- Robert St. John says the places he wants to enjoy his morning meal are often “where the old men sit around a table every morning talking about sports and politics.”
Whenever I’m in a new city, I always go to the front desk of the hotel and ask, “Where is the best independent breakfast joint?” I tell them, “I want to go to the place where the old men sit around a table every morning talking about sports and politics.” It never fails, that’s the place I’m going to learn more about a city or town. That’s also where I typically get the most authentic local breakfast.
Every time I’ve been in San Francisco for the past two decades, I have eaten at least one breakfast at Sears Fine Food. Sears has been there for about 90 years, and although it mostly serves tourists these days, I can sit in that dining room and imagine what it was like in its heyday and appreciate a food service business— touristy or not— that has been in business for almost a century.
Another local restaurant I always frequent when I’m in town is R&G Lounge. It’s an excellent Chinese restaurant right on the edge of Chinatown and I’ve never eaten a bad meal there. I flew in late last night ,and checked into the hotel at midnight, so dinner was out. In a few minutes I’ll be heading north into the redwoods on the banks of the Russian river for the next few days but hope on my return I’ll be able to grab lunch at R&G.
Sears is known for their tiny Swedish pancakes. I have enjoyed them in the past, but I mostly enjoy the energy in that room. This morning, I got there early, and the dining room was half full with 100% tourists (your columnist chief among them) and it felt different than it has on previous visits. This was my first time in town post Covid and everything feels different. The entire city feels different. It made me wonder if people who visit my hometown back in Mississippi feel that way about Hattiesburg.
Does Hattiesburg feel different post-Covid? To me, we’ve gotten back into the groove, and although we’ve lost a lot of independent restaurants over the past three years (a couple of mine included), I feel as if we have bounced back like champions. Though it might be that I can’t see the forest for the pine trees. I hope that’s not the case.
That is certainly not the feeling I get here in San Francisco. There seems to be a pall hanging over the city. Things have changed.
As bad as Covid was for the restaurant industry, our restaurant group came out on the other side stronger, leaner, more organized, and operating at a more professional level. I was having that conversation with someone a few days ago. In times of stress, one has two options— fight or flight. We fought. We continue to fight. Not in the traditional sense of the word. We fought to get just a little bit better every day. We started communicating our core values of “Hospitality, quality, consistency, cleanliness, and community.” And we do our best to live our mission of “Giving our guests exceptional experiences through fanatical wall-to-wall hospitality,” at every turn.
I had a set of core values and a mission for the 30 years before Covid, but I was a poor leader and was negligent in constantly communicating that to our team and leadership. So, I guess when I break it down, Covid— as bad as it was— was also a wake-up call for me. It re-energized me and my passion for the restaurant business. We are hitting on all cylinders these days. We still have problems and issues, but we use our mission and values as our guideposts and do our best to live in the solution.
Back to the first meal of the day. There’s something that compels me to eat breakfast. It’s been that way all my life. Seriously, always. I can probably count the number of times I have missed breakfast in the last 50 years on both hands. Although, the misses are so infrequent, I might be able to only use one hand. I truly never miss breakfast.
Even after last night’s late flight I had that compulsion to eat breakfast hit early this morning and got up and powered through a meal before coming back to the hotel to lay back down.
The bill for a one-person breakfast at Sears was a shocking $50.00 ($60.00 with tip). Things have definitely changed in this city. That’s not a breakfast from the Four Seasons, it’s a community café in the heart of downtown San Francisco. To be clear, it’s not some big-city sticker shock for the boy from South Mississippi. Within the last month I’ve eaten breakfasts in Dallas, Chicago, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and New Orleans. Nothing came near that price tag. Four people could eat breakfast at our community café in Hattiesburg, The Midtowner, for that price.
Was a Sears breakfast worth $60.00? Nope. Will I return? Probably. That is the curse of a restaurateur. I love this business. I am a student of restaurants. I eat, sleep, and breathe this business. Though now I’m ready to head north into the redwoods for a few days and recharge the old batteries.
I am hopeful that I am misreading San Francisco on just a short drop-in-and-out. It has always been one of America’s great restaurant cities. Maybe they’ll start living in the solution.
Onward.
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This Week’s Recipe: RSJ’s Garlic Cheese Grits
INGREDIENTS
1 Tbl Bacon grease or oil
1 Tbl Garlic, minced
1 tsp Salt
2 cups Milk
2 cups Chicken broth
1 cup Grits
1 tsp Creole Seasoning
1 tsp Hot Sauce
8 oz Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz Cream cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Melt bacon grease over low heat in a 1 1 /2 quart sauce pot. Add garlic and salt and cook for one to two minutes being careful not to brown the garlic. Add milk and broth and increase heat. Bring to a simmer and slowly pour in the grits. Lower heat and cook grits for 15 minutes, stirring often.
Add remaining ingredients and stir until cheeses are melted. Serve immediately.
Yield: eight servings
Robert St. John
