If you ever have a chance...or maybe I'll take you there one of these mornings when we have time....you should try the eggs florentine at Cockadoodle Cafe in downtown Oakland. Soooo good! They split an English muffin and add fresh tomato and raw spinach & egg (or not) and cover it with a lite caper sauce that tastes similar to hollandaise but has a little added punch. Bet you'd love it. That place is a real gold mine and not many people know about it...yet. Is just off of 8th and Broadway.
Mmmmm. Right about when you were writing that (er - time zone - perhaps not), I was having Eggs Popeye (no bacon, tons of spinach) with lorres in Bennington. Delicious. And I realized that it doesn't actually have any of the stuff that makes me ill (dairy other than butter) so I can eat it and be happy!
I used to eat out at Mama's Royale Cafe (? one in Oakland, one in Albany, slightly different names) a lot with my friend Moira. They had many variants on the Eggs Benedict theme. Sauteed mushrooms was a good one. Crab meat, if you're not veggie, was another. Asparagus... the list went on and on. Does that place still exist? I need to get back to the Bay Area some time for brunch.
I love that place. I had their eggs florentine once (spinach instead of canadian bacon, but otherwise identical to benedict), and their fruit blintzes another time. My mom liked it, too. If you're ever in town, I'd be glad to buy you brunch/coffee -- have you tried the Vault? That's another good Oakland brunch spot, though it might technically be over the Berkeley line.
I think the Vault is new since my time. I lived in Berkeley (and Oakland briefly) from 1975 to 1995. I would *love* to have brunch with you:) I have a ton of old friends out there (if I can find them after all this time), and ss* friends, and others who I'd like to see, too. But despite that, I'm not sure when I'll make it - maybe next summer? Maybe not for a while after that. I've become a real stick-in-the-mud homebody, but sooner or later travel-lust will appear on the horizon again.
I've adapted this recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_27524,00.html to meet my sensibilities Why use unsalted butter and add salt? Silly Cordon Bleubloods.
Wait, Bleu ... wouldn't that make them Crips?
Anyway I remain a huge garbage fan and the pantry shelf is beginning to reflect my garage sale quest for the perfect egg-poaching kitchen gadget.
Someday when a menu offers "two eggs any style" I'll go ahead and order them Benedict. I guess by "someday" I'm saying when I see a combination of food prep and waitstaff whose spit I'm completely comfortable consuming.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-08-18 06:47 pm (UTC)If you ever have a chance...or maybe I'll take you there one of these mornings when we have time....you should try the eggs florentine at Cockadoodle Cafe in downtown Oakland. Soooo good! They split an English muffin and add fresh tomato and raw spinach & egg (or not) and cover it with a lite caper sauce that tastes similar to hollandaise but has a little added punch. Bet you'd love it. That place is a real gold mine and not many people know about it...yet. Is just off of 8th and Broadway.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 08:04 pm (UTC)sounds tasty!
no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 10:11 pm (UTC)I used to eat out at Mama's Royale Cafe (? one in Oakland, one in Albany, slightly different names) a lot with my friend Moira. They had many variants on the Eggs Benedict theme. Sauteed mushrooms was a good one. Crab meat, if you're not veggie, was another. Asparagus... the list went on and on. Does that place still exist? I need to get back to the Bay Area some time for brunch.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-18 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-20 02:39 am (UTC)Wait, Bleu ... wouldn't that make them Crips?
Anyway I remain a huge garbage fan and the pantry shelf is beginning to reflect my garage sale quest for the perfect egg-poaching kitchen gadget.
Someday when a menu offers "two eggs any style" I'll go ahead and order them Benedict. I guess by "someday" I'm saying when I see a combination of food prep and waitstaff whose spit I'm completely comfortable consuming.