(No official web-site, and I am pretty sure that they will never bother themselves to get one, anyway.) Place: Joe's Coffee Shop Location: 6134 Geary Blvd (between 25th and 26th Avenues); phonicular contact: (415) 668-9382 Hours: open 7:00am Sunday to Saturday Meal: Avocado and Cheese Omelet (with fresh salsa) ~ served with hash browns and toast; and a large glassa orange juice to drink
(Ol' Deckie MacManus must be a d*mn ManU fan!) After what ended up being one h*ckova long hiatus, I finally made a return visit to Joe's Coffee Shop (see last 'blog-entry from Monday, May 7th, 2012[1]). It is not as if this place were so very close (it is well over six blocks away from my apartment building... well, seven to be exact) that I could just stop by whenever I felt like it. Actually, I had been planning on checking them out again for breakfast (I only ride past the d*rn place twice a day, to and from work) again soon, anyway. The "again soon" just happened to be "again today" because my first plan-of-breakfastary-attack was to go back to Royal Ground Coffee (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, August 18th, 2018). However, when I had arrived there just after 8:00am, I was informed that the kitchen help (I think it is just one guy) had not arrived yet this morning (they open at 6:30am and, normally, are supposed to start serving meals by 7:00am). So, luckily, I did have a back-up option (and only a few blocks away to boot [... or not to boot? Is that really a question, Wild Bill?]). I sat at their diner-counter once again because I felt like it. Plus, there are really only a few tables in this small place and I wanted to keep those available for "real" customers. One cool thing was that I got to watch a little Football (of the Britishlander-type; better know to all youse as "Le Soccér") ~ CHE(lsea) v. HUD(dersfield) ~ on the telly behind the counter (which was directly in front of me, anyway). Because they are an olde-timey family-owned diner-type kinda joint, they offer a pretty decent and varied breakfast menu, off which, I suppose, I could have also ordered: Vegetable and Cheese Omelet(tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, and spinach); Mushroom and Cheese Omelet(they did not list the ingredients for this one on their menu for some reason); Three blueberry pancakes with whipped cream;
or Waffle with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Additionally, there is also Joe's Scramble(ground beef, mushrooms, onions, and spinach). However, I got in trouble the last time that I had ordered this dish (which was on my very first visit there for breakfast way back in 2011), because someone (whose name shall remain "Brian") forgot to ask the waitress/server-lady/(probably owner-lady, too) person to omit the dead, decaying grinded-up bovine flesh and they had to remake it all over again from scratch (scratch always tastes much better than dead, decaying grinded-up bovine flesh, anyway). Ooops!
Now here is where if I had known ahead of time that I was going to return to Joe's Coffee Shop, I woulda checked to see what I had ordered on my previous visit and probably have ordered something different this time. Saul Goode! It was almost seven years since I had this omelette and an exact repeat every seven years would not even bother Tom Ewell, I bet. There was really nothing special about this meal. It was just your typical good ol' diner-style omelette made with lots of fresh avocado dices throughout. I am not exactly sure what kinda "cheese" was used in the dish this morning. I think it must have been some queso fresco (it was white and in chunks and did not taste like Feta to me). The last time that I had ordered this omelette, it came with that plain ol' yellow-orange (faux Cheddar-stuff) cheese in it. I think I prefer the u/i white cheesy comestible from today a bit more. For condimentary supplementation, Joe's Coffee Shop had just Crystal®Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce and Huy Fong Foods Inc.Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce on the counter top and tables. I used some (a goodly amount, 'cause this one is only about as hot as your standard Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce - Original Red Sauce) of my own Dragon BreathGarlic Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) mixed in with the hashbrowns and some (a lot less, 'cause'n this one has both Cayenne Chillies and Habanero Chillies in its ingredients) Pepper PalaceGator Bite Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on top of the omelette. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Avocado and Cheese Omelet~ 5.9 Chelsea v. Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger & McCormick ~ (a crushing) 5-Nil[2] ___________________
1. Hmmm??? I am not quite sure why I "took" a sick-day off on a Monday at the beginning of May that year. I think it might have been because I had some friends in town (Hey, Wayne-o and Donna!) and did not feel like "wasting" a day of vacation on the likes of them. (Pffft! It is not like they are really "good friends" of mine; I mean, I had only known them both as a couple for twenty years or so at that time [well, okay, maybe I had also known Wayne-o all on his ownsome for possibly another fourteen-and-a-half years prior, but still... ]). 2. This is not really that surprising. Poor ol' Huddersfield Town are currently the doormat of the Premier League with only two Wins in twenty-five Games thus far. They are kinda like that MLB Team that plays in da Bronx and everyone always seems to steamroll. https://www.premierleague.com/home
Would you bring anthracite with you when visiting that Geordie city upon Tyne?
(No hay sitio-web oficial.) Place: Chava's[1] Mexican Restaurant Location: 2839 Mission Street (between 24th and 25th Streets); phonicular contact: (415) 282-0283 Hours: open every day of the week at 8:00am Meal: Chilaquiles[2] ~ 3 (tres) huevos revuellos, cebolla, tomate, chile verde[3], queso, y tortilla chips; a glassa mango agua fresca to drink with the meal; and, beforehand, a cuppa Ritual Coffee - Gicherori AA, Kenya https://www.ritualroasters.com/ I am glad that I am finally revisiting some places that I have not been to in quite a while. Today's visit is a major oversight (I think that will be Captain Obvious's new name when he gets that well-deserved promotion). I can not believe that it had been over three years since I last ate at Chava's Mexican Restaurant (see previous 'blog-entry from Domingo, 5 de Abril, 2015). At one time, Chava's was a mainstay in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation for several years (circa 2002-2007). They also used to open much earlier during the week (at least 6:00am, possibly earlier), as I used to stop by there once in a while for un desayuno abundante before work when I was working nearby (well, a few blocks away at the bottom of Potrero Hill ~ the corner of 17th and Connecticut Streets to be exact) for many years. That was when they were still at their original location on 18th Street (on the corner of Shotwell Street), this is where Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant in presently located. Chava's closed their original location way back in 2002 due to a fire (ironically, just one block down the street [that would be Shotwell] is the San Francisco Fire Department training facility) and moved to their current location along Mission Street later that year.
As always, any meal there starts with being presented with a bowl/basket of corn tortilla chips and salsa. Sometimes they bring out two different types of salsas (e.g. pico de gallo and salsa roja). Today there was just a salsa roja (but it was very tasty all the same), and I ended up using the entire ramekin between the chips and all over my plate of food. No fooling, Chava's is truly my "Touchstone" for Chilaquiles, as it has been for twenty-five-plus years of going there now and eating their wonderful Chilaquiles for twenty-five-plus years, too. The first time that I ever had the great dish of Chilaquiles was there (possibly as early as 1990 or 1991). I had made a special trip over there once to try it and have not been disappointed since. In my opinion (and that is really the only opinion that matters here), theirs is still one of the best versions in the City. (Today's meal was very good as always. Please do not let the above fotografía fool you. While this may not be very pretty to look at, unlike them snotty-*ssed "chefs" over on food network, I eat with my "mouth" [and stomach], not with my "eyes"!) Another great thing about eating weekend breakfasts at Chava's is that they also offer you hot and fresh-off-the-grill corn tortillas. I was asked how many I would like, and knowing the size of their portions, I asked for sólo dos, which turned out to be a very smart decision. (The waitress/server lady-person was doubling today as la tortillarera. Normally, during a busy morning, they will have another person making the hot, fresh tortillas, as it can be a full-time job.) "Buttered toasts?! We don' need no stinkin' buttered toasts!" I am not sure what Chava's might have had to offer in the way of bottled hot sauces (normally, most places en la Misión will carry either Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce or Cholula®Hot Sauce - Original or both). However, with their own hecho-en-casa salsa muy sabrosa, do you really need anything else?! I did not even bother packing any from my own collection this morning (hence the titular query above). (another not so) Strange Coffee Interlude I purposefully arrived in the Mission about an half-hour before I knew when Chava's would be opening so that I could get a decent cuppa at the Ritual Coffee shop on Valencia Street. I was hoping that they might have an Ethiopian available this morning... but, unfortunately, the barista-lady turned out to only be Eritrean. (hahaha!) Of the three different roasts/blends that they were offering as single-cuppa pour-overs, the Kenya one I went with sounded the best (not that all of their Coffees are not usually top-notch, anyway). While they were doing the pouring-over/dripping down of my single cuppa, I asked to smell it (the aroma-therapy of fresh-brewing Coffee can not be matched). I swear it smelled just like artichokes (but, luckily, it tasted nothing of the sort). The barista-lady even agreed with me about my take on the initial aroma (probably just to amuse a doddering old customer, I assume). I doubt even those b*stages at St*rbucks would ever try and pander off a Coffee tasting of artichokes, Stymie.
(yet still another) d*mn p*rklets mini-rant Every other block along Valencia Street seems to have one (or more) of those st*pid, ubiquitous parking obstructions (which the City has the audacity to euphemistically call "p*rklets"). There was one smack-dab (and I would like to smack-dab some of the City Council members that had ever approved of these) in front of Ritual Coffee. At least this one was a kinda cool-looking, ship-wrecked version d*mn p*rklet, Mr. Gilbert Egan[4]. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 7.3; hecho-en-casa salsa~ 7.0; hecho-en-casa corn tortillas ~ 7.5 Ritual Coffee - Gicherori AA, Kenya ~ 7.0 ___________________
1. Not really a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, but more of a stupid, useless etymological pointer of the day: The name "Chava" is the Spanish nickname for anyone that is named "Salvador". This is not meant to be a feminine slight in any way. (However, in Hebrew, the word/name "Chava" means "life/to give life", and it is the biblical given-name for that "Eve" lady-person.) 2. ¿Qué? Para los desinformados: http://breakfastatepiphany.blogspot.com/2013/12/chilaquiles.html 3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día: They have this listed as "chile verde" on their menus, where they have it translated into inglés as "bell peppers". These were not meant to be espicy jalapeños or serranos. I think a better translation en español might be "pimientos dulces", but I really ain't no espeaker nativo de español. (Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día, la segunda parte: From many years of ordering it as an agua fresca, I know that the word for "cantaloupe" is "melón" [or "cantalupo"] en español. One time at a local taqueria, I asked the guy behind the counter what is the Spanish word for "honeydew melon". He told me they simply call it "melón verde" ["green melon"]. However, I think the actual Spanish word[s] may be "melón dulce" ["sweet melon"]. That works for me, too.) 4. Let us see how many people can get that perfectly ambiguous joke. (You do not have to be a professor and/or Mary Ann to decypher it, though.)
www.still no official web-site.com Place: Eats Location: 50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000 Hours: open for breakfast (not "Brunch") every day (not "everyday") of the week at 8:00am Meal: MexicanScramble (well, that is what they call it; they gringo-ed this down for us estupido 'mericanos; this is technically just your cada día chilaquiles[1]) (v) ~ scrambled eggs cooked with fried (corn) tortilla chips, pepper Jack, black beans, pico de gallo, ricotta salata[2], avocado, cilantro; and a glassa Power C ~ (fresh-juiced) orange, grapefruit, pineapple As I am still making my way through my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I went back to Eats (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, January 20th, 2018) again this morning for... well... breakfast eats. With my previous visit, I think I had finally successfully eaten my way through the entire vegetarian-friendly portion of their menu. So, happily, it was time to start all over again.
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguistic/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day (refresco): (Once again, I am sure I have posted this [and probably more than once] translation/definition/description for "Chilaquiles" before, but here ya go again, anyway.) chilaquiles n. a Mexican dish of fried softened (generally corn) tortilla chips covered with salsa or mole and cheese and broiled The Spanish word "chilaquiles" comes from the Nahuatl word "chilāquilitl", which is a combined form from two separate Nahuatl words "chilātl" (meaning "chilli water") and "quilitl" (meaning "edible plant"). 2. https://www.cheese.com/ricotta-salata/ (I just love that there is even a cheese.com!) 3. I still consider Chava's (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, August 8th, 2010; which reminds me, I really need to get back there again soon) version of chilaquiles to be my touchstone (piedra de toque) for this muy sabroso desayuno, Salvaje Guille. Their version is usually going down for the third time in their thick salsa roja. There was a time back in the early 2000's when Chava's was part of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation specifically due to their excellent chilaquiles.
http://brendasmeatandthree.com/ Place: Brenda's Meat & Three Location: 919 Divisadero Street (between McAllister Street and Golden Gate Avenue) Hours: open everyday[ sic ] except Tuesday at 8:00am (they call the early morning meal breakfast for everyday usage, but insist on calling it "Brunch" on Saturday & Sunday; they can be forgiven for using that snooty-*ssed faux breakfastary term because they open up plenty early enough for me and their food has always been very good) Meal: Eggs Florentine with Creole Hollandaise ~ two poached eggs on our famous cream biscuit, served with greets or hash(browns); and a tall glassa Grandma's Molasses-BlackWalnut Iced Coffee ~ topped with whipped cream
("Hey, Brian, what gives ('Gibbs'?)? There ain't no one named 'Brenda' in 'Romeo [or Romeu] and Juliet [or Julieta]'!" Well, here is a little-known Cliff Clavinistic fact. Wild Bill Shakespeare was originally gonna title his famous tragedy-play about these two young star-crossed lovers "Bill and Brenda's Excellent Adventure", but did not want to feel the wrath of Keanu Reeves for that obvious bit of titular plagiarism.[1]) Of course, my going back to a restaurant with a name like Brenda's Meat & Three (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 22nd, 2015), would be like a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan returning to a local bar/restaurant named "Connecticut Y*nkee"[2]. This Western Addition location had virtually no line and no wait to get in this morning. I arrived at 7:55am, found a parking space directly in front, and there were only two groups/tables ahead of me. Even then, it was only about one-third filled when I had finished eating. On the other hand, (on the other side of town) their Tenderloin location rivals Dottie's True blue café for ridiculously long lines and longer wait times. There are also fewer items offered at this spot than at their Tenderloin restaurant, but I would still like to check out Fried "Veggie" (ugh!) Po' Boy ~ cornmeal-fried cauliflower, yam & okra with lettuce, tomato, bread & butterpickles (which are homemade... well, restaurant-made; they even sell these in jars for take-home use ~ I know this because I bought me a jarra them, plus a jarra pickled watermelon, too) & vegan chipotle rémoulade, choice of fries or cole slaw. Additionally, on their weekend "Brunch Specials" board they had Bananas Foster French Toast, which I have had at their Tenderloin location and knew to be very good, but I wanted to try something different this morning (besides, I just had a "sweet breakfast" yesterday). Unfortunately for me, they no longer offer Sweet Potato Pancakes (topped with butterpecan sauce). Oh, well. You snooze, you looze(ianna).
I prefer a good N'Arlins-style Coffee with roasted chicory, but this was not that bad. It had a very interesting flavour and was good enough to be served as a dessert, and not overly sweet either. I bet it would also make a very good hot Coffee drink, too.
While this dish may not be "My Favourite 'New' Eggs Benedict Dish of 2017" (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, September 17th, 2017 for that particular honourific), it was one of the better Eggs Benedict dishes (new or old) that I have had this year. There were two major pluses (as opposed to one Captain Minus) in this dish: the Creole Hollandaise was very tasty (but not extremely spicy) and I really liked the cream biscuit (one, split in half) as the base (in lieu of ol' Mr. Thomas' faux crumpets-things). Not that I would ever attempt to make this at home, (and I am sure that Popeye would "Blow me down!" if he ever heard me say this) but I bet it would have been even better (and more Loozianna-ey) with either collard, turnip, or mustard greens (take your pick; I likes 'em all) in place of the spinach. I went with the greets side-choice and was asked if I wanted it "with cheese". H*ck, yeah! This came out with a whole mess o' (I have never heard of a "half mess o'") Cheddar cheese melted all over the top. For condimentary supplementation, Brenda's Meat & Three only has Crystal®Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce on all the tables. I came prepared with a few of my own hot sauces and only used a little (well, it poured out quickly, so it ended up being a lot) Dragon's Lair Extra Hot Cayenne & Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mon!) mixed in with the cheesygreets. I made sure to taste their Creole Hollandaise before messing it up with any extra spiciness and determined it was good enough as is. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Eggs Florentine with Creole Hollandaise ~ 7.0; Grandma's Molasses-BlackWalnut Iced Coffee ~ 6.9 ___________________
1. Nah! I had both of these songs in mind yesterday, but just didn't feel like posting five EweToob videos in one 'blog-entry. Besides, I just happen to believe that Mark Freuder ("Freuder"?) Knopfler, OBE, is one of America's* finest songwriter/musicians of the 20th Century. http://www.markknopfler.com/ *(Yeah, okay, he's really Glaswegian-born and Geordie-raised, but that is almost the same as being 'merican. Just ask anyone from Great Britannia, they will agree with me 100%.) 2. Which is actually a local San Francisco Boston/New England Sports-fan bar/hangout. http://www.pourguys.com/connecticut-yankee/ I probably should check them out for "Brunch" one of these days. I used to work right across the street from the restaurant for about fifteen years, and have had lunch and dinner there plenty of times.
♪ "Flat and tan(-nish) and fresh and tasty The crêpe from Ipanema goes walking(???) and When it passes, each one it passes goes 'Ahhhhh!'... " ♫
http://www.cafedecasa.com/ Place: Café de Casa Location: 2701 Leavenworth Street (on the corner of North Point Street) Hours: open Monday - Saturday at 7:30am Meal: (starter) Pão de Queijo[1] ~ gluten-free cheese rolls, warm and chewy; Romeu & Julieta (Crêpe Brasileiro) ~ guava jelly and cheese (I am not really sure what kinda cheese they actually use in this one; I would assume it was Mozzarella [as they list that cheese on a few other crêpe-entries]; it was some kinda soft, melty cheese); and a medium cuppa (pour-over style) Coffee MagicGold Rush http://quickdrip.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=105
("Hit the crêpes, Percy"?! I figured as long as I was already EweToobular juxtaselecting the first Bob song, anyway, I might as well link the second one from him, too.) Now whatd'ya suppose are the chances of discovering three good "new" breakfast places in a year, let alone even one (and all that are within a few blocks of each other) on Fisherman's Wharf?! Having already gone back to both Surisan (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 14th, 2017) and eight am (see last 'blog entry from Saturday, November 11th, 2017), I figured (correctly) that it was time for a return visit to Café de Casa (see previous 'blog-entry from Saturday, April 29th, 2017). I was the only (first?) customer in this morning when I had arrived around 7:45am, but the place started getting filled up quickly with a lot of walk-in tourista business by the time I had finished eating. I sat at the long window-counter overlooking the outside sidewalk-café seating area ~ which is where I really shoulda sat this morning, the weather was still a bit coolish, but Senhor Solwas up and shining already ~ at least I sat in front of one of the open windows to still get the full fresh-air experience, Ms. Gross. There are still a few outras boas idéias para o café da manhã that I want to get back to try: Omelette Crêpe ~ eggs, ham (which would get oitenta-e-seis-ed) and cheese; Caprese (another savoury crêpe) ~ fresh Mozzarella, tomato and basil; Cartola (a sweet crêpe) ~ Mozzarella cheese, banana & cinnamon;
or Açaí[2] - Fruit[ sic ][3]e Granola[4] (served in a cup-size or a bowl-size) ~ traditional Brazilian treat, a cross between a sorbet & a pudding, made with guarana syrup, topped with granola, strawberries & banana (I saw another person order this one; it looked pretty good, but wayyyyy too healthy for my tastes; maybe one of these days). On my next visit (and, trust me, there will be a "next" visit), I will have to decide between either the Caprese or Cartola crêpes. I was told by one of the worker-guys (well, after I had bugged the h*ck outta him with several other annoying questions already) that their South San Francisco location does not offer any of these tapioca flour crêpes for breakfast, they only have the fresh-made pastries and Coffee; so, I probably won't need to head south on a mini-roadtrip to check it out, too.
I really shoulda said something to the management. This pastry was served to me with a large bite already taken out of it. Luckily, it was good enough to finish, anyway.
This ain't une crêpe de ton père, Pierre! I spoke with one of the worker-guys (unfortunately for him, it was the same worker-guy that I had pestered... er... asked questions of all morning) there and he told me that these tapioca flour crêpes are very popular in Brazil now-a-days. One of these days I would love to get down to Brazil myself... one of these days... This idea of "gluten-free" crêpes made from tapioca flour is a great idea; it does make for a bit "chewier" experience, though, Han Solo. Even if you do not have gluten allergies or aren't following some kinda silly new-fangled (with olde-timey sounding names like "Paleo"[5] or "Neoprotero") diet, you can still enjoy this one. "But... 'cheese'... and 'guava jelly', Brian?!" (and don't forget all the tasty caramel sauce drizzled across it that they do not even dare mention on the menu)... Hey, it works and I really liked it! Besides, how many of you negativists have ever had something called "cheesecake"? I am not so sure what the connection is to "Romeu" and/or "Julieta"; perhaps ol' Wild Bill really liked his gauva fruits and Mozzarella cheeses mixed together, too. Hmmmm?! Does this mean that Romeu (or "Romeo" for you Montague purists) is the guava jelly and Julieta (or "Juliet" for you House of Capulet fans) is the cheese?! It is a rare find, Mercutio, when you can get both an interesting breakfastary meal and good, local Coffee at the same joint. The Gold RushCoffee that I had this morning was listed as a "Light" roast, but this was plenty dark enough for me still. In addition to the Coffee that I had today, they offer three other roasts/blends (all from Coffee Magic, too) that can be made single-cuppa pour-over style: Brazil Poço Fundo (a Dark Roast; which I had on my last visit and liked just a bit more than the one I had this morning); Foglifter (a Dark and Light blend); and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (another Dark Roast; this is the one I will probably check out next time). Pretty much knowing ahead of time that I was going to go the "Sweet-not-Savoury-Route" (which, by the way, Mr. Brandt, is an actual highway transversing New Mexico and Arizona), I did not bother bringing any of my own hot sauces with me this morning. I also knew from my last visit there that, if needed, Café de Casa has a bottled hot sauce of their own that ain't bad none neether. (And don't think that it didn't cross my mind to try juuuust a little of their hot sauce on a small part of my crêpe... ) Good food AND good Coffee?!? Maybe this place should be called "Casa de Café e Comida Muito Saborosa" instead. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pão de Queijo ~ 6.8; Romeu & Julieta ~ 7.1; Coffee Magic Gold Rush ~ 7.0 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número um: "Pão de queijo" literally translates from Portuguese as "cheese-bread" (well, "bread of cheese"). 2. While this fruit is commonly called an "açaí berry", it is as much a true botanical berry as is a strawberry. (However, as everyone knows, bananas are botanical berries.) 3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número dois: This really should read as "Fruta" or "Frutas" in Portuguese. 4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número tres: Sorry, I could not locate the English translation for this word anywhere on the World Wild Webs. 5. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, νούμερο τέσσερα: If anyone on this silly "Paleo" diet was wondering, the word "παλαιός" ("palaios") in Greek means "old"... and the word "ζωή" ("zoe")* means "stupid". *(No offense, Dave and Patryce.)
http://www.cafedecasa.com/ Place: Café de Casa[1] Location: 2701 Leavenworth Street (on the corner of North Point Street) Hours: open Monday - Saturday at 7:30am Meal: Veggy [ sic ] (a Savory Crêpe) ~ eggplant[2a], tomato[2b], arugula[2c], & fresh herbs[2d], made from tapioca flour, gluten free, served with seasonal fruit or salad; one Enroladinho de Queijo[3] (off the Salgados[4] section of the menu) ~ coconut[5] bread with Mozzarella cheese(?!?); and a medium cuppa (pour-over style) Coffee MagicBrazil Poço Fundo[6]
http://quickdrip.com/ (That is one horrible web-site, but it does give you some information on their available Coffees.)
(Both of these EweToobular songs are juxtaselections to my Coffee choice this morning. The second song is even based on a true story; I read it on the Intro-Net.) Sim! Here is another great "discovery" and new (well, for me) place for breakfast in the usually breakfastary bereft Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood! This morning I went to Café de Casapara omeu café da manhã. They specialise in Brazilian Street Food. Now I wouldn't know authentic "Brazilian Street Food" from fake "Landing Strip Street Food" (Too "racy" with that stupid joke?), but I had walked by this place last month when I was checking out another new place for breakfast in Fisherman's Wharf and the idea sounded interesting to me. They have two locations: this one in Fisherman's Wharf (open since December 2015) and their original location in South San Francisco (open since May 2007). Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure that I had eaten either lunch or dinner (that location doesn't serve breakfast) at their other restaurant back when I still worked in Brisbane (the town just south of San Francisco, not the much-less-known city in Queensland, Austria). If I kept a lunch or dinner 'blog-thing, maybe I would have remembered it sooner. I am happy to point out that there are still many other good other ideas from which to choose for breakfast: Omelette Crepe (a Savory Crêpe) ~ eggs, ham and cheese (of which I would have oitenta-e-seis-ed the carne de porco morta em decomposição); Caprese (a Savory Crêpe) ~ fresh Mozzarella, tomato and basil; Moça[7] (a Sweet Crêpe) ~ coconut and sweetened condensed milk; Cartola[8] (a Sweet Crêpe) ~ Mozzarella cheese (Again with the Mozzarella cheese in a "sweet" pastry-thing?), banana & cinnamon; or Romeu & Julieta[9] (a Sweet Crêpe) ~ guava jelly and (probably Mozzarella) cheese (!!! Oh, h*ck yeah ~ this will definitely be my choice on my next trip over there; if I had seen it before ordering this morning, I probably woulda gone with this one). Unfortunately for me, they only offer a few items on their Salgados section of the menu that are suitable for stupid vegetarians. I did see that they also offer Pão de Queijo, much like my recent "discovery" at Saltroot Café (see 'blog-entry from Monday, February 20th). I will have to be sure to try one of theirs on my next visit, too.
Now this was a very cool crêpe idea. It was made with tapioca/yuca/manioc flour in place of the standard eggy-batter; this did make it to be much chewier than their Frenchy counterparts. The eggplant was more of a mooshed mistura (kinda like baba ghanoush); which was okay, I was just expecting large chunks of eggplant instead (which can sometimes be a bit unwieldy inside of a crêpe, anyway). The tomatoes were halved cherry tomatoes ~ another nice touch; these added a nice fresh "Pop!" to the dish. This was served with a large spoon (you know, the flat-bottomed kind used in Chinese restaurants as a soup spoon) of olive oil; I was instructed to drizzle some over the top if I liked (I liked, and ended up using the entire spoonful). Today's seasonal fruits[10a] (and I was glad to see the fruits in place of any silly ol' rabbit-food) were: grapes[10b], kiwi[10c], and honeydew melon[10d].
"Mozzarella cheese AND coconut, Brian? What are you crazy?!" Well, I would answer a resounding "H*ck, YES!!!" to both questions. (Catcha-22 be a-d*mned!) Don't mock me for my tastes. Besides, I didn't concoct this strange pastry (maybe I was um padeiro brasileiro in another life). This was really very good. I also very much liked that they offered several different roasts/blends of Coffees from which to choose (see above photo for selections available). All can be prepared as a single (small, medium, or large) cuppa pour-over. I mainly went with my specific choice this morning because I figured "When in Rome, do as the Brazilians do!" This turned out to be another nice local roastery find. For condimentary supplementation, Café de Casa had some of their own homemade (well, casa-made) hot sauce in plastic squeeze-bottles. I had brought some of my own hot sauces with me just in case, but I found their hot sauce to be very flavourful... and a little hotter than I was expecting (about as hot as a good habanero salsa). I went a little heavy-handed with it on the top of the crêpe before actually taste-testing it, but it was all good and it went nicely with all the other flavours. The additional spoonful of olive oil helped temper the heat a bit, too. They also sell bottles of their hot sauce (with the simply-enough named "Café de Casa Hot Sauce" on the labels) for use at home. If I did not already have (too) many bottles of hot sauce in my refrigerator, I would definitely have picked up a bottle for myself. Maybe by the next time I get back there I will have under twenty bottles left in my stock, and can pick one up then. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude (or not) I parked over on the end of Van Ness Avenue[11] under the tall Eucalyptus trees where I knew there was a large-ish pandemonium of the noisy chatter-heads. Unfortunately, I only heard some of them high up in the trees and did not really see neither beak nor feather of them this morning. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Veggy [ sic ] (a Savory Crêpe) ~ 6.5; Enroladinho de Queijo ~ 7.2; Café de Casa Hot Sauce ~ 7.5; Coffee MagicBrazil Poço Fundo ~ 7.3; the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________
1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day (and get ready for a whole lotta* more of these today), número um: Lucky for me, I know some Spanish so I can almost decipher what Café de Casa means in Português. My best 202-ing here is coming up with "Coffee on the House", but they made me pay for mine... Now (as best as I can tell), they do not actually use the "é" anywhere in their name, but both "Coffee" and "Coffeehouse" in Portuguese are "Café". So I am going with that preferred spelling. Simples!** *(How much is a "half-lotta more", do ya think?) **(Hey, Cindy, I just figured out that Aleksandr Orlov must be from either República Portuguesa, República Federativa do Brasil, or Região Autónoma dos Açores. The word for "simple" in Portuguese is actually "simples".) 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número dois: (parte a) Eggplant = Berinjela (pronounced something like "Berin-JELLA") (parte b) Tomato = Tomate (Sorry, I have absolutely no idea how they might pronounce this one; Sometimes I wonder just where the h*ck they come up with all these different names from our true 'merican words.) (parte c) Arugula = Rúcula (pronounced something like "ROO-kula") (parte d) Fresh Herbs = Ervas Frescas (pronounced something like "Magic Johnson") 3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número tres: "Enroladinho de Queijo" (pronounced something like "En-ROLL-a-djin-yo de KAY-joe") literally translates as "cheese curl", but this was no cheese-flavored, puffed cornmeal snack being hyped by any suave, sunglassioed cheetah. 4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número quatro: "Salgados" literally means "Salties" in Portuguese. However, in this case, Café de Casa was just listing any savoury or sweet baked goods/pastries under the same menu category. 5. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número cinco: Coconut = Coco (here's another tough one that I can not figure out how to pronounce) 6. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número seis: "Poço Fundo" (pronounced "Poso Foondo") means "Deep Well" in Portuguese. (Hopefully that will explain Song #2 above.) 7. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número sete: "Moça" (pronounced something like "MOE-sa") translates from Portuguese as "girl/maid/lass". 8. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número oito: "Cartola" (you can come up with your own d*mn pronunciation by now) translates from Portuguese as "top hat/topper". 9. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número nove: Sorry. Try as I might, I could not come up with any good translations of this phrase. Who am I supposed to be? George Costanza?! (I wonder if Wild Bill Shakespeare spoke any Portuguese.) 10. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número dez: (parte a) Fruits = Frutas (yeah, sometimes this cunning linguist stuff ain't exactly cirurgia de foguete) (parte b) Grapes = Uvas (pronounced something like "O-vas") (parte c) Kiwi = Kiwi (sorry, again, no pronunciation could be located) (parte d) Honeydew Melon = Melão Melado (pronounced something like "MelON MelAHdo") 11. For a change, not a "stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day", but just a stupid, useless (but might actually be somewhat helpful) tourista pointer of the day: At the end of Van Ness Avenue, where it dead-ends over at Aquatic Park Pier (between the back of Fort Mason and San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park), there are many (sixty to seventy, maybe more) free and legal parking spaces. You can park there for four hours at a time on Monday to Saturday between the hours of 8:00am to 6:00pm, and all day long on Sundays. Most people should be able to walk up and down Fisherman's Wharf ~ including stopping at Ghirardelli Square to sample free Chocolates, etc. ~ in well-under four hours (and still have time to take in lunch), anyway. The parking spots do fill up quickly, but if you get there before 8:00am (like I did this morning), there are usually many empty spaces still available (less-so in the Summer, but only an idiot would visit San Francisco in the Summer). There were even still about fifteen to twenty empty spaces at 9:00am when I was leaving the area.
