Ella’s ~ Neo Classical American Cooking

"The one with the open faced omelette with grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, capers, and muenster."

http://www.ellassanfrancisco.com/


Place: Ella's ~ Neo Classical American Cooking  
Location: 500 Presidio Avenue (on the corner of California Street)
Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Friday at 7:00am; open for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday at 8:30am
Meal: open faced omelette with grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, capers, and muenster ~ served with potatoes and choice of toast; and a glass of Ginger-Orange Juice Punch

(If you were wondering about today's EweToobular juxtaselection, this is just because Lady Ella's middle name happened to be "Neo-Classical".)


For the New Year, I am once again working my way through my Starting Breakfastary Rotation before Spring Training starts next month. Today I went back to Ella's ~ Neo Classical American Cooking (see last 'blog-entry from October 18th, 2014). 

Ella's doesn't really have that extensive of a weekend "Brunch" menu, but I do like that it changes every weekend and usually includes seasonal selections. There were only a few other good choices on the menu for stupid vegetarians: pear puree ricotta cheese pancakes (3) (Maple Grove Farms premium maple syrup, Vermont); huevos rancheros (black beans, corn tortillas, fried eggs, Ranchero sauce, avocado, and Jack); or today's potato scramble (with butternut squash, pasillas, green onion, and Jack; to which I would have had added two eggs scrambled into the mess). Don't worry, for all of you dead, decaying meat-fleshetarians, they also had a couple of other interesting ideas: cajun "gumbo" scramble (with shrimp, Andouille sausage, red and green peppers, Asiago cheese; however, unless this included any okra or filé[1] in it, it really shouldn't be called "gumbo", not even quotationally) or a folded omelette (with grilled chicken breast, roasted garlic, creamed spinach, and white Cheddar cheese).

I was very pleased with my choice(s) this morning. I would normally go with their weekend potato scramble, which is always good, and this weekend's version looked very tasty, too. But back to my actual meal: eggplant ~ good; roasted red peppers ~ roasty good; capers ~ salty good. However, I think this combination of vegetables (well, everyone knows that both eggplant and red peppers are technically fruits, and capers are flower buds, Mr. Abbott, but you know what I mean) would have paired much better with either Fontina[2] or Mozzarella (or some other soft Italian cheese) instead of the Muenster cheese that was used. They have called this an "open faced omelette" on their menu, but it could easily be called a "frittata". For my choice of toasted bread side, I went with honey oat raisin.

Ella's only offers for condimentary supplementation Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (both the standard red and the green jalapeño). I used some of my own One Stop Hot Shop 'Nuclear Naga' Atomic Chilli Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg! I guess…) on the omelette (just a few drops of this bad boy) and some Nando's® Extra Hot Peri-Peri sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on the potatoes (thankfully, I could go a little more liberally with this one). Additionally, Ella's also makes their own homemade (well, restaurant-made) strawberry jam, which I made sure to put a couple of nice-sized glops on top of my pieces of toast. 

I happened upon the above-mentioned bottle of 'Nuclear Naga' Atomic Chilli Sauce in my refrigerator the other day and figured that I should probably finally open it up. It has only been sitting in my refrigerator unopened... since Christmas 2011. I was hoping on using up some of the other extremely (read: ridiculously) hot hot sauces (Blair’s After Death
sauce with liquid fire and One Stop Hot Shop "Son of Smart Arse" Sauce ~ see confession… er, previous 'blog-entry from January, 2012) that I still have first, but it looks like those two  may take many more years of pain before there is even a dent in their respective volumes. There was a similar distinct sultriness to this hot sauce as its satanic brethren from One Stop Hot Shop, but just not nearly as painful (and there were no foolish Korean waiter-guys for which to feel guilty this morning, either). I also made sure to dole it out very sparingly initially this time, too. I think that it is funny that the label lists its ingredients as "Tomatoes (79%), spirit vinegar, water, lemon and lime juice (contains sulphates), tapioca starch, salt.", but doesn't state what percentage of Naga[3] chillies it uses on the label anywhere.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: omelette ~ 6.8


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-epicurean pointer of the day:

(taken directly from WikipediA) 

"Scholars and chefs have offered various explanations for the etymology of the word 'gumbo'. The dish was likely named after one of its two main ingredients, okra and filé. Okra is known as ki ngombo or quingombo in Bantu languages, the word is akin to the Umbundu ochinggômbo and the Tshiluba chinggômbô. In the language of the native Choctaw people, filé, or ground sassafras leaves, was called kombo." 

Of course, there is no truth whatsoever to the matter that the well-known Cajun dish "Poko" is made from an orange claymation pony. 

2. Oh, come on! Wild Bill Gates and his group of Nazi spell-checkering idiots at Microsoft do not recognize this classic Italian cheese traditionally made from unpasteurised cow's milk.

Don't worry, I do not have yet still another "stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-cheesetastic pointer of the day" as to the origin of its name; neither WikipediA nor www.cheese.com (Seriously, how cool is it that there is an actual web-site dedicated to just "Cheese"?) give any indications as to the origin of the name.

3. Back as recently as 2011, the Naga chilli was the hottest chilli cultivar known to man (or Lucifer). It has since been bypassed by a couple of other stupidly hotter chillies.

Here is some additional Naga/Bhut Jolokia/Ghost chilli information (also stolen once again from our friendly friends at WikipediA):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhut_Jolokia

Dottie’s True blue café

"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." ~ Leroy "Satchel" Paige

http://dotties.biz/


Place: Dottie's True blue café  
Location: 28 Sixth Street (on the corner of Stevenson Street; halfway between Market and Mission Streets)
Hours: open for breakfast Thursday through Monday at 7:30am
Meal: Zucchini Cakes ~ topped with poached eggs & spicy Marinara - fruit & potatoes; and a cuppa (with two half-cuppa refillas) the house Coffee (which I really should find out which brand/roast they offer one of these days) ~ in one of their brand new logo mugs (see above photo)

(The reason for today's EweToobular juxtaselections is simply because they are normally playing 30's and 40's style Jazz-Swing music at Dottie's ~ see/listen to video #1 ~ and the indigenous populace in Dottie's neighborhood always remind me of this the Beatles song ~ see/listen to video #2; I really love eating at Dottie's, but would hate to live in this neighborhood.)


Continuing the first weekend of the New Year with another one of "My Favourite" places for breakfast, I went back to Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from October 12th, 2014) this morning. I even scored a primo parking spot right out front along 6th Street for a change. I got there about five to ten minutes before they opened this morning and I was very surprised to see only one other person waiting ahead of me for a change. There were only four or five other people that showed up before they opened the doors, too. And even after they had opened, there were probably less than another ten diners that showed up the entire time that I was there. This may have been the quietest and least full that I have ever seen at Dottie's (so, all you touristas keep this in mind: if you want to eat at Dottie's and not have to have any kind of a wait along colourful 6th Street, the first weekend of the New Year seems like your best chance to do so).

I was pretty sure that I was going to go with the Zucchini Cakes if it was on the weekly specials chalkboard (and I was pretty confident it would be on the chalkboard as it has been on the specials board very consistently whenever I have gone there throughout the year). The only other meal which may have swayed me to change my mind was if they had Black-eyed Peas Cakes on the menu ~ which they sometimes offer the first weekend of the New Year (it's a Southern good luck tradition thing). These are prepared very similarly to the way they make their Black Bean Cakes, with some form of legume and rice to make a sort of vegetarian sausage patty-looking thing. The beancakes are served with two eggs any style (I will usually go with Chicken eggs, over-medium), grilled chili-Cheddar cornbread, and homefries, topped with sour cream and pico de gallo. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me), there was no decision needed as the Black-eyed Peas Cakes were not offered this year.

Dottie's also offer a wide range of very good, fresh baked goods/pastries to start the meal off. I usually only get to order one of these if I am dining with others; they are really large portions and one piece can serve two to three people easily as a breakfastary opener. I could go on to list all of the items that they were offering today, but sometimes it is just easier to say "see above photo". So… (see above photo)

I have had the Zucchini Cakes many times now and it is probably one of my favourite dishes that Dottie's offers (which, of course, makes it one of my favourite breakfast dishes). This is truly a great take on boring ol' Eggs Benedict. I won't bother extolling the virtues of this meal again; just take my word for it that it is always very tasty.

Today's side bowl of fruits: blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and a solitary cherry (which I saved for last after I had finished the rest of my meal ~ to kinda end my breakfast with "the cherry on top"). Here is a quick test to see how many of you have actually been paying attention over the years; Question: Which of the above fruits are technically botanical berries?[1]

I knew that Dottie's has a pretty decent selection of condimentary supplements, so I actually used some of their own Tabasco® Brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce (1500-2500 Scoville Units ~ I only know this as Tabasco® is now referencing it on their web-site; I would really like to see more companies reference the actual Scoville Heat Units on the bottle labels, though; I mean, who really cares what the "Nutritional Value" of a hot sauce is, anyway?) on one half of the pile of potatoes and some Frank's® RedHot® Chile 'n Lime™ (sorry, they don't list the Scoville Heat Units for this one on their web-site or on the bottle label) on the other half of the pile. 


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Zucchini Cakes ~ 7.6


1. Answer: Of course, that would be just the blueberries and watermelon. 

Extra credit points are given if you also said that the tomatoes in the spicy Marinara sauce are botanical berries.

Baker Street Bistro

"Go placidly amid the 'Brunch' crowd and hunger, and remember what piece (of Pain Perdu) there may be in breakfast."

http://www.bakerstreetbistro.com/


Place: Baker Street Bistro 
Location: 2953 Baker Street (between Lombard and Greenwich Streets)
Hours: open for "Brunch" Saturday & Sunday at 9:00am
Meal: Pain Perdu (A brunch favorite!) ~ French toast, fresh fruit, strawberry coulis & crème fraîche; a side of homefries; et une tasse de Café (avec quelques recharges)


My decision to go back to Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from October 11th, 2014) for my very first breakfastary outing of 2015 was a completely premeditated choice (even if it was for what they call "Brunch"). Of course, this was also because it is usually too difficult to park downtown near Dottie's True blue café of a Saturday morning (just wait until tomorrow morning, though).

It was way too chilly this morning to sit outside on their sidewalk café seating area (even though they did have some of those portable, tall, standing gas heaters fired up for anyone that was brave enough or possibly dog-encumbered; I didn't see any takers the entire time I was there ~ neither of the humanoid nor canine variety, though). They were still festively well-decorated pour Noël et le Nouvel An with a lot of ornamentation and several poinsettia[1] placed all around the joint.

As Baker Street Bistro is the only place in the immediate neighborhood which is open that early in the morning, it is always interesting to see local, loyal customers stop in just for a "to-go" cuppa. This is equally of interest as there is un St*rbucks maudit located just a few blocks away in the Presidio. Good on ya, Cow Hollowians! 

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

After breakfast, I took a little walk around the block, mainly to check out if any of my colourful li'l avian friends were still around for the morning. I had the good fortune to hear and see several of them (probably half a dozen couples or more) flying around (and making a happy, tumultuous clamouring) up high in the eucalyptus trees over in the Presidio near the Lombard Gate.

Le Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro is always the perfect cure for the desiderium[2] for hunger of breakfast past (or at least from the past week). It goes without saying (So why do people always use that caveat to start a sentence, anyway?) that Baker Street Bistro's version of French Toast trumps last week's version at Zazie (which was by no means a slouch on its own). If I have one minor complaint (une plainte mineure, peut-être?), it would be that I do miss the extra-added bonus of the old "orange-infused maple syrup" that they used to have with this meal.

I noticed that they are now slicing the homefries (made from red potatoes still) instead of just cutting them in large chunks (quarters of the whole small potatoes usually), which I always felt was a bit cumbersome to eat. I suppose it may just be a quirk of whichever sous-guy is preparing them in the morning, but I still liked them this way much better.

Les fruits d'aujourd'hui ~ les suspects habituels: les pommes (apples), les oranges (Do I really need to translate this one?), les cantaloups (Another one of which I will let you guess the translation), pastèque (watermelon), et l'ananas (pineapple). 

For condimentary supplementation, Baker Street Bistro only offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red). That really didn't matter, as I had come well-prepared with a few of my own hot sauces (and both of these were also a predeterminative selection). I went with some Fat Cat® Surprisingly Mild Guajillo Ghost (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on half of the potatoes and some Lucky Dog
Medium Fire-Roasted Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the other half of the potatoes. (Of course, no hot sauces are ever needed or used on ce Pain Perdu ultime. Merci beaucoup!)

Not only was this another great meal at Baker Street Bistro, it was a great freebie meal, too. Une "Bonne Année!" de Chantal! (Don't worry, I still remembered to tip them as if it were the total amount ~ plus some.) I think she may have even done the same thing at an early-in-the-year breakfast once before, too.

I can truly say, with no qualms whatsoever, that this was definitely the Best Breakfast that I have had this year!!! (And seeing as it has been "My Favorite" Breakfast for several years running, I feel safe to state it will probably once again be "My Favourite" Breakfast for 2015, too.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu ~ 8.2


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, numéro un:

"Poinsettia" est tout simplement "poinsettia" en français.

However, just to make up for my Greeky gaffe story from a few weeks back, this is what the definition would translate into French as: "un petit arbuste du Mexique avec de grandes bractées rouges voyantes entourant les petites fleurs jaunes, populaires comme plante d'intérieur à Noël". 

Try that one on for size, Mrs. Morin!

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist (and a bit of an English lesson, I suppose) pointer of the day, dualitis:

"Desiderium" (singular) or "desideria" (plural) are just English words that are derived from Latin. (see also: "desiderate" and "desideratum/desiderata")

Per my Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the definition of this word is: "an ardent longing, as for something lost".

I particularly liked this used in juxtaposition with "Lost Bread" in the same sentence. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderata

Dave Durkin ~ A Tributary

Dave Durkin died suddenly on December 28th, 2014.

I am not really sure what the specific cause was, as his wife had posted only a short message on defacedbook. 

Dave was an old Air Force (that would be the United States one) buddy of mine from way back. In fact, I first met the "Old Man" in Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base[1] on November 3rd, 1977 on my very first day of official Active Duty. His bed/bunk/cot (whatever you want to call a basic metal frame and mattress) was just across the aisle from mine and down one.

Just to keep this all on the up-and-up, here's a breakfastary story tie-in. One time, Dave, a few others, and myself went to breakfast up to Santa Cruz, CA (it is about a forty-five minutes drive due north along Highway One from Monterey, CA) at a place called "Omelets, Omelets, Omelets" (or something to that effect). Of course, the restaurant specialized in many different stuffed egg dishes. So what does Dave go and order? Pancakes! His reasoning was entirely sound, "I don't like f*cking omelettes." Of course, he could have just said that before we all decided on eating at a place called "Omelets, Omelets, Omelets" (or something to that effect).

Anyway, back to our euphony of Dave Durkin. 

We started calling Durkin "Old Man" back in Basic Training early on. He was only twenty-one at the time (and just three years older than me), but he always looked so much older and more tired than the rest of us. My first impression after I had initially met him was that he was some kinda dim-witted red-neck from the South. I am glad to say that after getting to know him, I was completely wrong and found him to be just a dim-witted bohunk from da 'Burgh (my apologies to all the dim-witted red-necks from the South out there).

After Basic Training, several of us were lucky enough to get a "Delay Enroute/Leave" (which was just Military-speak for "vacation") before our technical training course started at the Defense Language Institute (DLI for short), Presidio of Monterey, CA. This was mainly because our Basic Training had ended a few days before Christmas and most Air Force
technical schools were closed for the week between Christmas and New Year, anyway. The next week, I even ran into the "Old Man" at San Francisco International Airport and we were on the same flight down to Monterey. What are the odds? (And anyone that knew Dave or knows me, knows that "odd" is the key word there.)

Dave was not only known as "Old Man", there was his simply nicknamed "Durk" and also "Groucho". While we were at DLI, there was a pseudo-fraternity we had of Marx Brothers. It all started out as there were four members from my Basic Training Flight that were assigned to the Presidio of Monterey and, as luck would have it, all happened to be in the same Basic Russkij class: Durkin, Glen Bacon ~ as in the eponymous inventor of the Glen Bacon Scale, Wayne Vernon, and myself. As we had already known each other from spending the past six weeks together at Lackluster AFB, TX, we all hung out together when we first arrived in Montereyski. I am not sure how it came about that we started calling ourselves "the Marx Brothers", but it was soon after we had arrived there ~ there may have been alcohol involved (and probably massive quantities if you knew those guys), or it may have just been that my sometime-nickname in high school was already "Harpo". So, Durkin ended up as "Groucho", Glen was "Zeppo", Wayne was "Chico", and I was… well, still "Harpo". As time went on ~ Language School training lasts anywhere from six months to a year, depending on the language being taught ~ we started gathering more "Marx Brothers" into our little "fraternity". There was: Al Guinee ~ "Gummo"; Warren Treadway ~ "Alpo"; Brent Smith ~ "Bozo"; Chuck Bunge ~ "Bungo"; Ed Drake ~ "Wo-Bung-Lo"; Marcia York ~ "Elbo"; Roisin Gormley ~ "Kuno" (which was later changed to "Karla" once she found out what "kuno" meant in Persian-Farsi); etc-o. As can be seen, the nicknames were normally all in the grande Marx Brothers tradition of ending in an "o"; Wayne even named his car "Ringo" ('cause it was a VW "Beatle"); and Durkin's VW van was called "Gonzo".

I only mention the name of Groucho's vehicle, "Gonzo", because there was a funny story involving it. (And it's only funny now because no one was actually injured ~ miraculously ~ during the filming of this story.) One night Dave and a couple other "brothers" ~ I think that Brad "Brado" Noah (okay, so not all of these are such well-thought-out nicknames) and at least one other person were in the van with Durkin ~ were driving home one night (and I should probably mention that it was after closing hour, so there may have been one or two libations consumed that evening) from downtown Monterey by way of winding Route 68, which was the roundabout back way to the Presidio from downtown. Well, apparently on one of the tight turns, Durk flipped the van completely upside-down and it continued traveling for a few hundred feet on its roof. Dave said he remembers seeing confused drivers in cars heading in the opposite direction. And the strangest thing was that through all this, while upside-down, Durk said he was still trying to control the direction of the car with the steering wheel. Luckily no one was even hurt more than a few bumps and bruises, but the van ended up totaled… it was "gonzo", if you will.

Durkin had a strange way of calling things (it may have been his 'Burgh-ish upbringing and the way they talk; yinz know what I mean). There was a particular bar that he liked to go to that was named "The Rogue", for reasons known only to him, he always called it "The Groin". I remember one summer evening after leaving "The Groin" (we may have been thrown out, I really don’t remember the details), it was getting late and Dave wanted to hit one last bar before last call, so we headed over to a bar on Cannery Row. Well, the particular establishment that we happened into had an Asian/Chinese bartender behind the counter and Durk saunters directly up to him and says "What time do you all crose?" Well, we didn't last more than the time it took for the poor bartender to let it sink in that Dave was insulting him and he chased us all out of there screaming and yelling. 

I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression here that alcohol played a major role in off-duty Air Force
activities… heck, I know there were many times when we were all drunk on duty, too.

Dave and I went on to our classified/technical training together down in Goodfellow AFB and also portions of our Airborne Survival Training schools in Fairchild AFB (in Spokane, WA) and Homestead AFB (just outside Miami, FL). So, in all, we had spent about a year and a half together of our first enlistment. Dave then got stationed up in Mildenhall AB (about two hours outside London, the one in England) and I got a chance to visit him up there in the Spring of 1980, while I was stationed at Hellenikon AB (just outside Athens, the one in Greece, not Georgia).

We kept in touch as best as possible before the days of the Intro-Net and e-mail stuff; phone calls once in a while, usually just the occasional Christmas card or semi-yearly letter. We both got out of the Air Force
around 1986: me ~ just because I needed a change of pace; Durkin ~ due to a Medical Separation/Discharge (seems like some guys just can't take a little heart attack now and then). I moved to California and he moved to Houston, Texas attaining a decent job with Compaq (and then with Hewlett-Packard after they had enveloped Compaq). He got the chance to travel for conventions and such and we saw each other several times over a twenty year period out here in San Francisco. We made sure to do a weekend roadtrip down to Monterey to check out some of the old haunts (I don't think we were tossed from any bars, but Durkin did get into an argument with, of all things, an English bartender about not knowing how to make a "propa 'arf-n-'arf").

The last time I actually saw Dave and got together with him was probably within the past ten years ago or so (when you have known someone for over thirty-seven years, ten years seems like yesterday and twenty years only seems like the day-before yesterday); he was in town once again for business. However, since the advent of defacedbook, it had been much easier keeping in touch with him.

So, let's all raise a frosty mug of Montana Redbird[2] and toast to David "Dave/Durk/Old man/Groucho" Durkin one last time before "crosing time"!

1. That would be at the 3703 BMTS (Basic Military Training Squadron).

2. This is actually called a "Montana Red Beer", but I am calling it a "Montana Redbird" as that was what I first (mis)heard it called back in the Summer of '78, or at least that was what I think I heard it called; either way, I am sticking with my name for it. 

This is made from just a Beer (usually a Lager*, and a really cheap one at that ~ no reason to ruin a perfectly good Beer, after all) mixed with equal parts tomato juice, and I think you can add a few splashes of your favourite hot sauce, too. 

*(Durk's choice of Lager that Summer happened to be Lucky Lager®, which may have been the cheapest Beer available back then and the most affordable on a low-ranking Airman's salary. I don't think Lucky Lager® is even produced any more; it was really that bad.)

“My Favourites” of 2014

"Don't cry because it's over, 
smile because it happened." 
~ Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)

("Best" and "Morning" are good enough for me for this EweToobular juxtaselection.)


This year, instead of calling my end-of-year compilation list for 2014 a "Best of" (which always seemed a bit presumptuous and egocentric to me; of course, it is my 'blog-thing and it is my opinion that these places may be the "Best", but, even so, they are still "My Favourites"; I will let everyone else decide if they are the "Best" or not… even if you all may very well be wrong), I decided on calling this "My Favourites" (if you have a problem with that, start your own 'damn 'blog-thing and list your own 'damn "Favourites"). I am sticking with the format of a "Top Ten" list, though.

Once again, the easiest way to rank these was just to go back through all my 'blog-entries from the past year and see which ones had the highest Glen Bacon Scale Rating. Simples!


1) It should come as no surprise to anyone (or at least to the two or three people that actually read this stupid li'l 'blog-thing) that "My Top Favourite" choice is the Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro once again (see last 'blog-entry from October 11th ~ as well as a few other times throughout 2014). I am usually more of a "savoury" fan for breakfast, but this "sweet" meal is just simply excellent. This dish truly crosses the liminality of culinarity.

2) French Toast (with cardamom custard, caramelized fruit and whipped honey ricotta) at heartbaker (see 'blog-entry from May 18th). While this may not be the ultimatest Pain Perdu like at Baker Street Bistro, if I had never found Baker Street Bistro's take on the whole eggy-lost bread thing, this might possibly rank at the top of "My Favourite" French Toast of All Time. The extra added bonus of a cardamom custard was nice, too.

3) Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café (see 'blog-entry from April 6th). These really are a great "invention". I always like to explain this to people as simply Eggs Benedict in una versione italiana (o Uova di Benedetto).

4) French Toast de Noel at Zazie (see 'blog-entry from December 28th). These were the third best French toast that I had this year and "My Favourite" Christmas-themed Meal. (This was a late, last-minute entry onto my list. I had pre-prepared this list a few weeks back and really didn't expect to come across any great finds in the last two weeks of 2014. And it really pisses me off that I liked this enough to have to edit my original list. Dammit!)

5) Oeufs Baker Street Bistro at Baker Street Bistro (see 'blog-entry from April 12th). I know that it really isn't fair that a place (not named Dottie's True blue café) should have two meals in my Top Ten, but there it is.

6) #hashtag at homeskillet (see 'blog-entry from May 11th). Potatoes (in this case: hashbrowns) as the basis for a breakfastary meal is always a big plus with me.

7) Stacked Enchiladas at the Little Chihuahua (see 'blog-entry from June 29th). This was sorta like a Mexican cross[1] between Huevos Rancheros and Huevos Benedicto, and literally had "layers of flavour". This was also "My Favourite" New Breakfast of 2014.

8) Chilaquiles at Gallardo's Mexican Restaurant (see 'blog-entry from April 27th). Not only was this a great rendition of Chilaquiles, it could probably be called "My Favourite" New Find of 2014 (even though Gallardo's had been around at other locations over the years).

9) bourbon french toast at Slow Club (see 'blog-entry from February 22nd). This was a very good rendition of French toast, just not as outstanding as #1, #2, or #4 here. (And what is up with there being four different versions of French toast/Pain Perdu in "My Favourites" list?)

10) Signature Soufflé Pancake at Dolce Amore (see 'blog-entry from September 28th). While the pancakes were very tasty, the real find here was their Lavender maple syrup provided as a condimentary supplementation (which on it's own was probably a GBS Rating: 7.8).


2014 Specific Categories (& Specific Honourable Mentions)

"My Favourite" New Golo-to Dish at an Already Established Favourite Place of Mine ~ Golo Ranchero at Cafe Golo (see 'blog-entry from July 4th ~ That's the Spirit!). This was the first time that I ever had this dish there; it will not be the last. GBS Rating: 7.1.

"My Favourite" Bakery Goods Place ~ Cafe Golo (tarts and pastries, several times in the past year; see last 'blog-entry from October 25th); GBS Ratings: 7.0-7.5. Honourable mentions: mini-scone with homemade jams at Home Plate Restaurant (see 'blog-entry from March 16th), GBS Rating: 7.4; Cinnamon Babka at Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen (see 'blog-entry from August 9th), GBS Rating: 7.2; and Cherry Mascarpone Galette at heartbaker (see #2 above), GBS Rating: 7.1.

"My Favourite" (New for Me) Crêpe Joint Find of 2014 ~ higher grounds coffee house (see 'blog-entry from November 9th). This was just a great little place for both crêpes and Coffee. GBS Rating: 6.8.

"My Favourite" Breakfast Burrito of 2014 ~ Breakfast Burrito at Mo'z Café (see 'blog-entry from August 31st). Actually, this was one of the only two Breakfast Burritos that I had this year, so it made for an easy choice. GBS Rating: 6.6.

"My Favourite" Use of Kale ~ Spicy Kale (with some tomatoes and other junk in it) Skillet at Eats (see 'blog-entry from January 26th). It’s a kale-thing, Emeril. GBS Rating: 7.0.

"My Favourite" New Potatoey Side Dish Find ~ smash browns at Greenburger's. (see 'blog-entry from February 15th). GBS Rating: 7.2. (Of course, it goes without saying that the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes at Eats are still "My Favourite" Potatoey Side Dish; GBS Rating: 7.5.) 

"My Favourite" New Coffee Find of 2014 ~ Alta de Dota from Peet's Coffee & Tea®. This was from their Limited Edition series and was only available for a short time this Summer. Unfortunately, I ran out of mine about a month ago now, and they had already stopped producing it for several months by then. It is definitely worth checking out when they decide to run it again. GBS Rating: 7.9. Honourable mention: Peet's® Sulawesi Kalosi (actually, this may not really be a "New Coffee" for me, but I don't think that I have purchased this one that often before; the good thing is that this blend/roast can usually be purchased all year-round); GBS Rating: 7.6.

http://www.peets.com/

"My Favourite" New Hot Sauce ~ Fat Cat® Surprisingly Mild Guajillo Ghost (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!). It really was surprisingly mild (seeing as the Ghost Chilli is the third hottest chilli pepper out there currently), but still packed a buncha flavour. Heat-wise, this was probably only twice as hot as Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red), but much less hot than most habanero hot sauces on the market. GBS Rating: 7.5.

http://fatcatfoods.com/

"My Favourite" Bready/Toasty Side ~ (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) at Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (like there could be any other choice; see last 'blog-entry from November 1st); GBS Rating: 8.2.


Unlike last year, I am foregoing any additional list of "My Least Favourites" (or "the Bottom Fivers"). Let's just say that the Y*nkees and the D*dgers will always be at the bottom of any of my lists, anyway.


And lastly, I would like to take this time to pay my respects to any restaurants that have since closed their doors in 2014 (exempli gratia, Greenburger's, et cetera). I would especially like to say "R.I.P." to Q Restaurant and Wine Bar for several years of valued service in my Breakfastary Rotation and for many pleasurable breakfastations[2] (even though they always called it "Brunch", but everyone knows that "Brunch" is not a real word)!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro ~ 8.2; French Toast at heartbaker ~ 7.7; Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ 7.6; French Toast de Noel at Zazie ~ 7.5; Oeufs Baker Street Bistro at Baker Street Bistro ~ 7.4; #hashtag at homeskillet ~ 7.4; Stacked Enchiladas at the Little Chihuahua ~ 7.4; Chilaquiles at Gallardo’s Mexican Restaurant ~ 7.3; bourbon french toast at Slow Club ~ 7.2; Signature Soufflé Pancake at Dolce Amore ~ 7.2


1. Of course, everyone knows that una cruz mexicana has a guy named "Jesús" on it.

2. The Chayote Benedict that I had there several years ago (see 'blog-entry from July 31st, 2010) is still one of my top-rated meals in a long time and it was what predicated my placing Q Restaurant and Wine Bar initially into my Breakfastary Rotation. GBS Rating: 7.7.

Zazie

"If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, why are there so many doctors in Oregon?" ~ (Leo) Rosten's Rule #34

http://www.zaziesf.com/


Place: Zazie 
Location: 941 Cole Street (between Carl Street and Parnassus Avenue)
Hours: open for "Brunch" seven days a week at 8:00am
Meal: French Toast de Noel[1] ~ Pinkie's challah French toast soaked in brandied eggnog, served w/whipped vanilla cream; a side of home-fries; and a cuppa (and one-and-a half refillas) Zazie's Organic Specialty Coffee 

(There really is no reason for today's EweToobular link other than it's a "morning" song and I am a big George Ivan Morrison fan, man.)


To once again end the year being able to say, "I had breakfast from A (Angel Cafe & Deli, Art's Cafe, etc.) to Z", I finished the year at Zazie (see last 'blog-entry from November 16th, 2013). It was still too chilly once again this morning to sit outside in their backyard "Garden Patio" area, which is a shame as it is a very cool area in which to dine. They do have those tall, portable gas heaters (you know, the ones that look like miniature streetlamp escapees from a Dickensian era), but that really defeats the whole purpose of eating outdoors, doesn't it? After the front dining area had filled up quickly this morning, the later-arriving customers had no choice but to sit out there, though.

Zazie offers a pretty diverse "Brunch" menu (and because they open up much earlier for the stupid "Brunch" crowd, they can be forgiven that snooty term). Some other good ideas (for stupid vegetarians, but they do have many items for stupid dead, decaying animal fleshitarians, too): Fontainbleau (scrambled eggs with portabellas, shiitake, porcinis, spinach, Fontina; I won't comment on the mispeling of "Fontainebleau" as I had already done so in my previous 'blog-entry there, but, again, you really should expect correct Frenchy place names from a French-owned joint); Italie (scrambled eggs with tomatoes provençales, cream cheese, and basil); or (from the "Brunch" Specials menu) Miracle Pancakes (sour cream poppyseed pancakes w/Meyer lemon curd and strawberries).

One of my contributing editors inferred that I don't use enough superlatives[2] in my 'blog-entries and that this makes it rather difficult to discern whether I actually enjoyed my meal or not (I suppose that would make the entire Glen Bacon Scale thing actually superfluous[3] ~ which is not really another "superlative", by the way). So… 

I really liked this meal… a lot. (If that's not superlative enough, Mrs. Nichols, I don't know what "superlative" means.) 

The French Toast de Noel was also a seasonal dish off the "Brunch" Specials menu, and I ordered two slices. I like that they give the option with both French toast and pancakes to order one, two, or three pieces, which is always a great (but not superlative) choice. The brandied eggnog could really be superlatively tasted in this one. I liked each bite better than the last (of course, the last bite was my favourite of all). 

The only thing that I might have done differently if I were making this meal (HA!) would be to make the whipped cream a cinnamon- or nutmeg-based one (instead of vanilla) to keep with the whole eggnog-ish theme. At least they provide the whipped cream in a separate (and pretty good-sized) bowl so that you can put as much or as little as you like on the French toast.

The home-fries were very good, too, and included a superlative amount of four (quatre) roasted garlic cloves.

I forgot to ask who produces their Organic Specialty Coffee (which I would also liked to have seen called: "Le Café Organique Spécialité de Zazie", or something close enough to that). They used to offer LaCoppa Coffee Organic French Roast, but I am not sure they are still in business. There was actually so much of the whipped vanilla cream provided that I added a large spoonful of it to my Coffee (and it really freaked-out my waiter/server-guy when he went to refill it; he thought there was something wrong with the Coffee and was going to offer to get me a new cuppa).

Zazie only has Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) as pre-bottled condimentary supplements. I used some of my own recently replenished (as in yesterday) Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys & Brian!) on the homefries. However, I found out long after I had already used my own hot sauce that they do offer a home-made salsa of their own, as another customer asked for some; I didn't taste it, but it looked like some kind of tomatillo salsa. I will need to remember that for my next visit.

http://www.paloaltofirefighters.com/

So, all in all, I would say today's breakfastary repast was pretty Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious[4]…


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: French Toast de Noel ~ 7.5; Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce ~ 7.6


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer du jour:

No GBS Rating points are ever taken off for mispelded words, but, seeing as this is supposed to be un café français, I would really have liked to have seen "Noel" spelled as "Noël" (with the correct Frenchified umlauted "e"), Sir Coward.

This doesn't even take into consideration that they call it "French Toast" and not "Pain Perdu"; maybe I need to shame these owners into calling it correctly (like I may have possibly done for Baker Street Bistro).

2. This word doesn't have anything to do with Clark Kent's long-lost Kryptonian uncles and cousins.

3. This word doesn't have anything to do with tidal changes on the lost world of Krypton either.

4. I can NOT believe that this word ~ superlative or not ~ actually gets a by from Billy-boy Gates and his Spell-checkering Nazis at Microsoft, but a valid culinaristic word like "challah" is getting the red underlined treatment. 

And, for the record, I spelled it correctly at my first go, Ms. Poppins*!

*(Now "Poppins", it seems, the Brown Shirts at Microsoft don't recognize. Really?!)