Rocco’s Café

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." ~ T.S. Eliot

("I have measured out my life with spoons, too. They just weren’t full of coffee." ~ Tallulah Bankhead)

http://www.roccoscafe.com/


Place: Rocco's Café
Location: 1131 Folsom Street (between 7th and 8th Streets)
Hours: Breakfast Monday - Friday 7:ooam - 11:30am; All day Saturday and Sunday (open at 8:00am)
Meal: Tomato, Basil, & Provolone Cheese Frittata (includes English muffin, wheat, rye, or sourdough toast & Rocco's Breakfast Potatoes) and a cuppa coffee

(Sorry, this was as close to a "Rocco" song that I could find on EweToob, Colonel Francona. This is the alternate/single version.)


This morning I had mia prima colazione a Rocco's Café (senza accento chiuso on their signage, ma con accento chiuso on their web-site). They've been around since 1990, but this was my first time ever eating there (breakfast, lunch, or dinner). They have a large enough space with seating for 40-50, plus an additional eight seats at the counter overlooking the kitchen/cook area. The walls are covered (literally) with old photos of San Francisco, actors and actresses, and other old-timey memorabilia. My server-lady this morning was super friendly; it was still pretty early and they weren't too busy, so I am sure she hadn't been taxed by a buncha idiots yet for the day. And unlike so many other eponymous restaurants in San Francisco (Who is "Dottie"? Who is "Ella"? Who is "Chloe"? etc.), there is an actual "Rocco" associated with this place; Rocco was the grandfather of the owner.

The house stereo was playing old 30's and 40's music stuff. It seems that back then the clarinet was the predominant instrument in the Big Bands (Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Allan Stewart Konigsberg, etc.), sort of the 30's version of a lead electric guitar.

stupid, useless parklets mini-rant of the day
There is another of these wastelets (a two-length car space one) right across the street from Rocco's Café, in front of BrainWash Cafe-Laundromat; for which, you have made my boycott list, too, mister! (It’s too bad, too. I always liked the idea of a joint café-Laundromat. I used to do my laundry there once in a while years ago, and it was a nice way of killing time while your clothes were being washed. Plus, they serve Beer.)

Rocco's has a pretty decent standard breakfastary menu and they also have a Breakfast Weekend & Holiday Specials section. On the regular breakfast menu, they have everything from Pancakes & French Toast to Grilled Polenta topped with Cheese & Marina Sauce (which I thought about getting) to several 3-Egg Omelettes and 3-Egg Frittatas (five different ones). I figured (correctly) that the frittata was a good way to go. Off the Weekend Specials (it wasn't a holiday this weekend, unless you want to count "Kill-off the Taínos for Queen Isabella Day" a real holiday) both 3 Eggs "Spuds a la Rocco" (topped w/ Avocado, Marinara, & Sharp Cheddar) and 3 Eggs Poached in a Sweet Tomato, Basil Marina Sauce (w/ Italian Sausage & Warm Italian French[sic] Bread) sounded very good. They also had on the daily specials chalkboard: Cappuccino[1] Cake or Chocolate Raspberry Cake; if only I had room for dessert.

From the ingredients, I knew that I was going to like the frittata right away. The major plusses were that the tomatoes were also roasted before throwing them into the mess ~  this just adds to the flavour (Sorry, Greg.) ~ and there were lots of fresh basil chiffonade (which the Spell-Check Nazis at Microsoft don‘t seem to recognize as a valid word; you may want to contact Rachel Ray or Emeril Lagreasy about that, Billy-boy) throughout it. This was all reminiscent of a good Pizza Margherita. The homefried potatoes were made with a lot of red onions in it; always a good thing. I chose sourdough as my toast choice (I wonder if it was Italian-French Sourdough Bread).

Rocco's has Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (both the original red and the green Jalapeño) and Tapatío® for condimentary supplementation (just missing Cholula® for the San Francisco Triumvirate[2]). I went with some of my own Born to Hula presents Devon Allman's All Natural Hot Sauce Chipotle Blues (Thanks, Kerry!) on the potatoes and some Serious Food… Silly Prices Mango Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the frittata.

Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Tomato, Basil, & Provolone Cheese Frittata ~ 6.5

1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-baristatic puntatore del giorno, numero uno:

Here's a little-known Cliff Clavinesque factoid*: the word "Cappuccino" gets its name from the Capuchin Monkeys of Central and South America. When the Spanish and Portuguese first started planting coffee in the Americas, it seems these pesky little primates would eat up all the coffee beans before they could be harvested. Not that the little tree-swinging buggers needed any extra jolts of energy, but they would really create havoc with the plantations after ingesting all that caffeine. The local farmers had to come up with a plan to curtail this and started using old, empty barrels of Rum to catch the animated primates in. This is where we get the saying, "More fun than a barrelful of monkeys."

*(Geez, did you really buy all that? Never believe anything you read on the Intro-Net. Well, that is what my French model girlfriend always tells me.

Here is the actual stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer:

The frothy coffee drink "Cappuccino" comes from the diminutive form of "cappucio", Italian for "hood". Both the drink and the Capuchin Monkeys (diminutive monkeys in  their own right) derive their names from a group of friars named the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. The monks (the Christian ones, not the long-tailed American primates) wore red-brown hooded robes, which the colour of the coffee drinks somewhat resembles; also, when the Spanish explorers first encountered the little monkeys (the American ones, not small friars), they appeared to be wearing hoods like the Capuchin brothers.

However, there is no proof whatsoever to the assertion that Capuchin Monks were fond of either Skittles® or Arizona® Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail.)

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-historical suggerentibus die, numero duos:

(And I promise that this one is true.) 

"Triumvirate" comes from the Latin phrase "trium virorum", which is the genitive plural of "tres viri" ("three men"). A single member of a triumvirate is called a "triumvir" and the plural is "triumviri".

Chocolate

"I've never gotten drunk at a Chocolate bar, but I will try anything once."
~ A.N. Onymous


Chocolate is the very last of the Six Major Food Groups (as recommended by the National Board of Health and Safety) about which I haven't written yet. The other five being: Pizza (see 'blog-entry from January 24th, 2013), Ice Cream (see 'blog-entry from January 18th, 2013), Beer (see 'blog-entry from October 11th, 2012), Potatoes (see 'blog-entry from February 8th, 2012), and Coffee (see 'blog-entry from March 25th, 2010).

Chocolate is a processed, typically sweetened food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma Cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America.

Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:

The word "Chocolate" comes from Nahuatl "xocolātl", from "xococ" ("bitter") + "ātl" ("water"). The majority of the Mesoamerican people consumed Chocolate made into beverages.

While Chocolate isn't primarily a breakfastary item, it can be found in many early morning meals:

Chocolate chip pancakes or waffles, Chocolate crêpes, Chocolate croissants, Chocolate doughnuts (either just covered in Chocolate or the Full Monty of Chocolate-y goodness where it is made with a Chocolate batter and Chocolate topping), Chocolate babka, hot Chocolate, Mocha Lattes, and even Chocolate cake (Bill Cosby would never lie to you). I am sure there are many of you meatatarians that would love to have Chocolate-covered bacon with your breakfast, too. And who among us hasn't gone a little "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs®" sometime in our lives?

There are three major types of Chocolate: White, Milk, and Dark. White Chocolate commonly consists of cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids, and salt; it does not contain any cocoa solids. Milk Chocolate is solid Chocolate made with milk added; it should contain between 20-25% cocoa solids. Dark Chocolate is produced by adding fat and sugar to cocoa (usually containing little or no milk); it should have minimally 35% cocoa solids, but can range as high as 70-99% cocoa solids. I really like the darker ones; the bitter, the better.

And no matter what Forrest, Forrest Gump says, you know exactly what you are getting with a box of Chocolates… life!

Mama♥s on Washington Square

"A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat." ~ old New York proverb

http://www.mamas-sf.com/


Place: Mama♥s on Washington Square
Location: 1701 Stockton Street (at Filbert Street, and, coincidentally enough, on Washington Square)
Hours: Open daily 8:00am - 3:00pm; Closed Mondays
Meal: Vegetarian M♥Omelette ~ Sautéed Mushrooms, Bell Peppers, Grilled Leeks, Tomatoes, and Sonoma[1] Goat Cheese (served with Mama♥s grilled potatoes and your choice of Toast: White, Whole Grain, Rye, English Muffin, or Sourdough Baguette); and a small glass of grapefruit juice


I can't believe it has been two years since I last ate at Mama♥s on Washington Square (see last 'blog-entry from November 6th, 2011). Several years back, Mama♥s used to be in my Breakfastary Rotation, but I had to DFA them due to the distance/time to get over there in the morning. I arrived at Mama♥s about twenty minutes before they opened (and found a legal parking space right across the street for a change) and there were already about eight people in line in front of me. It really didn't matter, it was a great San Francisco Autumn morning, and I was still assured to get seated with the first wave of early-rising idiots. 

This place is very popular with both the locals and touristas alike. By 9:00am there will usually be a line half-way down the block (meaning at least a 45-50 minutes wait to get in). There were two Polish guys at the table next to me. After discerning that they were indeed Polish with my acute Language I.D. skills (actually, I leaned over and asked them what language they were speaking ~ I figured it was either Polish or Czech; both of those languages always remind me of Russkij with a frenchified twist), I amazed them with my one or two words and phrases po polsku. I even remember to say "Dzień dobry!" when they were leaving.

I really like that there are many items on the menu that stupid vegetarian can choose from ("from which stupid vegetarians can choose", whatever). Not only is there a great selection of M♥Omelettes ~ I was thinking about Papa's Favorite (Roasted Ortega[2] Peppers, Tomatoes, and Fontina Cheese, served open-faced), but they also offer many versions of French toast; Apple Pan Dore (Slices of Sourdough Baguette with Sautéed Apples in Lemon Butter Sauce) sounded really good, and I am not sure if I have ever had it in my many visits there ~ next time.

The Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude
While waiting in line, I saw a medium-sized flock[3] of about 25-30 Wild Parrots flying over Washington Square Park, heading westward… towards a day of Sun in the Marina?

The Vegetarian M♥Omelette was a good choice. There were lots of bell peppers (red, green, and yellow ~ I really doubt anyone can tell the difference in a blind taste test) and the sautéed leeks really gave it a nice "je ne sais quoi" flavour (I wonder what foreign phrase the French use when trying to describe something with an indefinable, elusive quality). The goat cheese really brought the entire M♥Omelette together. I went with Sourdough baguette as my toast choice, which really wasn't a hard choice; sorry, Mr. Thomas, but your faux British crumpets really just can't compete. 

Mama♥s only has Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (original red) and Tapatío® as their bottled hot sauce condimentary supplements. I used some of my own Youk's Hot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the M♥Omelette and some Hula Girl Chipotle Habanero (Thanks, Jim!) on the potatoes. My server-lady was also a big hot sauce fan and took a little of each to try later when she had her breakfast break. She even told me she will bring bottles of her own favourite hot sauces with her when she travels just in case. Some people take their condimentary supplementation a little too seriously. Also not to be missed is Mama♥s homemade olallieberry jam. It is very good and must be sampled, and it was a great addition to the toasted Sourdough baguette. It goes equally as well on their French toast choices, too. They even have jars of it for sale now.

Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Vegetarian M♥Omelette ~ 6.7; homemade olallieberry jam ~ 7.0

1. To most people, Sonoma Valley is usually known as "that other Wine Country" after Napa Valley . 

Which brings us to another stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day:

According to the Coast Miwok and Pomo tribes that lived in the region, "Sonoma" translates as "valley of the Moon" or "many moons".

2. The Ortega is a variety of Anaheim chilli pepper. They are a milder green chilli. The name "Anaheim" chillies derives from Emilio Ortega, a farmer who brought the seeds to the Anaheim, California area in the early 1900's. Anaheim peppers have a Scoville Heat Unit rating of about 1,000-2,500; that is a little less heat than delivered in the standard red Tabasco® sauce (at 2,500-5,000 SHU).

3. The actual Term of Venery for a group of parrots is either "company" or "pandemonium". I particularly like the latter.

heartbaker

"Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing." ~ Walt Kelly

http://www.theheartbaker.com/

(Yes, I know I could have gone with Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker", but it sounds kind of dated today. Tim Pretty and the Homewreckers are classic 'merican Rock-and/or-Roll and always sound good.)


Place: heartbaker
Location: 1408 Clement Street (at 15th Avenue)
Hours: Saturday and Sunday open at 8:00am
Meal: Seasonal Vegetable Quiche[1], Chocolate Brownie w/ Caramel & Sea Salt, nutella® Bombolone[2], and a cuppa Hearth Coffee Roasters (not sure which blend/roast)


I wanted to do a small, quick, local breakfast this morning as I wanted to leave time for today's all-day free music festival in Golden Gate Park: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Lucky 13. I also wanted to leave room for a lot of festival-type food-junk that I will probably ingest while there. 

http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2013/

Luckily there is a brand new (open about three months only now) artisan bakery in my neighborhood called heartbaker. It is within walking distance of my apartment, so that makes it even double better. I have been there just once before for coffee and pastries (Thanks, Lori!) and wanted to see if I could make a breakfastary meal out of what they currently offer. They don't do a "full breakfast" yet, but I was told that they have plans for it in the future; however, they do serve lunches and dinners currently. There are several tables inside and two sidewalk tables if you want to eat like your zio italiano, Alberto Fresco. 

heartbaker offers many fresh-baked goods (hence the "baker" part of their name), such as: Bomboloni, Quiches, Bread Pudding, Brownies, Cakes, Cheesecakes, Cookies, Cupcakes, Scones, Muffins, and Tarts (as well as some other interesting items: Pot de Crème, anyone?). There were a few other choices of quiches this morning: Salmon w/ Goat Cheese and Red Onion; and Pancetta w/ Mushroom and Gorgonzola, but the one I went with was the only vegetarian one offered (they do have a Potato, Leek & Feta, but it wasn't available today). I was hoping that they had some of their Mini-Tarts (you know, those personal, little one-bite thingys), but there were none that early this morning ~ the Key Lime, Frangipan[3](sic) & Pear, or Frangipan & Fig all sounded really good and I probably would have gotten one of each in addition to all of the other stuff I ordered.

Not that it really matters, but sometimes I like to check yelp* to see what other people have to say about a new place. It seems that some yelp*-ers are quite easily befuddled. Here are a few actual quotes: 

"heartbaker confuses me. I thought it was a bakery, but it's more like a cute café that serves lunch, dinner, and a small amount of baked goods on the side." 

or

"I'm so confused, heartbaker. I thought you were a bakery. You have 'baker' in your name. You have pictures of baking instruments on your widow. I kept hearing of the new bakery opened, blah, blah. I go to get some fresh bread. You have no bread. You are not a bakery."

Really?! If eating fresh-baked (See? I used the word "baked", so it must be a "bakery") products mystifies you so, might I suggest you stay home and just have a sandwich made from WONDER bread? Maybe these yelp*-ers need to have the word "Imbecile" in their names so other people will not "confuse" them with actual intelligent diners.

The quiche was good enough and contains eggs so that is breakfast to me. I just wish there were a few more "seasonal vegetables” in it. I only detected roasted red peppers and zucchini, and probably Cheddar cheese in it. Bomboloni (plural) are Italian-style doughnuts; kinda beignet-like. I really was looking forward to trying the Amaretto[4] custard or Seasonal fruit preserves bomboloni; but they only had nutella®, Lemon Curd, or Vanilla this morning. The brownie was very good, but I knew I was going to like it when I heard what it was. Hearth Coffee Roasters are a local San Francisco roastery; and each cup is made fresh per order in a single-drip method.

http://www.hearthcoffee.com/

I am not sure if they even offer any types of bottled condimentary supplementation, but I used just a skosh (which translates from Japanese as just 5-6 drops) of my own Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce Off The Wall Triple Hot (Thanks, Kerry!) on the quiche.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Seasonal Vegetable Quiche ~ 6.3;  Chocolate Brownie w/ Caramel & Sea Salt ~ 6.5; nutella® Bombolone ~ 6.4; Hearth Coffee Roasters ~ 6.7


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointeur du jour, numéro un:

"Quiche" comes from French, which ultimately borrowed the word from Lorraine Franconian (no relation to Tito, Terry, or Rick) "Küeche", meaning "cake" (cf. German "Kuchen"). Central Franconian typically unrounded the "ü" and shifted the fricative (I hate when I shift my fricatives unnecessarily) "ch" to "sh", resulting in "kishe", which in standard French spelling gives "quiche".

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic puntatore del giorno, numero due:

"Bombolone/bomboloni" gets its name from the Italian word "bomba" ("bomb"), and the same type pastry is also called "bomba" (plural "bombe"). The etymological connection is usually regarded as a reference to the very high calorie density of this recipe.

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic puntatore del giorno, numero tre:

"Frangipane/frangipani” is derived from "frangere il pane", Italian for "break the bread". Frangipane (not "frangipan", which they had it mispelded as on the menu) is a filling made from or flavored with almonds.

4. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic puntatore del giorno, numero quattro:

"Amaretto" is a diminutive of the Italian "amaro", meaning "bitter", indicating the distinctive flavour lent by the mandorla amara - the bitter almond.

Mission’s Kitchen

"That's something that annoys the hell out of me - I mean if somebody says the coffee's all ready and it ain't[1]." 
~ J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

(No official web-site)

phonicular contact: (415) 648-1577

(Today is National Coffee Day. I kinda like the humour in a song by Cream called "Coffee Song", too.)


Place: Mission's Kitchen
Location: 2738 Mission Street (between 23rd and 24th Streets)
Hours: Saturday and Sunday open at 7:00am
Meal: Chilaquiles en Mole[2] Poblano[3] con queso fresco; y una taza de Café Mexicano (maybe it really is International Coffee Day)


I tried another new (old) place for breakfast this morning, Mission's Kitchen. Even though they have probably been in the same location for more than twenty years, I am pretty sure I haven't ever eaten there before for even lunch or dinner. This is basically a dinerish joint en el corazón de la Misión (hence their name). They have fourteen diner-counter stools (the kind with backs), about eight booths that seat four, and a few lone tables for four in the back, too.

I sat at the diner-counter overlooking the kitchen area. I watched as one guy prepped a mess o' plantains (plátanos) to be fried up. Those are really good with just beans and rice on the side. I like that they open up pretty early every day, this made it very easy to find a parking spot right in front this morning.

Mission's Kitchen offers a lot on their desayuno menu ~ both standard 'mericano and mexicano dishes: Mexican Frittata; Mission Omelette; etc. (which in Spanish is "etcétera"; I am always amazed at how they have different words for everything). However, I already had my mind made up that if they had chilaquiles on the menu, I was going to get that; that they offer this as a standard version and a Mole Poblano version was even better.

I have stated here before that chilaquiles can be prepared differently at most places; it's like an Italian family's tomato sauce recipe. These were simply (already) fried corn tortilla chips sautéed up with a bunch of onions (cebollas) and some salsa (this seemed to be a mixture of a tomatillo salsa and ranchero salsa). The chips were still pretty crunchy when it was served. I do like that they give you your choice of how to have your eggs; I had mine over-medium. The crumbled queso fresco all over the top was a nice touch, too. One little problem (un problemita), they forgot to make these with the Mole Poblano sauce. This was easily rectified and I asked for a small cup of the sauce to pour over the top. They gave me a nice amount to pour on the mess (and with some extra tortilla chips); I was glad, too, as it was very good. I made a dip out of the side of rice and refried beans (arroz y frijoles refritos) to use with the additional chips.

Café Mexicano is just what I call regular coffee with 2-3 sugars (azúcar) and about 1/3 cream or milk (crema o leche). It was good, but it is not Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain. So to really make it International Coffee Day, I am enjoying a cuppa the BEST EVAH right now while typing out this 'blog-entry. There is no such thing as too much coffee, just ask Jackie Chiles. Of course, after 3-4 cups of coffee this morning, I will probably be awake all day now…

I usually won't bring any of my own hot sauces with me (How do you say "schlep" in Spanish?) when I eat in the Mission; that would be like bringing your own coals with you when visiting Newcastle, your own coffee with you when visiting Seattle, or your own booze with you when visiting Salt Lake City. For bottled condimentary supplements Mission's Kitchen offers both Tapatío® and Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red). I really didn't need to use any of those as the Mole Poblano was muy sabroso as it was, anyway.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles en Mole Poblano ~ 6.4; Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain ~ 8.5


1. Okay, I can understand the Spell-check Nazis at Microsoft not recognizing such Imperialistic words like "edamame" and "shiitake"  (clearly Wild Bill can't afford to eat sushi or sashimi), but I ain't gonna stand by when they ain't gonna accept perfectly good, nonstandard words like "ain't". Youse gots a problem wif dat, Billy-boy, then talk to some highly respected authors of the English language named Mr. Dickens and Mr. Clemens. 

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer del día, número uno:

Part a:
"Mole" (which rhymes with "¡Olé!"; there is just no acento agudo; just in case any of you pun-dits wanted to quip about it being made from subterranean rodents) comes from Nahuatl "molli" meaning "sauce".

Part b:
And for you pun-dits that really care, the word for "mole" in Spanish is "topo" (which is also the same word as "mouse" in Italian, Eddie).

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer del día, número dos:

"Poblano" is just Spanish for anything from the Mexican State of Puebla. 

As per nuestros amigos de Wikipedia:

Mole Poblano is the best known of all mole varieties and has been ranked as number one of "typical" Mexican dishes. It has also been called the "national dish" of Mexico. The state of Puebla is identified with Mole Poblano.

Mole Poblano contains about 20 ingredients, including chili peppers and chocolate, which works to counteract the heat of the chili peppers, but the chocolate does not dominate. It helps give the sauce its dark color, but this is also provided by the mulato peppers as well.

Sally’s Restaurant & Deli

"I put instant coffee in a microwave and almost went back in time." ~ Steven Wright (the comedian and Boston Red Sox fan, not the Boston Red Sox Knuckleballer)

(No official web-site)

phonicular contact: (415) 626-6006

(Tomorrow is National Coffee Day; hence, the second EweToob-ular video. I have no real reason for the first song, though.)


Place: Sally's Restaurant & Deli
Location: 300 De Haro[1] Street (on the corner of 16th Street)
Hours: Saturday and Sunday open at 7:00am
Meal: Greek Omelet ~ Feta, spinach, Kalamata olive, and tomato; served with toast and homefries; and a pretty decent cuppa coffee


I wanted to try a new (old) place for breakfast this morning so I went to Sally's Restaurant & Deli. I used to eat here once in a while for breakfast or lunch when I worked just a few blocks away several years ago now. However, I am not sure if there is an actual "Sally" involved with the business or not, Mr. Brown. 

There is nothing fancy about the joint at all (and I mean that in a good way). It is in a kind of a Quonset[2] hut/tin roof (but the meals weren't free) building. Sally's is in the same building as Market & Rye (see 'blog-entry from January 20th, 2013). It is a large space with lots of seating (about 50-60 seats inside and another four to five outside sidewalk tables). Parking is very easy in the neighborhood on the weekends; plus, they have their own small parking lot (shared with a few other businesses) for 14-15 cars. They are also just two blocks downhill from Anchor Brewing Company[3].

I got there about two hours after they had opened but they didn't put up their Specials board until I was almost done with my meal. Pity, as there were some good choices from which to choose. French Toast ~ with caramelized bananas, chocolate whipped cream, candied pecans, and brownie brittle; that sounds like a lot of flavours (What exactly is "chocolate whipped cream" do you think?). Corn Cakes Benedict ~ with ground pork, ranchera sauce, Hollandaise sauce, micro cilantro, with side greens; but I just had versions of Eggs Benedict the past few weekends, so I probably wouldn't have gone for that, anyway. However, the Tofu Hash looked most interesting ~ (Korean-style) with shiitake mushrooms[4], edamame[5], onions, spinach, cilantro, rice, and a fried egg; I know that is exactly what I would have ordered.

Not seeing the aforementioned Specials board, I just ordered off the standard printed menu. You order and pay first at the front counter/cash register and they call out your name when it is ready. They offer many different eggy dishes, five types of Eggs Benedict, and eight omelettes. When in doubt, I will usually defer to the Greek Omelet (or Omelette) if it is offered on a menu. 

I was very happy to see that this was made with lots of fresh spinach and (authentic) Kalamata olives; however, it could have used a little more Feta in it (but I usually say this). I went with sourdough toast this morning. The coffee was from America's Best Coffee; it is self-serve and they give you choices of either House Blend (which I went with) or French Roast.

Sally's has a good selection for condimentary supplementation: Tapatío® which they have on all the tables; and they also have available Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (standard red); Frank's® RedHot; Crystal® Hot Sauce; and Huy Fong Foods Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I went with some of my own Mama Africa's™ Zulu Sauces Chilli Mint (Thanks, Kerry!) on the potatoes; and some Big Papi En Fuego Hot Sauce Off The Wall Triple Hot (Thanks again, Kerry!) on the omelette.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Greek Omelet ~ 6.5


1. Who the heck is this De Haro guy, and why does he get a street named after him?

Francisco de Haro was the first Alcalde (Mayor) of Yerba Buena (later named San Francisco ~ no relation to Señor de Haro, though) in 1834.

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

The word "Quonset" comes from a southern New England Algonquian language and probably means "small, long place". The name "Quonset hut" comes from Quonset Point, Rhode Island where they were first manufactured during World War II. 

3. http://www.anchorbrewing.com/

4. While I am glad to see that they spelled "shiitake" correctly, as I have mentioned here many times before, the "mushrooms" part is just redundantly redundant redundancy. It is like saying "Sahara Dessert".

5. Oh, jeez, seriously? The stupid Spell-check Nazis at Microsoft do not recognize this word. Doesn't Wild Bill Gates ever go out to eat Japanese food?

Which brings us to stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number 二:

"Edamame" ("枝豆") in Japanese literally means "twig bean" ("eda" = "twig" + "mame" = "bean").

Ananda Fuara

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." ~ John Gunther, American author and journalist

http://www.anandafuara.com/

(Happy 55th Birthday, Johnette Napolitano!)


Place: Ananda Fuara[1] ~ A Vegetarian Restaurant
Location: 1298 Market Street (on the corner of Larkin Street)
Hours: Saturday and Sunday open at 9:00am for "Brunch"
Meal: Sausage Benedict ~ Two poached eggs and vegetarian sausage on an English muffin topped with Hollandaise sauce with crispy potatoes, and a cuppa coffee ("organic and fair trade")

Ananda Fuara is "A Vegetarian Restaurant", they even specify that on their signs on the building. I have eaten here a few times before for lunch and dinner, but this was my first visit for "Brunch". It's a medium-sized restaurant with fourteen tables that seat four, one table for two people, and one table for one person (no, really; the restaurant was pretty empty when I got there so I didn't feel it necessary to look like a complete "lonesome loser" and wasted one of the tables for four all by myself).

As they state on their web-site, they are a "Sri Chinmoy divine enterprise". I don't really know what that is supposed to mean, nor do I really care. As long as the food is tasty, it's all good with me. The waitresses/server ladies all wear saris/wrap thingys. I just hope that by eating here, I don't become some kinda mindless member of a vegetarian cult. Ommm-mmm!

It's nice to go to a place and be able to order anything on the menu. Even stupid Vegans have many choices. (Of course, I only make fun of Vegans because I can. This is akin to Catholics making fun of Methodists for their religious choices ~ "My Jesus-based religion is better than your Jesus-based religion, heathens!") It is hard enough being a stupid vegetarian, I would really find it very hard to be a stupid Vegan and have to give up eggs, milk, and honey (yes, Vegans do not even eat honey; they feel it is unfair to the bees ~ that is not a joke). That would mean no Pizza and no Ice Cream ~ that's just crazy talk! I supposed I would probably be a stupid Vegan if they didn't have so many arbitrary rules (and they will never teach me their damn secret handshake… of course, a Vegan handshake is usually made with almond or soy milk).

There were a few other dishes on the "Brunch" menu that caught my eye: Orange Blossom French Toast (Three big pieces of pugliese or wheat bread dipped in our orange batter with caramelized bananas and glazed walnuts on top. Served with pure maple syrup.) and Gingerbread Pancakes (vegan) (Three vegan pancakes served with poached pear and vegan lemon curd and served with pure maple syrup.) I went with my choice as it had been quite some time since I last had an Eggs Benedict type meal (see both of last weekend's 'blog-entries).

This was just your typical Eggs Benedict with sausage patties in place of the Canadian bacon. I had to ask one of the sari-wearing server ladies if the vegetarian sausage was made from vegetarian pork (which would not be Kosher or Halal[2]) or 100% vegetarian beef (which goes against the Hindu dietary restrictions). She didn't get my joke, and, for which, I am pretty sure that I got the "extra special" Hollandaise sauce on my eggs. It was actually a pretty decent enough Hollandaise sauce and the poached eggs were once again cooked properly.

I also pestered the server lady as to which brand of coffee they use.  She didn't know and said that they just buy it from Costco. At least they specify that it's "organic and fair trade" (whatever that is supposed to mean); it was pretty good coffee whatever brand "organic and fair trade" it was. I found this pretty funny: they have two sizes of coffee on their menu, a "Small" (for $2.25) and a “Large” (for $2.75), but they offer free refills. Why on Earth (or Bhuh even) would anyone order the "Large"? But either size is "organic and fair trade", at least.

For condimentary supplements, Ananda Fuara only has Cholula® Hot Sauce, which is not really a bad option. However, I used some of my own Dave's Gourmet® Ginger Peach Hot Sauce (Thanks, Jim!) on top of the eggs (I was a little wary about how it would go with the "extra special" Hollandaise sauce, but it actually worked well) and some El Yucateco® XXXtra Hot Sauce Salsa Kutbil-ik® de Chile Habanero (Thanks, Brian!) on the potatoes.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sausage Benedict ~ 6.3


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

"Ananda Fuara" ("आनंद फव्वारा") means "fountain of delight" in Hindi. Aren't I just a "fuara" of knowledge?

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-religious pointer of the day, number two:

"Halal" ("حلال") means "lawful" or "permissible" in Arabic. Halal foods are foods that Muslims are allowed to eat or drink under Islamic Shari'ah.