Background
Tour-istas: Ro ‘Mama’ Meister; Corrina ‘LuLu’ Sanni
The spring of 2013 ended and summer began with a frenzy of family events – anniversaries, in-laws, graduations, basketball, prom, etc. Plans beyond these events never had a chance. When the actual days of summer were upon us, it was too late. We were suddenly faced with a stark horizon of nothing. No teenager job prospects, no vacation plans, no goals real or imagined. This left me, Mama, irritable and in a state of dwelling on failed expectations and scheming up ways to get my teenager, LuLu, and husband, Carl, out from under foot and onto something of worth.
Therein lies the rub. The day came when I’d had enough of the nagging and the attempts to fill the idle in our lives. To turn it around, I’d need a project Lu and I could both get behind. Something that would engage her and not interrupt my work day too much. Something we could have as a shared experience to remember later – a positive shared experience. And so the Baltimore Breakfast Tour (BBT) began.
The plan was hatched that we’d go to at least one breakfast place a week, return home and write about our experience separately. We’d alternate in picking the place and it would be anywhere in the city or within an hour-ish around the city. We’d go to places we’ve never been. Though we kick-started the project at a familiar spot…
Granted it was a typical (for Baltimore) muggy July morning, but the extreme of the chill in the diner gave us goose bumps, literally. It seemed to cool the coffee as well since it arrived warm not hot. Backing up a bit though I have to add that we were greeted at the door and by our waiter very warmly; everyone was friendly and inviting which I mention because it is contrary to my prior experience at Papermoon, a welcomed improvement. Our coffees were accompanied by waters. And, ok, one might think you can’t really screw up waters – but I beg to differ. They arrived with a fat lemon wedge floating on the surface; they screwed up waters. I recognize this is a personal pet peeve, but in the interest of full disclosure, I’m including it. I’ve never understood the ‘lemon served in water’ thing. First of all, as a restaurant owner, why spend money on lemons just willy nilly when maybe not everyone wants a lemon in the first place. Why not serve the water as asked, as simply water and let the lemon lovers ask for the lemon. It is, afterall, certainly easier to add a lemon to unaltered water but rather difficult to remove a lemon; water never shakes that lemon-y flavor once it’s been exposed. I don’t care for lemon in my water. I don’t care for the assumption that I want it floating up there, right at the top. That’s all I’ll say about that.
The kitschy menus are unique to each diner and I find that charming. Within the eclectic covers are several choices for each meal. The breakfast options were just right, not too many not too few and plenty of omelet variety. Lu chose to build her own and went with a sausage, caramelized onion, asiago omelet with a chocolate chip pancake on the side. Speaking of on the side, I’ll say as a side that I love this about her…I love that she’s still got a little bit a kid left in her. I secretly cherished this for a minute as I made my rather safe selection – a breakfast quesadilla.
While we waited for our food we talked about our plans for the BBT and took some photos of the funky decor around us. Our conversation was relaxed and accompanied by occasional contributions from the toddler diners at the neighboring table. This was a Thursday morning though and the background noise was just that and not terribly intrusive. The music was decent too. Our biggest distraction was how cold we were.
Our breakfast arrived under fairly simplistic presentation on white plates with little fan faire. The food was fresh and the servings were generous but not in that too generous kind of way that just makes you feel sick. The quesadilla arrived with a side of sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. Had I been able to eat all four wedges, I totally would have needed more salsa. I never feel like salsa should be served as an equal part; you should always get more salsa than sour cream for example. But, anyway, I was only able to finish two wedges so it was enough and crisis averted. I decided Carl’s role on this project – he’ll rate the leftovers! We’ll see how he feels about that.
Once home and feeling satisfied and optimistic about our new summer venture, the phone rang. Lu got her first job interview. Soon as Mama stopped fretting over it, I swear these things are like clockwork.
No comments:
Post a Comment