Grand Cafe - San Francisco - 3 stars

Visited on:

June 8, 2007

Comments:

Very impressive looking restaurant, why so few people for breakfast?

Experience:

That day was a day of accidents. Canteen isn't open on weekdays, Slow Club isn't open on Monday, but I wanted breakfast in the city, so we went to Grand Cafe. Very beautiful interior with two floor high sculptures and Muscha posters, stain glass windows everywhere. Very art deco in style. I only wanted a light breakfast, so ordered two items with my friend.


This is a tarte tartine with egg salad and caviar. Now, anyone who has had a regular tarte tartine knows that this should only be a piece of baguette smeared with butter and maybe jam. (Which reminds me of my first experience of tarte tartine: I just arrived in Paris and went to this cafe for breakfast. Being new there and to the French language, I totally confused tarte tartine with tarte tatin - reveresed apple pie. So imagine my surprise when I saw this! *Huh...this looked nothing like the tarte tatin that I had last night....*) Grand Cafe indeed serves up a grand tarte tartine. Tastes very good too. Egg salad is not too sour with just the right amount of mayonnaise and the baby spinach leaves were nicely mixed with the salad so you don't get a raw leaf stained with mayo taste. Shredded raw beets is a nice touch that compliments the mustard undertone in French mayo very well. There was more caviar than I expected, I think it is farmed Oestra - all the better. Wild caviar should be left the way it is: wild. The sharp saltiness of the caviar mixed with egg salad and spinach made it all the better.



My friend had an egg benedict. Which is good, but of course cannot compare to Canteen's, but what could? Lots of meaty mushrooms and ham underneath that contrasted nicely with tomatoes. Good enough on a regular day.




One thing that is worth mentioning: the orange juice is very good, but they just pour for you before you could see that it was 4.25 a wineglass glass. So, just be mindful of this. Apart from that, nice decor, great ambiance, totally friendly personnel. Nice breakfast experience in all.


Basic information:
501 Geary Street (between Shannon St & Taylor St), SF

(415) 292-0101

www.grandcafe-sf.com