Town's End restaurant & bakery

http://www.townsendrb.com/


Place: Town's End restaurant & bakery

Location: 2 Townsend Street
(on the Embarcadero across from Pier 38)

Hours: open Tuesday-Friday at 7:30am for breakfast; open Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am for "Brunch"

Meal: Roasted Brussels Sprouts Hash ~ with butternut squash, coarsely diced potatoes, red onion, red peppers, two poached eggs, mustard sauce; to drink with the meal, a glassa Blood Orange Mimosa ~ organic blood orange juice & Brut Cava sparkling wine; and, afterward, at Crossroads Café a Single Pumpkin Spice Latte

http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/entercafe.php

(What is the EweToobular juxtaselection here today? Well, like any good Britishlander lad, Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend always eats his Brussels sprouts this time of the year, too.)


Driving "all the way cross-town" over to Town's End restaurant & bakery (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 3rd, 2017) always takes a bit of time, so I will generally only head over there on Sunday mornings (plus, there will usually be plenty of free, legal parking then, too). Because I had arrived there about ten minutes before the restaurant was due to open, 
I went for a brisk little stroll along the Embarcadero. (Of course, I was also able to find a great parking space right across the street from the restaurant at that early hour.) AT&T Park, Home of your San Francisco Giants, is only two blocks down the road. 

As soon as I saw this weekend's (seasonal) "Brunch" menu, I immediately knew which meal I was going to order. Otherwise, there were still a few other good ideas: 

Mary's Special ~ two Swedish oatmeal pancakes (organic pears & almonds in the pancakes), two eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green onions, garlic & sharp White Cheddar;

Almond Cornmeal French Toast ~ ricotta-blueberry cornbread, orange cinnamon batter, served with lemon cream (it's gluten free! [they added that explanation point!]);

Red pepper scrambled eggs ~ with fire roasted red peppers, green onions & Laura Chenel goat cheese; eggs & omelettes are served with a choice of potato-carrot pancakes (with apple compote & sour cream), grilled polenta, or fresh fruit;

or

3 Chile Scramble ~ Anaheim chiles, roasted red peppers & chipotles, grilled red onions, scrambled with 3 eggs, queso fresco, handmade corn tortilla, red & green salsas & guacamole (I had ordered this dish just two visits ago, but it is always a good back-up if needed).

Today's complimentary fresh-baked mini-muffins/mini-scone were a blueberry, a banana-walnut (How come no one ever makes plantain-pecan muffins?), and a raisin scone. They were gone long before the meal was brought out.

Of course, I loved this dish. (It's a Brussels sprouts-thing with me.) There were definitely a lot of Brussels sprouts (and I was very happy to see it correctly spelled as "Brussels" for a change, Monsieur/Meneer Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg) in this and they were all charred/roasted very nicely. The waiter-server person explained to me that the mustard sauce (which was a sort of mustard aioli) was made with maple syrup in it to give it a sweet (but oddly tasty) flavour. It was served in a small ramekin on the side so that you could use as little or as much as you liked. This was a good idea. I liked using the entire ramekin myself, anyway. (This got me to wondering if a Coffee-maple syrup-mustard aioli might be an interesting combination... not that I am ever gonna make it for myself, though.)

I really did not bother to ask what Town's End restaurant & bakery might have to offer in the way of hot sauces for condimentary supplementation. I used some of my own Old St. Augustine Snake Bite Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on top of one of the poached eggs and H*lls Kithchen Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the other poached egg. When mixed with the soft egg yolks and their mustard sauce, this all made for a flavourful addition.

(Another not so) Strange Coffee Interlude

Like I had done after my last visit there, I walked across the street to Crossroads Café for an after-breakfast dessert Coffee. (I had planned on doing this all along and did not order another cuppa with my meal for that reason.) This morning I ordered a personal seasonal favourite, Pumpkin Spice Latte. Both Crossroads Café and Town's End restaurant & bakery serve the (Oakland) local Mr. Espresso®, anyway.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Roasted Brussels Sprouts Hash ~ 7.1;
freebie mini-muffins/mini-scone ~ 6.9;
Pumpkin Spice Latte ~ 6.6

Town's End restaurant & bakery

http://www.townsendrb.com/


Place: Town's End restaurant & bakery

Location:  2 Townsend (I heard they originally wanted to locate on Restaurant & Bakery Street, but the rents were too high) Street
(on the Embarcadero across from Pier 38)

Hours: open Tuesday-Friday at 7:30am for breakfast; open Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am for "Brunch"

Meal: (Almost) Winter Scramble ~ with Pacific Northwest chanterelles, fresh artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, grilled leeks, basil, house made (well, restaurant & bakery-made) Ricotta, served with a choice of potato-carrot pancakes (with apple compote & sour cream), grilled polenta, or fresh fruit; to drink, a glassa orange juice; and, afterward, a small cuppa Eggnog Latte at Crossroads Café 

http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/entercafe.php

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselection? Simples! Everyone knows that ol' Petey-boy loves his potato-carrot pancakes [with apple compote and sour cream, of course]. 

[Truth is, I couldn't find any "Wintery"-songs from 
Mr. Townshend and I didn't think that either "Frankenstein" or "Free Ride" sounded very breakfastary.])


Because I had walked past it last month when I went to breakfast at Delancey Street Restaurant, I figured it was time for a return visit back to Town's End restaurant & bakery (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, August 7th, 2016). I have always liked this place. It is one of those places that if it were closer to me, it would be "Breakfastary Starting Rotation"-worthy. I have probably been going there for twenty to twenty-five years now.

Their "Brunch" menu changes seasonally and always has interesting items from which to choose. A couple of the other ideas that I was looking at this morning:

Mary's Special ~ two Swedish oatmeal pancakes (organic pears & almonds in the pancakes), two eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green onions, garlic, & sharp white Cheddar;

or

Red pepper scrambled eggs ~ with fire roasted red peppers, green onions, & Laura Chenel goat cheese.

One of the really neat things is that all breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) meals come with a small basket of their fresh-baked mini-muffins and mini-scones. My basket this morning had: a mini-raisin scone (well, the scone was "mini", the raisins were normal sized); a mini-Chocolate chip muffin (the Chocolate chips may have been "mini", though); a mini-banana-walnut muffin; and a mini-carrot(?) muffin.

This was basically just a scrambled egg mess, but their combination of fresh ingredients are always so good; the grilled leeks added a really nice flavour. Of course, I can't tell a Pacific Northwest chanterelle from an Atlantic Southeast shiitake, but still...

Plus, I love that they give you a choice of either potato-carrot pancakes or grilled polenta (we won't even bother mentioning the completely pedestrian "fresh fruit"... well, other than I did right there). I went with the potato-carrot pancakes, which come as two; I have had them many times before and always like them.

Town's End restaurant & bakery offers for condimentary supplements both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce Original. I used some of my own Golden Pagoda Jalapeño Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the eggs/scramble-mess and some Laura Plantation Vidalia® Onion & Peach Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on one of the potato-carrot pancakes (along with a little bit of their homemade [restaurant & bakery-made, whatever] apple-butter), and before you say "Ewww!", it actually was pretty good like that.

I had purposely skipped ordering any Coffee with my breakfast as I had it all schemed out to head back to Crossroads Café, which is just across the street/cul-de-sac. Because this coffeehouse is run by the Delancey Street Foundation, the prices are always much lower than your typical chain Coffee shop (you know who I mean). My Latte today was probably a buck or two cheaper than you would normally pay. Even if the prices were normal, I would still rather support this good cause. Plus, there is a gift shop/bookstore that you can loiter in... er... browse in while enjoying your Coffee beverages.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
(Almost) Winter Scramble ~ 6.8;
mini-muffins/scones ~ 7.0;
Eggnog Latte ~ 6.6

Delancey Street Restaurant

http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/enterrestaurant.php

(This is not the greatest web-site, but it is all they have to offer.)


Place: Delancey Street Restaurant

Location: the Embarcadero at Brannan Street

Hours: open at 10:00am for "Brunch" on Sunday only

Meal: New Mexican Omelette ~ pepper Jack cheese, green onions & tomatoes, topped with sour cream, salsa & guacamole, served with home fried potatoes & toast, additionally, all "Brunch" meals come with homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) bagel chips; and a glassa fresh-squeezed orange juice

(Happy 72nd Birthday to ol' Noel Yang!)[1]


I had joked the last time that I ate at Delancey Street Restaurant (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 9th, 2014) that I would probably get back there in another three years. Well...

The previous time that I ate there was the day after I had eaten at Town's End Restaurant Bakery 
(which is located just a block away) and it jogged my memory to try them again. Now it seems that turn-abouts-fairplay and I probably need a return visit to Town's End soon, too.

Once again this morning, I parked a block away over on Delancey Street (which is actually the last two blocks of where First Street would finish at the Embarcadero, but has been renamed such for several years now) where there was plenty of free and legal parking at that time of the morning on a Sunday. 

Even though they are located "all the way across town"... and they don't open until 10:00am... and they call this meal "Brunch", I still want to get back there again to try some of these other ideas:

Garden Scramble ~ onions, mushrooms, bell peppers & tomatoes, served with 7-grain toast and home fried potatoes (this was going to be my original choice ~ see following explanatory information below);

"Veggie" Benedict ~ English muffin, wilted spinach (okay, I understand that they are a nonprofit organization and all, but they really should use fresh spinach), roasted tomato & avocado, with home fried potatoes (despite the odiously monikered dish, this still sounds good);

3 Eggwhite Spinach & Mushroom Omelette ~ fat-free garlic & chive schmear[2], served with bagel thins & apple butter (sorry, I would probably have to order a side of their home fried potatoes or Potato Latkes, Mr. Gravas, to go along with this way too healthy-sounding meal);

Kale & Brussel[ sic; and this place isn't even owned by Koreans[3]] Sprouts Salad ~ diced brussel[ sic, again] sprouts, avocado, pomegranate seeds, shallots & shaved Pecorino (I would probably have them add a couple of poached eggs on top);

or

Cheese Blintzes & Homemade Tri-Berry Jam ~ with sour cream.

Beforehand (because I had arrived thirty to forty-five minutes before they opened and was going to walk around the neighborhood a bit), I decided to get a cuppa Coffee at the nearby Crossroads Café. I only later discovered when I got back home and looked it up on line that this nearby coffeehouse is also operated and run by worker-trainees from Delancey Street Foundation ~ so, there ya go! This is a pretty cool place; it is a bookstore, mini-arthouse, and café all rolled into one! I don't normally comment on the prices of items (let's face it, you are lucky to get some coin-change from a tenner when you order a cuppa and a pastry these days), but I really have to point out that a cuppa Coffee here was only one buck! And refillas are only two bits! H*ck, even Mackey-D's Rainbow Room charges more than that now-a-days! With prices that cheap, I prolly-shoulda figured that they were a charitable/nonprofit type place. This was a pretty decent cuppa, too. I didn't get the brand-name of Coffee that they served there, but I think I saw them serving Superior Coffee at the main restaurant.

http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/entercafe.php

I like that each meal comes with a little bowl of fresh-made bagel chips and butter as a breakfastary starter. I am not sure if they make all of their own bagels, but you can tell that these bagel chips were fresh-made there. There were at least four different types of bagel chips, too: plain, pumpernickel, poppyseed, and a cinnamon-raisin(? it may have been cinnamon-apricot even).

Here is where it would pay for me to look up past visits to make sure that I try something different... however, I actually did check earlier this morning and completely forgot that I had already ordered this same dish on my previous visit there (it was three years ago, after all). I was all set on getting the Garden Scramble, but overheard a women at the next table order the New Mexican Omelette. I then quickly re-looked over my own menu and thought that it did sound pretty good and changed my mind just as my friendly waiter/server-guy person (who, by the way, was more than proficient and should be working at another restaurant soon, I am sure) came by to take my order...

Even so, this really was a perfectly tasty choice for a Sunday "Brunch". It is not as if I go there every one to two years and order the same meal...

Delancey Street Restaurant only offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce ~ Original Red Sauce for use as condimentary supplementation. I used some of my own Palo Alto Firefighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) liberally (a bit too much) all over their good homefries.

Looks like I am now due for a return visit sometime before New Year's Eve 2020...


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
New Mexican Omelette ~ 6.7;
a decent $1.00 cuppa at Crossroads Café ~ 6.4

___________________

1. The first EweToobular song is just a lotta fun with dueling Noels singing and harping together.

The second is one of my Top Five Favourite Noel Yang Songs, which makes it one of my All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll Songs of All-time. Plus, there is the extra-added bonus of the back-up singers (who can be heard prominently near the end of the song) ~ two unknowns named Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor... I wonder whatever became of them? I suppose they couldn't cut it in Show Biz and are now selling insurance somewhere.

And the last cover song happens to be my All-Time Favourite Noel Yang Song of All-time (and possibly #3 on my All-Time Favourite Rock-and/or-Roll Songs of All-time). I like that this album happened to be recorded live on my birthday, too.

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

There really is no kerrekt spelink for this word in English as it is of foreign origin. It can be spelled as either "schmear", "schmeer", "shmear", "shmeer", or "whathaveyeer". However, whenever it comes to any kinda words of Yinglish-origin, I will defer to my only lexicon of the Yiddish language ~ The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten. In it, Mr. Rosten dictates:

shmeer

Pronounced as it is written; rhymes with "shear". From German: Schmiere: "grease", or "bribe".

1. To paint.
2. To smear.
3. To spread. "Shmeer it on the bread."
4. A spread or paste. "With drinks, a caviar shmeer on crackers goes well." "Smoked fish, cream cheese, sour cream, and chives make a wonderful cocktail shmeer."
5. To bribe; a bribe. This is the most interesting usage, and has long been part of American slang. It is related to "greasing the palm". "Do the officials expect to be shmeered there?" "Do they take a shmeer?" There is a saying: "Az men shmeert nit, fort men nit." ("If you don't bribe, you don't ride" - or, less literally, "Without bribery, you'll get nowhere.")
6. To strike or beat. "He landed a shmeer between the eyes."

3. You would have to look back through a couple of my most recent visits last month to Blackwood ~ American Thai Fusion and Surisan to get that remark.

Town's End restaurant & bakery

http://www.townsendrb.com/


Place: Town's End restaurant & bakery
Location: 2 Townsend (Now what are the odds of that?!) Street (at the Embarcadero)
Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am for breakfast; open Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am for "Brunch" (they can be forgiven for that snooty-assed moniker because they open up plenty early enough for this meal to still be considered breakfast by the best of us... meaning me, of course)
Meal: 3 Chile Scramble ~  roasted red peppers, yellow Gypsy[1] & chipotle chiles & grilled red onions, scrambled with 3 eggs, queso fresco, handmade corn tortilla, red & green salsas & guacamole; and a glassa freshly squeezed orange juice

(You may ask yourself: "Just what the h-e-double-hockeysticks are today's EweToobular juxtaselections supposed to mean, Brian?" 

Simples. Who doesn't know that ol' Petey-boy[2] grew up in Post-WWII Chiswick, London above a bakery?

The second song has nothing what-so-ever to do with either bakeries, or London, or even the English Beat. Any day is a good day for Lucinda Williams. That's all.)


It's been over two years since I last visited Town's End restaurant & bakery (see last 'blog-entry from February 8th, 2014) and I knew that this weekend would be the perfect chance to do so because the San Francisco Giants are on-the-road-again and I would have no problem finding a nearby parking space (and I did so this morning basically in front of the joint, so that worked well for me). I have never had a bad meal at this place, and I have been going there now for probably twenty-five years or more (mostly for breakfasts, but there have been a few lunches thrown in before heading across the street to an afternoon Giants game). 

Their "Brunch" menu changes seasonally, but there always are a few other good ideas from which to choose (for both those that partake of dead, decaying vegetation or you meatetarians out there). The other meals that caught my eye (just the left one, there was some dirt in my right eye) this morning: Toybox[3] Scramble (organic toybox tomatoes, white Chanterelles, grilled leeks, basil, Italian sheep's milk Mozzarella); Mary's Special (two Swedish oatmeal pancakes [organic peaches & almonds in the pancakes], two eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green onions, garlic & Cheddar); or Spinach, Tomato & Mushroom Omelette (they don't state what exactly might be inside this omelette, though; served with a choice of potato-carrot pancakes [with apple compote & sour cream], grilled polenta, or fresh fruit; I know from past experiences that both the potato-carrot pancakes and grilled polenta are decent breakfastary side-choices; even I can prepare "fresh fruit" at home... or at least buy it at the grocery store already prepared and ready to go).

"Each meal begins with our housemade baked goods — mini muffins and scones at breakfast and brunch..."

Today's miniature bakery goods offerings were two banana-walnut mini-muffins, two blueberry mini-muffin, and one mini-raisin scone (that would be a small scone, the raisins in it were of the standard size).

The scrambled mess was kinda like an upscaley version of Huevos Rancheros. Everything was piled on top of one of their very good homemade (bakery-made, whatever) corn tortillas. Like yesterday's breakfast entry, this was also a bit on the smallish side, but, again, thankfully, it was muy grande en sabor. I liked the green salsa the best of the two salsas; it was a tomatillo-based salsa, and the red salsa was a fresh (very chunky) pico de gallo. I would liked to have had a few more of the homemade (bakery-made, whatever) corn tortillas on the side; I bet these would have gone very nicely with butter and the homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) jam that they have on every table. As it was, there was just enough food for my appetite once again, but that was only due to the complimentary (complementary) mini-baked goods.

Because they only offer Mr. Espresso® as their house Coffee, I waited until I got home to brew me up (well, actually, drip me down) some of my own De La Paz Graceland. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Mr. Espresso® as much as the next guy (especially if the next guy's last name happens to be "Espresso"), but I just had that brand yesterday at breakfast and knew that De La Paz Graceland is much better ~ even with my usual crummy attempts at making Coffee at home.

http://fourbarrelcoffee.com/shop/de-la-paz-graceland-2/

For condimentary supplements, Town's End has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce (Original). I really did not find it necessary to espicy-up my meal with any bottled hot sauces (I had brought three or four of my own with me, too, just in case).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
3 Chile Scramble ~ 6.6;
mini-muffins & mini-scone ~ 6.7;
De La Paz Graceland ~ 7.3

___________________

1. I had to look up just what this chilli varietal was:

http://www.pepperscale.com/gypsy-pepper/

2. And can anyone tell me just why the h-e-double-hockeysticks Mr. Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend has never received a Knighthoodsmanship like many other faithful British Rock-and/or-Roll subjects already have? (Exempla gratiā, Sir George Ivan Morrison, OBE; Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE; Sir Michael Philip Jagger, KBE; or Dame Elton Hercules John, CBE.)

3. This is just another new, completely madeuppery word to explain a new tomato varietal:

http://www.greenleafsf.com/product/produce/tomatoes/toybox-cherry-tomatoes-3

Delancey Street Restaurant

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." 
~ Charles M. Schulz 


(Okay, so I forgot to take a picture of the restaurant itself. But in my defense, it was raining this morning and I am a wimp and don't like getting wet.)

http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/enterrestaurant.php


Place: Delancey Street Restaurant
Location: the Embarcadero at Brannan Street
Hours: open Saturday (?) and Sunday at 10:00am for "Brunch"
Meal: New Mexican Omelette ~ pepper Jack cheese, green onions, & tomatoes, topped with sour cream, salsa, & guacamole (served with home fried potatoes & toast); a side order of (three) Potato Pancakes (with sour cream and applesauce); and a large glass of orange juice

(To continue with the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of their invading America, here are a couple more covers of the Beatles. Interestingly, the first one was actually recorded at a live session at the Abbey Road studio. The second song isn't really as much a "cover" as it is the inimitable Richie Havens taking ownership of the song and making it a classic in its own right.)


Yesterday's breakfast at Town's End Restaurant & Bakery reminded me that I had not eaten at Delancey Street Restaurant (see last 'blog-entry from May 14th, 2011) in quite a while, and it was far overdue for a return visit. Delancey Street Restaurant is located just a block up the Embarcadero from Town's End. On their menus they have the sub-titular "An Ethnic American Bistro" (whatever that might mean). I parked a block away on Delancey Street (this is actually 1st Street, but they have renamed one block near the Delancey Street Foundation and its buildings; it is just a dead-end street ~ kinda like an homage to "the Dead End Kids/the Bowery Boys", too). 

Delancey Street Restaurant has several other good breakfastary choices, of note: Garden Scramble (onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, & tomatoes, served with 5-grain toast and home fried potatoes); French Omelette (Gruyère cheese & forest mushrooms; of course the hardest part about a French Omelette is not burning your tongue on the pan while making it); or Cheese Blintzes (with sour cream & strawberry preserves; which probably would have paired very nicely with the Potato Pancakes; next time perhaps ~ if I can actually remember that in another three years).

They bring out a basket of bread and fresh bagel chips (two kinds, too: made from plain and rye bagels) to start you off before the meal comes out. I tried not to fill up too much on these as I had two kinds of potatoes still to come. But how can you not eat any bagel chips when they are right there in front of you? Besides, they were just "waffer-thin" chips, Mr. Creosote. To make up for all of these extra carbohydrates, I told them to hold my toast (and not in the "Five Easy Pieces" way, Jack).

All in all, this was a pretty good omelette. It wasn't knock-your-socks-off stuff (besides, who likes to dine barefoot in a nice restaurant?), but I can easily recommend it to anyone that ever dines there. There was a very nice guacamole and salsa roja on top, and it had a good amount of pepper Jack cheese inside. I don't know why it is called the "New" Mexican Omelette; maybe the old one got deported. The homefries are made with red and green bell peppers and red onions, and were very good, too.

The Potato Pancakes were very good, too. These were not quite as good as the Latke that I recently had at Saul's Restaurant & Delicatessen (see ‘blog-entry from December 15th, 2013), but this was still a very decent rendition, Mr. Gravas, and definitely worth ordering again (as I did from my first visit there). These Potato Pancakes used to be called Potato Latkes on their menu, but I can only guess that idiot touristas must have questioned what they were too many times and now they have just Americanized and simplified it for the simple 'mericans. It was always listed under the "Pancakes & Waffles" section of the menu, anyway. I wonder if the simple 'mericans now expect a standard pancake with either mashed potatoes on top or French fries in the batter. The only knock (and it is a very minor one) on this dish would be that they use just plain ol' applesauce on the side; a good, chunky German-style Apfelmus would be so much better.

Delancey Street Restaurant only offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) for condimentary supplements. It really didn't matter, as I had come prepared as usual and I used some of my own Pickapeppa Sauce (Thanks, Amy!) on the potatoes and just a little Florida Gold Premium Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on the omelette to complement the guacamole and salsa roja.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: New Mexican Omelette ~ 6.6; Potato Pancakes ~ 6.7

Town’s End Restaurant & Bakery

You can't squeeze blood from a turnip… but you can get a mighty tasty juice from a Tarocco.

(Good luck trying to measure the diastole and systole of an artichoke heart, too.)

http://www.townsendrb.com/


Place: Town's End Restaurant & Bakery
Location: 2 Townsend Street (on the Embarcadero)
Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am for Breakfast; open Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am for "Brunch"
Meal: Asparagus Benedict ~ grilled organic local asparagus on our English muffin, poached eggs, Hollandaise (eggs & omelettes are served with a choice of potato-carrot pancakes [with apple compote & sour cream], grilled polenta, or fresh fruit); all meals are served with a selection of pastries from their bakery; and a cuppa Mr. Espresso® Coffee

(Just a couple of the Beatles covers this morning from EweToob to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of their invasion of America. And how come we never heard of the Far Right complaining about these Brit wetbacks coming over here and taking all the jobs away from all the 'merican musicians?)


I was actually planning on eating at Primo Patio Cafe again (see 'blog-entry from October 8th, 2011), but, as they have an actual outdoor patio space for dining, they were closed this morning due to the rain. Thinking quickly on my feet (because people lying down tend to think very slowly?), I figured that as long as I was in the area that I should just go back to Town's End Restaurant & Bakery (see last 'blog-entry from October 28th, 2012). This turned out to be a very good back-up choice (and, in actuality, it was probably better than the originally scheduled destination).

Almost as soon as you sit down, they bring out a mini-basket of baked goods for you to enjoy while waiting to order and before your meal arrives. Today's mini-basket included: four mini-muffins (two corn muffins, one cranberry muffin, and one chocolate chip muffin) and one mini-scone (your basic raisin). And not to be missed is their seasonal fresh-made jams to be used with the pastries. Today's fresh-made jam was a blueberry jam. Due to its colour, I thought it was a raspberry jam at first until the friendly server-person-lady corrected me ~ either way, it was still very good.

As always, Town's End offered several other (seasonal and always changing) good ideas for breakfast (both of the vegetarian and dead, decaying animal flesh eater variety), particularly of note this morning: Spinach, Tomato & Mushroom Omelette (they don't specify what ingredients are in this one, but I am sure I would have liked it, anyway); Red Pepper Scrambled Eggs (with fire-roasted red peppers, green onions & Laura Chenel goat cheese); or Wild Mushroom Omelette (roasted garlic & yellow cippolini onions, wild arugula, wild yellowfoot mushrooms, with Nicasio Valley organic Farmstead cheese).

This was a great take on ol' Benny's eggs. I particularly liked that the asparagus was grilled ~ this was a nice touch and one that added a depth of flavour ~ and I was also very happy to see that there was a good amount of it, too, which is always a plus. Their Hollandaise sauce had an extremely intense yellow hue to it (I doubt the above photo will do it jaundiced justice, though; don't worry, the photographer has already been reprimanded for his ineptness); I understand that most Hollandaise sauces are basically yellow (egg yolks are the main ingredient, after all), but this was even deeper yellow than I have normally seen (now it makes me wonder what other places have been putting in their Hollandaise sauces).

For a change, I opted for the grilled polenta instead of the potato-carrot pancakes (the fresh fruit was never really a viable choice with me, anyway). The grilled polenta was good, but their potato-carrot pancakes are even better. I had even thought about ordering a side of the pancakes, but it would really have been too much food for me to finish (a side order is four pancakes, and with finishing all of the baked goods I was sufficiently sated). Now what might be an even better idea is if they made a Benedict dish using the grilled polenta as the basis for it; with asparagus or sun-dried tomatoes that would easily have rated a 7.2 (or higher) on the Glen Bacon Scale.

For condimentary supplementation, Town's End has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and Cholula® Hot Sauce. I forewent any of the former (or latter) and just used some of my own Hula Girl Chipotle Habanero (Thanks, Jim!) on one of the eggs and on one of the polenta squares. Chipotle really seems to enhance a Hollandaise sauce (no matter the shade of yellow) and goes equally as well with corn.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Asparagus Benedict ~ 6.7; Basket of mini-muffins/scone ~ 7.0; Blueberry jam (even if it wasn't very blue-ish or purple-ish and fooled the likes of me) ~ 7.3

MarketBar

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini[1] bread, and pumpkin[2] pie." 
~ Jim Davis, creator of Garfield 

http://www.marketbar.com/


Place: MarketBar 
Location: 1 Ferry Building
Hours: Open for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday at 9:00am (however, open for Breakfast Monday through Friday at 8:00am)
Meal: Baked Eggs & Cannellini Bean Ragu[3] 'Casuela'[4] (braised greens, cremini mushrooms, tomatoes, cilantro pesto, Parmigiano Reggiano); and a cuppa LavAzza 

(Because I couldn't find any good Festivus Carols on EweToob. 

They were actually playing Christmas songs ~ for some reason ~ while I was eating breakfast. I even heard a remake of "Last Christmas". Really?! I think I would rather take a trip on the maiden voyage of "Titanic II".)


I only get down to the Historic Ferry Building a few times a year and I had never eaten at MarketBar before, so I figured a quiet Sunday morning (where I can actually park on Mission Street legally and even find many open spaces nearby) before Christmas was as good a time as any to try breakfast (well, technically they call this their "Weekend Brunch") there. They have a very large indoor space; plus, a huge outside sidewalk/patio seating area (with twenty-four or more tables for four, and a few large picnic-style benches that could easily seat eight to ten people). It was just a little too cool still this morning to enjoy breakfast al fresco (I really need to learn how to say that phrase in Italian).

The "Weekend Brunch" menu really isn't that extensive, but there were a few other good dishes from which to choose: Organic Egg Omelette (baby spinach, onions, and Gruyere; served with garden salad and toast); Today's Quiche (seasonal vegetables and herbs; served with market salad); and a couple other breakfast (well, "Brunch") items, which seem to change seasonally.

I think that this place may be a bit too fancy-shmancy for me. Not only do they call their early morning meal "Brunch", this snooty place actually has the nerve to use real cloth napkins! Plus, the cups they serve the coffee in even have saucers underneath them (and the cups also match the LavAzza brand that they serve). Sheesh! I've had the pleasure to have been kicked out of much nicer places, though…

http://www.lavazza.us/us/

My meal was served in a terracotta/clay bowl (the 'Casuela' part of the dish's name). The eggs were more "poached" than baked, and served in a pretty tasty pesto ragù. I particularly liked that the cannellini beans were extra large (almost the size of γιγαντες). I know what you are thinking, "Beans for breakfast? What is this the East End of London?", but it worked rather nicely with the whole dish. My only little complaint was that it came with just two small pieces of toasted bread (probably sourdough or Italian) to sop up all of the tasty sauce/broth; I really would have liked (could have used) a few more pieces.

For a change, I actually tasted the stew/sauce before messing it up with any extra condimentary supplements. I had brought a few bottles of my own, but they really weren't needed this morning.

After breakfast, I wandered around to some of the other shops at the Historic Ferry Building and got an Earl Grey Bergamot Orange Crème doughnut at Pepples Donuts. I am pretty sure that these are the same people that provide the doughnuts to Dolores Park Café that I had yesterday for "breakfast dessert"; they offered some of the exact same flavours as I saw yesterday. Of course, they had several more flavours at their kiosk than I saw yesterday. Pepples Donuts are both Vegan and organic doughnuts (neither of which I really care about, just as long as they taste good ~ which they do). I liked the doughnut that I had this morning; however, I don't think the guy handed me the kind that I asked for, as it tasted nothing like Earl Grey or Orange Crème. I had already eaten half of it and wandered away before I discovered this, though. Maybe the next time I get back to the Historic Ferry Building (in another six months or so), I will get to try an actual Earl Grey Bergamot Orange Crème doughnut.

http://www.pepplesdonuts.com/

Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Baked Eggs & Cannellini Bean Ragu 'Casuela' ~ 6.5; LaVazza ~ 6.5; Earl Grey Bergamot Orange Crème(?) doughnut ~ 6.4

1. Botanically, this is actually a fruit.

2. And this is actually a fruit… and a berry.

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, numero uno:

"Ragù" (con un acento grave) in Italian is related to the French word "ragoût", which comes from the verb "ragoûter" (meaning "to revive the taste").

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day, numero due:

"Casuela" is the Italian version of the Spanish "cazuela" (meaning "cooking pot").