“Wait,” you say, “brunch at an Indian place?”

That was my first thought, as well, when Suzanne suggested brunch at Dosa. Her main motivation was one of their dishes (Pani Puri) that is only available at dinner on Mondays and at weekend brunch. She’d had this when she previously ate at Dosa and was eager to repeat the experience. She talked it up so much that I just had to try it for myself. And so we found ourselves there for brunch one recent Sunday.

Being brunch, we started out with a cocktail. Suzanne loves mimosas and Dosa has both orange and mango. As orange is run of the mill, she went with the mango: (Poema Cava Brut sparkling wine & fresh juice). I had a Sinful Crush (Lillet with a splash of lime & freshly crushed mint & ginger) which was very minty. Yummy.

We decided to make a meal of snacky finger food. We started with Dahi Vada (Lentil dumplings, topped with cool Strauss organic yogurt, piped with tamarind & mint, mildly spiced). Tasty and very pretty.

Then it was time for the Pani Puri (Small hollow, crispy breads to be filled with spicy-sour mint & tamarind water, chickpeas, mung & potato). This was everything Suzanne said it was. Break a hole in one, fill it with beans or potatoes, add sauces then pop it in your mouth and prepare for a flavor explosion. We almost forgot to take a picture. Here’s one ready to be consumed.

The final dish was an assortment of Uttapam, served with fresh coconut & tomato chutneys and sambar. Uttapam are like a slightly thicker, pancake-style variation of the Dosa, topped all manner of savory things.

So, Indian food for brunch. You bet. It was different, but it was good. I do love good Indian food, and Dosa did not disappoint.

We’ve been cooking up a storm lately!

Inspired by one of the challenges from last season’s Hell’s Kitchen, I made a savory & sweet crepe for Saturday brunch. This was a bit of work since the two batters are a bit different. We ended up doing brunch in two stages, with some idle time while I made the sweet crepes. It made for a leisurely, decadent brunch.

We started with a take on bacon and eggs.

1. Fry bacon, taking it out of the pan and setting it aside. Later, when it cools, crumble it.
2. Scramble eggs in the still hot bacon grease, along with some finely chopped onions and sweet peppers.
3. Once that’s done, take it off the heat and stir in a dollop of creme fraiche, some grated aged gouda, and the crumbled bacon. Season as desired.
4. Use this mixture to fill a couple of fresh savory crepes.

Next up was a sweet berry crepe. There were some fresh, local strawberries and blueberries in our produce delivery last week. That’s always great with a sweet crepe.

1. Make sweet crepes. Let them cool before using.
2. Melt a bit of butter in a saucier. Add sliced fresh strawberries and whole blueberries, reserving a few of each for garnish. Simmer until they are sofftened. Add a touch of vanilla extract (I used homemade extract made with a nice brandy) and some Grand Marnier. Simmer briefly, the stir in a few tablespoons of heavy cream or creme fraiche.
3. Get the cooled crepes. Fill each with mascarpone (I usually pipe in the filling). Spoon the hot berry sauce over top the crepes. Top with a large dollop of creme fraiche and the reserved berries.

After the Starter Lab Suzanne and I attended at Local: Mission Eatery, we were eager to actually go there to eat. We dropped in for brunch today.

But first a bit about Local.

Local: Mission Eatery is a new place to eat in the Mission, on 24th Street. In fact the owner Yaron Milgrom takes inspiration from 24 St., including having a collage of the intersections of 24th along one wall.

Located between Folsom and Shotwell, it’s just a couple blocks from The 24th & Mission BART station and just down the block from Philz Coffee. You might not need to go to Philz for after-lunch coffee, however: Local (more accurately Knead) brews a very fine cup of FourBarrel.

The focus is on fresh, local, seasonal ingredients. The menu changes daily to reflect this focus. From their site:

All of our vegetables and fruit, all of our meat and fish, all of our dairy and eggs, all of our olive oil and rice, are sourced from the astounding bounty of California.

From this bounty, we craft the elements of the sandwiches, soups, salads, sodas, and dinners. Our sauces, spreads, preserves, fresh cheeses, and more will be housemade. It’s about quality and transparency. It’s about real food.

The menu (which can be found on their landing page at www.localmissioneatery.com is simple, with typically 5 items on it, plus a few daily specials. The pricing structure so far is clean and simple, reflecting the menu’s contents: $3 for drinks and simple plates (e.g. the Pickle Plate), $6 for soups, salads, and the cheese plate, and $9 for the entrée style dishes (sandwiches and brunch specials).

The place is nicely appointed as well, and very comfortable to eat at. As you walk in, the wall to your right is covered by a couple of planter hangings: flowers and herbs.

The decor is a combination of rustic and modern, with materials ranging from natural wood to brushed stainless steel.

The kitchen is open. You order at the counter and they call you when your order is ready. You bus your own table when you’re done. Very casual, very low overhead. Focus is firmly on the food. Where it should be.

Brunch

With two things on the menu for brunch, and wanting to do a fairly thorough review, we got one of each to share (which we usually do: we’re cute that way, as well as both wanting to try everything), and a couple of the drinks.

The Asparagus Sandwich (slow-poached egg, meyer lemon mousseline, open-faced on knead’s brioche) was very nice.

The eggs poached just right with nice runny yolks. The asparagus was tender, but with just enough crunch. We both love asparagus, and this delivered.

We had the Grits (grits from ridgecut gristmills, 4505 meats breakfast sausage, smoky greens, ricotta) as well.

I’ve always avoided grits in the past (I’ve spent some time working in North Carolina and Georgia where such things are staples at breakfast buffets) but decided to give it a try today. I’m glad I did. Creamy with a bit of texture. Very tasty as well. The sausages (from 4505, as noted) were fabulous. The greens gave a nice edge to grits.

The dishes were well designed for a couple to share (keep that in mind if you’re thinking of a brunch date) having 2 eggs and 2 sausages, respectively.

For drinks, Suzanne got the Tangelo Cream Soda which was very good. I opted for the Iced Sun Tea. It was nice enough, but not spectacular in the way the Soda was.

Knead

What about breads, pastries, and (most importantly at brunch) coffee? At the back of the restaurant, directly behind you when you are ordering, is Knead Patisserie.

Wanting to see what they could do we had one of the morning’s specials: a Rum-Raisin Cinnamon Roll. As mentioned above they brew FourBarrel coffee. I ordered a mug and was pleased when it was just what I like as a breakfast coffee.

To top it all off, Local has a cookbook lending library. These folks are serious about food and the sharing of it.

I’m all for supporting local restaurants, and this one is only a few blocks away. Given that, I expect to drop in occasionally. Monday I’ll be checking out their lunch offerings. You should check them out as well.

I was about to make french toast for brunch, when Suzanne says “Why don’t you make a frittata, you could finish up that bit of broccoli.” Why yes, I think, and the mushrooms. And since I had just beat the eggs and cream, and not gotten any further … why not? After all, french toast & frittata are basically the same … up until you have the eggs beaten anyway. Then they start to diverge.

8 eggs
some cream
some red onion, thinly sliced
half a dozen med/lrg mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 head of brocolli, chopped
half pound of peppered bacon
Parmesan cheese to taste, grated

Start by frying the bacon until just crisp. Drain and crumble. By starting with the bacon, you have lovely bacon drippings to use in frying the rest. Saute the the onion. Add the mushrooms, then the broccoli. Cook until they’re just soft. Beat the eggs & cream, season with salt and pepper and pour over the vegetable mixture. Mix in the cheese and bacon. cook over low heat until the egg is set.

At this point, I hear you’re supposed to switch to the oven to finish the dish. Not having made a frittata before, I wasn’t aware of that (I was just winging it), and actually got the thing flipped into another skillet to cook the top, then flipped back onto a plate to serve. Very adept flipmanship, if I do say so. Here it is:

I made brunch for “the girls” again. Once again, scrambled eggs with toasted french bread.

We did a different take on crepes this morning: folded over a blend of mascarpone and crème fraiche with a touch of vanilla:

These were topped with a caramelized honeycrisp apple and raspberry mix:

I finished them with a dollop of crème fraiche.

And finally here’s an action shot:

The girls are interviewing and auditioning cleaning help today, and I made brunch with two goals:

1. make, serve, and have a kick ass brunch with two hot chicks, and
2. make a big mess in the kitchen for candidates to practice on

Brunch consisted of:

• Mimosas
• Scrambled eggs, Gordon Ramsey style with aged gouda
• Sautéed mushrooms
• Toasted baguette
• Avocado
• Crêpes Suzette

Brunch was enjoyed by all, and there was a nice mess to be cleaned up.

I had a run to Sur la Table and Whole Food yesterday morning. Since Calafia is just around the corner from Sur la Table, I decided to start the outing with a simple brunch.

Compared to when I was there for lunch, it was busy! The place had a really nice buzz. Not frantic, just busy & humming along smoothly. As before I took a seat at the kitchen-facing bar. One of the best things about sitting there is that you can see various dishes being made, and see what looks intriguing for next time. Another perk is the chance to chat a bit with Chef Ayers.

This time I had OJ, coffee, and a dish called “Blue Max”. The OJ was really good, and the coffee was made to order in their Clover. Yum.

The Blue Max rocked. From the menu:

Hashbrowns topped with sautéed mushrooms and spinach with two poached eggs, melted swiss cheese and lemon hollandaise.

Here it is:

This was exactly what I was after for brunch. Just enough to keep you going for the afternoon, but not enough to slow you down. The hashbrowns had just a touch of crispness and provided a solid foundation to the dish. Fresh, slightly wilted spinach on top of that. Two wonderfully poached eggs topped with melted swiss and hollandaise. Simply brilliant.

I’ve never been a fan of poached eggs, but I figured I’d see what Calafia could do. I was not disappointed. Now I need to learn to poach eggs. OMNOMNOM

My experience at Calafia has been consistant: good service, friendly staff, great food.  I encourage you to drop in if you find yourself in Palo Alto and hungry. I know I might just make it a weekend brunch habit.