Blue’s Egg Round Dos & Tres – With Considerably More Adventurous Breakfast Plates

The only downfall to visiting a town who has already boasted a delightful breakfast joint in your palatable collection is the slim fear of venturing somewhere slightly less tasteful (literally) and not paying homage to the tried and true that you can vouch for yourself.

For a breakfast lover, this can be scary. Very scary, I assure you.

This was my dilemma in Milwaukee last week before heading to Green Bay for my first experience at Lambeau for Monday Night Football against the Vikings. Not only did my green and yellow Sauconys head for that strip mall diner once, but twice. Two days in a row!

Since I’m on this new string of trying to stay positive, there are a few positives for venturing into familiar territory, especially when it comes to food.

1. You already know the place is good. You know what to expect.
2. With or without GPS, you can probably find your way back to the confines of said greasy spoon.
3. You are ready to try something you wouldn’t have on your first adventure. Or your second.

If you’ve read any of my breakfast posts here on Nomadic Foodie, you know I tend to remain rather unimaginative in my choice of breakfast plates. It usually consists of eggs (cooked over-medium), some form of meat (preferably sausage links, not patties), and hopefully some variation of a new take on French Toast. You say boring, I say classic.

Here’s how my delicious breakfast panned out late Sunday morning:

Blue’s Egg was PACKED. I mean, jam-packed with a thirty-minute wait. The hostess suggested I “gently stalk” the counter bar and wait for a seat to open up. Jackpot. And it was twenty-minutes less than my originally quoted wait time.

Maybe it’s a Milwaukee thing, but it seems weird to offer any beverage with breakfast other than coffee, juice and/or the occasional bloody mary or mimosa. But of course, it being Milwaukee, the land of many alcoholics in my family (true story), it had a fully stocked bar with two flat screens boasting two different NFL Sunday games. Jackpot again. Unless you’re an alcoholic or hate football. But a table in the backroom could remedy those issues.

I was nursing a cold one and truly couldn’t decide what to order so I went for a slew of indecisive side orders, which would surely only make Golden Corral proud. I got the Berry Smothered French Toast (with almond crumble, white chocolate sauce and blueberries for $7.95) plus a side of eggs ($3.95, I believe)) as well as a side of the infamous Blue’s Browns (hand-cut, house-made hashbrowns for $2.95) and a coffee. Note, they serve “large, cage-free brown eggs which are locally sourced from small, family farms” (indicated on their menu).

Rule of thumb when ordering breakfast – the sides quickly add up. That breakfast was well over $20 (including tip), although it served every bit of the diversity my palette was craving.

Here’s how my delicious breakfast panned out Monday morning before the 2.5-hour trek to Green Bay:

And here, finally, is where I got all crazy. For the past two visits to Blue’s Egg, I had been eyeing (and I mean eyeing in a super creepy, almost uncomfortable way) the PB & Bacon, Banana on Egg Bread sandwich under the Walking Favorites section on the menu ($8.95 with Yukon fries which I swapped out for the crispy hashbrowns again).

Somewhere on one of my latest travel journeys, I fell back in love with the banana and peanut butter combination. Perhaps and quite likely, it was in Graceland since every dive there serves that in tribute to Elvis. Or it might have been the weekend prior at Texas Motor Speedway where I crammed a piping hot FRIED PB&J doused in powdered sugar into my mouth. Regardless, everywhere I go I’m on the hunt for something PB&J’ish.

Both days I asked my server if they liked the PB & Bacon, Banana on Egg Bread sandwich and both days the servers admitted never trying it. Both did however admit that the very few people that braved this order raved about it. OK, done deal. As Kirsten Dunst would say: Bring. It. On.

The sandwich was good, but definitely not the best thing on the menu. I think in part, my order was induced just for something a little edgier to write about here on Nomadic Foodie. I mean, how many times do you want to hear about my tired ole sunny-side up eggs, right?

And while my friendly waiter that day swears he’s served that sandwich before, I beg to differ. He kept walking by staring in amazement and continually asking if I liked it. Either he lied and had never served one before, or he was just smitten with the fact a little girl in a Green Bay t-shirt was shoving the peanut butter gooeyness in her face. I am quite sure no female has ever ordered that sandwich.

Blue’s Egg | Milwaukee, WI

Blue’s Egg is open from 7AM-2PM everyday (serving breakfast the entire time) and to-go orders are available everyday except Saturday and Sunday.

Blue’s Egg | 317 N 76^th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53213 | 414.299.3180 | bluesegg.com

Jayme Lamm

Jayme Lamm is a delightfully unrefined writer, lover of sports and words, serial do-gooder with a limited filter. Follow her on Twitter @jaymelamm.

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It hit me sometime mid-breakfast Sunday morning, that I have a thing for French-style bars and restaurants. Bakeries, Bistros, and Brasseries, I love them all. Butter (REAL butter), bread, and Burgundies. Baguettes, Bordeauxs, and [Carla] Bruni.

Huh. Why does everything I love about my France start with the letter ‘B’?

Oh! Except Croissants!

And coffee.

This croissant at Petite Provence of Division was easily the best croissant I’ve ever had in my entire life. Flaky on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside. Absolutely mind-blowing when dipped in the homemade raspberry jam they serve alongside it.

Brunch at Petite Provence | SE Division Street | Portland, OR

The menu is incredible and includes a Brie and [Basil Chicken] Sausage Scramble, a Northwest Salmon Hash, two different kinds of French Toast, and this incredible little rendition of poached eggs:

Poached eggs atop little risotto cakes made with asparagus, bacon, and onions, served alongside better-than-just-boring-ol’-breakfast-potatoes (sorry, Ben), potatoes AND butternut squash.

No time to sit and eat? Don’t you worry — grab a pastry or a fruit tart from their bakery and be on your merry way.

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.

Don’t Judge A Restaurant By Its Strip Mall

We’ve all heard the adage don’t judge a book by its cover; well, I learned the same about a little ole breakfast spot this past week in Milwaukee.

I came in town a few days early for a family reunion and decided to hit up my old stomping grounds. I only lived in Milwaukee until I was 7 months, so there wasn’t much stomping back in the day. As it’s been pretty apparent in my recent travels, breakfast is one of the top things on my agenda, so this Midwest trip was no different.

Along my travels, I met a wonderful gal named Stacie, who happens to be the Pfister narrator and recommended Blue’s Egg, on the corner of 76th, and Bluemound Road.

The joint rests amidst a dirty little desolate shopping center, which at first glance scared me. I had just met Stacie so I was seriously reconsidering relying on her recommendations. I decided to head on in and found myself in a cute little diner set up with tables all along the left and a small counter on the right. The montage of french presses and coffee pots drew me in so I opted for a spot at the counter. It was much cozier anyway.

[Editor's note: My favorite spot is ALWAYS at the counter or the bar, when I have the chance. Especially in a new place!]

A breakfast spot with wifi is a rarity. As odd and annoying as it seems, it’s almost impossible to find. (Please note, a coffee shop selling a store bought or even homemade pasty is not the same as a breakfast place. There is a vast difference between the two.) To my pleasant surprise, Blue’s Egg was equipped with wifi (insider note – the further away from the window, the stronger the signal).

I’ve never been offered a starter for any breakfast place (except maybe biscuits), but the waiter brought out a cold bowl of fresh red grapes. A+ for that.

I ordered something pretty basic (sorry to disappoint you adventurous foodies) – 2 eggs over-medium, delicious sausage links, and browns (with over 12 variations are offered including skinny, EVOO, “very stuffed” and more), but after I ordered I just started at the menu wondering if I’d made the right choice. Days later I’m still kicking myself in the butt for not ordering the PB & Bacon, Banana on Egg Bread. It sounds just weird enough to be delicious. But alas, I’ll have to order that before next year’s family reunion. I’m equal parts upset for the palate pleasing fare I missed out on as well as the opportunity to wow Doniree (owner of this tasteful blog) with my breakfast conquests.

I also heard from a regular to the right of me at the counter that the House Chicken Chorizo omelette was the best in all the land (filled with tomato sauce, goat cheese and pickled chilies). And of course let’s not forget that in the land of all things Cheeseheads, any omelette filled with delicious cheese is sure to be a winner in these parts.

Also another reason for an A on the Richter scale – they serve breakfast everyday 7a-2p so the late risers can still partake in the breakfast festivities.

Total Bill- $9.75 (meal + $3.50 mint mocha + a regular ole average tip.)

Blue’s Egg – 317 N 76^th, Milwaukee, WI 53213

[Editor's note: I am LOVING Jayme's restaurant reviews. Each one makes me hungrier and hungier, no matter when I ate last or what time of day it is. French toast! Eggs! French Press coffee! I want it ALL.]

Jayme Lamm

Jayme Lamm is a delightfully unrefined writer, lover of sports and words, serial do-gooder with a limited filter. Follow her on Twitter @jaymelamm.

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Kula Lodge is a whole lot “koola” than it sounds…

When traveling, it’s often a crapshoot where you eat and how you go about getting there (in the form of how did you hear about us, not the actual mode of transportation).

I don’t think it’s possible for anyone, in this entire world, to enjoy breakfast more than I. My love for breakfast may or may not have something to do with my less than defined palette, but that’s beside the point. People can rattle off 4-5 unassuming lunch or dinner recommendations, but breakfast is usually limited. Which means, it’s usually amazing. Which is what Kula Lodge was. Is. And will be again tomorrow when I go back.

In just 2 days I’ve quickly learned that Maui, Hawaii is pretty big. And spread out. But when it comes to eggs, omelets, applewood bacon, turkey sausage links, french toast, Belgium waffles and the like, I don’t mind driving far. Kula Lodge was about a 40 minute drive from where I was staying, but the impeccable view going up the Haleakala Crater was worth it alone.

Kula Lodge is quaint and exactly as it claims – a lodge. You can stay there and roll directly out of bed into their small wooden dining room overlooking the island of Maui. It took a few minutes to get seated because I only noticed a staff of three on the restaurant floor. Every single person that worked there was beyond pleasant and smiled incessantly. I figure one of two things is going on: either they realize they live in Maui and should be smiling as not to piss people like me off or they get free breakfast after every shift. Something tells me it’s a little combo of both.

Aside from the ridiculously friendly wait staff and the Travel and Lesiure’esque view, the first thing they did really scored some points. Enter my biggest breakfast place pet peeve: an upcharge for subbing french toast in lieu of pancakes in one of those combo breakfast plates. Especially when the menu cost of pancakes and french toast is exactly the same. Menus always do this to me – they list all of my favorite things in one big-time plate offering and they’ll always include a short stack of pancakes. So maybe my palette is a little more refined than I thought since I consider pancakes to be God’s most boring and uninspiring food on the planet. So I always ask to sub french toast (because you can tell a lot about a chef with his take on french toast) and the waiter or waitress almost always prefaces with “yes” they can in fact swap out the two, but there’s a $2 or $3 upcharge (Vegas is famous for this and it angers me greatly). Anyways, so off to a good start at Kula Lodge by not charging an additional fee.

It also never fails at breakfast time that I end up ordering the most manly version of breakfast plates imaginable. I remember, vividly, one breakfast with my boyfriend at the time. I ordered the Lumberjack breakfast. Not only did he comment about what I was ordering, he subsequently commented that I ate the entire thing. Duh, that’s what you’re supposed to do – eat ALL the good food. So it should come as no surprise that I ordered the Mile High Plate ($15) – “to give you enough energy to climb the volcano” (which is right around the corner) as the menu text so kindly pointed out. My ex would be so proud – I again ate it all!

The views are glorious; the food is plentiful and delicious (a rarity these days); and my waitress never once tried to rush me out of the joint. All in all, an A+ for Kula Lodge.

Did I mention I was making the 40-minute trek again tomorrow to do it all over again? Same french toast substitute and all.

Total Bill – $19.50 (meal + coffee + an undisclosed generous tip because she deserved it)

Jayme Lamm

Jayme Lamm is a delightfully unrefined writer, lover of sports and words, serial do-gooder with a limited filter. Follow her on Twitter @jaymelamm.

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This is usually a guest post space here on NomadicFoodie, but I loved this Portland breakfast space so much I just had to share it. If you’re visiting Portland and love pancakes – this place is absolutely for you.

Slappy Cakes

4246 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR 97215

This place is more than a regular old pancake joint. This place is a make-your-own-pancakes! pancake joint. Seriously. You order an 8 oz. bottle of batter ($6, choose from Buttermilk, Peanut Butter, Whole Wheat (vegan), Gluten-Free, and Parsnip. I am totally going to have to go back for the parsnip!), and then choose your toppings for an extra $1 or $1.50 each. Toppings include everything from sweet fruits like berries and bananas, and chocolate chips, to savory choices that include mushrooms, bacon, and vegan sausage. Beyond that, you can add things like Creme Fraiche, Peanut Butter, Lavender Honey, and organic maple syrup to your perfect little pancakes.

Each table has a griddle in the middle so everyone can do their thing, right there at the table. Too lazy? No worries – you can order pancakes from the kitchen and they’ll do it for you. Don’t love pancakes? There’s a full menu of egg-tastic dishes like Benedicts and omelettes. Truly something for everyone here.

It was tough not to go overboard on the toppings (so! many! choices!), but I ultimately landed with a sweet, savory, nutty combo of blueberries, hazelnuts, and goat cheese, topped with a little creme fraiche, and a little maple syrup. The best part? When you’re making your own pancakes with batter from a bottle… creativity can run wild!

So. Who’s going back with me to try that parsnip batter?

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.

Mary Spicer owns Spicer’s Events, a wedding planning business with offices located in both Boulder, CO, and Newport, RI.  You can find Mary on Twitter @spicersevent.  I was thrilled when I put the call out for dining & travel related guest posts and Mary offered to share her Newport, Rhode Island favorites.

Hi. I am Mary Spicer with Spicer’s Events. One of our offices is located in fabulous Newport, RI. Not only where the America’s Cup Racing took place but also home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the site of the famous wedding of John Fitzgerald Kennedy to Jacqueline Bouvier. They were married in St. Mary’s Church in Newport on September 12, 1953. Newport, RI has also been touted as the number one wedding destination due to its fabulous mansions. Quite a nod to the taste of Mrs. Astors 400 group.

Breakfast

The best place for breakfast is absolutely not ostentatious. “Annie’s” at 176 Bellevue Avenue is the best food around. Simple, well priced and relaxed. This is more of a morning diner and a little known hot spot that gets filled up by evening revelers come 10am so go early. This is the destination that soothes your hang over. Make no mistake. It is a greasy spoon, old school, friendly place. Don’t bring the vegans and vegetarians. Cash only. ATM at the back. Order the eggs Benedict.

Lunch

For lunch I LOVE to head to “The Pier” on Howard Wharf. This place doesn’t even look open from the street. Head for the dock and boats because this fabulous bar is on the dock. I love to sit at the bar, speak with other patrons about their day and take in the views of the yachts and motor boats alike. Order a martini and seafood. I love their scallops but the clams and mussels are to die for as well. Any of their seafood is great. Go for the simple dishes.

My second choice for lunch is at Bannister’s Wharf. For those of you that are either just coming from a good sleep on your ship to those who have been shopping the morning away, when you find yourself downtown, head to The Black Pearl for their famous Clam Chowder and Bloody Mary’s. -

PS – this was named well before that movie with the hot grunge pirate with the dark eyeliner.

Dinner

Dinner. If you have rented a house or just stepped off the yacht, nothing is better than a home cooked lobster with friends. Head over to the Aquidneck Lobster Company on Bowen’s Wharf. This is where your restaurants are shopping anyway so why not? Lobsters, Scallops, and clams.  Oh, my.

PS – being smiley, patient and nice often makes the weight of your order round down instead of up.

Romantic Dinner? Okay. So you cooked the lobster last night and had loads of friends over to the yacht. Time to show your loved one how much you appreciate the fact that they didn’t say a word when you sang a less than perfect rendition of Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville”.

The Terrace at Chanler’s is wonderful. No reservations are allowed as it is weather permitting and so, first come first served. If it is raining just go to the Spiced Pear inside at Chanler’s. For super foodie fans, Chanler’s has a chef’s table available for couples up to 6 people and private dining as well.

{Photo credits: The Pier; Aquidneck; Chanler; The Black Pearl}

maryspicer

Mary Spicer owns Spicer’s Events, a wedding planning business with offices located in both Boulder, CO, and Newport, RI. You can find Mary on Twitter @spicersevent. I was thrilled when I put the call out for dining & travel related guest posts and Mary offered to share her Newport, Rhode Island favorites.

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Boyfriend and I spent the Fourth of July weekend exploring San Diego, from Poway to Coronado Island and from the Gaslamp Quarter to Ocean Beach.  I knew from early on in the trip that we were going to kick back, have a killer time, and take advantage of opportunities for fun and excitement we could.

And what better way to start the weekend off than with some bubbly at breakfast?  Check out my wake-up call here at the Denver Chophouse at the Denver International Airport.  Not a bad way to start a weekend – or any day for that matter!

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.

Last month, I participated in a GuacOff courtesy of Metro Magazine and with the combined culinary stylings of some great fellow Twin Cities bloggers (Kaeti, Doug, Emily, and Conner), we took home Most Authentic.

This post isn’t about that. Conner did a great recap, so I’ll point you over there for that.

What this post IS about is the gift card that I snagged as part of the prize stuff from Crave Restaurant. I’m not too far from the restaurant, located in Edina’s Galleria Mall so when Rachel was here a couple of weeks ago, we decided to check it out.  I kept hearing delicious things about it, and we decided to move in for their HUGELY PROPORTIONED brunch.

We rounded up my roommate and her manfriend and made it there pretty much as the doors opened (11AM on Sundays).

The deal (snatched right from their website, emphasis mine):

Fabulous Family Brunch $15.95

Generous helping of scrambled eggs with Tillamook smoked cheddar, house made baked hash browns, off-the-bone ham, applewood smoked bacon, savory sausage links, whole wheat toast and jam, fresh fruit, and sticky buns all served on large platters for your table to share and replenished as you desire!

Also Includes: French Toast Bar with gourmet toppings and Our Chef ’s “Create-your-own” Omelet Bar and A glass of Mimosa, Champagne, or Orange Juice

Yeah, you had me at French Toast Bar and Champagne for sure. And I’m always a fan of hash browns or breakfast potatoes or whatever you want to call them, but these? UNFREAKINGREAL.  Here’s a [close-up!] shot of those with the yummy eggs:

Can’t you just smell the cheese melting all over that?  SO good.  But seriously, those hashbrowns were greasy, cheesy, potato-y perfection.

Because that wasn’t enough food, I had the chef make me my own omelet; isn’t it pretty?

Tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and cheese – YUM!

Our table basically looked like this: we each had coffee and a mimosa.  The plates in the center of the table included: the cheesy-orgy plate of eggs and hash browns, the meat-lover’s plate of sausage, bacon, and ham, plus some toast because why not throw more carbs in the mix, a plate full of sticky-buns, and then whatever plates we’d collected at the French Toast or Create-Your-Own Omelet station.

I’m not a meat-eater, but check this out:

Make no mistake, I know how to make y’all drool.

I’ll have to get back to try their other meals, but this was definitely a winner for a giant Sunday brunch with some of my faves.

Photo credits: Me! I took the pictures, but with Rachel‘s camera and she did the editing.
Camera: Canon Rebel XT; 50mm F/ 1.8 II lens

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.

I was fortunate enough to get to the LA area not only twice this summer, but over back-to-back weekends.

I spent a Friday night at the start of August catching up with one of my best girlfriends. Nicole lives (I use that term loosely in that at the time this is being written, she is currently packing up and prepping to move out) in an LA suburb, and we wanted a night to catch up on all the ridiculousness that had transpired in our lives over the summer so far.  So I abused the flight benefits I have access to and headed out to her place for the night.

SLEEPOVER WIN.

The second weekend, I randomly decided to join a new friend – a blog friend – as his plus one to a wedding of a friend of his. Both weekends were fabulous, and of course, included delicious dining that will be highlighted below.

Weekend One -
We did dinner in Malibu on Friday night (I just love saying that. Doesn’t dinner in Malibu just roll off your tongue a little? No? Just mine? Ok FINE.) at a place on the beach called the Paradise Cove Beach Cafe.

We had giant margaritas and I enjoyed the seafood tacos (two fish, one shrimp) that were HUGE and delicious and spicy and nearly perfect.

The setting of the Beach Cafe was great, in that it was – naturally – on the beach.  I’m not accustomed to ocean outside my windows so I basically just sat and stared off in daydreamland while we ate.

On Saturday morning, Nicole took me BACK to this bagel shop – East Coast Bagel – we’d stopped in prior to our Vegas trip back in June. As you can infer from the name, they’re all East-Coast-style and stuff… not sure what that means exactly except for two things:

• they are fucking DELICIOUS
• they actually make chocolate and/or chocolate chip bagels, which I haven’t found elsewhere YET. So when I get chocolate chip bagels, toasted with peanut butter and the peanut butter gets all warm and amazing because the bagel was just toasted… my heart does a little song-and-dance routine that not many other food combos can elicit.

(Rachel promises me that their available on the East Coast and when she comes in from Jersey this weekend, I’m getting a suitcase full. What a great friend )

Weekend Two -

I joined Nico out in the Hollywood Hills area the following weekend as his plus one for his friends’ wedding. It was kind of fun to tell people I was from the Internet (and since Nico and I met because of 20-Something Bloggers, that’s what we told people), until we realized that the people seated with us at our table – Nico’s friends – were also major social media nerds so that wasn’t as impressive as we thought it’d be. Anyway, Nico writes a lovely recap of the event here (and says some sweetheart things about me). But let me talk about the food at two different places.

Breakfast.  We did breakfast at what apparently is a famous little eatery.  And by famous I mean it was in the movie Reservoir Dogs, or so I’m told (I actually haven’t ever seen that movie, whoops!).

We enjoyed multiple cups of coffee at Pat and Lorraine’s in (on?) Eagle Rock.  I had classic French toast that was the perfect amount of comfort breakfast food to start the day.  It was a really cute, diner-ish place with a great patio and friendly staff.  Seems like the kind of place that the locals frequent and that certainly has it’s “regulars.”

Then, after a few hours of tooling around Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and other nifty little neighborhoods, we did a late lunch at The Alcove.  It’s a gorgeous little bistro/deli place in the Los Feliz neighborhood of the LA area.  We sat outside, drank mimosas, and I ate the most ridiculously amazing crab cake sandwich in the history of crab cake sandwiches.

Here’s what they say about it on their menu:

crab cake sandwich
maryland style crab cake made from sweet blue crab meat on a caramelized onion bun, caramelized bermuda onions, wild arugula, tomato and chipotle aioli on the side

Don’t even tell me you’re not salivating.  That aioli?  AMAZING.  And you really can’t go wrong with arugula; it’s one of my favorite greens of all the greens.

So, mid-afternoon outdoor lunch plus good company plus champagne plus crab?

Le swooooon.

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.