(Pour peas?) As much as I like peas (and don't even get me started on how tasty snow pea shoots/greens/tips[1] are), somehow, I really do not think these should ever be made into a morning breakfast drink... The other day I noticed a new(-ish) product in the non-dairy milk refrigerated section at my local grocery store (ripple™Unsweetened Original Nutritious Pea Milk) and figured it would be interesting to try another, different non-dairy milk product (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, February 13th, 2016) for a change. It was on sale and was just a little cheaper (it normally is priced about twice what actual bovine milk would be for an equivalent size) than the brand of good almondmilk that I have normally been buying (CalifiaFarms®UnsweetenedPure Almondmilk), so I figured it had to be somewhat good. Unfortunately, it failed miserably on both the "on cold cereal in the morning" and the "tall glassa with cookies" tests. (I do not bake, so I really can not say how it would work in those kind of recipes.) The flavour just was not very good. It was not completely horrible, but I just could not get used to the taste. They also offer this in Chocolate and Vanilla flavours; however, I can not see how that would be an improvement, but more of an insult to both Chocolate and Vaniller. I probably should have known better. I have had Pea Ice Cream before (at The Ice Cream Bar[2] in Cole Valley/the Haight) and it was one of the stranger flavours that I was really not that fond of. So, unless you happen to be either lactose-intolerant and/or a Vegan that is also allergic to tree nuts (even though, technically, almonds are not really a nut), coconut, and/or soy products (and are already acutely aware of how truly vile hempmilk is), I do not think that I could honestly recommend this particular non-dairy milk product in good faith (or even in bad faith to those smarmy Veganite-types). And I don't care what that other famous part-time vegetarian, John Lennon, once sang, do not ever "Give Peas a Chance"! Glen Bacon Scale Rating: ripple™Unsweetened Original Nutritious Pea Milk ~ 5.2 (and that is with a verrrry generous GBS Rating there) (Whereas: 100% organic Bovine Milk ~ 8.3; Almondmilk ~ 7.0 - 8.2 [depending on the brand and/or flavour]; Coconutmilk ~ 7.0; Hazelnutmilk ~ 6.9; Cashewmilk ~ 6.8; Flaxmilk ~ 6.7; Ricemilk ~ 6.5; Soymilk ~ 5.8; Hempmilk ~ 5.0 [ugggh! and I am only including it here on the list with the rest of these because I did try it... once... never again]) ___________________
Richmond (District) Coffeehouses; #22 (Why would anyone ever want to say "toy boat" ten times fast, anyway?)
(No official web-site.) Place: Toy Boat Dessert Cafe Location: 401 Clement Street (on the corner of 5th Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-7505 Hours: open at 8:30am every day Meal: Breakfast Burrito ~ two eggs with Jack cheese (they actually offered me a choice of cheese, but I figured [correctly, of course] that Monterey Jack would be the most appropriate of cheeses in this meal), tomato, cucumber, sweet red onion, peperonicini [ sic ][1], delicious salsa, wrapped on [ sic, also ] a warm spinach tortilla (where you also have a choice of whole wheat tortilla); a scoop of Double Rainbow®Hazelnut Truffle Latte for breakfastary dessert (hey, I had to get something dessert-like; it is right there in their name, after all); and a (16 oz) cuppa Peerless Coffee & Tea®Hawai'ian Golden Kona http://www.doublerainbow.com/dr/products/ice_cream/hazelnut_truffle_latte http://www.peerlesscoffee.com/product/all-coffee/hawaiian-golden-kona-blend/
Finishing up the last few spots along Clement Street in my Richmond (District) Coffeehousesseries, the next stop was Toy Boat Dessert Cafe this morning. This leaves just Cumaica Coffee remaining on Clement Street to visit now. Their menu states that Toy Boat Dessert Cafe is "Family Owned & Operated Since 1982". I knew that they had been around at least since I moved to the neighborhood in 1986, anyway. I have stopped in many times before for lunch, a quick snack, Ice Cream, or to purchase toys/gifts (more on that later), but this was my first breakfastary visit there. There are just eight small round tables that can seat two to four people and two small booths along the back wall that can seat two to four, too. The best choice for a standard breakfast (well, "standard" if you live in San Francisco or California, I suppose) was the selection with which I went. (I am sorry, but "... the selection I went with." just sounds a little smoother to me. Sometimes, these d*mn grammarians just p*ss me off.) Otherwise, they mainly have bagel dishes from which to choose ("...to choose from", dammit!). Of course, their bagelry options are pretty decent ones. They also offer a number of sandwiches and wraps that could probably be substituted for a breakfast meal. I did like the sound of the Avocado & Veggie Wrap ~ a spinach tortilla, fresh avocado (that would be the first part of the wrap's name, I assume), tomato, cucumber, sweet red onion, organic salad mix, peperocini [ sic, with a different mispelink here even] (these last five ingredients being the "& Veggie" portion of the name, most likely), Jack cheese, and honey mustard dressing. Also available for stupid vegetarian-types, Hummus & Swiss Wrap. Not really one for the stupid vegetarians, but I did like the sound/looks of Chicken Gorgonzola Wrap ~ grilled chicken breast, Gorgonzola cheese, fresh avocado, tomato, sweet red onion, organic salad mix, mayo, on a spinach tortilla (which I could always have ordered without the dead, decaying poultry stuff and also without the vile white goop junk. Who-the-heck puts mayo in with Gorgonzola cheese?! That should be a Capital Offense. I know it offends me capitally). All wraps come with a side of pickle, chips, or potato salad.
I got the burrito with avocado (fresh sliced and plentiful inside) added (to "kick it up a notch" ~ which is how they have it on their menu; I am not sure if Emeril Lagreasee is aware of this blatant usurpage of his catch-phrase or not). Like many little places with no real kitchen of which to speak, they had to nookularise the eggs (not scramble them). I did like the added (sliced and chopped) peperoncini (or "peperonicini" or "peperocini", take your pick... or pickini); I wasn't quite sure how these would pair with the rest of the ingredients, but they went very well with all.
They offer about twenty different flavours of Double Rainbow® from which to choose; of which, there are even a few choices (I think I saw three today) for stupid Vegans. I made sure to try a sample-spoonful of the Sea-Salted Chocolate Caramel Truffle (it was very good and would have been my first choice, but I had already ordered my Ice Cream before seeing that one in the display case/freezer-thing), too. They have three different carafes of Coffee at the front counter/cash register area from which to serve yourself. The other two offerings this morning were: Organic Sumatra and Dark Guatemala. I didn't really need a refilla this morning, but there is only an additional 40¢ charge if you want to try a different roast/blend. I didn't notice (nor bother to ask) what Toy Boat Dessert Cafe might have to offer in the way of condimentary supplements. I had come prepared with the last two bottles of my newest hot sauces in my collection (Thanks again, Mom!) and used some Dancing Dragon Cayene Pepper Sauce on half of the burrito and some Golden Pagoda Jalapeño Hot Sauce on the other half. Neither of these were extremely espicy, so I could go pretty heavily-handed with both of them.
(Just in case anyone was wondering where Bill Belichick was spending this Super Bowl Sunday.) The food is good here (and Ice Cream is always worth a return trip), but the real attraction to this cool little neighborhoody joint is all the cool toys that they have on display (most of which are collectibles and are for sale). There is even a working olde-timey mechanical horse for the kiddies to ride. (Sorry, there is a sign specifically stating that adults shouldn't sit on the horse.)
(Now how did that BSTRONG baseball cap get there?!) For the PEZ®[2] enthusiasts (and Star Wars and Disney geeks alike) out there, there are dispensers of all sorts (Is the plural of PEZ®, PEZ's®?) displayed along the front counter, in the front window, and in a large display case over the Ice Cream area.
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Breakfast Burrito ~ 6.4; Hazelnut Truffle Latte ~ 6.6; multitude of way-cool toys ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, Nummer eins: "Peperoni" in German actually means "chillies" or "peperoncini". How do I know this? Just ask my old buddy from (what was still at the time West) Berlin, Doug Depraved. He was very surprised when he figured he was ordering a nice meatatarian-style Pizza with lots of 'merican peperoni on it and it came out covered with peperoncini instead. (How do you say "D'oh!" in German?) 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, Nummer zwei: The name PEZ® was derived from the German word for "peppermint" ~ "PfeffErminZ". https://www.pez.com/ There is even a local museum dedicated to PEZ®. I have yet to get down there, but one of these day... http://www.burlingamepezmuseum.com/
Do civil rights-minded Vegans have to celebrate Almond-MLK Day?
http://marketandrye.net/ Place: Market & Rye Location: 300 De Haro[1] Street (on the corner of 16th Street) Hours: open daily at 8:00am Meal: Baked Eggs ~ charredtomato sauce, crispy polenta, kale, goat cheese, and basil pesto; a side of Breakfast Potatoes (homefries); and a cuppa (but just one refilla ~ I didn't wanna be up all day) Mr. Espresso® (don't know/didn't ask which blend/roast) http://mrespresso.com/ It's not often that I get to do a three-fer breakfast weekend, but thanks to having today off (Thanks, Marty!), I had the chance to get back to Market & Rye (see previous 'blog-entry from February 16th, 2014). This is a great spot (if not a bit on "the other side of town"-ish; unfortunately, their West Portal location has been closed for about a year or so now; that was much easier to get to for me) in which to break one's fast. There are still a few more interesting-sounding dishes (for both those that partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh and stupid vegetarians ~ or civil rights-minded Vegans, too) that I do want to get back and try one of these days (of course, that probably means in another two years or so). If I had been in a "Sweet"-er mood this morning, this would have definitely been my choice: Custard Battered French Toast ~ house-made sweet dough bread, caramel pears, pomegranates, and spiced pear butter. Otherwise, my "Savoury" back-up plan was going to be Fall Veggie Benedict ~ poached eggs, roasted tomato, kale, roasted delicata squash[2], Hollandaise, pesto, Parmesan, and house-made English muffin.
Ha! It pays to eat locally sometimes (or, at least, it costs 20% less). Because it happened to be a Monday (Thanks again, Marty!), I got their 20% discount LOCAL LOVE. (I had to ask the counter-server guy if it still applied to me because I thought this might have been mislabeled and only applied to low-calorie dishes.) So that saved me about $3.00 right there (because of which, I am claiming the side o' potatoes were a freebie now). If I did have one minor complaint (well, okay I do have one minor complaint) this morning, it would be that most of their tables are a bit too high (or, perhaps, their chairs are a bit too low). These all seemed about 3-6" too high (or the chairs were 3-6" too low). Maybe that is just 20% higher than non-local tables?!
I liked this dish a lot. So that makes three-for-three now there (and in Baseball terms, I think that is called "Batting .300"... or something like that). I would have rather had the polenta sticks on the side and not already sitting half-submerged in the red gravy; that way I could have used them to better advantage with which to sop up more of the tomato sauce (which was very tasty on its own and even had a little speziatura to it). Since my visit there two years ago, they have changed their potatoes from fingerling to standard (white or red) potatoes, which is still okay with me, but I liked the originality of the fingerling choice. (Besides, these were a freebie today, anyway.) After I had already finished eating, I saw that a guy at another table had ordered a side of Crispy Brussels(and coodoes to them as they even had this spelded kerrectly, unlike so many other restorants) Sprouts (lemon, Calabrian chili[3], and Parmesan). Had I known that I could order those as a breakfastary side, it would have been a forgone conclusion that I would have forewent the side of potatoes (as good as they were, I can normally get potato sides at most places for breakfast). Knowing from my past two visits that Market & Rye has a pretty decent selection for condimentary supplementation, I didn't even bother bringing any of my own hot sauces with me this morning. They had less variety from which to choose than in the past, but there were still probably eight to ten different types. I used some La Victoria®Green Taco Sauce Mild on half of the potatoes and some El Yucateco®Hot Sauce Salsa Picante de Chile Habanero (the red version) on the other half of the potatoes. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Baked Eggs ~ 6.8 ___________________ 1. In case you were wondering just who the heck some of these streets are named after in San Francisco: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Haro (I am not sure who 16th Street was named after, though. Maybe Joe Montana?) 2. Yeah, I had no idea what this was and had to look it up, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicata_squash 3. Also known as peperoncino (singular) or peperoncini (plural): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peperoncino
http://www.sparrowbarandkitchen.com/ Place: Sparrow Bar & Kitchen Location: 1640 Haight Street (between Clayton and Cole Streets) Hours: open for breakfast Tuesday - Friday at 10:00am; open for "Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 10:00am Meal: Quinoa Cake ~ spiced Brussel [ sic ] sprouts, Romesco[1], garden herbs; a side of Fried Cauliflower ~ sage and garlic; and a cuppa (or would that be a "pressa" ~ as this came in a 12oz French press pot) Sightglass CoffeeBlueboon Blend https://www.sightglasscoffee.com/coffees/blends/blueboon
(Just as an exalted lark[2], I am using this song today. Besides, I have already used "Maybe Sparrow" by Neko Case, "Lark" by Linda Lewis, "Blackbird" by the Beatles, and "Black Vultures" [Twice now?] by Daniel Norgren. There really aren't that many good "bird" songs left, anyway.) I went back to Sparrow Bar & Kitchen (see previous 'blog-entry from May 3rd, 2014) for "Brunch" this morning. Other than the use of that snooty early morning meal nomenclature and that they don't open until 10:00am, I like the food and location of this place. I sat outside in the backyard patio/garden area once again. They had several of those tall gas-lit standing heater things going, but I made sure to sit in the corner as far away from them as possible. What is the point of eating outside if you have to be warmed by some kinda contraption? However, I did keep my jacket on, all the same; I am not an idiot, after all. They have a pretty decent selection (even if it is called "Brunch" on the weekends) of items from which to choose (for both stupid vegetarian-types and those that partake of the dead, decaying animal flesh). The menu changes seasonally and some of the other meals that I was leaning toward were: (from the Savory section) French Omelette (Brie and Prosciutto with vanilla bean poached apple salad; the salad thing sounded interesting, but I would have nixed the Italian ham-stuff, of course); Huevos Rancheros (salsa verde, Iacopi [Farms][3] gigante beans, house hot sauce, red pepper crema, corn salsa); Spring Soft Scramble (brown button mushrooms, oven dried tomato, basil, & Humboldt Fog[4]; I didn't have the heart to tell them that "Spring" was six months ago); or Cheddar Grits (grilled broccoli rabe, poached egg, and paprika; I was originally going to get this one, but was informed by the friendly, attentive waitress/server-lady person, Chelsea, that it was a larger dish, and I may not have been able to order the Fried Cauliflower as a side, and I really wanted to try those). (or from the Sweet section) Mini Souffle Pancakes (Bartlett pear compote and vanilla bean whipped cream; I will definitely have to get back there again to try this one ~ insert Homer Simpson-ish moaning/drooling here) or French Toast (hazelnut Chocolate, caramelized banana, and pure maple syrup; and while this may not be as Homer Simpson-ish moaning/drooling-inducing, it sounded pretty darn tasty, too).
The Quinoa Cake was a nice idea (and probably way too healthy for me). It had lots of roasted Brussels (please note: correct spelling) sprouts on it. The Romesco sauce was pretty nice, too. They used to offer this dish with a poached egg on top; I think they stopped doing that to make this a 100% Vegan-option. I liked the Fried Cauliflower well enough, but I would have liked to have seen (and tasted) more garlic and sage in it. There is no such thing as "too much garlic" in my book. And unlike David Lindley's hair, this was not "way too greasy" in the least, but I think that if they had roasted the cauliflower instead this would have been even better still. This was a pretty good-sized portion and probably would have been too much food for me if I had ordered the Cheddar Grits. (Thanks for the tip, Chelsea! Hey, wait... aren't I supposed to be tipping her?) The cuppa was good, but I have had better roasts/blends from Sightglass Coffeebefore. This was a bit on the weak side for my tastes. It was either a mild blend or possibly there was not enough Coffee grounds in the French press to begin with. (And, yes, I am fully aware that one should never a sentence end a preposition with. However, "... there was not enough Coffee grounds in the French press with which to begin." just sounded even more awkward.) I didn't bother to ask this morning, but from my last visit there, I had noted that Sparrow had Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and some form of a Sriracha sauce (probably Huy Fong Foods Inc.) for condimentary supplementation. Unlike Wednesday morning's breakfastary sojourn, I had come prepared with a few of my own hot sauces. I used a little Pope's Whiskey River Hot Sauce (Thanks, Amy and Chef Joe!) on the Quinoa Cake dish and the last of my Fairhope Favorites, Inc. Moonshine Hot Sauce XXX (Thanks, Phyll!) on the fried cauliflower (and because garlic is one of the ingredients in it, it aided a bit in the lack of garlic provided by the restaurant). (Not Necessarily) the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude I had parked over on Cole Street on the northern side of the Panhandle and walked over to Haight Street hoping to espy some of the Wild Parrots of San Francisco in the tall Eucalyptus trees along the way. Unfortunately, I didn't see any of the little red-and-green chatterboxes, but I did see a small murderous bunch of Crows[5] enjoying their own breakfast on the ground (I am pretty sure they were Crows, and not Ravens, because Ravens don't usually congregate in groups of more than six at most ~ besides, the only murderous Raven is retired and now works for ESPN). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Quinoa Cake ~ 6.6; Fried Cauliflower ~ 6.7; Sightglass CoffeeBlueboon Blend ~ 6.5 ___________________ 1. "Hey, Brian, just what the heck is 'Romesco'?" Well, it ain't some kinda despotic Romanian dictator, if that was what you were thinking. Sometimes it is just simpler to cheat and use a WikipediA link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romesco 2. All of two people may get that awful pun. For what it is worth, the Term of Venery for a group/flock of Sparrows is called "a host". 3. http://www.cuesa.org/seller/iacopi-farms 4. http://www.cypressgrovechevre.com/our-cheese/soft-ripened-cheeses/humboldt-fog-grande.html#.VketB3arSM8 5. See stupid footnote #2 above.
"If you are ever mugged by a couple of clowns, don't hesitate… go for the juggler." ~ Phineas Taylor Barnum
(No official web-site.) Place: Eats Location: 50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000 Hours: open every day of the week at 8:00am Meal: Chilaquiles ~ (v) fried tortillas [ sic ] chips, black beans, tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, scrambled eggs, ricotta salata[1], sour cream, cilantro; and a glassa Fresh Strawberry Lemonade
(Again, like yesterday, there really is no reason for today's EweToobular songs; I just like Sarah Borges.) Luckily, I was not the first one in line this morning for breakfast at Eats (see previous 'blog-entry from April 26th, 2015), so there was little chance of a repeat attack like yesterday from anyone on the sidewalk while waiting to be seated ~ there was one suspicious-looking Golden Retriever (who was waiting patiently outside while his humans stuffed their faces inside... without him). Besides, the local street-population/homeless situation in the Richmond may total all of three or four people tops, and I already know a few of them by name. Having eaten at Eats so many times now, there are only a few items (that are stupid (v)egetarian-friendly) left on their menu that I haven't had yet. There are still Huevos Rancheros ((v) fresh tomato salsa, beans, over easy eggs, pepper Jack, avocado, sour cream) or So Happy Hotcake ((v) lemon poppyseed pancake, strawberry compote, sour cream whip, balsamic reduction, powdered sugar).
As I have stated before, much like Tiramisù, the formula for Chilaquiles (see specific 'blog-entry from December 12th, 2013) can vary from restaurant-to-restaurant (and family-to-family). You won't see it presented the same way in different places usually. Today's version was something like a plate of breakfast nachos. I am used to this dish with more (red) sauce all over the top. This was still a great dish and they make a very good tomatillo salsa (with a nice little kick to it, too). Before ordering, I asked the friendly, pretty waitress/server-lady (who I later found out from the guy sitting next to me was actually the friendly, pretty manager-lady; apparently they have kids in the same middle school class) if there would be too much food to also order a side of their Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes. She told me to hold off ordering until I saw the size of the dish. She was right, but their Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes really are great, and if that was all they had on their menu, it would still be worth a return trip a few times a year. Since my last visit, it looks like Eats has added a few more hot sauces to its condimentary supplements repertoire. In addition to the San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce [Original Red], Cholula®Hot Sauce, and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce), they now offer three types of El Yucateco®: Red Habanero Hot Sauce, Green Habanero Hot Sauce, and XXXtra Hot SauceSalsa Kutbil-ik®. I had come prepared with a couple of my own bottles of hot sauces; and, coincidentally enough, one of which was my own bottle of El Yucateco®XXXtra Hot SauceSalsa Kutbil-ik®. I ended up using some of their XXXtra Hot SauceSalsa Kutbil-ik® on top of the pile. I later found out that was a mistake, as their tomatillo salsa was more than picante and flavourous enough all on its own merits. The friendly, pretty manager-lady saw my other bottle of Blair'sAfterDeathsaucewith Liquid Fire and asked to try some. I warned her ahead of time (as she was going to pour it on some potatoes) to try just a toothpick's taste first, as it is one of those stupidly excessive hot sauces (which I had also found out the hard way after pouring some ~ too much ~ on my own potatoes the first time I ever tried it. Thanks a lot, Sean!). Mind you, I don't mind being responsible for the accidental death of some Korean waiter-guy, but I didn't want to be (ir)responsible for the hospitalization of any friendly, pretty manager-ladies. Plus, after I had finished eating, I noticed that Eats now has a new line of "Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup" from a company called Traina™Foods; apparently they are a California-based company that specialises in dried food products and specifically sun-dried tomatoes. I tried a little of both the standard ketchup and also some of the Hot Sriracha ketchup. They were both pretty good; the sun-dried tomatoes make all the difference. I happened to mention to the friendly, pretty manager-lady that they were really very good and she ended up giving me a brand new bottle of the Hot Sriracha ketchup to take home. http://www.trainafoods.com/resources-recipes/sriracha-press-release-09-2014b Like my last visit to Eats, afterward I took a little stroll through the small Farmers Market that they have on Sunday mornings along Clement Street (between 2nd and 4th Avenues). I stopped at the same fresh-baked goods stall as I did last time and got another Mint-Mojito (Gluten-Free and Vegan) Doughnut for a breakfastary dessert. (I don't know why so many places stress they serve "Gluten-Free" stuff. Do they expect us to pay more for it if they actually charged for the gluten?) If I had known that was the same one I had tried before, I would have gotten one that was explained to me as a Dark Chocolate-Orange (made with Cointreau®in the ganache) doughnut (I don't think that one was "Vegan", though). Moral of today's 'blog-story: A free bottle o' (Sriracha) ketchup is better than a kick in the pants (or pair of sunglasses to the head). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 6.7; Fresh Strawberry Lemonade ~ 6.6; Mint-Mojito doughnut (even if it was both "Gluten-Free" and "Vegan") ~ 6.6 ___________________ 1. Ricotta salata is a pressed, salted, dried, and aged variety of ricotta. It is milky-white and firm, and used for grating or shaving. http://www.cheese.com/ricotta-salata/ (I just love that there is a web-site called "Cheese.com".)
"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.
