If you ever find Bolinas, this is a great place for breakfast. Mind you, today it’s gone 11 so I suppose your could call it brunch.
The Coast Cafe is easy to find in the middle of town. There is seating inside and out and it has a very pleasant, laid back feeling about it.
This is not your typical diner sort of breakfast joint. As this is Bolinas, it is bound to be different. For a start, there are no booths or seats at the counter, just lots of wooden tables and chairs. There is even one very big table that seats 12. While we were there, several small groups ate at this table and, even though they didn’t know each other, they happily chatted together.
We decided to eat inside and could sit anywhere we liked. Our choice was a long table for two at the back near the counter. Our order was taken soon after we sat down. I ordered oatmeal ($4.50) with a side of wheat toast ($1.75). I asked if they served steelcut oats, this being a very organic, environmentally conscious community, but they didn’t. Tom ordered a French Omlette from the Specials List ($10) with English Muffin.
Let me tell you about one of the locals who was standing near us at the counter. She was a lady wearing a paint spattered jacket, old jeans and non matching, multicolored hiking boots. Round her neck she had a garish, wooden parrot on a rope. But the one thing that really caught our eye was her hat. Obviously her own creation as it was made out of twigs, newspaper and string. People like this are a common sight in Bolinas and nobody turned a hair. It’s a place where you can wear and do whatever you like.
Now to the decor. Definitley coastal. From the ceiling are suspended 12 surf boards, mostly old fashioned, wooden ones and some of them are huge. Glass floats in net bags and assorted floats are everywhere. There are several original paintings and framed photographs on the wall. A nice touch were the shelves attached to the walls filled with books, dolls and assorted objects. But the best feature is the old fashioned, pot bellied boiler in the corner which was lit and provided a real homely feel to the place.
We didn’t have too long to wait for our food. My oatmeal came in a big, deep green ceramic bowl on a huge red plate. The brown sugar and raisins came in small white ceramic pots. The milk in an old fashioned silver jug with a lid. The jam was home made strawberry. It was all scrumptious. Tom’s omelette had goat cheese, green onions, mushrooms and tarragon in it. The home fries had a seasoning on them which added to the taste. His verdict - excellent. We both loved the jam.
I asked for directions to the restroom and the server pointed to the floor and told me to follow the frog footsteps. How charming. They led out of the door, across the patio to the restroom. Inside was an entrance room with two doors leading to two stalls. In the entrance were two old bar stools and a blue wooden cupboard with a mirror on the front. The stalls could only be described as rustic. No decoration at all but an unusual touch was the toilet roll holder and the paper towel container which were both made out of small planks of dark brown wood.
We really enjoyed the food, the service, the ambiance of the place and it certainly is near the top of our list of places to go for a great breakfast. Needless to say, we will be back.
February 17 2008 | Breakfast Log | No Comments »
Today was forecast to be a beautiful sunny day so we set off at 6 to go to Mount Tamalpais (or Mount Tam as it is affectionately called). As we had eaten late last night (we met up with friends Dirk and Maria with their sons Jason 5 and Jacob 11 months for a meal at Dish Dash in Sunnyvale). we were not particularly hungry so we stopped at Peet’s on Geary Street. Tom had a coffee and muffin and I had a cocoa. No paper to read because there were none available in the stands outside.
As we came out of the door just after 7 am, it was to see a meter attendant in a small electric car place a ticket on the car. We were parked at an expired meter but we thought the charges didn’t apply until later. It said on the citation that the violation was under Section TC37C Street Cleaning, though we saw no signs up giving that information and we were not the only cars there. This was not a good start to the day but it gets worse.
We head north over the Golden Gate bridge and turn onto Highway 1 towards Stinson Beach. Marin is waking up as we drive the uphill, twisty road and turn right into the Mount Tamalpais State Park. The road continues uphill with spectacular views down to the city. The sun is in our eyes looking south and the skyline is in silhouette. Looking the other way there were marvelous views of the ocean and the Farallon Islands were the clearest I have ever seen them. Unfortunately there are no suitable places to stop and take photos.
This is an amazingly twisty road. As we round one bend we come across a flock of wild turkeys in the road. There were about eight females and three males. The males were doing their courting display. We stopped, fortunately there were no other cars around, and took photos. Tom’s camera was in the trunk so he used mine because it was quicker and he didn’t want to disturb them by getting out of the car. Just a bit further on we surprised four deer who were about to cross the road. They turned and raced back the way they had come down the hill.
We came to an ideal spot with a view southward where we could pull over so Tom could take some photos. I decided to stay in the car and start writing but when I reached down for my bag it wasn’t there. It suddenly dawned on me that I left my bag, complete with my wallet containing credit cards, driving license, green card, car keys, journals - in fact my whole life was in there. ‘Thomas’ I screamed, ‘I’ve left my bag in Peet’s’. He immediately jumped back into the car, did a Uturn and we hurtled back down the hill at break neck speed to get back to the city. Even though we made good time, after all it was only about 20 miles, the journey seemed endless. Of course I was thinking the worst scenario would greet me when we arrived, that someone had walked off with it and I would have to go through the painful process of canceling all my cards and arrange replacements. At best I was hoping that an honest person had handed it to one of the baristas behind the counter.
Imagine my shock and surprise when I rushed into Peet’s exactly one hour after we had left to find my bag in exactly the same place I had left it. Oh, what a relief.
We had to abandon our plans to climb to the top of Mount Tam and then drive the back roads to Bolinas. The light was past its best for taking photographs and besides the place would be crowded. We decided to have breakfast and visit the De Young Museum. Mount Tam and Bolinas will have to wait for another day.
February 11 2008 | Special Places | No Comments »
If you ever find Bolinas, this is a great place for breakfast. Mind you, today it’s gone 11 so I suppose your could call it brunch.
