-baked breads. Guess which two I went with? For an extremely good toast, I chose their rosemary-potato bread (I am not sure of the ethnicity of the rosemary they use, though). For condimentary supplementation, Chloe♥s Cafehas both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce for use. After many, many, many visits over the past (almost thirty years now?), I was well-aware of what they had to offer and again brought a few of my own hot sauces. I used some Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero[ sic ] Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on parts of the scramble and some Dat'l Do-it® Zesty Chipotle Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom! ... and I can thankfully state that there is probably just one more dosage left in that bottle now) on the homefries. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Special Scramble ~ 6.9 (this would probably have been just a 6.7 with the [Norwegian] Jarlsberg[er] choice, Mr. Cleese, or a 6.6 using Pepper Jack... there's not much call for Cheddar 'round these parts) ___________________
1. Like I could really ever tell the difference between prezzemolo italiano and persil français or perejil español, anyway.
"¡Hoy tú, tamales yo!"[1] or Another Mr. XV Pay-It-Forward Memorial Weekend
(No official web-site.) Place: Chloe♥s Cafe Location: 1399 Church Street (on the corner of 26th Street); phonicular contact: (415) 648-4116 Hours: open 8:00am every day of the week Meal: "Garden Scramble" (they added the inverted commas, Mr. Marx) ~ two scrambled eggs (which would be the "Scramble" part of the name) with "the vile weed", dill, tomato, red onion, carrot, ~ (all of which would make up the "Garden" part of the name, I suppose) ~ and a choice of cheese (Jarlsberg, Cheddar, cream cheese [which should never be chosen for any "Scramble" or omelette dish, if you ask me], or Feta), served with a cup of fruit or home fries and toast; and a large glassa grapefruit juice
(The first of today's EweToobular juxtaselections should be very obvious from the title and one of the ingredients in today's "Garden Scramble". It is a well know fact that Marcus Mumford really hates tomatoes... The second of the two songs/videos is just a progression (well, live version) following the first song from the album it is on. Consider it a "palate-cleanser" for the nasty taste left by "the vile weed". If you ask me, I would much rather have thistles in my "Garden Scramble" than "the vile weed", anyway... any day!) I used to have Chloe♥s Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 8th, 2016) in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, but DFA'd them a few years back due to the distance getting over there (and back, naturally); plus, there are really not that many choices available for stupid vegetarians. What they do offer is always good, though. I was originally thinking of sitting outside for a change this morning. As I was the first idiot to arrive (about twenty minutes before they had opened), I would have had my choice of seats inside or outside. However, after standing around in the Sun for about five minutes, the d*mn-ol' clouds came in and there was a very light rain coming down ("Here's another fine mist you've gotten me into, Stanley!") and I decided that it was best just to eat inside. This turned out to be a very good decision, as about fifteen minutes into eating my breakfast, the rain started coming down much harder ~ not exactly a downpour, but definitely too much wetness to be sitting outside comfortably. Unlike most other times that I had eaten there, Chloe♥s Cafe only completely filled up after about one half-hour and there was no line waiting outside for a change. If you have ever seen how small the inside restaurant seating-space is, you would know this was very unusual.
For my cheesy comestibles choice, I went with the Feta, of course, Mr. Wensleydale. (Now, if I had really wanted to ruin this "Scramble", I would have opted for the awful choice of cream cheese; which is probably the "cheese of choice" for those kind of people that actually like "the vile weed".) I know I shoulda-mighta-coulda ordered this without "the vile weed", but I figured (correctly) that the Feta, dill, etc. (plus any hot sauce I would use on top) would counter-balance the "the vile weed" vileness. I suppose it could still have been considered a "Garden Scramble" with just dill, tomato, red onion, and carrot in it, but who am I to question which seasonal vegetables might be available from Chloe♥s"Garden"? Luckily, there was not an inordinate (or "there was an ordinate"?) amount of "the vile weed" in the "Scramble" mess; and those which were in it, were small enough pieces, at least. This turned out to be not that different from the "Special (Garden) Scramble" that I had on my last visit there (just substitute the d*mn "the vile weed" with spinach [Please!] and the dill with cilantro). I optioned for the homefries as my side-choice, not only because their version are very good, but because any fool (even this fool) knows that homefries >>>>>> a cuppa fruit any day! Chloe♥s Cafe has just Tapatío®Salsa Picante Hot Sauce on the tables for condimentary supplementation. I used some of my own Old St. Augustine Snake Bite Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on top of the "Scramble" (and especially in those places where I could see any of "the vile weed" peeking out its ugly green mug) and some Palo AltoFire FightersXXX GhostPepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the pile o' potatoes. I had skipped any Coffee with the breakfast meal because I know that I have a lot of Coffee at home that I am trying to make a dent in. (Have you ever tried denting a bag of Coffee?) To enjoy while typing (keyboarding, whatever) up today's 'blog-entry, I brewed me uppa (or, more correctly, dripped me downa) a cuppa Bettys Java KalibaruSingle OriginCoffee (Thanks, Greg & Cindy! [these two are in no way related to the above hot sauce-gifters]). I do not think that I have ever had this particular blend from Bettys before. Needless to say, it was another very good Coffee output from a truly great British Tea Room joint. (See, when it comes to boiling anything, the British are masters at it.) https://www.bettys.co.uk/java-kalibaru-single-origin-coffee Glen Bacon Scale Rating: "Garden Scramble" ~ 6.5 (no GBS Rating points were deducted for the inclusion of "the vile weed"; I would probably have deducted 0.1 points, but then added 0.2 points for the Feta choice, so I figured it was not really necessary); Bettys Java KalibaruSingle OriginCoffee ~ 7.3 ___________________
1. ¿Qué? (Interestingly enough, this article was from exactly six years ago today.) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/magazine/06lives-t.html?_r=1 I absolutely love that story. It gets me every time. So, don't be a tire iron, be a tamale... and this weekend (or whenever the feeling takes you) pay-it-forward... or bugger off!
http://www.pomelosf.com/ Place: pomelo ~ REFRESHINGLY GLOBAL Location: 1793 church street (at 30th street) Hours: "global brunch": saturday and sunday at 10:00am Meal: makena (maui) ~ crunchy french toast – banana rum-stuffed pain de mie dipped in mascarpone egg batter and rolled in corn flakes, with roasted macadamias and warm coconut syrup; a side of house potatoes (they don't specify which country the house is in, though); a complimentary (and complementary) mini-muffin ~ today's was a strawberry-rhubarb; and a cuppa (and 1-1/2 refillas) Mr. Espresso® (I didn't ask which specific roast/blend it was) http://mrespresso.com/
(Because everyone knows that the Swedish word for "pomelo" is "norgren"[1][2]... ) It's been a few years since I last went to pomelo (see last 'blog-entry from November 15th, 2014), so I figured it was time for a return visit. At one time (back when the place was known as Valentine's), this restaurant was in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation. I DFA'd them several years back due to the distance and time to get "all the way over" to the far end of Noe Valley. This DFA-manship was not in any way due to the quality or quantity of items from which to choose. They still serve great food and have many choices for stupid vegetarians and those that partake of the dead, decaying animal-flesh alike. Some of the other global destinations that I was thinking about this morning were: monte cristo (italy) ~ polenta sandwich with prosciutto, mozzarella, sun dried tomato and basil, pan fried in olive oil, served with a balsamic reduction, two eggs your way and seasonal greens (of course, I would have had to ottantasei la carne maiale morto in decomposizione); bern (switzerland) ~ swiss rösti – crispy grated potato with bacon, onion and gruyère cheese, topped with one egg sunny side up, butter lettuce and cherry tomato salad (I don't know if I could have ordered this ohne den toten und abklingende Schweines Hintern; I didn't really ask); masantol (philippines) ~ filipino style spicy sizzling tofu with chili peppers, garlic, onion, soy sauce and lemon (don't judge me, I have had much stranger stuff for breakfast before); lop buri (thailand) ~ ไขย่ ดไส khai yat sai - thai style stuffed omelet with minced pork, tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro, thai basil, thai chilies, served with lime-garlic-chili sauce (again, I would have ordered this โดยไม่ต้องเนื้อหมูตาย; 555!); otsu (japan) ~ cold buckwheat noodle salad with cucumber, scallion, cilantro & a spicy soy, ginger & sesame dressing, topped with pan sautéed tofu;
or pomelo (apparently this poor little salad has no homeland) ~ butter lettuce, baby arugula, roasted sweet pepper, grilled peach, gorgonzola, large herb mustard vinaigrette.
I mainly went with this breakfastary destination because I have never been to Hawai'i (or hawai'i)[3]. I suppose that I have also never been to the Philippines (or the philippines), Thailand (or thailand), or Japan (or japan), but I felt like having French toast (or french Toast) this morning. This turned out to be rather smallish in stature, but, thankfully, it was LARGE in flavour. I am glad I had ordered the side o' potatoes; it probably wouldn't have been enough even for my appetite otherwise. I really liked the coconut cream sauce/syrup and there was a lot of it to go around ~ literally, it was surrounding the pieces of French toast (or french Toast) like little archipelagos of tastiness. There was lots of Macadamia nuts all over the mess, too; a lot of places tend to go very cheap with the amount used of these "nuts"[4]. Now I can't be sure, but it seemed to me that the roasted Macadamias may have also been salted, which gave the dish a nice salty-sweet twist to it. While this may not have been Baker Street Bistro quality Pain Perdu, it was definitely very tasty to me ~ cornflakes, bananas, coconut cream-syrup, and Macamadamia nuts... what's not to like?! I ended up taking the surplus (and superfluous) mint leaves-sprig out of the top of one of the French toast (or french Toast) squares and added it into my cuppa (à la what I normally do at Baker Street Bistro or what you might find at Philz Coffee).
I like the selection that pomelo offers for condimentary supplementation: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (three types: Original Red Sauce, Green Jalapeño Sauce, and Chipotle Sauce); Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original); and El Yucateco®Hot Sauce Salsa Picante de Chile Habanero (the red kind). However, I had brought a few of my own hot sauces with me and went with some Marie Sharp's Grapefruit Pulp Habanero Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on half of the potatoes and some Dragon BreathGarlic Hot Sauce (Thanks again, Mom!) on the other half of the potatoes. (Here is where I would have liked to have stated that I brought along the Marie Sharp's as a planned breakfastary juxtaselection for the whole "pomelo" thing, but it was actually just a serendipitous supplementary turn of events.) I don't know if it is globally refreshing or not (this morning was a rather chilly and wet, foggy morning), but there was the same little Chihuahua (¿la chihuahuaita?)[5] from a few visits back waiting patiently outside while her stupid human fed his belly and sat inside the warm, dry joint... Glen Bacon Scale Rating: makena ~ 7.4 ___________________ 1. Really? No one actually bought that stupid Cliff Clavinism, did they? Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day: (part a) The actual word for "pomelo" in Swedish is "pomelo" (simply pronounced as "pom-MELLO" ~ see, sometimes this cunning linguistic stuff ain't always raket vetenskap). (part b) The word for "grapefruit" in Swedish is "grapefrukt" (simply pronounced as "GRAPE-frookt" ~ and sometimes it ain't even hjärnoperation, too). 2. If you have never heard of Daniel Norgren and enjoyed these two simple songs that I have provided this morning, you should check out some more of his stuff on EweToobor check out his official-type web-site thing: http://www.superpumarecords.com/danielnorgren/ 3. I have been to 48 other of these here Yoo-nited States. I have never been to Hawai'i (or hawai'i) or North Dakota (or north dakota). Some day I hope to get to Hawai'i (or hawai'i), though. 4. Botanically-speaking (I don't remember "Botanical" being one of the languages taught at DLI), Macadamia nuts are not really a "nut", but are the kernel of the fruit from the Macadamia trees. Additionally, coconuts are not actual "nuts" either. (However, true "nuts" can be found all over Washington, D.C. during this Presidential Harvest Season.) 5. Speaking of dogs, Macadamias are toxic to dogs. Ingestion may result in macadamia toxicity marked by weakness and hind limb paralysis with the inability to stand, occurring within 12 hours of ingestion. Depending on the quantity ingested and size of the dog, symptoms may also include muscle tremors, joint pain and severe abdominal pain. In high doses of toxin, opiate medication may be required for symptom relief until the toxic effects diminish, with full recovery usually within 24 to 48 hours. Always be careful what you feed your K-9 friends, folks. Luckily, "the vile weed" has not been proven to be harmful to dogs...
