One Great Brunch in San Francisco

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of dining at Foreign Cinema with my lady friend Sarah over at The Year of Sexy. We share an obsession for brunch, and as you know from my last week's post, my obsession has a specific shape. She has great taste in restaurants, and this was the best choice yet! Making us reservations four weeks ago, Sarah assured me it was worth the wait. Yes, they were booked four weeks in advance for Saturday brunch. I felt like I was part of a scene in American Psycho, but without too much psycho.

Though, I have to say that I'm crazy for this place! Outdoor seating, simple decor, and sophisticated but unpretentious food. This is a classy place, but not too classy, and that's comforting considering you really just want to stuff your face once you see the menu.

Speaking of which, here's what we had!

I'm not a very good day drinker, but I couldn't resist the cocktail options. Unfortunately I don't recall the name of Sarah's drink, but I'm pretty sure it's a blood orange mimosa that may contain another ingredient other than champagne. Whatever, it was good! I had a St Germain, a refreshing mix of sparkling wine, elderflower liqueur, and a lemon twist. If you like Jasmine tea, this is way better and I'm not just referring to the booze. The elderflower liqueur, which I never knew existed until yesterday, was almost candy sweet. Wow, it was good.

I never thought of having an appetizer with brunch, but I sure had one yesterday. We ordered the strawberry "pop tart." I will be thinking about it next time I have a real Pop Tart. We tried to show the scale of the 'tart in this picture. It's big! It was also flaky and light with a fresh strawberry filling. The top of the tart was encrusted with Turbinado sugar and dusted with powdered sugar. I have a feeling I would be able to make this at home easily, and I will get to enjoy it any time I want.

Main courses. You may see three in the above image, yet there was just two of us. Well, we ordered three entrees, what? We had to have our eggs for brunch, but that french toast had a reputation. Basically, everything, including the third entree, was spectacular. Sarah had the lobster and Dungeness crab frittata, seen at the top of the image. It was topped with fresh greens and outlined with a red pepper sauce. Usually I don't love crab, lobster, nor red pepper things, but damn. The frittata was so moist and plump with fresh seafood, and the mild sauce added a lovely velvety texture. 

My champagne porcini omelet, at the bottom of the image, was wonderful, but I have to say that I enjoyed the few bites of the frittata I snagged more. The omelet was very good, but the frittata was GOOD! 

French toast=glad we ordered it. What made it super special was the fresh mango and fruit creamy thing (the pink, serbert-looking substance on the plate in the center). Yeah, I'm not sure what the pink stuff was other than a type of fruit salad dip. I feel silly calling it that, but I don't feel silly raving about it.

So, the entrees were obviously filling, but I still had a hunger. I wanted to try it all at this point. We indulged in a small goat milk, herbed cheese plate with dried cheeries and walnut bread. The cheese was nice, but those cherries... They were not too sweet, not tart at all, and had a tinge of cinnamon! I wonder how I can make them so that I can put them on every bagel and cream cheese ever.

While Sarah likes her liquor, as I said above, I'm not always up for it in the morning unless I want to sleep the afternoon away. In fact, I'm not always up for it in general for the unfortunate belly ache and heart burn that results from it. Though, the sun was shining and I was wearing a sundress without a jacket in San Francisco on a Saturday at a beautiful restaurant. I'm glad that I took the chance on cocktails here. Perhaps it was the bedding of brunch in my tummy, but I felt fabulous after! Actually, it might really be because the used good liquor in the right quantities. I know I used to down overloaded, $4 gin and tonics, but today that doesn't do me good. These cocktails were delicious, refreshing, and well made. 

So, what did I treat myself to above? After sipping Sarah's Steel Magnolia (ginger beer, bourbon, and something called Snap), I couldn't resist. Halfway through my own, I felt transported to a veranda in Tennessee. It was that good. 

Overall, I had a wonderful Saturday brunch with my buddy Sarah. I'm a little bit in love with this place, and soon I will be taking Jeremy there for dinner under the stars—and for a movie! If you haven't figured it out, the outdoor dinner experience includes a film, and there are renovated drive-in speakers between tables. How fun. This is definitely a place for a special occasion, be it an actual event birthday or just "Life is good." Be prepared to pay a pretty penny, but every cent is worth it. 

Have you gone? Do you love it?