Pinkberry

I was looking though my phone and laughing at the pictures from my trip with Carbo to LA and San Diego...within these hot pics I also came across a few images of places we ate. One of the nice treats was having Pink Berry for breakfast on our way out of San Diego. Pink Berry dining opportunities are only available to you if you are in Cali or NYC.

With the top down in our sweet rental we drove to the local Pink Berry.


Often imitated in bootleg frozen yogurt shops all over this city the design concept is so clean and on point at Pinkberry. Detail is given to the floor, chairs, lamps, glass and everywhere you look. It was extremely comfortable in a strange sort of mind controlling way.

The staff were nice and extremely well groomed. I am sure that is a requirement some sort of pink berry brand.


All of the toppings looked very fresh, the fruit was almost fake looking and the nuts had a gloss on them. I imagined that someone went through every piece of fruit and nut getting rid of anything that looked damaged or irregular shaped. I should also mention it was spotless in there.

I dont really like fruit as much as I adore salt. I do however love coconut...so I went with the original yogurt with almonds and coconut.


We sat in the Cali sun and enjoyed our breakfast, after the night we had it was just what I needed. I love frozen yogurt and enjoy most bootleg recipes that I have tried. Pinkberry however has this extra tart kick that makes it very much superior. Then again, now that I think about it I may have been brainwashed in that store.

tasty kakes

after a lackluster brunch at senor moose, we made a quick, run-in-the-rain stop at belle pastry's newest outpost on leary way in ballard. G had been craving a croissant all morning and his french pastry breakfast was vetoed in favor of moose. needless to say, french tasties were still on G's mind.

somehow i deleted a couple of the pictures off of my phone, so please excuse the lack of visual entertainment and poor pic quality.

as soon as we walked in, we were greeted by one of the bakers whose name i've shamefully forgotten. the interior is a little too fluorescently bright (almost clinical), but it just accentuated how clean the space is. perhaps some warm red decorations would help stimulate my appetite?

i guess my appetite didn't require a cattle prod for me to quickly settle on an apricot/creme anglaise/croissant confection. meanwhile, G picked up an eclair, napoleon, croissant, and baguette!

the buttery layers of flaky pastry were a perfectly crisp contrast to the soft, poached apricot. the entire pastry was lightly glazed...just enough for me to lick my fingers afterwards. J, G, M, and i all shared the goods in the car on the way back to phinney ridge. the only thing that made it past the stoplight at 15th and market was the baguette.

damn.

ps, out of recession v-day ideas? why not pick up a special pastry from either of belle pastry's locations and celebrate at home.

Breakfast Drinks

If you need a drink and all you can eat waffles, before work, on a weekday. Check out Pike Place Bar & Grill.

Crumbyum celebrated his 30th Birthday this week and I took him to breakfast. He wanted a cocktail so called around to a couple places and found out that PPB&G starts serving at 8am. Perfect. To go w/ his double gin & tonic (just like the good ol' days at the airport PPB&G offers the double-for-a-dollar treatment) Crumb ordered the pecan Belgium waffles--then came the insider information. Although not noted on the menu, Belgium waffles are all you can eat!! The waffles were good too.

I had poached eggs and rye toast. Eggs were over done--which happens w/ their Benedict a lot. Usually I ask to make sure the yolk is runny and then they seem to be fine.

Happy B-Day Crumbyum.

Half Ass Ranch

Since I spent the entire holiday weekend away from restaurants this post will feature Uncle Bob and his outdoor cooking at the lovely Half Ass Ranch. The Half Ass Ranch is a amazing place located just off I90 on Killmore Road. A group of friends of mine spent the weekend camping at the ranch when we were in visiting eastern washington for Sasquatch.

Upon arrival on Saturday late afternoon we were greeted by Bob and friends. Bob was in the process of setting up his grill and preparing lots of bbq. When the grill was lit and Bob was cooking, I knew this would be a top notch food weekend. Our first meal included ribs, chicken, corn, bread, potato salad and lots of beer. I wish I had a picture of my plate...but I was way too busy eating and fighting off bugs to take a flick.

After a late night of partying we were woken the next day from the smell of burning wood which meant it was time breakfast.

We enjoyed bacon, sausage, grilled potatoes with onion, hard boiled eggs and pancakes. This special sausage was thin and perfectly crispy. It is amazing to have a greasy breakfast cooked on a wood fired grill after a late night of drinking. It truly couldnt have gotten better than this.


We left after breakfast and headed to the festival where we had a blast enjoying local rap-rock group Cancer Rising among others.

After another late night, we woke up to MORE breakfast. Monday we enjoyed some 5.5 icehouse, omelets (made to order), sausage and hash brown potatoes. I gotta say this omelet was so tasty with cheese, green onions and peppercinis...I ended up eating 2!


I had a great time at the ranch and plan on going back again this summer. Uncle Bob was such an amazing host and one of the kindest people you will ever cross paths with. Amenities at the ranch included a huge hot tub, tractor rides, gun range, unlimited beers, fire pit, horseshoes and more property than you knew what to do with. I had an amazing weekend with friends and made a couple more along the way (not including the bugs). Big shout out to the Half Ass Ranch!

Eggs Benedict with Country Sausage?

Yeah...totally an option at The Buena Vista in SF.

This dish was so bomb and the famous irish coffee is also pretty damn good....so is the mexican coffee.


This place is on some serious tourist shit so the prices are not that reasonable but well worth it.

Breakfast at Sea-Tac Airport

Well we are back from San Francisco so let me start with day one of the trip.

Seattle Tacoma International Airport

It was 11am so we all really wanted some breakfast...

We were really looking for a breakfast sandwich but were unable to make that happen. So we decided to sit down at one of those bars in the airport where you don't even remember what the hell they are called (example: The Happy Landing, The Cockpit...)


Anyway, I went for the turkey club, not bad but not worth the 9 dollars especially since it comes in a plastic basket with potato chips. I did however like the sauce packets they made available which included horseradish. Perhaps I made the wrong choice when ordering because the chicken strips looked good.

And you can never go wrong with the airport bar because upgrading to a double is only like another $2.50.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Well, some of you may have read my post about Doug Fir. This is an extension on that specific day. Not only did i enjoy a really nice breakfast sandwich at that place...I had another one about 30 min later at the

Acropolis Steakhouse
(they do not have a website, which is too bad)


Yes, this place is famous for cheap drinks, steaks and naked women.

I ordered a special that was advertised by a piece of paper taped to the wall, "Acropolis Breakfast Sandwich" no description just the price of $2.50 listed below. This sandwich was made up of an english muffin, canadian bacon and american cheese. Oh, and grease. It was pretty good, a little more cheese would have made this one of the best things to eat for $2.50. Now it might be unfair to compare it to a breakfast sandwich complete with croissant, cheese and pepper bacon...but they came pretty close in the battle. In the end I would choose the croissant sandwich at the Doug Fir.

But as far and ambiance...I am stickin to the Acrop.

PDX

Going out of town obviously gives you the opportunity to dine at restaurants you don't get the chance to eat at every day.

I was in Portland this past weekend and took advantage of grabbing some breakfast at the Doug Fir . I stumbled upon this place about a year ago upon staying at the adjacent hotel. The Doug Fir Restaurant is a mellow place with old school wood decor, throwback light fixtures and comfortable classic booths. The menu is very solid with something for everyone to get into. They have everything from your classic breakfast to the tofu scrambles. For some reason this restaurant concept seems so easy but we do not have anything like it here in the 206.

Most of us started with the bloody mary, which was pretty decent but a little over the top with the horseradish. Not the type of bloody mary with lots of garnish either, if I remember correctly the only thing that came in that glass was a straw, ice and drink. Then again I had slept for maybe 4.5 hours so my memory is a bit foggy, please give me a little patience.

I had the Clendenin Croissant which was great. Basically croissant, eggs, cheese and pepper bacon.


Another option could be the Logger Breakfast with Chicken Fried Steak.


Or the Lox.


Or the Biscuits and Gravy.


I really like this place and the prices are pretty reasonable. Also, what casual dining spot do you know of that has a popular music venue in the basement?

Cafe Septieme Part Deux

So in June I wrote a long post about Cafe Septieme (they have no site so I am not linking). To recap, I basically had shitty service and okay food. Thing is, I went back....I like this place but I am really not sure why. I got the same server I wrote about before and I even kept the receipt in hopes I could put him on blast...but I cant seem to fuckin find it right now. Lame.

Anyway, I had an hour and a half before I met up with my brother and wanted to grab a quick light breakfast before heading out for the day. I had the special, which was an egg sandwich on white bread with spinach, red onion and provolone. It was not that bad, but basically not worth the money. It was the kind of breakfast sandwich you would make if you were rummaging through your fridge looking for something to make. It came with these potatoes which I am not sure who decided was a good idea to replace your traditional hash browns with. This might require a sidebar conversation some day...what is the deal with all of these hash brown variations with random dried spices and no flavor?!?!? It is actually hard to find hash browns these days. Another thing I don't quite understand is why this place brings you your toast before you ever get your meal. Nothing like cold ass toast with your moderate temperature breakfast!

So, same server, same shitty service. We waited about 20 min for him to take our drink order. He came by once letting us know he would be there soon. From the looks of it, he can't handle a few tables so the fact that he is a server is quite shocking to me. He did however seem to be in a better mood than last time....

I really dont have high expecations, so I really need to lay off going to this place for breakfast or at least move to a different section.