Bar Jules, Hayes Valley

Will you be insulted if I don't write much about this brunch? I've been sitting on these pictures for awhile and in an effort to finally get them up I am going to sacrifice having much text.

This was Halloween at Bar Jules. Good food, good friends. Enjoy!

Pretty Candy

It's been a busy week and not much time to make food or go out for food. There was time for Miette though.

Paulette Macarons, Hayes Valley

Hayes Valley is kind of the mecca for those with a sweet tooth. We've already covered Christopher Elbow and Miette.  And if you aren't satisfied with the options at these two places, there's always Paulette Macarons.

If you go to Paulette, you should know that they have a picture taking policy. The policy is this: you have to ask. You can take a picture but if you don't ask first they will say to you, "excuse me but you have to ask". And then you will say, "I'm so sorry, can I not take photos in here?" and they will say, "yes, you can. But you have to ask". 

I prefer the non-fruit flavored macarons. These here are some combination of espresso, vanilla, chocolate and coconut.  And while they were all excellent, the macarons at Bouchon Bakery remain my favorites.

Absinthe, Hayes Valley

Yesterday morning we made our way over to Hayes Valley for brunch. The original plan was to go to Suppenkuche but it turns out they don't do brunch on Saturdays - just Sundays. Good to know.  So we made our way down the street to Absinthe instead.

We got there about 15 minutes before they opened and no one else was waiting. About 2 minutes before they opened the doors people started lining up. About 10 minutes after we were seated, the place was full. Moral of the story: get there early or make a reservation, as it seemed like most of the crowd had reserved.  

We ordered two egg dishes: the wild mushroom omelet with caramelized onions, gruyere and truffle butter and the fried green tomatoes with poached eggs and wilted chard in a ham hollandaise sauce.   Both of these came with their breakfast potatoes, but we didn't realize that so we also ordered some fries.

Overall, I liked the omelet the best. All of the food was good, but I didn't think any of it was great.   The poached egg and tomato didn't seen to have all that much flavor and I like my fries to have more... potato. These fries had a nice exterior but not so much going on inside. I think looking back we should have gone for a sweet as well as a savory - the ricotta-stuffed french toast or the banana-blueberry souffle pancake is sounding very enticing to me as I type up this post.

If you're in Hayes Valley and want some breakfast, I'd still go here over say, Stacks. What I was most impressed with at Absinthe was the cocktail menu, which I fully intend to go back for.

Absinthe Brasserie & Bar
398 Hayes Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 551-1590

SF Hot Chocolate: Christopher Elbow Chocolate, Hayes Valley

Today was raining and gray and the perfect day for hot chocolate. K humored me and agreed to leave the house (when I know that he would have preferred to stay in pajamas all day) so I needed the hot chocolate to be really good. Epic.

So we went off to Hayes Valley, to Christopher Elbow Chocolates, and we were not disappointed. K got the orange citrus and I had the European style.  They had many more to choose from too, including a Venezuela spice one that the guy working there said was their most popular - but I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to spicy, so I passed on that one.

It was nice to be able to taste the two different versions next to each other. The orange citrus was made with milk, and so it was more warm than hot. It was also creamier and lighter, with really subtle orange flavor - subtle enough that I had a hard time tasting it. K insisted it was there and "are you losing your taste buds?" Followed by "This is a triumph". Epic indeed!

The European style one I had was hot, since it was made with water and not milk (there is an Americana version that is made with milk if you prefer that). It was very, very rich, but not super thick, which is a good thing in my book. Sometimes when it is both really rich and really thick it's just too much. This was not too much, this was just right.