Baker Street Bistro

Plus ça change, plus ça la même Pain Perdu...

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! ~ two slices of cinnamon French toast, fresh fruit, strawberry coulis & crème fraîche; a side of home fries; and a large glassa orange juice

(I figured a couple of meteorological EweToobular juxtaselections were in order for such un Dimanche sombre.)


To continue with the new year, new early-season work-out of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation, I rotated back over to Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Dimanche, 25ème Septembre, 2016). Thankfully, there was a bit of a détente in this morning's pluie diluvienne (however, the wind was still proving to be a bit of a holdover in the agreed upon abatement of climatic conditions). I was even lucky enough to find a parking spot just a block away right on Baker Street (just across Lombard Street) itself.

"Best bite of the year..." 

Do I really need to say any more? (Sure, this was only the third breakfast ["Brunch", whatever] out for 2017 for me, but I know that I will be hard-pressed to taste a better bite all year, anyway.)

Les fruits du jour: oranges (oranges), ananas (pineapple), mûres (blackberries ~ pas une vraie baie), framboises (raspberries ~ aussi pas une vraie baie), bleuets (blueberries ~ une vraie baie), cantaloup (cantaloupe), pommes (apples), et pastèques (watermelon ~ aussi une vraie baie).

For condimentary supplements, Baker Street Bistro just has bottles of Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) on the tables. That is okay as I still have a few more new hot sauces of my own that I need to check out (and try to use up ~ probably by sometime in the year 2019). I used some Dat'l Do-It® Spicy Jalapeno Hot Sauce[1] on half of the potatoes and some Dat'l Do-It® Scorching Habanero Hot Sauce[1] on the other half of the potatoes (Thanks for both, Mom!). Neither one of these were mucho espicy (and have no chances of killing any poor, unsuspecting Korean busboys). I remember when there was a time (about twenty-five years ago now) when I thought that habanero chillies[2] were the hottest that I could handle. However, with the Advent (and I am using this word dans le sens religieux) of much hotter chillies in the 21st Century ~ exempli gratiā: Ghost Pepper/
Bhut Jolokia/Red Naga[3]; Infinity Chili[4]; Naga Viper[5]; Trinidad Moruga Scorpion[6]; and now the dreaded (and completely stoo-pid) Carolina Reaper[7] ~ I have become more climatised to habanero chillies and can take a bit more pain (as in the English word for "misery/suffering", not the French word for "bread").

(not so much a) the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

Once again this morning, I did not see any of my feather-brained little friends. Hopefully, they were smart enough to just stay safe from the rain and wind, and hunker-down in their roost among the tall eucalyptus trees in the Presidio.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Pain Perdu ~ 8.2 (bien entendu)

___________________

1. This is pretty funny. The "Nutrition Facts" on both of these bottles has "Serving Size 1 tsp". Now, I don't see any problem using one teaspoon of the much milder jalapeño sauce (I probably did so this morning), but I can't see many people using a full teaspoon of the hotter habanero sauce (I probably used one-third that amount).

Additionally, the jalapeño sauce has a "% Daily Value" of "Vitamin C 10%" and the habanero sauce has a "% Daily Value" of "Vitamin A 2%". I don't expect anyone to go out and use ten teaspoons of the jalapeño sauce to get their required daily percentage of Vitamin C; it is much easier to drink some orange juice. And I really do not think anyone will consume fifty teaspoons of the habanero sauce just to get their daily requirement of Vitamin A; trust me, just take a one-a-day vitamin pill, it will be much easier on your tongue and stomach-lining.

2. http://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/hot-chili-pepper-types/habanero-chili-pepper

3. http://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/superhot-chili-peppers/bhut-jolokia-chili-peppers

4. http://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/superhot-chili-peppers/infinity-chili-peppers

5. http://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/superhot-chili-peppers/naga-viper-chili-peppers

6. http://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/superhot-chili-peppers/trinidad-moruga-scorpion-chili-pepper

7. http://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/superhot-chili-peppers/carolina-reaper

Ella's

"The one with the vegetarian open faced omelette with roasted tomatoes, basil, caramelized shallots, topped with parmigiano reggiano cheese."


(Here is where I would normally have a photo of the joint in question to start out the 'stupid 'blog-thing; however, it was raining this morning and I really didn't feel like standing outside any longer than I had to. If you really must "see" a crummy photo of the place, just look through one of the many, many, many other crummy photos in the 'blog-entries that I already have on Ella's.)

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 through Friday at 7:00am; open for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday at 8:30am
Meal: vegetarian open faced omelette with roasted tomatoes, basil, caramelized shallots, topped with parmigiano reggiano cheese ~ served with potatoes and a choice of toast (all house baked: white, wheat, sourdough, rye, honey oat raisin, or buttermilk biscuit); and a glassa Ginger Orange Juice Punch

(Here are just a couple of seasonal songs from Lady Ella. 

"'Seasonal', Brian? What's so 'seasonal' about 'Stormy Weather'?" 

Well, if you listen closely, you can hear Lady Ella sing:
"Since my man and I ain't together,
Just add a pinch of cardamom to everything, 
if it be sweet or savoury, whether..."

Sure, the second song is generally considered a "Christmas song"; however, it never mentions the "C"-word anywhere it in. Besides, just two days ago was the "12th Day of C-word", anyhow.)


New year, new early-season work-out of my Breakfastary Starting Rotation. Today's rotator was back to Ella's Neo Classical American Cooking 
(see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, September 18th, 2016).

There was a sign in their window that stated that Ella's will have new ownership soon. I asked my waitress/server lady-person (who I know has worked there for at least twenty years now) if they would be maintaining the same menu format (and, hopefully, the fresh-baked baked goods items). She did not know, but said that she would be meeting with the new ownership later today and that was one of the questions she will have for them (as well as if they will be keeping the current work-staff). Who knows? Maybe they will now do "Neo Neo Classical American Cooking". (And maybe they will now call the early first meal of the weekends "Breakfast", too... but I won't hold my breath for that simple moniker change.) I have never had a bad meal at Ella's yet, and I hope that doesn't change with my next visit there. If so, there are always many Rookies out there looking for a chance at a shot at the Bigs, anyway.

I didn't really copy down what else might be available on the weekend "Brunch" menu (which changes weekly). For some reason (which I am blaming on the new ownership for no reason), they have not updated the on-line version of this weekend's menu yet. I did remember that there was a potato scramble that had some kinda dead, decaying spiced and grounded-up porky product, so that choice was off the books (off the menu, whatever) for me, anyway.

They call this an "open faced omelette", but it's basically a frittata. The tomatoes in this were roasted cherry (or possibly grape) tomatoes ~ which I thought was a great idea. I liked this a lot (basil and tomatoes are a favourite combination of mine). This was kinda like a Pizza Margherita frittata... with shallots (lots and lots of shallots). 

I went with a buttermilk biscuit as my choice of toast (even though it's really not a toasty kinda choice). I normally get their honey oat raisin, which is really very good, but felt like a buttermilk biscuit this morning (which is kinda funny, as I think I looked more like 
honey oat raisin). This proved to be a good receptacle onto which to spoon some (well, a good amount of some) of their homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) jelly (which might have been either raspberry, blackberry, or strawberry, or a combination of each; I did not bother to ask this morning). 

Ella's only has Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce 
(both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce) for use as a condimentary supplementation. Once again, I came armed with a few of the newest hot sauces in my arsenal that I had just received for Christmas, and used a little Dat'l Do-It® Zesty Chipotle Hot Sauce[1] (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the omelette/frittata-thing and some Laura Plantation Vidalia® Onion & Peach Hot Sauce[2] (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes.

Strange Coffee Interlude

I skipped any Coffee with breakfast ("Brunch", whatever), once again, because I still need to work my way through all of the new Coffees that I had received for Christmas. So I simply made myself a cuppa Bettys Christmas Blend (Thanks, Greg & Cindy! [These two are in no way related to the above "Cindy & Greg" of the hot sauce "Thanks!"]) to enjoy while I was keyboarding up today's 'blog-entry thing.

https://www.bettys.co.uk/christmas-coffee-pack


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
vegetarian open faced omelette with roasted tomatoes, basil, caramelized shallots, topped with parmigiano reggiano cheese ~ 6.9;
Bettys Christmas Blend ~ 7.6 
(I know that I rated this at 7.5 just last weekend, but after a few more tastes, I am increasing my GBS Rating a bit more; this year's blend/roast is a darker roast than they normally have and is extremely good)

___________________

1. This was one of the new bottles of hot sauces that I had received in a 5-Pack "Pepper Patch". I will be trying out the remaining four over the next few weekends, too.

http://www.datildoit.com/

This one was not too espicy even though it contains both red and orange habanero peppers, as well as the eponymous chipotle peppers.

If you are a-wonderin' on the name of this particular hot sauce company, here is some more information on the (mostly) St. Augustine (the one in Floridaland, not the much older and famouser city in Illinois) produced Datil chilli:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mv113

2. This hot sauce was also not unbearably hot; even though for chilli-potency it included: red chili puree, jalapeño peppers, cayenne pepper, and capsicum oil. I love how Vidalia® (onion) is an actual registered Certification Mark of the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

http://lauraplantation.com/product_details.php?p_id=142

For additional reading (if you like reading additionally):

http://www.lauraplantation.com/

the Bistro Restautant at Cliff House

http://www.cliffhouse.com/bistro/index.html

Place: the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House

Location: 1090 Point Lobos (at the end of the Earth/Ocean Beach, "Where San Francisco Begins")

Hours: open for breakfast Monday - Saturday at 9:00am, Sunday at 8:30am

Meal: Classic Eggs Benedict ~ poached eggs, Canadian bacon (which they were nice enough to substitute with spinach instead; so, technically, this was a "Classic Eggs Florentine"), toasted English muffin, Hollandaise sauce, served with fresh fruit and roasted potatoes; a glassa grapefruit juice to drink; and, of course, a basket (or two) of (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!)

Knowing the improbable cromulence[1] of finding a decent restaurant that might have been open on New Year's Day, I simply forewent going to any place yesterday and just waited until this morning to venture out for my first breakfastary repast of 2017 at 
the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, August  14th, 2016), which ended up being the exact same place that I also went to first in 2016 (and on the same date, but it fell on a Saturday last year). Surprisingly, there was quite a crowd waiting to be seated when they had first opened this morning. (Did everyone have Monday off?! D*mn touristas!) They almost filled up the entire joint immediatley. Luckily, I was still able to score one of the window tables overlooking Ocean Beach, though.

There were no surfers or porpoises in sight this morning on or off Ocean Beach. There were only a few brave dogs and their silly humans frolicking along the beach (well, some were also frolicking into the water). I only saw one solitary pelican flying over Seal Rocks, too.

I liked that they offered to substitute spinach for me in place of the dead, decaying porcine stuff from the Great White North. Eggs Florentine are not even listed on their menu, and this was made with a nice amount of fresh baby spinach.

Black-eyed peas and collard greens might be a Southern New Year's Day tradition, but it seems that (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) are now my San Francisco Day-After New Year's Day tradition. There were only two (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) in my first basket, and I knew that would never be enough. So I asked for another (World) Famous Cliff House Popover(!). I was just expecting only one more, but there were two in the second basket, which I made sure did not go to waste. This actually turned out to be fortuitous as they were also still warm and fresh and much better to melt butter on. ("Get 'em while they're hot, folks!")

Today's fresh fruits were: watermelon (a botanical berry), honeydew melon, cantaloupe, grapes, and half of a large strawberry (not a botanical berry, though).

the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House only offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) for condimentary supplementation. Knowing this, and knowing that I have so many new hot sauces of my own that I haven't tested yet and need to try to use up, I brought along two of my newest bottles and used some homesweet homegrown® Punch Drunk™ Chocolate Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce[2] (Thanks, Sean!) on top of both of the poached eggs and some 
Pepper Palace™ Chocolate Habanero Hot Sauce[3](Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes. (With all these new [and old] hot sauces that I now have, it is going to be hard to remember just who gave me which hot sauces.) Do not let the "Chocolate" moniker in the names of both of these hot sauces fool you into thinking these must be some kinda sweet dessert-style hot sauces. The "Chocolate" in the first one was just a small amount of raw cocoa in the ingredients. In the second one, the "Chocolate" refers to the Chocolate Habanero chilli, which is just a dark brown cultivar of the standard Habanero chilli. Both supplied a nice amount o' heat.

Strange Coffee Interlude

Much like the inordinate amount of hot sauces that I had received for Christmas, I was given six different types of Coffee for gifts. Because of this, I have been eschewing any Coffee at the restaurants and making some of my own Coffee to drink while keyboarding up these 'blog-entries. This morning, I cooked me up (well, "dripped me down") a cuppa Colectivo® Coffee Seasonal Costa Rica Santa Maria (Thanks, Kerry!). This was a very good cuppa, too. I think I should be able to use up most of the Coffee by Summer of this year (which will probably be only the half-life of all the hot sauces) at least.

http://colectivocoffee.com/

Hollywoodland Spotlight of the Day

Today's Hollywoodland Spotlight is on actress Ruby Catherine Stevens. It seems that she appeared in a few movies back in the 30's, 40's, and 50's and might have had a minor roll in a 60's western TeeVee series. (If you have never seen the Preston Sturges screwball comedy "The Lady Eve", check it out. She absolutely steals the movie from Jane Fonda's father.)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001766/


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Classic Eggs Florentine ~ 6.5;
Colectivo® Coffee Seasonal Costa Rica Santa Maria ~ 7.4;
(World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) ~ 8.2

___________________

1. Yes, this is a completely madeuppery word, but I am just amused how this word has actually found its way into the current-day 'merican lexicon by way of 
the Simpsons™ cartoon show.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cromulent?s=t

http://www.simpsonsworld.com/#/recaps/season-7_episode-16

Much like Seinfeld had several catchphrases (exempli gratia "Anti-dentite b*stard", "Sponge-worthy", "Soup Nazi", and "Shrinkage") work their way into everyday usage, the Simpsons™ has also colourfully peppered the English language with everything from "D'oh!"s to "Kwyjibo".

See, it is possible to embiggen your vocabulary from TeeVee and the Intro-Net.

2. http://homesweethomegrown.com/products/punch-drunk-ghost-pepper-hot-sauce

3. http://www.pepperpalace.com/Chocolate-Habanero-Hot-Sauce-p/q230.htm

¡venga! empanadas

http://www.vengaempanadas.com/


Place: ¡venga! empanadas
Location: 443 Valencia Street (between 15th and 16th Streets)
Hours: open at 8:00am (well, sometimes) Monday - Friday; 8:30am (give or take a few mintues) Saturday & Sunday 
Meal: one Sweet Corn (empanada, of course) ~ corn and red bell pepper, Mozzarella; one California Veggie (also an empanada) ~ baby spinach, Napa cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, raisins, almonds; one Mediterranean (yet still another empanada) ~ zucchini, artichoke, mushrooms in Béchamel sauce; and, to drink, a large glassa agua fresca Hibiscus tea (which is called a "Jamaica" in Mexican restaurants, but, apparently, los Argentinos choose to differ)

(There is no EweToobular juxtaselection between the Band or empanadas [of which I am aware; perhaps, the word "Danko" in Argentinian-Spanish dialect means "little stuffed pastry"].  This is mainly a nod to one of my recent Coffee Christmas presents [Thanks, Greg & Cindy!], Bettys Christmas Blend, which I am enjoying while keyboarding-up today's 'blog-entry. 

https://www.bettys.co.uk/christmas-coffee-pack

¡venga! empanadas actually serves pretty decent Coffee on their own [from what I recall]. However, I need to start using up some of the Coffee that I received for Christmas.

¡¿Hmmmm?! I suppose this song might have seemed a much better connection if I were drinking a cuppa Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain.

The music is by the Band and the video is by a friend of mine, Skip Way. If you enjoy the music and video, please check out Skip's EweToob channel for more great songs and stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqa4xa_2Bxa9K3NZfBJQMKA )


Unlike on Monday, I did get to revisit my "originally planned plan" for breakfast, ¡venga! empanadas (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 16th, 2014). I actually got there a little after 8:30am this morning and they were just setting up for the morning still. Just in case, unlike last week when I had to "scramble" (as in "Papas con huevo"... ¡¿Get it?!) for a quick back-up plan, I had a great back-up restaurant all lined up this morning. Pork Store Cafe is just around the corner on 16th Street and they were already open this morning (I made sure to walk by beforehand to confirm this, too).

stupid parklets mini-rant of the day

There is a brand new (well, new since I last ate there two years ago) stupid parklet in front of (and sponsored by) ¡venga! empanadas. Normally I would boycott a place that supports any of these urban blights, but I had driven all the way over there (twice this week now) specifically to get some more of their empanadas. At least this particular blockadette is only a one-car obstruction and it is kinda cool looking, because of which I will boycott them later (or for the next two years until I remember to get back that way again, anyway).

(mini-rant over for now. Back to the good stuff.)

Otherwise, there are still a few other "Veggie" (¡ugh!) empanadas left to choose from: Spinach (baby spinach, ricotta cheese, roasted pine nuts); Mushroom (mushroom mélange with zucchini, onions and fresh herbs); or Caprese (sun-dried tomato, Mozzarella, basil; this was going to be my third choice, but they were out of this one this morning, so I substituted the Mediterranean for it instead).

I liked all three of these empanadas, but my favourite had to be the Sweet Corn. It was pretty simple, but it was stuffed fulla crunchy corn (hence the name) and Mozzarella cheese. I really thought that I was going to like the Mediterranean more than the California Veggie (¡ugh! again), but the sweet Napa cabbage added a really nice flavour and tipped the scales in favour of that one. "Gross! Raisins and cabbage, Brian?" Hey, it worked for me. I also liked that they had a cool "VENGA!" (noted in the majuscule here) stamped/crimped on each empanada crust; you might be able to see the logo in the above photo. Plus, it's always a fun breakfast when it can be eaten hand-held. 

For condimentary supplementation, ¡venga! empanadas has two very good homemade (well, empanadería-made) salsas of their own. One was a very tasty traditional chimichurri[1] verde, served in an open glass jar serving-thing with a spoon (Don't you just love my technical culinary knowledge?); I made sure to use a good amount of that on half of each of the empanadas. The other was a chipotle salsa, which came in a squeeze bottle; I used some of that on half of the Sweet Corn empanada. I also had a hot sauce back-up plan just in case I had to go to a back-up plan restaurant. Like the amount of Coffee (seven different types... seriously) that I had received for Christmas, I have so many new bottles of hot sauces (I had only received nine of those, though) that need to get used up sometime this Millennium.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Sweet Corn ~ 6.7;
California Veggie ~ 6.6 (no GBS points are ever taken off for any odious nomenclature; flavour is all that matters here);
Mediterranean ~ 6.5;
Bettys Christmas Blend ~ 7.5 (for a classic Britishlander tea room kinda place, these people really have some most excellent Coffees to offer)

___________________

1. Just in case you have never heard of this style of salsa:

http://dle.rae.es/?id=8mzcVXB

Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day:

The name of the sauce probably comes from Basque "tximitxurri" (approximately "chee-mee-choo-ree"), loosely translated as "a mixture of several things in no particular order"; many Basques settled in Argentina in the 19th century.

Gallardo's ~ Restaurante Mexicano

Sometimes the "emergency back-up plan" is better than the "originally planned plan", anyway...

(No hay ninguna página-web oficial.)


Place: Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant
Location: 3248 18th Street 
(on the corner of Shotwell Street); 
phonicular contact: (415) 436-9387
Hours: (lucky for me) open every day of the week at 7:00am (just possibly not yesterday morning, but I wasn't looking for "un plan de emergencia de copia de seguridad" yesterday morning)
Meal: Papas con huevo ~ scrambled eggs w/ potato (that would be the "Papas" part of the dish name, Ernesto), onion, tomato, & bell peppers, served w/ rice, beans, & tortillas; and a large glassa recién exprimido jugo de naranja

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselection should be quite evident. Marcus Mumford's real first name was "Steven". And everywhere but in England, December 26th is known as "Saint Stephen's Day".

Nah, not really, but the three "Sons" in the band are actually named "Paul", "Simon", and "Art".)


My "originally planned plan" for breakfast this morning was to head back over to ¡venga! empanadas for a quick breakfast of (what else) empanadas... however, when I arrived there a little after 8:00am (which is the time they are normally supposed to be open on a Monday morning), there was no sign of anyone around (and there was also "no sign" on the door stating that they would be closed today in observance of the official Boxing Day holiday, either). So, I figured I would give them at least another half-hour and just walked around the neighborhood checking out any new murals since the last time that I had eaten around those parts (Balmy Alley is just two blocks up the street and always worth a look-see). When I arrived back (much after 8:30am), there were still no signs (or "signs"), so I had to decide on a quick "emergency back-up plan".

It is La Misión, after all, and there are many places nearby that had to be open, even on El Día del Boxeo (o Día de Fiesta Después de Navidad). Thankfully, Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, July 23rd, 2016) was open for business this morning. Now, this was not a down-grade option in any way; this actually was a much better up-graded option than just having a few empanadas for desayuno.

There are still several otras buenas ideas on their menu that I have wanted to try, anyway: 
(the interesting, if not somewhat scary- and disgusting-sounding) Banana Omelette (filled w/ melted cheese & banana ~ served w/ rice & beans; now, I am assuming that the "banana" used in this is actually "plátanos"; or so I hope); 
Huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs w/ onion, tomato, & bell pepper); 
Huevos Rancheros (fried eggs on a tortilla topped w/ salsa ranchera & Monterey Jack cheese); 
Torta de huevo (scrambled eggs w/ onion, tomato, & bell pepper cooked in a crepe style); or 
Nopales Omelette (filled w/ melted cheese, onion, tomato, bell pepper, & cactus [that would be the "Nopales"]).

The major problem with not knowing that I was going to be heading back to Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant was that I didn't get the chance to check what I had had the very last time that I had eaten there. Because of which, I ended up ordering the exact same thing as my last visit. I am just glad that I liked this dish as much as I did the last time that I had ordered it. After covering the scrambled mess with about half the provided jar of fresh, homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) salsa, the bell peppers and onions in it tasted even sweeter.

(If you would like more details on how much I might have liked this dish, just re-read the previous 'd*mn 'blog-entry!)

This came with six corn tortillas, but they were not the fresh, homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) kind, which would have been mucho bettero; usually, on the weekends, they provide you with the good fresh-made stuff.

I really don't know what Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant might have in the way of bottled condimentary supplements, but it really didn't matter because their fresh-made house (restaurant, whatever) salsa was more than sufficient. It was much more than just "gringo espicy", too. I probably should have tasted it first before dousing the scrambled mess with a large amount, but it was still well within my limits. This morning I did not bother bringing any of my newest hot sauces that I just received for Christmas because I figured that I was just going to use the fresh salsas that ¡venga! empanadas had for use, anyway.

Beforehand (how come you never hear about any "afterhand") in the morning, I made sure to brew me up  a cuppa (well, technically, this was a "drip me down" a cuppa) Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain, which I had just received as a great Christmas gift (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!!!). This is truly the "Marilyn Monroe of Coffees!"! And its price designates it as such; at today's current Exchange Rate, it is approximately $78.00 (and that is not a typo) per pound (or is that per £?)!

https://www.bettys.co.uk/jamaica-blue-mountain


Conclusion: Boxing Day is not an official holiday in Mexico, but must be observed as one in Argentina...


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Papas con huevo ~ 6.6;
Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain ~ 8.5

"My Favourites" of 2016

As I have done for the past few years now, instead of calling my end-of-year compilation list for 2016 a 
"Best of", I am calling this "My Favourites" once again. ("Best of" lists were so 2000's, anyway.) However, I am keeping with the "Top Ten" format-idea, and the easiest way to rank these was just to go back through all my 'blog-entries from 2016 and see which ones had the highest Glen Bacon Scale Rating (and in the case of identical GBS ratings, I am simply listing them chronologistically). Simples! Nu?

(And, yes, I am well-aware that there is still another full week left in 2016. However, I already have planned where I will be eating breakfast on Boxing Day [and highly doubt that it will rate over a 7.0 on the GBS] and unless I have some kinda stellar-type breakfast on Saturday ~ New Year's Eve Day ~ there really shouldn't be the need to modify this list in any way, anyway.)


1) Quelle surprise! For the fifth year running (or walking... or just plain ol' standing), the top honours go to le Pain Perdu extraordinaire at Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Dimanche, Septembre 25ième ~ et aussi Dimanche, Janvier 10ième). As I have stated many, many, many, many, many times now, not only is this one of the best versions of French toast in all of San Francisco, it may also be one of the best in the entire U.S. of A., mais bien sûr.

2) (and not really much of a surprise with "My Second Favourite" either) Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from Tuesday, June 12th and also from Saturday, January 9th). These truly are an inspired "invenzione". I always like to explain this to people that these are simply Eggs Benedict in una versione italiana (o Uova di Benedetto, Tony).

3) Apple Pan Dore at Mama♥s on Washington Square (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 29th). Additionally, I am calling this my "Best 'New' French Toast Find of 2016" ~ even though it has already been available there for many years already. (Don't worry, the superfluocity with the use of "already" was really a premeditated redundancy really.)

4) Frittata of the Decade/Century at Just For You bakery & cafe (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 5th). 

5) Stella Hash Browns at Breakfast at Tiffany's 
(see 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 26th). 

6) Greek Frittata at Home Plate (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 21st). 

7) makena (maui) at pomelo ~ REFRESHINGLY GLOBAL 
(see 'blog entry from Saturday, August 6th). While this dish was small in stature, it was LARGE in flavour; therefore, I am naming this as "co-Best French Toast Dish of 2016... not named Baker Street Bistro Pain Perdu - a brunch favorite! or Apple Pan Dore 
at Mama♥s on Washington Square".

8) Signature French Toast at Dolce Amore (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 27th). This was another great dish from this "sweet" little place. As with #7 above, I am naming this as "co-Best French Toast Dish of 2016... not named Baker Street Bistro Pain Perdu - 
a brunch favorite! or Apple Pan Dore at Mama♥s 
on Washington Square". (Interestingly enough, a different dish from Dolce Amore placed at #8 for 2015, too.)

9a) Savory Galette at Marla Bakery (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 1st). There was also the extra-added bonus of an extremely tasty breakfastary dessert of Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake. 

9b) Polenta and Sunny Up Eggs at Eats (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 1st). 

9c) polenta gorgonzola at Caffé/Caffè/Café DeLucchi (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 23rd). This also makes the "Top Ten" list due to the extra special side dish of artichoke hash.

(Okay, so it's actually a "Top Eleven" format, Mr. Tufnel.)


2016 Specific Categories (& Honourable Mentions kinda stuff)

"My Favourite" New Potatoey Side-dish Find ~ homefries at Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery 
(see 'blog-entry from Saturday, March 19th). 
GBS Rating: 7.4 
(Of course, it goes without saying [but I am saying it here again all the same, anyway] that the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes at Eats ~ in all their garlicky glory ~ are still "My Favourite" Potatoey Side Dish. GBS Rating: 7.5) 

"My Favourite" Olde Potatoey Side-dish Not Named Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes at Eats ~ hashbrowns with habanero-infused pickled onions at Taylor Street Coffee Shop (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 18th). 
GBS Rating: 7.5

"My Favourite" Huevos Rancheros Dish ~ 
Golo Ranchero at Cafe Golo ~ Boutique Cafe 
(see 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 17th). 
GBS Rating: 7.2 
(Honourable Mention: Huevos Rancheros at 
STRAW ~ Carnival Fare; mainly for their muy sabrosa salsa ranchera [see 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 29th]. 
GBS Rating: 7.0)

"My Favourite" Take On Boring Ol' Eggs Benedict Not Named Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ Œufs Baker Street Bistro at Baker Street Bistro (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 10th). 
GBS Rating: 7.2

"My Favourite" Breakfast Burrito ~ 
Breakfast Burrito at the Grind Cafe (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 14th). Seeing as I only had breakfast burritos twice this year, it was a 50-50 shot, anyway. 
GBS Rating: 6.5

"My Favourite" Crêpe ~ 
Puttanesca Crêpe at higher grounds coffeehouse (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 18th). Like the "Burrito" entry above, I had only a few crêpes this year from which to choose, too. 
GBS Rating: 6.9

"My Favourite" New Absotively, Posilutely, Totally Disgusting (read: Excellent!) Original Coffee Drink ~ 
Crème Brulee Latte at Rise & Grind (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 16th). What kinda demented, diabolical genius would ever come up with the awesomeness of a "Crème Brûlée" Latte?!
GBS Rating: 7.3

"My Favourite" Pickled Appetizer of the Nosh Variety ~ Pickle Plate at Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen ~ 24th Street Deli (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 11th). Possibly the best pickled persimmons that I have ever had... well, technically, they were also the first-ever pickled persimmons that I have ever had (even if they weren't actually persimmons). 
GBS Rating: 7.4

"My Favourite" Baked-Goods Item of the Danish Variety ~ 
Mango-Coconut Danish at Grain D'or (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 31st). Mango, coconut, AND rosemary?! Oh, yeah! 
GBS Rating: 7.4

"My Favourite" Bready/Toasty Side ~ 
(World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) at 
the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (this is an exact duplicate of 2015's and 2014's choices and, like #1 and #2 above, should really be no surprise; as long as they keep making 'em, I will keep eating 'em; see most recent last 'blog-entry from Sunday, August 14th). 
GBS Rating: 8.2


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro ~ 8.2; 
Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ 7.6; 
Apple Pan Dore at Mama♥s on Washington Square ~ 7.5;
Frittata of the Decade/Century at Just For You 
bakery & cafe ~ 7.5;
Stella Hash Browns at Breakfast at Tiffany's ~ 7.5;
Greek Frittata at Home Plate ~ 7.4;
makena (maui) at pomelo ~ REFRESHINGLY GLOBAL ~ 7.4;
Signature French Toast at Dolce Amore ~ 7.4;
Savory Galette at Marla Bakery ~ 7.3
(and separately rated Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake ~ 7.6);
Polenta and Sunny Up Eggs at Eats ~ 7.3;
polenta gorgonzola at Caffé/Caffè/Café DeLucchi 
~ 7.3
(and separately rated artichoke hash ~ 7.5)