Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Baja Summer Trip - Dazzling Breakfasts
One of the biggest highlights of the Baja weekend for me were two supremely satisfying breakfasts. I most craved these meals once they ended. The first exravagant breakfast was at La Guerrerense.
Established in the 60's and now run by the luminous Sabina Bandera,
also known as "La Guerrerense", they impressively churn out a high speed bounty of her seafood magic. The cooks and staff always refer to her as La Guerrerense, not by her first name. I'm sure this is to show their endearment and respect.
If there is a better Sunday breakfast, i am yet to find it. I've had their sea urchin and pismo clam tostada at the LA Street Food Festival, which you can find at this post.
also known as "La Guerrerense", they impressively churn out a high speed bounty of her seafood magic. The cooks and staff always refer to her as La Guerrerense, not by her first name. I'm sure this is to show their endearment and respect.
If there is a better Sunday breakfast, i am yet to find it. I've had their sea urchin and pismo clam tostada at the LA Street Food Festival, which you can find at this post.
Although I loved it, the feeling of being at the source with even fresher ingredients made a difference. Also remarkable was their speed and efficiency in serving so many people so quickly and with smiles on their faces. Their operations could be studied in MBA programs!
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| A dozen plus organic salsas also sold and available for dressing the food |
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| sea urchin and pismo clam tostada with avocado |
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| tostadas de pate de pescado y caracol (fish pate and sea snail tostadas - photo courtesy of ClubTengoHambre |
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| A line of 40+ people upon opening |
La Cocina de Doña Esthela
Our other soulful and equally satisfying breakfast began at La Cocina de Doña Esthela, a beautiful country eatery.
Before eating we spent quite some time comingling with the animals on the grounds.
I particularly bonded with the goats, not realizing that they had such vivid and sweet personalities. Their looks and voices alone were heartwarming.
Moving inside for breakfast, and I'm talking a huge, farmer style breakfast, we enjoyed steaming ceramic mugs of cafe de la olla , a traditionally prepared Mexican coffee. The coffee is brewed in earthen clay pots with cinammon and piloncillo, or cones of unrefined sugar. It truly is a magical way to kick off the morning.
Did I mention, fresh corn tortillas right out of the stove, pumpkin empanadas and birria de res? Among this delicious bounty, I was most intrigued with the super fresh farmers' cheese. We scooped it up with fresh tortilla chips and a spicy, savory house made salsa. Just that and the coffee would have thrilled me, not to mention the rest of the meal.
We also ran into OC Weekly writer Dave Lieberman, at an adjacent table. He took some of us on a wonderful evening around Tijuana on a previous trip, which you can learn more about at this post.
What's for Brunch? Salt's Cure & Fraiche Offerings
Every once in awhile I absolutely love brunch. It always feels like a celebration. Having said that, buffets are not my thing. So it's delightful when not one, but two excellent brunch menus cross my radar - Salt's Cure and Fraiche. |
| Line of patrons waiting for Salt's Cure to open at 11:00 a.m. |
There's a reason why there were dozens of people waiting at the front door for the place to open! Even the employees were taking cell phone photos of us.
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| Pig placement and animal artwork |
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| Kid foodies waiting to dine |
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| Preparations in the open kitchen |
A couple of members of my group nabbed seats at the counter and had this excellent view of the kitchen crew making all dishes from scratch. Their passion and dedication was clear, and they even took time to chat with the diners.
My hand-ground coffee came in the French press above and it was strong, outstanding coffee. So nice to have your own refills ready to go.
The counter contains a row of house-made pickles of various kinds, which are offered if requested.
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| fresh bread, biscuits, tangerine roll, oatmeal griddlecakes, roasted potatoes and charcuterie plate |
There were all sorts of combinations of inventive charcuterie, cheeses and pate plates floating around. It was a small but solid chalkboard menu.
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| 2 x 2 x 2 |
The biscuit was a little 'blonde' for my taste and could have used a bit more browning, but it tasted fine.
So what's next at Salt's Cure for me? More brunches and of course, dinner. I heard a food editor on KCRW's Good Food radio show stating Salt Cure's fried chicken is better than Ludo's (gasp). The chefs were not even aware of this statement and suggested they would offer it more often if they'd known!
The second recent brunch was at Fraiche in Culver City, a "tweet-up" with various bloggers from Bay Area, San Diego and L.A. My friend Abby of Pleasure Palate kindly granted my request by getting me a seat at this table for the chef's tasting menu and it was a blast breaking bread with this fun and warm group.
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| Food related graffiti at Fraiche |
I've been enamored with Chef Benjamin Bailly's food since my first bite at Petrossian and had at least 1 excellent meal at Fraiche in the past. His rustic French-Italian menu including many egg dishes (my favorite) surely could not have disappointed.
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| Bottmless mimosas and Baby Beet Salad |
The hearty meal contained many, many courses and went on for hours, so this is only a recap of my favorites. What better place to begin than bottomless mimosas? The baby beets salad with homemade ricotta, oranges and pistachios was an outstanding way to kick off the meal.
My 2nd favorite dish of Soft Polenta with slow poached egg, pecorino cheese and wild mushrooms is not pictured here, because its looks do no justice to the rich, creamy, decadent flavors. It will live on in my tastebud memories though and if you go, do not miss it!
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| Baked eggs |
So if that was the 2nd favorite dish, that's only because the Baked Eggs with goat cheese, olives, tomatoes and chives, served in a cast iron skillet with a side of crusty bread stole my heart. What a lovely homage to the humble egg. So clean and simple yet a punch of flavor. Delicious.
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| Truffle Burger, fries with garlic aioli and Croque Madame |
We could have ended the meal right there to nobody's disappointment, but the hearty food kept coming. Bailly's famous Truffle Burger with onion fondue, Boschetto cheese and truffle aioli lived up to its reputation.
The Croque Madame with smoked ham, eggs and gruyère cheese beautifully melted looked and felt like it was straight out of Ratatouille. The side arugula greens, which would normally play 2nd fiddle, held its own, being perfectly dressed and seasoned.
The Croque Madame with smoked ham, eggs and gruyère cheese beautifully melted looked and felt like it was straight out of Ratatouille. The side arugula greens, which would normally play 2nd fiddle, held its own, being perfectly dressed and seasoned.
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| Chef's Selection Dessert Platter |
After 7-8 courses, not one but platters full of desserts came out, which we began referring to as a "dessert orgy". I don't even remember it all but the gorgeous jars of vanilla, mango panna cotta and tiramisu all surprised us. The vanilla jar came with balsamic vinegar jelly and the mago jar with pop rocks hiding among the fresh fruit!
I vaguely recall a trio of Crème Brulées, including pistachio and butterscotch, chocolate lava cakes, rosemary cookies. Perhaps more. While I'm not that fond of desserts, the creativity that went into the flavors and combinations was impressive. Everything tasted divine.All in all, there are two places that really deliver and can be added to the L.A. brunch repository. What do you like to have for brunch, and where? Comments are most welcome.
