Showing posts with label Brunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brunch. Show all posts

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Higher Grounds

I spent my first night and day in my old neighborhood of Glen Park, where I grew up in San Francisco. After awakening at 5am and just lounging in bed for the next five hours, the crew (my brother, my niece and me) all headed down the hill to the 'village' to get breakfast. We went to my favorite breakfast spot when I was little, Higher Ground. Back in the day, I would just get a basic cheese omelette with a Mexican hot chocolate (you just add cinnamon), but these days I'm older and have a much more mature palette. So this time, I decided to actually try what Higher Grounds is known for: their savory crepes. I think the crepe I got was Alla Toscana? It has a large variety of cheeses, egg, and spinach. I rather enjoyed it. I also got a large fresh-squeezed orange juice that was only like $3, which I'm pretty sure is a good deal (or I'm still confused by Geneva prices)
I completely recommend Higher Grounds. Recently, Glen Park has been on the rise and the 'village' has gotten a bunch of snooty new restaurants and markets. But Higher Grounds has been around since I was little and Glen Park was still an area of the city people didn't know how to get to (no seriously, the amount of friends' parents that got lost dropping me off). So this isn't like those yuppie brunch spots that are littered around San Francisco (although don't get me wrong, I do love those). Instead, Higher Grounds is an authentic unpretentious family owned breakfast spot that will probably be around longer than all the new computer geeks who just moved into the neighborhood. What I should mention though is that because it's so authentic and unpretentious, They don't take credit cards and there's no wifi. So bring your cash and bring a book if you're planning on sticking around to enjoy the rustic ambiance.
After breakfast, we headed down a couple doors to pop into Chenery Park and say hi to the owner Joe. My brother automatically went to the bar and made us all some mimosas and we all chatted as they prepared for the graduation party that they were having that afternoon. Back in the day, Chenery Park used to be the fancy restaurant in the neighborhood. These days, it's pretty much at the same fancy level as every other restaurant in town besides the old chinese restaurant, mexican taqueria, and the diner. If I go back before I head back to the east coast, I'll snap some pics and tell you allll about it.


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Ô Calm: Monday Brunch in Geneva


It's the third week of May and it's 59º outside and raining. I feel that for this late in the year, I should be enjoying beautiful weather as I sit in a park shining with sunlight.... not this March weather. Well, I guess at this point in the year, I also shouldn't have the majority of my schoolwork to complete for all my courses either. Despite that, I have still left almost all of my essays to do.... sometime in the future? I guess I deserve this weather. Maybe the gods are trying to keep me inside so that I'll do work. Clearly, they don't understand the temptation and distraction of Hulu. I have a TV problem.


Yesterday, which was Monday and the last day of my four-day weekend, was a pretty nice day. Well, a nice day for March, not for May. It was just a little chilly, but looking outside it seemed nice. Thankfully, I didn't spend the entire day inside on my computer procrastinating, only part of it. In the morning, I went with Keith, Zoe, Alice, and Tara to get brunch. Although I thought we were going to the same brunch spot that Zoe’s family brought us to on the island, we went to another restaurant called Ô Calm.

The restaurant was pretty cute and had quite a home-y vibe. In fact, it could have easily been someone’s house. The kitchen was literally a kitchen I’ve seen in plenty of my friends’ homes—even with that island that I’ve played pong on. Moving into the main dining area, it looked kind of like a living room. My favorite element were the bookshelves, I don't quite understand why not every café has a library/book component because it adds a certain level of charm or coziness that can't be rivaled. 


However, when we got there, the whole dining/living room area was too full to accommodate  group of five and they offered us a table outside. When we walked outside, I was almost glad that there wasn't enough room for us inside. Despite the slight chill factor , sitting outside was a very enjoyable experience. I actually think that the patio was my favorite aspect of the whole restaurant. Probably because it vaguely reminded me of the outside seating at Zazie (only Zazie is slightly cuter with flowers everywhere), and I relish every opportunity I spend time outside these days. 


 What I was disappointed by however was the food. Now, the rest of the crew seemed to think it was really good and were impressed by the wide selection of jams and spreads. But I can get that at Migros and put it on some toast myself. I can also make better scrambled eggs, the pancake wasn't even near the best pancake I've had in Europe (let alone the US), and my cappuccino was gross for practically the same price as Boreal. So basically, I could have either made it myself or gotten the same thing in Geneva. Yet I paid 27F. WHAT!?
 Now, you should all know that I'm allll about my brunch and I'm willing to go pretty big for it. For example, at the formerly mentioned Zazie, I have easily dropped $27 several times. But do I leave Zazie upset? Of course not because not only do they have a great ambiance, but they also have absolutely AMAZING food. My $27 brunch at Zazie would have beautifully poached eggs sitting on prosciutto, covered with heirloom tomatos, and with a side of home fries with garlic. Not to mention the fluffy pancake for dessert and the latte the size of my face. 
Ultimately, ô Calm was cute and it was nice to get brunch with the crew instead of just staying inside. But I'd rather go someplace else (even in Geneva) for brunch  next time. I'm for ambiance and all, but you're going to have to give me something a little bit more to demand that much dough....even in a city as expensive as Geneva.






Wow, this post made me really want to get Zazie when I go home. Expect a post, hopefully from the patio, within the next two weeks.