Airport Breakfastary Food - 4

San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
(Friday, 05/19/2017) 

http://www.gordonbiersch.com/

http://www.flysfo.com/content/gordon-biersch


Place: Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant

Location: Terminal 3 (near Gate 74), SFO

Hours: daily, 5:00am for breakfast (well, that is according to the official information posted on the Fly SFO web-site, but I know for a fact that they were not open until a little after 6:00am [per the sign at the door and per me being the first idiot in there for the morning])

Meal: Veggie Omelet ~ sautéed mushrooms, spinach, goat cheese, breakfast potatoes and sourdough toast; a tall, cold glassa Maibock[1], which was their Seasonal Selection; and beforehand (while wandering around waiting for the place to finally open) a medium-size cuppa Peet's Coffee Sumatra

http://www.peets.com/coffee/by-region/coffee-shop-by-category-indo-pacific/sumatra.html

("Beer for Breakfast, Brian? D'ja think ya were livin' back in Germany or sumthin'?!" 
Hey! It was after Noon... somewhere... in the middle of the Atlantic, probably. Plus, the barkeep assured me that there is more Vitamin C in a glassa Beer than your standard glassa orange juice[2]... or, perhaps, I misheard him, but still... )

(If you need a hint at today's EweToobular juxtaselection, I have it on good authority that
Air Traffic Controller are huge fans of die deutschen Frühlingsbiere.)


Travelling Back-East last week for a vacation, I had to get up extra early to get to SFO to have breakfast before heading to Boston. The main choices for sit-down sorta joints for (a very early morning) breakfast at Terminal 3 are limited. I was originally thinking about going to Y*nkee Pier® (which was actually open at 5:00am as stated), but as a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, I really didn't want to patronise a place with that kinda name. 
(I actually did like the sound of their Greek Scramble [eggs scrambled with spinach, mushrooms, red onion, Feta, & tapenade]. Maybe next time.)

http://www.y*nkeepier.com/

(Okay, you may actually have to add the "a" in place of the "*" in the above link to get it to work.)

Otherwise, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant only had a couple of other entries for stupid vegetarians. I could have ordered either their French Toast (thick sliced brioche French toast, choice of strawberry, banana/coconut, or blueberry topping) or Breakfast Burrito (scrambled eggs, Cheddar cheese, and bacon [of course, it is a forgone conclusion that I would have forewent the dead, decaying porky stuff] wrapped in a flour tortilla; served with a side of salsa and seasoned breakfast potatoes). 

Abhorrent name of the meal aside, this was a decent enough entry for "airport food" (which is not exactly high praise; this is like being called "prettier than any of the Golden Girls"). This had a good amount of sautéed (baby?) spinach in it at least and I liked their version of homefries. I would have liked a bit more goat cheese in it, though.

The glassa Beer was a pretty large one for that early in the morning. Sadly, I only drank about 3/4 of it. That is still 75% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of Vitamin C, right?!

(Overheard from a stupid patron: "Do you sell Bud Light?" I kid you not. Even if they do sell other Beers [they offer a few national brands in bottles], what kinda idjit orders a Bud Light at a brew-pub?! And who would order one for breakfast, anyway?!)

The only thing that I saw available for condimentary supplementation was Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce). I really didn't feel like using any of that, so I skipped any extra additional flavour for a change.

NFL (with a San Francisco 49ers connection, too) Strange Interlude

Retired NFL Head Coach Mike Shanahan[3] was sitting two tables over from me at the restaurant. I didn't even notice him until he started talking to another table of customers that he had overheard saying they were going to Cancún (the one in Mexico) for their honeymoon. He also happened to be heading to Cancún on vacation himself that morning. I made sure to tell him to give his son best wishes for the upcoming NFL Season, too.


Up next:

Breakfasts in Wareham (the one in Massachusetts, not the much larger market town in Dorset, England).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Veggie Omelet ~ 6.2;
Gordon Biersch Maibock ~ 7.2;
Peet's Coffee Sumatra ~ 7.3;
San Francisco 49ers ~ 5-11 (if they are very lucky this year)

___________________

1. Per our friendly friends at WikipediA (and mainly because I am just too lazy to look it up elsewhere):

"The Maibock* style, also known as Helles Bock or Heller Bock, is a Helles Lager brewed to Bock strength; therefore, still as strong as traditional Bock, but lighter in colour and with more hop presence. It is a fairly recent development compared to other styles of Bock beers, frequently associated with springtime and the month of May. Colour can range from deep gold to light amber with a large, creamy, persistent white head, and moderate to moderately high carbonation, while alcohol content ranges from 6.3% to 7.4% by volume. The flavour is typically less malty than a traditional Bock, and may be drier, hoppier, and more bitter, but still with a relatively low hop flavour, with a mild spicy or peppery quality from the hops, increased carbonation and alcohol content."

*(Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:

"Maibock" translates from German as "May Billy Goat".)

2. Here's a little-known Cliff Clavinistic fact: Potatoes are high in Vitamin C. 

That is not a joke. Potatoes actually possess about a third as much Vitamin C as an orange does. If you don't believe me, just check out the back of a bagga potato chips sometime. However, I really don't think that there is any market in the near future for a glassa potato juice (with or without pulp) with breakfast.

3. If you really need to ask, you probably should stop watching Football altogether, but here is a link, anyway:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/ShanMi0.htm

Gallardo’s ~ Mexican Restaurant

"In the abundance of water 
The fool is thirsty" ~ Bob Marley, Rat Race

http://gallardosmexicanrestaurant.com/


Place: Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant
Location: 3248 18th Street (on the corner of Shotwell Street)
Hours: open every day of the week at 7:00am
Meal: Nopales[1] con Huevo ~ scrambled eggs with cactus, onion, tomato, and bell pepper, served with rice, beans (frijoles refritos), and tortillas; and a large glass of jugo Mixto[2] ~ naranja y zanahoria (it's a Mexican thing; a 50/50 blend of fresh squeezed orange and carrot juices… you can't get blood out of a turnip, but you can squeeze juice out of a carrot, apparently)

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselections are in celebration of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day. I bet you weren't aware of the Hispanic-Celtic connection of Los Lonely Boyos. Plus, I really don't ever need an Irish excuse to play a George Ivan song.)


Volví a Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant para el desayuno (see previous 'blog-entry from April 27th, 2014). I had thought about sitting outside this morning, but it was still just a little bit too cool and breezy. So I did the next best thing, I sat inside in front of one of the open windows and enjoyed a nice, fresh, cool breeze at my back, which was tempered by the indoor temperature (the breeze was tempered, not my back). I really like the gold and deep red (maroon-ish) interior of the joint, all with matching tablecloths.

Go 49ers!

There are several other good ideas from which to choose off their menu: Huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and bell pepper; not much different than what I ordered, anyway); Huevos Rancheros (fried eggs on a tortilla topped with salsa ranchera and Monterey Jack cheese; I probably shoulda had this in comparison to yesterday's version of the dish); Torta de Huevo (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and bell pepper cooked in a crêpe style); or Papas[3] con Huevo (scrambled eggs with potato, onion, tomato, and bell pepper). They also have several omelette dishes from which to choose, just to name a few: Chorizo Omelette (filled with melted cheese and Mexican sausage); Spanish Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, and bell pepper); Spinach Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, bell pepper, and spinach); Nopales Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, bell pepper, and cactus; basically the same dish that I got this morning, but in omelette form); or (the probably forgettable ~ I kid you not) Banana Omelette (filled with melted cheese and, yes, banana; however, even I am not brave enough to try that one).

I have also seen this dish called "Huevos con Nopales" at other Mexican restaurants (you say papas o patatas… I say nopales…). Nopales are hard to explain if you have never had them, I just tell people they are somewhat the taste and texture of boiled green beans. I liked how all of the vegetables (including the nopales) were nicely charred/grilled and then incorporated into the scramble mess. I probably should have also asked for one or two fresh jalapeños diced up and thrown into the mix, too.

One of the highlights of eating at many family-owned Mexican restaurants is that they always make their own warm, fresh, homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) corn tortillas. Today I had three in my tortilla basket thing (there is probably an actual Mexican word for a tortilla warmer/holder, and one of these days I might remember to ask), but you can always ask for more tortillas if you like.

For condimentary supplements, I just used some of their own homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) salsa roja all over the scramble mess. I ended up using about a half of the small jar on the table. It really wasn't that picante, but it had un sabor muy buen. Bringing any of my own hot sauces to a Mexican restaurant would be like bringing carbones a Castillonuevo…

Pay It Forward Weekend… or bugger off! ~ Part V (cont.)

For today's "pay it forward" effort, I am just making a shameless plug for all of the 'blogs that I am currently following. I would like to especially point out the newest one called "I Am a Stray/Thoughts from A Rambling Psyche" by a young college student named Dom. 

(see My Blog List in the right column here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Nopales con Huevos ~ 6.5


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

"Nopal" and "nopales" come from the Nahuatl word "nohpalli" for the pads of the Opuntia cactus plant. 

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

"Mixto" in Spanish simply means "mixed" (see, sometimes these aren't always cirugía de cohetes o ciencia del cerebro). I was surprised to hear that it is pronounced (and I asked the Mexican waitress-server lady person twice just to make sure) as "MIX-toe" and not "MIKH-toe" with the "x" pronounced like the "x" in "México".

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número tres:

The word for "potato" in Spanish can either be "papa" or "patata".

Gallardo’s Mexican Restaurant

"Don't take life so serious, it ain't nohow permanent." ~ Porky Pine (Walt Kellly)

(No official web-site.)


Place: Gallardo's Mexican Restaurant 
Location: 3248 18th Street (on the corner of Shotwell Street); phonicular contact: (415) 436-9387
Hours: abierto para el desayuno Domingo a Sábado 07 a.m.
Meal: Chilaquiles ~ tortilla bites, eggs scrambled w/cheese (served with rice, beans & tortillas); y una taza de Café Mexicano

(Here are a couple of Mexican-inspired EweToobular video juxtaselections for this peaceful Sunday morning, Señors Los Tres Tenores.)


I went to a brand-new old place for desayno this morning: Gallardo's Mexican Restaurant. They are a family-owned place that had recently re-opened in this location back in October 2013. They used to be just a few blocks away (at 14th and Folsom Streets) in another building in the Mission, but I had never checked them out for desayuno before (big mistake, but I am sure I will rectify this in el futuro). They are now in the same location that Chava's Mexican Restaurant (see last 'blog-entry from August 17th, 2013) used to be in before they had a fire back in 2002 and moved to their new location over on Mission Street. (The irony is that the San Francisco Fire Department training station is just one block away.) I think the space had been vacant for the past eleven years or so, too. 

There are about fifteen tables with seating for 2-8 people each; there are probably available seating for sixty to seventy people comfortably now. I didn't even notice the décor/colour scheme of the walls and tablecloths until I had almost finished eating. They are burgundy and gold; now, I don't know if that is in deference to the San Francisco 49ers or to the colour of maíz tortillas and their Chilaquiles salsa, which was a nice deep rich red (con mucho sabor también).

The walls are also completely covered with large photos of 30's, 40's, and 50's Mexican movie stars (I think the center of the Mexican film industry was once called Madera de Acebo); unfortunately, none of whom I actually recognized. There may have been some of Cesar Romero (who was actually of Italiano-Cubano descent, but he regularly played Mexican rolls ~ just remember that Charlie Chan was played by a Swedish-American actor for many years; plus, there is no way that Mel Gibson would ever be mistaken for Uilliam Uallas if he were to walk down the streets of Edinburgh ~ more likely he would have rotten Scottish eggs thrown at him); Warner Baxter (while also not un verdadero mexicano, he was best known for his role as Cisco Kid for many years); Lupe Velez (an actual Mexican actress finally); or Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (who, contrary to popular belief, was neither Greek nor Arab).

I really liked the look of their breakfast menu and saw several other good ideas: Nopales con huevo (scrambled eggs with cactus); Huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato & bell peppers); Papas con huevo (scrambled eggs with potato, onion, tomato & bell peppers ~ which are probably served more in the Spanish torta style); and various omelettes from which to choose (because one omelette isn't really much variety).

I mainly ordered the Chilaquiles because it was on the menu and I could. Chilaquiles are usually my touchstone (la piedra de toque) when it comes to desayunos mexicanos (see 'blog-entry specifically about Chilaquiles from December 23rd, 2013). This really was one of the better versions of Chilaquiles that I have had recently. It was very reminiscent of Chava's version ~ coincidentally enough, which I first had in this exact same location over twenty years ago now.

The meal came with three (tres, 3) large, fresh and warm, homemade (casera) corn tortillas. I was even asked if I would like a refill for those, too. Three were more than sufficient for my appetite, and I probably could have sufficed with just two alone.

I like to call this style of Coffee "Café Mexicano" only because I always prepare it like the locals do: con tres azúcares y mucha leche. I have found that the extra sweetness works very well to counterbalance the picanteness of Mexican dishes. You know what they say, "When in Mexico, do like the Italians, Cubans, or Swedish do."

I really have no idea what Gallardo's offered in the way of bottled condimentary supplements, as their own homemade salsa was excellent. It was the chunky kind (not really a pico de gallo) with lots of fresh cilantro (sorry, I don't know the Spanish word for "cilantro") in it, and it packed a decent amount of fuego, too. I did not bother to bring any of my own hot sauces with me this morning ~ because that would be like bringing your own coal (or Brown Ale) with you to Newcastle-upon-Tyne or strawberries to Plant City-upon-92.

Good food, open early (and for desayuno, not "el Bruncho") every day? As that great Mexican actor, Arnold Negrohuevez, once stated: "Estaré de vuellllta!" 


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 7.3; salsa casera ~ 7.5

Nini’s Coffee Shop

A breakfastary roadtrip:
San Mateo, CA

(No official web-site.)


Place: Nini's Coffee Shop 
Location: 1000 N. Idaho Street (at Bayswater Avenue) 
(phonicular contact: 650-348-9578)
Hours: open at 6:30am Monday - Friday; open at 7:30am Saturday & Sunday
Meal: Vegetarian Omelette "Original" ~ Nini's cooks the vegetables, we don't throw them in raw - zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, Jack & Swiss cheese, sour cream & chives; served with homefried potatoes and toast

(It was very sunny out today. So…)


Q: What is better than a nice breakfast with friends in San Mateo?
A: A nice FREE breakfast with friends in San Mateo! (Thanks, Luke!)


Today was the make-up date from last weekend's scheduled breakfastary gathering at Nini's Coffee Shop (see last 'blog-entry from October 17th, 2010). Even with an additional week to rest up and get healthy, there was still just a total of five of us that made it this morning (three or four missed out again). At least the weather was an awesome Bay Area winter day (sorry to all the rest of you that are currently experiencing the full brunt of Al Gore's Global Colding) for the drive down there. Nini's has been a popular local breakfast-lunch joint since 1955. Proof of this was that there were lots of San Francisco 49ers fans there getting a good breakfast before today's Freezer… er, Football game in Green Bay.

Nini's has a very decent selection for breakfasts: Nini's "Traditional" Favorites; Some More Favorite Favorites; Wally's "Country" Oldies; Omelettes, Deluxe Omelettes, or Scrambles; and Hot Cake Specials. Zaria had the Santa Ana (from the Some More category) ~ scrambled eggs with bacon, spinach, cream cheese, olives, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese (this looked really good, and without the dead decaying swine-flesh strips I probably would have liked that, too). Marc had Toby's Omelette (from the weekend specials chalkboard) ~ hot links, Ortega chilies, mushrooms, Jack cheese, sour cream & chives. Steve had Bacon, Avocado, Cheddar cheese, Tomato Omelette (from the Omelettes, etc. category); I am not quite sure what the ingredients were in this one, though. Luke had Hot Cake Special #2 (from the Eponymous category) ~ two hot cakes, two strips bacon, and one egg any style (he chose over medium). So we had a pretty sufficient coverage of the menu.

I especially liked that my meal was called "Vegetarian Omelette", and not "Veggie Omelette" like many other places do; so they got an extra .1 GBS Rating points right there. However, they substituted "the vile weed" for zucchini (without any warning and I only found out about half-way into the omelette ~ so it was too late to ask for a replacement, which I would have probably done); so I am taking away .1 GBS Rating points right there, too. Other than the one "surprise" ingredient, I liked the rest of the omelette just fine, though, Newman! Another really nice thing is that they give you the option of adding bell peppers and onions to your homefries if you want; all of us that had the option made that very wise choice, of course. My choice of toast was sourdough.

For condimentary supplements, Nini's just offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red). I used some of my own Serious Food… Silly Prices Mango Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes and some Hula Girl Chipotle Habanero (Thanks, Jim!) on the omelette. I had transferred some of the Hula Girl to a smaller 2 oz bottle that I had recently emptied[1] so that I would have another option to fit in my new Tabasco® holster (Thanks, Sean!). Zaria also used some of both of these hot sauces and seemed to like the Hula Girl the best.

On my way out of town this morning (well, on my way out of my neighborhood even), I stopped for a cuppa Coffee at Simple Pleasures Cafe (see 'blog-entry from March 15th, 2010) to enjoy on the drive down.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Vegetarian Omelette ~ 6.3; Simple Pleasures Cafe Coffee ~ 7.0


1. Important note: When emptying the remains from a bottle of hot sauce (especially if it is one of those extremely ridiculous "nookular" types), be sure to do so with extreme caution and adequate ventilation. There is a reason why capsaicin or pepper resin is one of the main ingredients in pepper sprays (why it's allowed in a food product, I have no idea).

Airport Breakfastary Food

Part the First

San Francisco International Airport (Wednesday, 09/04/13)

(The connection for today's EweToob video is simple: check the date.)


Of course, anyone that has ever traveled in the past century (or even the 21st Century) knows that you are automatically subjected to having to eat a meal or two at an airport restaurant somewhere along the way ~ some are better than others ~ but they are all always at least 25% more expensive than a comparable non-airport location. Like stupid parklets, there are really no valid explanations or excuses for this.

On my way out of San Francisco last week for an early morning flight to attend the wedding of my niece, Shannon, and newest nephew-in-law(?), Ryan, (Congratulations, Sheesha & Red!), I ate at Andalé[1] Mexican Restaurant (the one in Terminal 3). Andalé is a local Mexican (small) chain restaurant; I think their original restaurant is in Los Gatos[2]. There were a couple of other good restaurant choices in the same terminal dining area, I just liked their menu choices better.

http://andalemexican.com/

There were actually several good options on their menu for breakfast: Huevos Rancheros, Omelette a la Mexicana, and even Chilaquiles Guadalajara Style. However, I felt like a Breakfast Burrito (I'm sure that I looked more like an early-morning ass, though) ~ two scrambled eggs, homemade chorizo, Jack and Cheddar cheeses, refried house Mayocoba beans, and potatoes wrapped in a big flour tortilla, with fresh fruit on the side. I also had a glass (well, plastic cup) of guava (guayaba) agua fresca.

I am not sure how they prepare their Mayocoba refried beans, but they offered black beans instead for my vegetarian version of the burrito (and, of course, sin la carne de cerdo muerto y en descomposición). This was made fresh for me as it was the vegetarian version and not sitting wrapped-up and ready to go like the burritos for the stupid carnivores. Surprisingly, this was really not a bad burrito at all as far as airport food goes. The side of fruit comes in a small plastic cup and was cantaloupe (melón), honeydew melon (melón verde), and grapes (uvas). The guava agua fresca was as good as any in the Mission, too.

For condimentary supplementation Andalé actually makes a few of their own fresh salsas, but they also had two different types of El Yucateco® in bottles ~ Salsa Picante Roja de Chile Habanero and Salsa Picante Verde de Chile Habanero (I have had both in the past and they are pretty good; the green is actually hotter than the red for some reason). I used some of Andalé's own fresh salsa roja on my burrito. It was very good, and only gringo hot. I thought it might have been a chipotle salsa, but the chef-cook guy told me it was just a red Serrano chile salsa.

Afterward I got a cuppa Peet's® Pumpkin Latte at their kiosk at the end of the terminal to drink while I was killing time waiting for my plane and walking around looking at all the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame plaques on display. Just to name a few: Brent Jones (San Francisco 49ers; 2013), Joe Kapp (UC Berkeley/Cal; 2004), Billie Jean King (not quite sure what her connection to the Bay Area is; 2009), Chris Mullin (Golden State Warriors; 2006), Lynn Swann (Serra High School, San Mateo ~ which was the same Bay Area high school that Barry Bonds and Tom Brady went to; 2002), Gaylord Perry (San Francisco Giants; 2009), and Kristi Yamaguchi (born in Hayward, CA; 2004).

http://www.bashof.org/


Part D'oh!

General Edward Lawrence Logan[3] International Airport, Boston, MA (Tuesday, 09/10/13)

No trip to Boston or New England would be complete without stopping at least once at a Dunkin' Donuts® (actually I had some three times during the week). Dunkin' Donuts®  is a national chain, but there are not any yet in the Bay Area (and I am not sure if there are any in Northern California even).

https://www.dunkindonuts.com

There are several shops throughout Logan Airport, but I went to the one before the security checkpoint in Terminal C.

Dunkin' Donuts® has ten breakfast sandwiches from which to choose (which isn't that bad really). I had the Egg White Flatbread - Veggie ~ egg white omelet with a slice of reduced fat Cheddar cheese, served on a multigrain flatbread. I also had to get one of their doughnuts (that is the whole idea of going there, after all); I got a Pumpkin Pie Donut. I finished it all off with a cuppa their coffee (I am not sure which blend/roast it was, probably their standard roast).

The veggie egg white omelette is made with diced green and red peppers, diced green onions, and roasted mushrooms (which I am sure were also diced, Andrew). I liked it well enough; this beats your standard Egg-a-muffin any day, Ronald. 

This doughnut was absolutely disgustingly sweet (in the positive sense of the word); I was not surprised by it as I had one earlier in the week and knew it was just horrible enough for me to like it. The filling is a pumpkin pie buttercreme (this is actually how Dunkin' Donuts® has it spelled), and it is topped with a graham crumb topping. Seasonally, they also make a Pumpkin Donut ~ a standard cake-style doughnut (which I had on one of my other visits during the week) and a Pumpkin Muffin (sadly, which I didn't get around to trying this visit).

Dunkin' Donuts® standard coffee roast/blend is pretty good ~ mild, not too strong; it pairs well with sweet doughnuts and such. The coffee cup had a New England Patriots logo on it ("the Official Coffee of…" Seriously?! Somehow I doubt you will ever see Tim Brody or Bill Bellychuck sipping on one, though).

D'oh! I noticed after I had already eaten that I could have eaten at Jerry Remy's[4] Sports Bar & Grill in the same area at the airport. (Plus, they serve Peet's® coffee at this location.)

http://www.jerryremys.com/index.php/locations.html


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Andalé Breakfast Burrito ~ 6.3; 
Peet's® Pumpkin Latte ~ 6.7; 
Egg White Flatbread (Veggie) ~ 5.5;
Dunkin' Donuts® Coffee ~ 6.0;
Dunkin' Donuts® Pumpkin Pie Donut ~ 6.3


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, número uno:

In case you have never seen a Speedy Gonzalez cartoon when you were a kid, "¡Andalé!" simply means "Come on!" or "Let's go!" in Spanish.

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, número dos:

"Los Gatos" in Spanish means "the Cats". The town of Los Gatos is about an hour due south of San Francisco in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. "The Cats" here references the indigenous cougars, or they were when the town was settled in the early 19th Century.

3. Yeah, who?!

Edward Lawrence Logan was an American officer in the Spanish-American War. Apparently he was a Southie and that is why they renamed Boston Airport in his honour. I guess they couldn't find any respectable residents of East Boston to name it after.

4. Gerald "Jerry/Rem Dawg" Remy was a former Boston Red Sox Second Baseman (1978-1984) and is currently the colour-guy for Red Sox games broadcast on NESN. He was born in Fall Reev, MA.

Baker Street Bistro

"Music to my mouth…"

http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/

(Okay, the first EweToob link is just because the San Francisco 49ers are participating in that famous French Football classic, Le Bol Souper, this afternoon.

The second video is just because I recently ~ as in yesterday [Thanks, Larry! And now you owe me four to five hours of my Saturday night back after listening to just about everything she had on EweToob.] ~ discovered this singer and really like her stuff [her singing ain't so bad, neither]; of which you can be sure that you haven't heard the last from her on this stupid 'blog. This song is a cover of another little, local Massachusetts-based Rock-and/or-Roll band called the Gay Jiles Group, or something like that.)


In keeping with my Breakfastary Rotation workout, encore une fois pour mon petit déjeuner, je suis retourné à Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from November 24th, 2012; which was my 300th 'blog-entry, by the way).

I sat outside again this morning, for as they say on their web-site: "Join us for brunch Saturdays & Sundays from 9:30am to 2:30pm. Dine al fresco on our heated outdoor patio and enjoy the many beautiful days we have here in San Francisco!" Two things to note: 1) they actually open at 9:00am on the weekends for "Brunch", and 2) there was no need to have the artificial, gas heaters on for this beautiful San Francisco Winter morn. (I wonder if Mark Twain ever spent a winter in San Francisco and what he would have to say about it.) They probably need to update their web-site on the "Brunch" menu page, but they have the correct times of operation on the home page. I forgot to ask "Comment dites-vous 'al fresco' en français?"[1]. It was just warm enough (only a little "fresco"-y, I guess) and the Sun was just coming up over the treetops and rooftops as I was sitting down. I even had to keep my sunglasses on the entire time I was eating. It warmed up enough that I almost felt the need to take off my coat (almost); however, no one else was foolish enough to join me outside.

The Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude
When I first sat down to eat, I heard many of my fine-feathered friends nearby, but didn't see any flying overhead. There may be several of them living in the backyard trees in the surrounding neighborhood. After breakfast I walked the one block over to the small grove of Eucalyptus tress in the dog park over by the Presidio Lombard Gate and saw at least ten to twenty of the noisy little bastards flying around and having fun.

Now as this was my first breakfast at Baker Street Bistro this year, I felt it most necessary to order Pain Perdu[2] ~ Two slices of cinnamon French Toast, fresh fruit, strawberry coulis & crème fraîche. I also ordered a side of homefries and a cuppa coffee. Actually, having had this most exquisite version of French Toast the past few times that I had eaten there, I might probably have ordered Oeufs Baker Street instead; however, I had just had another version of Eggs Benedict yesterday. Besides, have I ever told you how good this French Toast truly is?

As can be seen in the above photo, when the nice server-lady brought me my meal, she said "This is music to your mouth…". It took me a few seconds to figure out just what the heck she was talking about, I assumed it was some kinda Frenchy expression that didn't translate very well. I made the cuppa coffee with my traditional sprig of mint added from the Pain Perdu garnish in it (it really freaks them out when they go to pour seconds[3]). Les fruits assortis de la journée: pineapple, cantaloupe, blackberries, watermelon, oranges, and apples.

I simply used a little of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce ~ XX Habanero (Thanks agains, Amys and Brian!) on the potatoes for condimentary supplementation. Even I would not be stupid (or sacrilegious) enough to try some on the Pain Perdu.

As always, the Pain Perdu was truly a euphonious epicurean experience… and Sarah Borges is pretty tasty on the ears, too.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu ~ 8.2 (mais bien sûr); the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del giorno/du jour, numero uno/numéro un:

"Al fresco" simply means in Italian "in the cool/in a cool place", and in French it would probably be "en plain air" or "à l’extérieur".

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer du jour, numéro deux:

As I have stated in the past, and this is just a refresher course to see who has been paying attention (or who hasn't), "Pain Perdu" means "Lost Bread" in French.

A few years ago Baker Street Bistro used to call this plain ol' "French Toast" on their menu. I was eating there one time and the owner was having his breakfast at the next table over. I jokingly asked him if they just called this meal "Toast" in France. He explained to me the whole "Pain Perdu" story. The next time I ate there several months later, they had it as "Pain Perdu" on the menu. I am not saying that I had anything to do with them changing the menu, but they may finally have gotten tired of the same ol' tired joke and figured this was a way to shut up (the other) idiots.

3.  Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, número tres:

While he was refilling my cup of coffee for the third time, I asked the Mexican server-guy how to say "Just a half cup" in Spanish; I think he said it was "la mitad", which just means "half" or "middle". Not that I will ever remember that phrase the next time I only want a "half-cup", but it is good to note for those of you that have any kind of retention.

I wonder if that would make me an "optimista" or "pesimista" cunning linguist?!

Cafe Golo

"I went to a restaurant that serves 'Breakfast any time'. So I ordered French toast during the Renaissance."
~ Steven Wright

(No official website.)

1602 Lombard Street (at Gough Street)

Phonicular contact: (415) 673-4656

("Instant Karma[1]", just add "पानी"?)


For another pleasant, attitude-free breakfast I went back to Cafe Golo (see last 'blog-entry from August 26th, 2012). Miss Peebee was not there this morning, but Jay (co-owner and Head Baker) was there to greet diners. This place may be "tiny" in stature, but it is mighty "big" in flavour (kinda like Miss Peebee and Jay ~ she's tiny and he is big). Plus, it meets all of my 2013 prerequisites: it opens before 10:00am (they open at 8:00am every day of the week, except on Saturdays and Sundays when they open at 8:00am); the food is always fresh and tasty; and, most important of all, they didn't kick me out even before letting me in.

My favourite item on their breakfast menu has to be the Tater Scramble, which was one of my "Best New Finds of 2012", but I wanted to try something different and had the Veggie Omelet ~ eggs, tomatoes (which happens to be a real berry), onions, peppers (another real berry), zucchini (which is really a fruit), and mushrooms ~ (cheese optional); served with country potatoes and choice of toast. I also had a cuppa coffee and a warmed-up Blueberry (another real berry) - Mango (a stone fruit, not a berry, of course) Tart[2] to start. Not to be outdone, I also ordered a Sweet Potato Tart to go, which I will enjoy later today while watching the San Francisco 49ers play the Green Bay Packers (I don't want to sound unfaithful here, but I have picked the Limburgerheads to win tonight in my Football Pool; however, I would be very happy if I was actually wrong).

I went with the "cheese optional" choice and had "optional Cheddar". Now it wasn't stated anywhere on the menu, but they added a minimal amount of "the vile weed" in with the other veggies; however, I can overlook this breakfastary sedition as the rest of the ingredients were all fresh and good. I skipped the toast, as I had more than enough to eat with my tart starter (which I probably should have taken a picture of, but as soon as they brought it out to me I started eating it; it really was that good). As stated before, their country potatoes (That would just be another name for "homefries", Mrs. Huneycutt) are very good and made with both regular and sweet potatoes in it. The coffee was good and bottomless (How come is it that St*rbucks never gives you a free refill of bagels or muffins?).

As for condimentary supplementation, this morning I used some of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce ~ the original version (Thanks agains, Amys and Brian!) on the country potatoes and a little Serious Food… Silly Prices Sweet Heat (Thanks, Cindy and Greg ~ both!) on the omelette (had I been aware that there was going to be any of "the vile weed" in the omelette, I might have used a little more still). Cafe Golo offers a pretty decent selection of hot sauces, mine are just better. I even left some of the PAFFPS for Jay to try; he said he'd use it on his potatoes this morning when he had time to eat breakfast, also. I am trying to push this on as many restaurant owners as possible; it really is so much better than most of the standard available bottled hot sauces.

Go 49ers!!! (Even if I didn't pick 'em.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Veggie Omelet ~ 6.7; Blueberry-Mango Tart ~ 7.0; Sweet Potato Tart ~ 7.2


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

"Karma" comes from Sanskrit, it is the nominative, accusative singular form of "karman", meaning "action, fate, or deed".

Extra added Cliff Clavinism of the day:

Here's a little known fact, the Volkswagen automobile "Karmann Ghia" actually means "Fateful Clarified Butter" in Sanskrit.*

*(I would never make this stuff up. Please check your own damned facts if you don't believe me.)

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer du jour, numéro deux:
 
"Tart" comes from Middle English "tarte", which comes from Middle French "tart" from Old French "tarte", of uncertain origin; compare to Medieval Latin "tarta".

(Hey, sometimes these word origins aren't Rocket Surgery.)