Posts Tagged ‘Cafe Reveille’
Double-brunch in MB/Dogpatch!
t says: There was this curious little frontage called “the Lab” in Dogpatch – we’ve seen it on numerous ventures to Piccino. Each time we peered into the windows and read the posted flyers we were intrigued; we had stumbled upon one of the sites of “Feastly”, which is essentially an organization that conducts pop-ups all over the country. As far as the Dogpatch site, I would say that it is reminiscent of “Cook” in Philly, but less “instructional” (i.e. you’re not all up in the chef’s business the entire night), and more like a venue that is forever a pop-up restaurant. Each night (nearly every night), there’s a different chef and “theme”. Hoping to be one of the cool kids, I dipped my toe into the water by making a brunch reservation for a Saturday.
April 2016, Saturday Brunch, Party of 2. The space is pretty simple. The tables are simple. The chairs are simple. They aren’t going to win any awards for decor … but we got the feeling that that wasn’t the point. This was not a showcase for “the next super chef” or “chef that’s so hot right now” (even though that’s what the website is espousing), rather, this was a space for some chefs to share their independent creations with a bunch of random people. The theme for the morning: crepes.
There was an open kitchen adjacent to a dining room of about 20 seats among two communal tables. We arrived precisely on time and had the whole table to ourselves, but as you can see, by the time we left, it was getting full (lesson: early bird got the worm … with more elbow room)
It started with a savory crepe – this one featured mushrooms, onions, and egg, and it was amazing. The buckwheat added this grainy texture and savory, bittery flavor as a backdrop to the shrooms and sweet onions.
The ham and cheese was similarly awesome – I mean – yes, a saltier ham might have been nicer, but there was something about it that really brought me back to breakfasts with my family at Verona in Vineland. All smiles here.
And then there was a dessert crepe. Yours truly ventured the nutella crepe (above) while g ventured the salted caramel. They were both the homiest sweet hug that you could get in the morning. And because it was paper-thin, you were free to rationalize, “no, this is way better for me than eating a slice of cake for breakfast …”. Exceedingly complex? No. Mouthwateringly delicious? Absolutely.
Above is a single shot of the pancakes at Cafe Reveille. You read it here first: these are bite-for-bite as delicious as Plow’s pancakes. And there’s no line to wait through. ‘Nuff said …
Date Night at Cafe Reveille
t says: Having been fans of eater.com from our Philly days, we scour it routinely for mentions of new places in our ‘hood. We’re sure that “real” San Franciscans use cooler apps and websites to keep track of their ginormous restaurant scene – and we’ll find them eventually – but for now, we have eater … Well, eater was pretty excited that Cafe Reveille was opening in Mission Bay, so we went to check it out. Of course, the first time we went to check it out, it was brunch … and there was a line … out the door … so we just kept driving on by. But this time, we dropped in for dinner. It was shockingly empty for a Friday evening …
The space is pretty open – I’m surprised they don’t squeeze like 17 more tables in there for dinner. But we enjoyed the elbow room, not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I ventured the burger with the egg addition. It was absolutely delicious. It’s been a while since I’ve had a burger this good. The meat was flavorful, the toppings were right-on, and the egg was oh-so-gooey. As my first burger in SF (not including In-n-Out), I’m thrilled to know that we’ve got a good burger so nearby! The Brussels sprouts – yea – pure bait, but who cares if they’re that good? I wish I could have had a second burger where it was just bread and Brussels – now that would have been an amazing meal, too!
g went for the steak frites (that’s right, she’s back on the wagon) – and it too was a pretty solid dish. I mean, it wasn’t Bibou-good, but a well-cooked steak, nicely done accompaniments – nothing mindblowing, but nothing to complain about. (It’s one red-wine jus sauce away from being excellent).
Later on, I also made it back for the morning rush. The staff made quick work of the long line, and despite everyone grabbing-and-going, there were quite a few empty tables. Had g accompanied me, we would have sat and enjoyed brunch, for sure. However, because she wasn’t, I grabbed some egg sandwiches that were quite solid – more like the above steak frites than the burger. Here’s a peak at the bar during the morning rush (the line is hiding behind the espresso machine):
BUT – if you take a peak into those bags, you’d see a blackberry-pistachio croissant (from Neighbor Bakehouse) which is life-changing (it’s really really frickin’ delicious), and a chocolate kouign amann which was “just ok” (Rival Bros’ version from High Street on Market is better). The hot chocolate was similar to every other “hot chocolate” in SF – more like watered down chocolate rather than “drinking chocolate” with which I am more accustomed (and favor). Oh well – guess we’ll have to make do. We’re going to have to go back for an official brunch review …
In all, though, Cafe Reveille will definitely be a staple for us – it’s close and food is solid-to-fantastic. I’ll have to get someone else to tell me how the coffee is (but the reviews say it’s great!). We’re also definitely adding it to the list of places we’re going to take our Philly friends to for their official review (if they ever visit!).
after dinner sneeze 