How breakfast saved my life...

This is an usual post for the Breakfast Blog.  But yesterday things happened at the Boston Marathon which rekindled my desire to share an opinion or two.  First, I must apologize for a long silence.  I now have twin two-year-olds, and that makes it very hard to keep up the fast pace (or any pace) of breakfasting and writing that once prevailed.  Second, I want to share a story about how too many eggs possibly saved my life.

Yesterday, I ran the Boston Marathon.  I was on pace to finish the race around 3 pm.  But I was also feeling the effects of a few too many plates of eggs and bacon during the months prior to the race.  Let's face it.  I was too chubby for optimal marathon performance.  And thank God.  Had I been any faster, there's every chance I would have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and there's every likelihood my family, friends and colleagues would have been cheering at the finish line.  It's a scenario that came very close and it fills me with a mix of distress, anger and outrage.

But I was lucky.  My last few miles were slow enough that I was stopped about 1 km before the finish line.  And my kids (bellies full of scrambled eggs) overslept for their nap, which meant they and my wife did not quite make it to the finish line.

Others were not so lucky.  I feel for them and their families deeply.

As an Australian living in Massachusetts, you develop an interesting perspective on the good and bad of American culture.  And what I can tell you from first hand experience is that Boston Marathon day brings out the very best of America.  For 26 miles (42 kms) the course is lined with happy, cheering faces, egging you on to the finish line.  About half way, you pass a long line of screaming Wellesley College girls begging for kisses.  No kidding.  And the vast majority of runners are in the race to raise money for charity.

For my part, I was running for Team Red Cross, and if there was any comfort to be had on such a horrible day, it was that I was proud to have done something to support an organization that provides critical relief when shit like this happens.

So if you have the resources and share my outrage at what happened, please make a donation to the Red Cross.  I have never felt more strongly about making a shameless plea for donations.

Donate to my Team Red Cross fundraising

And be sure to enjoy every mouthful of every breakfast.  Your time in this world is precious.

Power Breakfast trends in the USA

They took out the bit where I said this is not actually a recession fad but a longer term trend... but you get to watch me shovel some eggs benny into my face...

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/28001977/detail.html

Stephi's on Tremont, Boston

It was something of a hash frenzy, my Boston Summer breakfast spree. Duck hash at Mistral. Potato hash at Henrietta's. And last but not least, meatloaf hash at Stephi's on Tremont. I am, as you may have guessed, a sucker for anything hashed and brown. Especially when the brown component happens to be meatloaf, one of America's great contributions to world cuisine. The verdict? Stephi gives good hash...



Which is not surprising, when you consider that the "Queen of Patio Dining" just happens to be married to the "King of Ambulance Chasing", James Sokolove. With Jim making a motza from slip-and-trip lawsuits, Stephi clearly doesn't need the money. So the restaurant must just be for fun. A community service. Because Massachusetts deserves good meatloaf.

Mistral, Boston

Talk about slack. So many months, so little blogging. And so many breakfasts to catch up on. So here goes nothing. A highlight to kick things off, courtesy of Mistral. A rather fancy place in Boston's South End, serving a rather delicious confit duck and root vegetable hash topped with fried egg...

Toro, Boston

There are places in Boston that are popular for reasons I do not understand. And then there are places like Toro, 1704 Washington Street, Boston, MA, Tel +1 (617) 536-4300. Toro is popular because it is good. The food is good. The venue is good. The service is good. The coffee is not horrible. You can even get an Aperol Spritz.

Post 390, Boston

You'd be surprised how difficult it is to get baked beans for breakfast in Boston. Baked beans are like Massachusetts Republicans. They exist, but they keep a very low profile. So don't be fooled by the brunch menu at Post 390, 406 Stuart Street, Boston, MA, Tel +1 (617) 399-0015. No beans there. But ask your waiter, and tell them how much you were looking forward to sampling their magnificant house-baked beans, and you never know your luck.

Union Bar and Grill, Boston

Cod cakes. Eggs Benny New England style.

Trident Booksellers and Cafe, Boston

Despite its name, the potato chuckwagon is very good...

Clio, Boston

I was half expecting hollandaise foam when I sat down for breakfast at Clio, 370 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, Tel +1 (617) 536-7200. A quick flick through the Clio photo gallery reveals that Ken Oringer is quite the foam fan-boy. A trick he picked up from the godfather of foam, Ferran Adria, no doubt. But my farm eggs were foam-free, and smothered instead with a generous amount of Piment d’Espelette hollandaise. Spicy.



As innovations go, it worked quite well. A little touch of the Basque Country and a little extra kick. All perched on a bed of ham and sweet potato hash. Very nice. And at $17, so it should be.

More frugal options include old fashioned Irish oatmeal with "red & gold" raisins and brown sugar (a mere $8), or French toast with berry compote ($11). They also serve waffles, a couple of omelettes, and fancy-sounding crispy galettes of organic grains and banana with French salted butter and Vermont maple syrup. French salted butter? I thought the French preferred their butter sans salt?

For a power-breakfast venue, service was a little slow and clueless. But at least they won't be in your face while you discuss the finer points of the deal.

Highland Kitchen, Somerville

Readers of The Tipping Point will recall the claim that a small bunch of super-influencial East-Village hipster-trendoids started wearing Hush Puppies and, hey presto, they were tranformed into must-wear footwear for the masses. Which begs the question: if the cool kids start eating hush puppies for breakfast, will they trigger the breakfast food fad of 2009? To find out, I urge all foodie fashionistas to get on down to Highland Kitchen, 150 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA, Tel +1 (617) 625-1131, and order a side of deep-fried pups.



Not everyone agrees with Malcolm Gladwell mind you. Duncan Watts reckons the super-influencer theory is toast, and that mere mortals are just as likely to trigger a fashion epidemic. What matters is whether the world is ready for deep fried corn bread. If the food is right, any idiot could trigger an outbreak. Even me.

So, all you need to decide is what to have with your hush puppies. I couldn't resist the chicken liver omelette. Tasty chicken livers, fried up with chunks of bacon and smothered in real cheddar cheese (not the plastic American cheese you find in diners, etc). A bit too rich and heavy, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Other options include: smoked trout and bacon hash, or smoked pork hash, each served with 2 fried eggs and collard greens; shrimp and grits with smoked bacon, mushrooms and collard greens; buttermilk pancakes; organic granola; Iggy's plain or chocolate croissants; and, of course, biscuits with sausage gravy.

Most breakfasts are under $10, the coffee and services is good, and the venue has a warm buzz.

15/20 "chicken liver omelette"

Columbus Cafe and Bar, Boston

Maybe they do a great brunch at Columbus Cafe and Bar, 535 Columbus Avenue, Boston (South End), Tel +1 (617) 247-9001. And maybe Joaquin Pheonix will make a great rapper. Or maybe not. At the end of the day, these are matters of opinion.



If you believe the opinions on Yelp, this place deserves 4 out of 5 stars and is good for brunch. One Yelper even rates the Maine Eggs Benedict her favorite brunch dish ever. As Flavor Fav would say, don't believe the hype. This just proves that too much opinion can be just as bad as too little. Because there is no way I would rate the eggs benny as anything other than a bare pass. The poached eggs were good, and the crab cakes weren't bad, but it was all downhill from there. The hollandaise was like cold whipped butter, completely devoid of tang. The muffins were absolutely rock hard and stale. The home fries were too greasy. And I really don't see the point of the cold slide of tomato.

I have no doubt that loyal locals will be spitting out their Vermont Scrambles or choking on their chorizo as they read this. So let me just say that I get that it's cozy, I liked the coffee, and the staff seemed very nice. My gripe is the food. Like Joaquin's rapping, it needs much work. In my humble opinion, of course.

13/20 "over hyped"

Petit Robert Bistro, Boston

It sounded intriguing. A scrambled quiche omelette. It wasn't. It was an omelette with random bits of quiche thrown in, served on a plate so hot I felt the need to request a pair of asbestos gloves. Not impressed with Petit Robert Bistro, 480 Columbus Avenue, Boston (South End) MA, Tel +1 (617) 867 0600.



This really was a sorry excuse for a breakfast. Shove the skanky leftovers of quiche into an overcooked omelette. Garnish with dried parsley sprinkles. Plate up two shriveled halves of potato. Scoop a fistful of limp carrot strips and green beans onto the plate. Et voila! Brunch.

Avoid this place like the plague.

9/20 "scrambled merde"

75 Chestnut, Beacon Hill

The tourists go for a drink at Cheers on Beacon Street. The locals walk an extra 2 blocks across the flat of the hill, to 75 Chestnut Street, Beacon Hill, for a meal at the mysteriously named 75 Chestnut. It's a great spot for dinner. So-so for brunch.

Deluxe Town Diner, Watertown

I'm just gonna eat my waffle right now - Barack Obama

Clearly the waffles at the Gilder Diner in Scranton, PA, are no match for the Deluxe Sour Cream Flapjacks at the Deluxe Town Diner, 627 Mount Auburn St, Watertown, MA, Tel +1 (617) 926-8400. Because there is no way you would leave a plate of the aforementioned Flapjacks half eaten. Like little fluffy clouds they are. Until you smother them in Vermont's finest, that is.



And get this. Apparently the sweet potato pancakes are even better. That's according to one of the locals who saw me taking pictures and decided to share a few tips.

As with most of my diner experiences thus far, the scrambled eggs were a bit dry and the homefries unremarkable (I think they had chicken seasoning on them). But the sourdough toast was very good, the sausage patty was tasty, and the flapjacks were awesome. So... if Barack ever comes here and orders the Colossal Hungry Person's Breakfast, I recommend eating all of the flapjacks and leaving half the homefries and eggs.



Actually, I recommend ordering a full stack of pancakes or waffles and eating the lot. The only dilemma will be deciding between sour cream buttermilk flapjacks, jo'nny cakes, potato pancakes, sweet potato pancakes, blue corn pancakes, or buckwheat ployes. You'll also need to decide between pecans, blueberries, bananas and dried cranberries. Or bacon. Mmmm... bacon.

And one more thing... they serve real tea in pots. Tea bags are so not cool.

16/20 "fluffycakes"

South End Buttery, Boston

You can put a cat in the oven, but that don't make it a biscuit.

Wesley Snipes, White Men Can't Jump

Wesley Snipes isn't the only person confused about what makes a biscuit. Most of America (Mr Snipes included) will describe a biscuit as soft and cake-like, not hard and crunchy. The UK tax man tried to argue that Jaffa Cakes (soft, baked treats popular in Britain) are biscuits, which is amusing, since Wesley and the tax man don't usually see eye-to-eye. And despite only selling "cookies" and "crackers", America's Nabisco was originally known as the National Biscuit Company. I guess Nacracko sounded a little too close to crack 'ho.



So, what kind of biscuit did I have for breakfast this morning? A Buttery Country Biscuit from the South End Buttery, 314 Shawmutt Avenue, Boston, Tel +1 (617) 482-1015. Soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside, and crumbly all over.

It tasted pretty good, but I have to wonder about the wisdom of serving a biscuit as a sandwich. Not only do biscuits disintegrate under pressure, but this one was such a towering stack of biscuit, baked egg, bacon and biscuit, that you'd need a Cameron Diaz sized mouth to have any hope of getting your jaws around it. It was also missing the aged cheddar, and very dry, with no condiments or juices to balance things out. I now understand why Southerners and soldiers usually take their biscuits with gravy.

Other options include bagels, "breakfast breads" (banana-date nut loaf, for example), pastries, and cupcakes. I think next time I'll try "Eggs in the Hole" or a "Peanut Buttery" (nutella and homemade peanut butter on toasted croissant). With most breakfast dishes priced under $6, the South End Buttery offers pretty good value.

Charley's, Boston

The FCC is worried that gullible Americans might be tricked into buying stuff by embedded advertising, a sneaky form of product placement that's woven into the plot so that (a) you don't think it's an ad, and (b) you can't skip over it with your TiVo. Instead of watching a Kirstie Alley weight-loss ad during an episode of Cheers, you watch Rebecca Howe telling Sam she owes her sexy new look to Jenny Craig. You get the idea.



But don't be fooled. Jenny Craig is not the answer. I have a much better strategy for weight-loss: start the day with breakfast at a place that serves really disgusting home fries, like Charley's, 284 Newbury Street in Boston's Back Bay, Tel +1 (617) 266-3000. It's easy to cut back on the carbs when the potatoes are cold, soggy and smothered in white pepper. I hate white pepper. And I really hate it on cold soggy home fries.

Luckily, the filet mignon benedict was much better than the home fries. Take a traditional eggs benedict, swap the ham for a couple of slabs of tender beef, switch the hollandaise for a nice tarragon-infused bernaise, and as Gordon Ramsay would say... done. It's great if you're in the mood for meat.

Although the staff at Charley's were all very chipper and friendly, they really had no eye for detail. We ordered Irish breakfast tea to come out with the food (extra tea-bags please, if that's all you've got), and out came a single tea bag of English breakfast. I asked for little or no ice in my bloody mary, and I got enough to sink the Titanic. And when the eggs benny arrived, the fruit garnish was topped with a bonus piece of somebody else's left-over, yolk-soaked muffin. How it fell off an inbound plate and onto an outbound plate is a mystery which nobody could explain, but the manager was very apologetic, and they didn't charge us for the meal (nor for the extra scrap of vintage muffin).

Nonetheless, as long as you keep an eye out for foreign objects, Charley's serves some pretty decent food in a very pleasant setting (the outside tables are especially pleasant). They even throw in a bonus bloody mary, mimosa or Bud-light with each of the brunch specialties (eggs, french toast, pancakes, omelettes, etc).

But whatever you do, don't eat the home fries, or you might end up looking like this.

12/20 "homeless fries"

Mike's City Diner, Boston

I really wanted to pay tribute to the Celtics victory with a nice plate of green eggs and ham. But I had to settle for plain old eggs and ham. They don't do green eggs at Mike's City Diner, 1714 Washington Street, Boston, Tel +1 (617) 267-9393. Which would make the eggs at Mike's about the only thing in Boston that hadn't turned green in the aftermath of the Celtics destruction of the Lakers in game 6 of the NBA finals.



Mike's is also one of the lucky venues not to have been destoyed by rioting Celtics fans in the aftermath of game 6. But I digress...

Back to Mike's Special of ham and eggs. The ham was extremely good (thick, meaty and tasty). The fried eggs were average. The home fries were extremely bad. And my side of french toast was a bit dry and crusty.

A better choice might have been the Emergency Room, with two eggs, three sausages, grits, toast and a couple of blueberry pancakes (a bargain at $8.50). Or the Intensive Care, with 3 eggs and a 10oz steak. Or maybe, if you want something green on your plate, an East Springfield omelette, with spinach, broccoli, tomato, mushrooms, onion and cheese.

Panificio, Boston

You'd think that with Mrs Heinz living up the road you could get some baked beans for breakfast. But not if you go to Panificio, 144 Charles Street, Beacon Hill. Not a bean to be found. So eggs benny it was, served on "English muffin bread", whatever that is.



Turns out to be some kind of vaguely circular toast, with very little in common with an English muffin. Not that this was a problem. The muffin-toast, eggs and hollandaise were all pretty good. The weak link was the so-called home fries: four chunks of potato, none of which seemed to have spent much time in the frying-pan. Another weak link was the mysterious slice of cantaloupe, which was caught in the twilight zone between side and garnish. It wasn't much good as the former (too thin and dry). Nor was it much good as the latter (it made the dish look stupid, not pretty).

Looking back at the Panificio menu I can see that I misspoke, Hillary-style, about the beans. You can, in fact, get yourself a tasty serve of huevos rancheros, black-beans included. It's only if you're looking for Heinz baked beans that you'll be disappointed. But this is probably part of a deliberate environmental initiative of the Heinz Endowments. Never mind that Therese jets about in a Gulfstream and drives three gas-guzzling SUVs. The real solution to global warming is to boycott baked-beans at breakfast. Join the BBB@B movement and reduce your carbon fart-print today.

If I go back to Panificio (which is not out of the question), I think I'll try the French toast. The only question is: which version? The apple-cinnamon raisin-bread version? Or the Challah version stuffed with cream cheese, blueberries, strawberries and banana? Decisions, decisions...

Legal Seafoods, Boston

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between - Oscar Wilde

Decadent is a good word to describe the Eggs Oscar at Legal Seafoods, in the Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, Boston. It's kind of like eggs benedict, only with crabmeat and a few spears of asparagus. The pig got the day off.

Metropolis, Boston

I don't think the BBH and eggs is the best dish to order at Metropolis...