"'Well,' said Pooh, 'what I like best,' and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called." ~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
http://www.honeyhoneycafeandcrepery.com/ Place: Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery Location: 599 Post Street (on the corner of Taylor Street) Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 7:30am Meal: Baklava[1](Dessert Crepe) ~ cinnamon, walnut, and white syrup; a side of potatoes; and a cuppa Coffee (I didn't ask which brand or roast, but the last time I ate there they had America's Best Coffee Roasting Company, and I just assume it was still the same)
(I know you are trying to figure out just what the heck the EweToobular juxtaselection is here. Simples! The song segues into "Who Do you Love?" with a Bo Diddley beat, and everyone knows that Ellas Otha Bates/Ellas McDaniel/Bo Diddley's real last name was "Honey". If you didn't know that, you didn't know squat!) Sometimes you just need a good crêpe (or "crepe" for those of you that are circumflex-challenged [in-circumflex-ible?]) for breakfast, whether it be a sweet or savoury crêpe, too. Because of which, I decided to head back to Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery (see previous 'blog-entry from March 19th, 2016). I had arrived there at about 7:15am and there were only two people ahead of me waiting patiently in line for them to open up. By the time they did open at 7:30am, there were probably another ten to twelve people behind me, and by 8:00am, the line to order was from the counter to the door, and they were basically full then. There are still many more good ideas from which to choose at this place: (off the Savory Crepes section of the menu) Torino (Feta cheese, fresh basil, tomato, mushroom); Eggplant (Cheddar, tomato, garlic, fresh basil, sundried tomato, eggplant [Oh, now I get the name of this crêpe!]); Florentine (Cheddar, spinach, cottage cheese, onion); or Salsa (Cheddar, onion, tomato, avocado, olives, salsa, sour cream); (off the Eggs & Omelettes section of the menu) Post Street (Cheddar, ham, onion, mushrooms, green pepper; of course, I would have ordered this without any of the putrefied porky-stuff); Milano (Mozzarella, tomato, garlic, and fresh basil); or Athens (Feta, spinach, and olives; this will probably be my first choice whenever I get back there again and feel like ordering an omelette). the WildParrots of San Francisco Interlude Before and after breakfast, while walking around the neighborhood, I heard a few of the Wild Parrots of San Francisco, but didn't see any of them flying around. As best as I can figure, there must be a local, small roost in the Post-Geary-Taylor area.
Wha'?! A Dessert Crepe for breakfast?! Well, it worked pretty well for me. This was chock full o' (wal)nuts and cinnamon. The "white syrup" stuff was probably some kinda simple sugar syrup. They offer this with a choice of either Ice Cream or whipped cream for a topping. I went with whipped cream, because I figured Ice Cream for breakfast might be a little silly and overkill. And to contrapose the sweetness of this crêpe, the potatoes were an excellent savoury choice. These really are great potatoes for breakfast. They are perfectly seasoned/spiced and burnt/crispy just like I like 'em! For condimentary supplementation, Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Creperyhas the standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce), Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal, and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce. I used some of my ownLucky Dog Hot Sauce Medium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on half of the pile o' potatoes and some Florida GoldPremium Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on the other half of the pile. I really did like this sweet crêpe for a breakfastary change-of-pace. Now if they could ever come up with a Kαταΐφι crêpe... Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Baklava(Dessert Crepe) ~ 6.8; (really awesome) potatoes ~ 7.4; the WildParrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. For any of you truly ambitious cooks out there:
(Yeah, there is absolutely no way in H-E-Double-Hockeysticks that I would ever attempt making that dish.)
"Dogs never bite me. Just humans." ~ Marilyn Monroe
http://www.thelittlechihuahua.com/location/noe-valley Place: the Little Chihuahua Location: 4123 24th Street (between Castro and Diamond Streets) Hours: open at 10:00am on Saturday & Sunday (for "Brunch") Meal: Chilaquiles ~ fried corn tortillas tossed with a smoky chile cream sauce, sautéed poblano chiles and onions and topped with two eggs cooked to order, garnished with sour cream,pico de gallo and queso cotija; a (somewhat superfluous) side of tortilla chips; a large glassa melon agua fresca; and (beforehand) a small cuppa Bernie's ~ a local coffee shop La Dona (light roast) (No offical web-site; phonicular contact: 415-642-1192.)
(The first EweToobular juxtaselection should be self-evident from the theme of the song and the name of the restaurant this morning. The second song is because it's una tradición for the restaurant to be blasting a little Sábado Negro when they first open up for the morning. They actually weren't doing so this morning, but they normally are.) Think globally, drink locally! I had arrived to the neighborhood (which, in this case, would be Noe[1] Valley[2]) more than an hour before my intended breakfastary destination was due to open, so I figured a little early-morning caffeine intake was in order. I have been to Bernie's ~ a local coffee shop before and knew it to be a decent place for a decent cuppa. They are located in the same spot (bottom floor of an old Victorian[3]) that used to (coffee)house Spinelli's (back before they were bought-out by Tully's). I am not sure which particular brand of Coffee they serve at Bernie's (It would be ironic if the name of the roastery happened to be the Donald or the Hillary, though.) ~ see, here's where an official-type web-site thing comes in handy ~ but I was informed by one of the pretty, friendly baristettes that today's drip-Coffee was a light roast with the moniker of La Dona. the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude Just before entering Bernie's, a pair (which would only be considered a minor pandemonium) of the noisy little chatter-heads flew over the building. I have no idea from where they were heading or to where they were going. I had been meaning to get back to breakfast at the Little Chihuahua (see last 'blog-entryfrom June 28th, 2015) last month in keeping with my end-of-June annular visit. Plus, it's always nice to get back to Noe Valley once in a while, especially when it's proving to be a sunny morning for a change. I sat out back in the open-air (but covered with an awning) patio seating area. There are five small tables that can seat from two to four persons back there. I had the entire place to myself the whole time I was there, too.
"Hey, Brian, what gives? Chilaquiles two days in a row? Are you some kinda Mexicanese-person now? Ja-ja-ja!" Well, I will have you know, this was by no means (Would that be "by yes means" then?) a coincidence. I purposely wanted to order another chilaquiles dish to compare it with muy sabroso desayuno de ayer. This came out as a huge pile o' tortilla chips. These were sautéed with a very nice salsa and it included lots of poblano chillies and white onions in with it. I was not asked how I would like my eggs prepared (normally chilaquiles are prepared with the eggs scrambled in with the tortilla chips and junk already) and this came out with the eggs scrambled separately, but added on top of the heap; this was a different take on how I normally am used to getting it. Plus, if I had known that I had my choice of how the eggs could be prepared, I might have gone with over-medium instead for a change. This was a pretty good meal, but yesterday's chilaquiles were more in the style of what I am used to and prefer. If I were to recommend going back to the Little Chihuahua for breakfast (and I highly do), I would tell you to stick with either the Stacked Enchiladas (which would be my primary recommendation as they are truly keeler; see previous 'blog-entry from June 29th, 2014) or their breakfast version of Chile Relleno (which I had on my previous visit; these are also keeler, but in comparison to the Stacked Enchiladas, this would only be a Voluntary Manslaughter sentence, whereas the Stacked Enchiladas are Death Row quality). Sure, I didn't have to order a side of tortilla chips, but I mainly did so so that I could sample some of their mighty fine home-made (taquería-made, whatever) salsas. I got three little ramekins of their Roasted Tomato, Chipotle, and Lime-Habanero. None of these are extremely picante (well, I suppose they are gringo-espicy), but I really like the flavour of the Lime-Habanero. The combination of plain tortilla chips with the ones already in the chilaquiles really was a lot of chips to take in (or a lot of intake of tortilla chips). This meal does not come with any type of side dish (arroz y frijoles refritos are generally a given). I was thinking of ordering a side of their Mexican potatoes or plátanos fritos. Luckily, I did not, because that would have ended up being wayyyyy too much food, anyway. And just like yesterday, the Little Chihuahua only has bottles of Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce on the tables for a condimentary supplement. Who would ever need any of that when they offer five great-tasting home-made (taquería-made, whatever) salsas already?![4] Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 6.4; Bernie'sLa Dona ~ 7.0; the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5 ___________________ 1. For those of you that are uninformed, "Noe" is pronounced: "NO-ee", not just plain ol' "No". 2. For those of you that are uniformed, "Valley" is pronounced pretty much as you would expect. 3. Like there are really any "new Victorians". 4. Well, Who may not ever use any of that kind of bottled hot sauce, but I bet those smarmy li'l bastages What, I-don't-know, or I-don't-give-a-darn would. Naturally!
http://m.sanjalisco.com/ Place: SanJalisco Location: 901 South Van Ness Street (on the corner of 20th Street) Hours: open at 8:00am(???) every day of the week (their web-site does not have their hours on it anywhere) Meal: (me) Chilaquiles Verdes~ tortilla bits scrambled with two large eggs, cheese, onions, nopales, and salsa verde; (Christopher) Nopales con huevos ~ two large eggs scrambled with nopales, onions, and tomatoes; (Wendy) Chilaquiles Verónica ~ tortilla bits scrambled with two large eggs, cheese, onions, and salsa, complemented with chorizo, nopales, and fresh Mexican-style sour cream; to drink, Wendy and I had Coffee (I had one refilla, too)
(I'll bet not many people were aware that the working title of this song was actually "Rip This Tortilla".) My "nephew" (well, close enough for Government work[1]) Christopher was in town with his fiancée Wendy (doing some kinda pre-honeymoon Coastal California tour ~ from San Diego to Calistoga), so I took them to breakfast at SanJalisco (see last 'blog-entry from December 21st, 2014). I was pretty sure that this local Mexican joint would provide a breakfastary fare that they would not normally get to see in Massachusetts. Besides, it was about time I made a return visit there para el desayuno.
(I did not want to bother either Christopher or Wendy by taking photos of their respective dishes. I figured that it was bad enough that they had to sit across the table from me for an entire meal. Also, please ignore the bokehocity of this photo; the food tasted plenty un-blurry for my liking.) Even before getting there and looking over their menu, I was pretty sure that I was going to get one of their chilaquiles dishes for myself. They now offer five versions: (standard) Chilaquiles (tortilla bits scrambled with two large eggs, cheese, onions, and salsa); Chilaquiles Verdes; Chilaquiles Remo (tortilla bits scrambled with two large eggs, cheese, onions, and salsa, complemented with sautéed chicken and fresh Mexican-style sour cream); Chilaquiles Verónica; and Carne Asada con Chilaquiles (tender thick or thin steak [your choice] grilled to perfection, served with grilled onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, accompanied with chilaquiles). I had talked up both the Chilaquiles Verónica and Huevos Divorciados (two fried eggs with chile verde& chile colorado [pork]), as I knew those would be dishes that one would not normally find available in Massachusetts. I think the allure of the nopales (again, not exactly a standard ingredient "Back East") was what swayed Christopher and Wendy to order those dishes that they did. (And I am happy to state that they both seemed to enjoy the cactus paddles product ~ or were at least polite enough to not spit it out.) This was the first time that I have ever had SanJalisco's version of Chilaquiles Verdes(and only the second or third time having it with a tomatillo salsa). I liked this a lot, but the Chilaquiles Verónica (sin chorizo, muchas gracias) is still one of my favourites of all the chilaquiles dishes that I have ever had. All breakfast entrées are served with home-made corn tortillas, Mexican rice, and your choice of refried pinto beans, whole pinto beans, or whole black beans. I don't think they actually asked us which beanie choice we preferred, Señor Atkinson, but we all ended up with frijoles refritos and everyone seemed to enjoy that, anyway (I also like to mix mine with the rice and add some of their home-made salsa roja to the mess and use it as a dip for my corn tortilla chips). I made sure to expound on the virtues of the fresh (hot-off-the-grill) home-made corn tortillas (if fresh [hot-off-the-grill] home-made corn tortillas can be called virtuous, these would definitely fall into that category). As has been mi tradición del desayuno whenever eating at a Mexican restaurant, I made sure to add three to four teaspoons of azúcar (and that is not an exaggeration) and crema to about one-third of the mug. I have named this "Café mexicano", because I have seen many of the old, local guys prepare their Coffee the same way. (Of course, they are also slurping down huge bowls of menudo, so their tastes can be rather suspect.) For condimentary supplementation, SanJalisco only has bottles of Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce on the tables. This really does not matter (¿Cómo se dice "superfluous" en español?), because their home-made salsa roja is more than picante y sabrosa all on its own. I didn't bring any of my own hot sauces with me this morning; I knew that would be like bringing your own Brown Ale to Newcastle. Don't worry, it wasn't all just fun and food. I also got to show Christopher and Wendy a quick morning tour of la Misión: Mission San Francisco de Asís[2]; some of the Mission murals along 24th Street (especially including Balmy Alley[3]); and a drive down "the other crookedest street in the World", Vermont Street[4]. I suppose this can be considered my "50 pesos tour of San Francisco". Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles Verdes~ 6.9 (I didn't bother Christopher or Wendy for their GBS Rating input for their meals; however, I have had both before, and know that they are both very tasty... the dishes, not Christopher and Wendy, that is) ___________________ 1. I have known Christopher for all his life. He is the son of one of my oldest friends, whom I have know for almost all of her life (give or take four years), too. 2. http://missiondolores.org/old-mission/visitor.html 3. http://balmyalley.com/Welcome.html 4. Contrary to popular belief, it is Vermont Street, not Pennsylvania Avenue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Street_(San_Francisco)
Richmond (District) Coffeehouses ~ Trentième Partie
http://www.velorougecafe.com/ (This is the best that they have to offer as an official web-site, but it's more in the form of one of those 'blog-things. People that write those are the worst.) Place: Velo Rouge (Blanc et Bleu) Café Location: 798 Arguello Boulevard (on the corner of McAllister Street) Hours: open at 6:30am Monday through Friday; open at 8:00am Saturday and Sunday, and on some holidays (like today) Meal: Mont Ventoux[1]Breakfast Sandwich ~ grilled egg, bacon (which I skipped, of course), and Jack cheese on an English muffin, bagel, croissant, or toast, which I upgraded with sliced avocado (a very 'merican food, I might point out); a side of grilled country (which I hope was the good ol' USofA) potatoes; and a cuppa Stumptown CoffeeHoller Mountain[2] https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/products/holler-mountain
(Do I really need to explain any EweToobular juxtaselections with today's videos? I only provided the two different versions of the first song because Dave Alvin wrote it, but it was originally performed by X on their 1987 album when Dave was a member of that group for a short while before venturing into his own solo career.) I was originally planning on going back to CinderellaRussian Bakery & Café (see previous 'blog-entry from March 10th, 2012) because I thought it would be funny to get a Fourth ofJulybreakfast at a Russian bakery[3] that was named after a French/Italian/German fairy tale. However, when I stopped by there yesterday morning to make sure that they would be open on the Fourth ofJuly, I noticed that they now support another one of those stupid parklets in front of their establishment. It is only a one-car obstruction, but it's still an annoying hindrance. So, for now, I am giving the place a mini-boycott. Luckily, there is always a good back-up plan and I just went back-up to Velo Rouge (Blanc et Bleu) Café (see last 'blog-entry from December 20th, 2014). Okay, so the real name of the joint is just Velo Rouge Café, but I am patriotically renaming it as such for today. Plus, even though they are a French café-style coffeehouse, I don't think they actually use an "é" (see, here is where an "officiel" web-site would come in handy), but I am going with it, anyway, because it just makes sense. And, I suppose, that being on the eastern side of Arguello Boulevard, this technically does not fall into the "Richmond District" area. But tough ~ my 'blog, my 'rules! I am running out of specific Richmond (District) Coffeehousesand needed to pad the books a bit, and I can really only think of two or three more coffeehouses to visit (and that includes the above-mentioned, temporarily-boycotted Rooskaya bakery) in this neighborhood. I even saw a few actual (as opposed to impostoring) bicyclists getting caffeinated-up here before heading out this morning for an early-morning holiday bike-ride. (I have no idea if Velo Rouge (Blanc et Bleu) Café provides any assistance in blood-doping or steroids, though, Monsieur Armstrong.) I like that this is a very dog-friendly place. They provide a water bowl outside for any thirsty pupsters (but they do not have any free or sell any dog biscuits; I asked). There was this one big, happy Black Lab waiting patiently for his humans to Coffee-up before a morning trip to Golden Gate Park (well, maybe not so "patiently" as he kept coming inside whenever the door was left ajar ["When is a door not a door? When a big Black Lab walks through it when it is left open?"]). For "just a coffeehouse", their breakfastary menu is pretty decent. I am not sure what their back-kitchen looks like, but to be able to provide scrambled and grilled egg dishes, that is a major upgrade over many local cafés. On the weekends (and apparently holidays, too), they also offer Huevos Rancheros and (the misfortunately-named) Jack Johnson Banana Pancakes. And they even offer a Pizza Menu in the evenings ("Seasonal gourmet Pizzas, toppings change daily").
I purposely went with a croissant as the basis for my sandwich this morning over the English muffin choice in support of 'merican Independence, of course. This was a simple enough sandwich, but it was a lot better breakfast meal than you will ever get at Le Mickey D's Salle d'Arc-en-ciel ou Roi des Hamburgers. Real roasted homefries at a coffeehouse?! This is almost unheard of (and for any of you Nazi grammarians out there, I know the grammatically correct sentence should read: "This is almost unheard of, moron!"). And they were pretty good too, with lots of spices and perfectly crispied. Also for being just a local neighborhood coffeehouse, Velo Rouge (Blanc et Bleu) Café had a pretty decent selection of condimentary supplementation: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, Crystal®Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce, Pico Pica®Hot Sauce, and Huy Fong Foods, Inc.Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. Even knowing that ahead of time, I still came packing a few of my own hot sauces and used some Old St. AugustineDatil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on half of the sandwich, some Dancing Dragon Cayenne Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the other sandwich half, and some Hot Licks®SerranoHot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the pile o' potatoes. I have had Stumptown Coffee cuppas before and knew them to be very good. Holler Mountain is their signature organic blend, and I am pretty sure that I have had this specific blend before, too. Velo Rouge (Blanc et Bleu) Café used to exclusively offer Blue Bottle Coffee, but have since either been dumped by or dumped them. (It appears that Blue Bottle Coffee is quickly becoming the Mussolini to St*rbucks' Hitler in World Coffee Domination; I do not know who the Emperor Hirohiti would be in this analogy, though ~ besides, that would probably have to be a purveyor of teas). I think that they are really missing the perfect Coffee juxtaselection by not providing Bicycle Coffee co (it's very San Francisco-local, too), anyway. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Mont Ventoux Breakfast Sandwich ~ 6.4; Stumptown CoffeeHoller Mountain ~ 7.3 ___________________ 1. Quelle? Où? Mont Ventoux (Frenchily pronounced somewhat as "Von-TOO"; they even have that pronunciation distinction on the blackboard menu over the counter-area) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France. It has gained fame through its use in Le Tour de France* cycling race. It has been nicknamed the "Beast of Provence", the "Giant of Provence", or "the Bald Mountain". http://www.cycling-challenge.com/mont-ventoux-all-three-sides/ *(Coincidentally enough, the 2016 Le Tour de France is currently being held from 2 July 2016 to 24 July 2016. http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2016/us/ ) 2. I can't seem to locate that particular mountain on any Le Tour de France maps, though. 3. I wonder if there are any "brave bakers" working there? (Okay, maybe only cunning Roosky linguists might get that stinky joke.)
http://buttermilksouthernkitchen.com/ Place: Buttermilk ~ Southern Kitchen Location: 2843 23rd Street (on the corner of Bryant Street) Hours: open for "Brunch" at 10:00am weekends Meal: "veggie" omelet[1] ~ beech mushrooms[2], okra, asparagus, bell peppers, pimento cheese, with roasted potatoes on the side; a side of long cooked collards(which I made sure were vegetarian-friendly and not made with any dead, decaying porcine products [as one would normally assume with southern cooking]); and a glassa lemonade; and, beforehand, while doing my laundry on Balboa Street earlier in the morning, I had a pre-breakfastary snack of a Savory Turnover (farmers cheese and green onion) and an 8oz cuppa Wrecking Ball Coffee RoastersColombia Nariño 'Inga y La Mina' at Marla Bakery http://www.marlabakery.com/ http://www.wreckingballcoffee.com/products/colombia-narino-inga-y-la-mina
(Get it? Red-White-and-Blue! What-ever... And, yes, I could have used Procol Harum's original version of the second song, but I wanted to go with a different 'merican version for the Fourth ofJulyweekend. [Annie Lennox does a very nice cover of this song, too.]) While doing my laundry this morning (I knew that the restaurant I was planning on going to for breakfast didn't open up until much later... and for "Brunch" at that), I actually had a decent choice of pre-breakfastary snack places from which to choose: either Butter Love Bakeshop (see previous 'blog-entry from March 13th, 2016) or Marla Bakery (see previous 'blog-entry from May 1st, 2016). I mainly went with Marla Bakery, because their Coffee is better (Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters trumps Mr. Espresso®). While Butter Love Bakeshop was right next door to where I was doing my laundry (and its name probably would have juxtaselectioned best with my final destination for breakfast), Marla Bakery was only another block away, anyway. Once again, I really enjoyed this fresh-baked item from my neighborhood. I was informed that it is made with their own house-made farmers cheese (which has lots of dill in it); it also had some Dry Jack melted on the top, too. There was also the idea of either a Savory Scone (Dry Jack, caramelized onion, & black pepper) or (something that they call) a Crebble[3]. (Sorry, there is no accompanying photo of my pre-breakfastary snack. What kinda lunatic brings a camera with him to a laundromat?) I headed back south (well, south of Market Street, at least) to Buttermilk ~ Southern Kitchen (see previous 'blog-entry from August 9th, 2015) for breakfast ("Brunch", whatever) again this morning. I sat outside at one of the five four-seater tables along Bryant Street. It was in the shade and still a bit cool this morning, but I had a sweatshirt on and I was more than comfortable. ("But, Brian, it's Summer in San Francisco. Why would you need a sweatshirt this morning?" ~ Please refer to Mr. Samuel Langhorne Clemens' sage,rosemary, and thyme words on this subject; trust me.) I really like this place, but there are not that many other choices for stupid vegetarians. (It is a "southern kitchen", after all: "Veggie-terrian?! Does that mean y'all are one of them thar horse doctors?!") There are still: classy breakfast (two eggs, breakfast potatoes, buttermilk biscuit, and your choice of side; I would like to check out their whipped sweet potatoes with brown sugar & goat cheese or baked mac & cheese with buttered breadcrumbs); baked french toast; or buttermilk benedict (buttermilk waffle, bacon, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce; which I would need to order without the bacon-junk, but I do like the idea of an Eggs Benedict dish with waffles as the base). And that is about all she wrote. (And just who is this "she" that is always referenced? The only southern female authors that come to mind are Carson McCullers, Harper Lee, and Ayn Rand... well, if you count "south" of Finland.)
Other than the obviously odious moniker of "veggies", this was a very good omelette (or "omelet" even). For some reason there was a complete lack of (as opposed to "an incomplete lack of"?) okra inside the omelette; which is a shame, as I always love me some okra. There weren't any bell peppers inside either, but I had more than my share of those in with the potatoes. However, there were additionally carrots, zucchini, and snap peas ("mangy toots" to you French- and British-types); while I like all of these ingredients, I was really looking forward to some okra, Gumby, dammit! Luckily, they more than made up for the missing okra with a very good amount o' asparagus. I had no idea what to expect from a "beech mushroom", but these turned out to be tiny little, whole mushrooms. Another big plus in the omelette's favour: there was a great amount of pimento cheese ("the caviar of the South") in it, too. The roasted potatoes also included green and red bell peppers and lots of (and I mean lots of) red onions. The potatoes were a little under-cooked for my liking (where "my liking" is usually extra-burnt and crispy-crunchy), but I will put this down to my being the first customer of the morning and they hadn't had the chance to properly prepare them yet. Not listed as such on the menu, but this also came with a piece of (sweet) cornbread. I probably didn't need another "side", but I wanted to try something else on their menu this morning. (I would have gotten a side of their excellent house pickleslike I had last time, otherwise.) Collard greens are one of my favourite of the leafy greens, too. (To tell the truth, there is really only one green vegetable of which I am not overly fond: the vile weed.) It is normally hard to find collard greens on a menu where they hadn't already been tainted with any kind of porky bits. I liked that the glassa lemonade came in a jar with a handle (and a bendy straw!). For condimentary supplements, I only noticed Crystal®Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce on all the tables. It really didn't matter as I had come with some of my own hot sauces in preparation. I used some Lucky Dog Medium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the omelette and some Florida GoldPremium Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on the collard greens. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Savory Turnover ~ 7.0; Wrecking Ball Coffee RoastersColombia Nariño 'Inga y La Mina' ~ 6.9; "veggie" omelet ~ 6.9
___________________ 1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-historical/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day: The word "omelette" comes directly from French. The historical origin of the word either means "little plate" ("alemette") or "blade (of a knife or sword)" ("alumette"). I much prefer the original French (and British English) spelling of "omelette". Why this has come to be spelded in 'merican English with only one "t" and without the final silent "e", je ne sais pas. I blame it all on the Germans. Stick to your Beire und Schnitzels, Franz-ie boy, and leave the real cooking to the French. 2. 何ですか？ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypsizygus_tessellatus 3. Yeah, I did a quick Intro-Net search, but could not find anything immediately on the World Wild Webs for a good explanation of what this might actually be. It had been explained to me quickly (which I of course quickly forgot) by the lady at the register, but it looked like some kinda cinnamon roll/croissant deelie. (And for anyone thinking that this might be their version of the German pastry/doughnut "Krebble" or "Grebble", it looked nothing like one of those.)
(No official web-site, more or less. There is this link on their defacedbook page; however, it does not really work: www.somarestaurantandbar.com ) Place: SOMA Restaurant & Bar Location: 85 5th Street (on the corner of Mission Street); phonicular contact: (415) 778-8500 Hours: open 6:30am daily Meal: Good Morning Omelet ~ with mushroom, spinach, tomato, & house potatoes, served with (white) toast and jelly; and a large glassa orange juice
(I am not aware of any EweToobular juxtaselections between "SOMA" and Tanita Tikaram[1]. I just like her singing and music.) I went back to SOMA Restaurant & Bar (see previous 'blog-entry from August 29th, 2015) for breakfast this morning. I like that they open up very early in the morning for breakfast; however, they are situated on the corner of 5th and Mission Streets (kitty-corner[2] to the San Francisco Chronicle building) which is not really the best location for any walk-in business. There really are not that many choices on their breakfast menu, but a few other ideas that I was looking at were: Italian Frittata (Italian mild sausage, mushrooms, Mozzarella cheese, & house potatoes; I would have ottantasei-ed the sausage junk, of course); Blueberry Pancakes; or Huevos Rancheros (eggs with tortillas, black beans, tomato, Mozzarella cheese [¿Qué diablos?], & house potatoes).
This was an interestingly made omelette. As with my last omelette meal there, the spinach was incorporated into the scrambled egg batter, not inside the omelette with the other two ingredients. Once again, I don't know what SOMA Restaurant & Bar had to offer in the way of any condimentary supplementation; none were offered and I didn't bother to ask what they had. I just used some of my own Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero[ sic ][3]Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the omelette and some Emperor's Revenge Teriyaki Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the potatoes. I skipped any Coffee with the meal and once again headed to a nearby Philz Coffee and ordered one of their medium blends: Philtered Soul. http://www.philzcoffee.com/coffee-medium-blends-philtered-soul Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Good Morning Omelet ~ 6.3; Philz Coffee Philtered Soul ~ 6.9 ___________________ 1. Wer? http://www.tanita-tikaram.com/ 2. In case you have ever wondered just why cats or kittens have corners named after them: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/kitty-corner?s=t And I always thought it came from the game of MONOPOLY®... 3. Not really a stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer, but more of a stupid, useless Spelling/Grammar-Nazi pointer: I have meñtioñed this before here. The correct spelliñg is "habanero", with ño grapheme over the "n".
