What do you do if you haven't seen your friends for a while
and you miss them? You could call them, send a text or e-mail, write a letter
(if you have their address) and even send smoke signals. However, if you live
in San Francisco, the answer is brunch. Move over Rice A Roni because brunch is
the San Francisco treat.
I was lucky enough to go to two brunches last weekend one on Saturday and the other Sunday. I have plans for Sunday brunch this week too! Usually brunch is synonymous with runny eggs, french toast, potatoes and bottomless mimosas. This story is about a completely different kind of brunch.
Saturday Afternoon Brunch
1785 Fulton St. San Francisco, CA 94117
My friend S and I hadn't gotten together in months. We ran into each other at Central Coffee last Sunday and decided to catch up and have brunch on Saturday. We chose the brewhouse because we each ran late. It's in the neighborhood a short walk or stumble for us to get back home. She and I had brunched here over the summer and it was a mixed bag but we felt we could avoid the things we weren't jazzed about.We were pleasantly surprised to see the menu had been updated and there weren't any items we wanted to avoid.
So, S and I arrived at the pub at 4pm we were starving and discovered that the kitchen closes from 3 - 4:30. Our waitress offered to serve us some Poutine or french fries while we waited for the kitchen to open we declined and opted for a Saison instead. A persimmon saison that was utter delight not too sweet not too sour delicious really worth a try even if you don't drink 'that kind of beer'. The beer menu is extensive, we got half pints so we could try more delicious libations.
The food menu is succinct. We chose some small plates and a large plate to share. First, a half dozen oysters on the half shell. They were fresh, briny and sweet totally worthy of the investment but at $3 per oyster it's a bit spendy. After having two half pints of the persimmon saison I thought I'd shake things up a bit and got a half pint of 'Fruitfly Framboise'. It's not your traditional framboise, usually they are super syrupy and sweet. The 'Fruitfly' is crisp and fresh with a hint of sweet and tart.
Next they brought out the pig trotters and crispy Brussels salad. The trotters are like a croquette crispy outside and tender on the inside they serve them with a drizzle of smoked honey, popcorn and pickled red onions. I'll admit the popcorn sounded odd but I was intrigued to see how they would incorporate it and it was a blissful accompaniment. Just a few kernals on the plate but together with the trotter and the onion it was epic. The Brussels salad was also very delicious the crunch from being roasted combined with the creme fraiche and apple cider was perfectly balanced. I am going to try and recreate this salad for Thanksgiving this year. That means lots of Brussels roasting and experimenting. Come over and lend a hand with the cooking or the eating if you can.
We ordered the Texicali brisket for our large plate it was served atop toasted white bread accompanied by BBQ sauce, house made pickles and coleslaw. Besides pickles being super tasty they are also really good for you and have been linked to longevity. Even though it is pretty simple to pickle things I am always impressed with house made pickles and these pickles were no exception. the perfect bite from this plate consisted of a little piece of bread, a little bit of pickle, a small piece of meat and BBQ sauce. Truly so delicious it was worth writing about.
There was no need for dessert and we each stumbled to our apartments sated with plans to brunch next Sunday.
A couple of tips (pretty common sense) If you want traditional brunch fare they only serve it between 11am and 2pm and bottomless mimosas are served until 3pm. They have imaginative cocktails but this a Brew house so try the beer, cidre, saison and barley wine.
My Daughter and I went to meet her Godfather J at Picaro for some good old fashioned catching up. I don't know about you but in my humblest of opinions there is no reason to spend time waiting in line for food. There are just too many great restaurants in this city. The amazing thing about this restaurant is that unlike on a Friday or Saturday night there was no line for brunch it was almost completely empty. It was a gorgeous day so we chose to eat al fresco. Picaro's patio is, without any exaggeration, perfect. There are trellises with foliage a little bit of statuary and it is bright without the sun beating down on you.
J put me in charge of ordering and I put together quite a feast for us. The oysters had been so good the other day I was craving more and here they are a mere $1. Unfortunately, they were out of oysters but they were certainly not out of their delicious sangria. Every hour at Picaro is a happy hour but, they have happy hour prices for sangria that last almost the whole day, making the hours of 11:30am to 7pm happier than most. During that time you can acquire a cup of sangria for $2.50 and a carafe for $10. We can't live on sangria alone though, paired with their bread and Romesco sauce, we'd be ok for a while.
Picaro's menu is pretty extensive but don't come looking for runny eggs or french toast. In addition to a carafe of sangria, we ordered chorizo salteado (little sausages), Patatas al aioli (roasted potatoes w/garlic mayo), Calamare fritto(fried calamari), Acietunas Rellenas de Anchoa (olives stuffed with anchovies) and Lobster Paella. It might sound like a lot but if A had had her share of paella it would have been perfect for the three of us. We opted for a seafood brunch but they do in fact serve plenty of vegetarian and meat dishes.
This is a great place for a relaxed brunch and a great place to go with large groups. They have many small plates which are great to get when you have lots of folks to share with. They also have combo plates when you go alone or with a small group (and no one can agree on tapas).
The moral of this entry is go where you haven't gone before or when you haven't gone before and try different and/or weird stuff. You just might like it.
The food menu is succinct. We chose some small plates and a large plate to share. First, a half dozen oysters on the half shell. They were fresh, briny and sweet totally worthy of the investment but at $3 per oyster it's a bit spendy. After having two half pints of the persimmon saison I thought I'd shake things up a bit and got a half pint of 'Fruitfly Framboise'. It's not your traditional framboise, usually they are super syrupy and sweet. The 'Fruitfly' is crisp and fresh with a hint of sweet and tart.
Next they brought out the pig trotters and crispy Brussels salad. The trotters are like a croquette crispy outside and tender on the inside they serve them with a drizzle of smoked honey, popcorn and pickled red onions. I'll admit the popcorn sounded odd but I was intrigued to see how they would incorporate it and it was a blissful accompaniment. Just a few kernals on the plate but together with the trotter and the onion it was epic. The Brussels salad was also very delicious the crunch from being roasted combined with the creme fraiche and apple cider was perfectly balanced. I am going to try and recreate this salad for Thanksgiving this year. That means lots of Brussels roasting and experimenting. Come over and lend a hand with the cooking or the eating if you can.
We ordered the Texicali brisket for our large plate it was served atop toasted white bread accompanied by BBQ sauce, house made pickles and coleslaw. Besides pickles being super tasty they are also really good for you and have been linked to longevity. Even though it is pretty simple to pickle things I am always impressed with house made pickles and these pickles were no exception. the perfect bite from this plate consisted of a little piece of bread, a little bit of pickle, a small piece of meat and BBQ sauce. Truly so delicious it was worth writing about.
There was no need for dessert and we each stumbled to our apartments sated with plans to brunch next Sunday.
A couple of tips (pretty common sense) If you want traditional brunch fare they only serve it between 11am and 2pm and bottomless mimosas are served until 3pm. They have imaginative cocktails but this a Brew house so try the beer, cidre, saison and barley wine.
Sunday morning brunch
Picaro Tapas Restaurant
3120 16th Street (between Valencia and Guerrero)My Daughter and I went to meet her Godfather J at Picaro for some good old fashioned catching up. I don't know about you but in my humblest of opinions there is no reason to spend time waiting in line for food. There are just too many great restaurants in this city. The amazing thing about this restaurant is that unlike on a Friday or Saturday night there was no line for brunch it was almost completely empty. It was a gorgeous day so we chose to eat al fresco. Picaro's patio is, without any exaggeration, perfect. There are trellises with foliage a little bit of statuary and it is bright without the sun beating down on you.
J put me in charge of ordering and I put together quite a feast for us. The oysters had been so good the other day I was craving more and here they are a mere $1. Unfortunately, they were out of oysters but they were certainly not out of their delicious sangria. Every hour at Picaro is a happy hour but, they have happy hour prices for sangria that last almost the whole day, making the hours of 11:30am to 7pm happier than most. During that time you can acquire a cup of sangria for $2.50 and a carafe for $10. We can't live on sangria alone though, paired with their bread and Romesco sauce, we'd be ok for a while.
Picaro's menu is pretty extensive but don't come looking for runny eggs or french toast. In addition to a carafe of sangria, we ordered chorizo salteado (little sausages), Patatas al aioli (roasted potatoes w/garlic mayo), Calamare fritto(fried calamari), Acietunas Rellenas de Anchoa (olives stuffed with anchovies) and Lobster Paella. It might sound like a lot but if A had had her share of paella it would have been perfect for the three of us. We opted for a seafood brunch but they do in fact serve plenty of vegetarian and meat dishes.
This is a great place for a relaxed brunch and a great place to go with large groups. They have many small plates which are great to get when you have lots of folks to share with. They also have combo plates when you go alone or with a small group (and no one can agree on tapas).
The moral of this entry is go where you haven't gone before or when you haven't gone before and try different and/or weird stuff. You just might like it.
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