Alright, just got in from my first trip to Belly, with three members of the Breakfast Crew. Don’t have much time, didn’t take notes, haven’t done much research online … so here we go.
As a place, it was exactly what I was in the mood for today. I got up early, felt refreshed, had coverage at the market in trade for a crash pad (hence free), dressed up a little, went to church for some singin’ and preachin’ … in short, a good morning, and I felt good about life in general.
Folks often ask if I wrote anything negative about a place in my book. To this, I always say, “Kind of.” Porto Terra is an example — I simply said it was not good, because that’s true — and a couple places I said the food is bad but I don’t care (see Tosis). But more often I think of what I wrote about Cafe du Berry.
It’s not that I trashed the place. I even said the food was good. It’s just that my Snootiness Alarm went off, the prices seemed ridiculous, our waiter was rude, and I said at the time that only the French Toast would bring me back.
In fact, I submitted that chapter as a post on PortlandFoodandDrink.com, and as you can see here, some of the comments even got testy. And I confess I did get rather snarky. In short, my whole thing with the Cafe felt a little off, like nobody was getting along.
So I decided to go back. And I have to say, I now wonder what I was so worked up about.
Yes, it’s a little expensive. This morning, a Benedict, an order of French Toast, a side of bacon, and a coffee came to $32 before the tip. You can spend more than that, for sure, but the average price of breakfasts in the book was about $12 with tip, so $16 pre-tip is on the high end. Fine. They’re a French bistro in Southwest Portland. You’re warned.
Our waiter was fine, the food was fine (the hollandaise in particular), and this time the place came off a little more “creaky grandma’s house” than “snooty French place.” Hell, even the French toast wasn’t as good as I recall. It was good, but I didn’t want to run into the kitchen and hug whoever created it, like I did last time.
So it was another lesson for me, one that I need to keep hearing: Get over yourself, don’t be such a smart-ass, and just tell the people the simplest version of the truth. As such: Cafe du Berry is a popular, French-style bistro that’s on the high end of the local scale, serves pretty good food in a casual, old-timey feel, has a unique and tasty French toast, and otherwise isn’t really my kind of place.
Do with that as you will. And try the French toast sometime.
For years I have been meeting with the Fellas for breakfast at Fat City Cafe in Multnomah Village. If you have the book, you can read all about this in the Fat City chapter. Eventually, we moved up the street (and up the scale) to Marco’s. Heck, sometimes we even went to other neighborhoods!
I put both of those places in my breakfast book, and then the first place that bought copies from me was Annie Blooms Books, God bless ‘em. And when I went to deliver the books, I saw this other restaurant next door, O’Connors. Never noticed it before. So I walked in, and lo and behold, they serve breakfast! Hmmm. So I asked somebody there:
“How long have you been open?”
“Oh, 16 years.”
Yikes. I guess they have a place at 826 SW 2nd, as well. Since 1933. Ahem.
If you’ve been looking for Vita Cafe lately and thought it might be closed … well, it is. But that’s only because they are moving right across the street.
A message on their phone still says they hope to open May 12. With luck, they will be up and running for this Saturday’s Alberta Art Hop.
The Breakfast Crew went to a new place last week: Chez Joly, which does a brunch on Sundays from 9 to 2 at 135 NW Broadway.
It was a seriously good time, as is so often the case when the Crew gets together. My brother was in town, and was generous enough to treat everyone. In retrospect, had I known he was throwing down, we would have gone to Simpatica or Country Cat or something, and had a better meal.
Just got off the phone with Besaws after getting a much-appreciated tip from Cheryl, a fine member of the Breakfast Crew.
Besaw’s is running “recession specials” Tuesday through Thursday. I did what I could, typing fast on the phone, and here’s what I captured:
All orders are “no substitutions, dine-in only.”
Breakfast (served from open til 3 p.m.) — $5
Bagel sandwich: Kellerman bagel with an egg and potatoes
Pancakes plus one sausage
Scramble 23 with two eggs, prosciutto, chevre, and roasted taters
2 strips bacon + one egg any style + one piece of French toast
Lunch (served 11 til 3) — $6
Mac and cheese with greens
BLRT (bacon, lettuce, roasted tomato) with chips
Spicy fish tacos
Grilled cheese with provolone and a coup of the soup of the day
That’s 2301 NW Savier, so check ‘em out. They’re super nice, and they sell my book. (Those two facts not related in a cause-and-effect way).
The nice folks at Simpatica apparently have enough going on these days, with opening a new restaurant and butcher shop in Laurelhurst Market.
So they announced that May 2 was their last Saturday brunch. I assume this means forever, and I assume that Sunday brunch will continue. But “last Saturday brunch” is all they said on their website.
Fortunately, we still have Sundays, 9 to 2. My advice, if you’re an early riser, is get there about 10 til 9; they pretty much fill up when they open.
So I am thinking about changing the name of the book for the second edition, and I would like some feedback.
Currently, of course, it’s called Breakfast in Bridgetown. I chose that for two simple reasons: it’s catchy, and I dig alliteration. But I was never 100% sold on the name, mainly because not everybody associates “Bridgetown” with Portland. And I see this in action down at the market, where people read the name, and then they have to think about it … ah, right, Portland is Bridgetown. Got it.
Also, people don’t always realize at a glance that it’s a book about restaurants. Could be a cookbook, or a B&B guide, or even a novel.
Contrast this with Cindy Anderson’s Happy Hour Guidebook, which I also sell. No question what that one is — says it right there on top of the book, Portland Happy Hour Guidebook.
So I am considering a new name, something like A Breakfast Guide to Portland or A Breakfast Tour of Portland. Something that makes it obvious what the book is.
There’s another reason, as well. I definitely plan to expand to other cities, starting with Seattle, and publishing friends tell me that stores like Barnes and Noble and Borders will more easily realize they are dealing with a series from a known publisher if the books have a consistent name: Breakfast Tour of Portland, Breakfast Tour of Seattle, Breakfast Tour of San Francisco, and so on.
On the negative side, it might confuse people if the name of a book suddenly changes, or the known name disappears.
So what do you think? Leave it the same or change it?
Thanks!
Paul