What's not to love?

I fly into Los Angeles on the red-eye.  Family meets me at LAX and we go where my dad wants to go for breakfast which is Fromin's Deli.  He is someone who finds a single thing he wants to eat and then orders only that for literally years.  So it seemed like the past few years for him it was all about the lox and bagels at Fromin's Deli.  And secretly it always looked really great.  So I went for it.  Heaven!  Everything hit just right on this dish - all vegetables crisp and cold, bagels had great chew and super fresh, lox perfect balance of salty/briny.  Wedges of fresh lemon.  Freshly whipped cream cheese.  Glistening Greek olives.  Ice Water.  Hot coffee.

p.s. Our waiter was a lovely older gentleman from Paris.  Warm and gracious.  And the busboy was a huge fan of my dad and seemed incredibly happy to see him.  As was I.

Return to the Diner

Breadman's.  Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  I had to photograph this one.  I mean, come on.  It was one of those moments where I said to hell with it, I'm just going to order exactly what I want to have.  The embarrassingly huge breakfast.  This one includes pecan waffle (they hit it just right), scrambled eggs, bacon (extra crispy, the only way I can ever really understand bacon).  Also.  Shimmering packs of Land o' Lakes butter (if you don't ask for it special they give you the fluffy fake stuff).  Hot coffee. Ice water.  My friend elin mentioned the ineffable value of ice water with hot coffee and it has become a fully-integrated value in my life. Meaning, it just makes the coffee kick more.  The fresh refreshing freshness of the cold with the freshly-brewed hotness is just a really good thing.  This was an excellent breakfast.

Simple / Substantial

I'm not a baker but at some point I figured out I could make this simple banana bread recipe from an ancient Betty Crocker cookbook that my mom was purging from her kitchen shelves.  We grew up making this and I love it because it is not too sweet and it freezes well and then gets awesomely toasty in the toaster oven so the salted butter melts on it beautifully.  Toasted almonds and with a perfect cup of hot coffee it is nice as breakfast.

I went down to the crossroads. . .and had breakfast.

Aberdeen, North Carolina.

First NC road trip in about a year landed us in this tiny railroad town.  The old station is at a cross road intersection and there you will find the Crossroads Cafe, where they serve breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. First of all, a restaurant that serves breakfast at all hours immediately has gained my respect and piqued my curiosity.  My restaurant radar was getting pretty good readings on this place.

I ordered a hash-browns-centric dish with a perfect mix of crunchy and soft potato strips, onions, peppers and extra-crispy bacon (the only way I like it), with something I simply forgot to ask that they omit - the dreaded American Cheese - and two over-medium eggs on top.  If I ever go back I will most likely on principle ask them to hold the processed cheese, but honestly it was divine.  I was so floored by the deliciousness I decided to shoot the picture even though I'd already begun eating - it was simply that good.

And yes, the biscuit with that packaged apple jelly was really nice.  Fluffy, salty, super hot and not too rich.  My companion had biscuits and sausage gravy, which he said were the best he'd ever had.  I had to take a taste and indeed it was just what you'd want - hot and full of flavor, even in the non-sausage bites, and a peppery kick.

No photographic documentation. Only memory.

Dear reader -

I've been remiss in filing these installments.  However, the other morning, something so extraordinary occurred that I have been flung back into the fracas of breakfast reportage.

I experienced what must be described as one of the best breakfasts I have ever encountered.  Here's what happened:

It was already 11:30 a.m. on a weekday.  I had not yet eaten.  I staggered into my local Whole Foods market.

[NOTE:  This is in no way a paid endorsement.  This is merely the place in which the event occurred.  I stand by this story, but I have not been nor will I be compensated in any way for this text.  Indeed, the breakfast was remuneration enough.]

When I arrived at the hot bar I was dismayed to discover that no breakfast items were being offered.  A pleasant man in white food service garb happened to be standing there.  I casually inquired as to when they usually stop serving breakfast.  "Around 10:30 a.m.," he said.  "What were you looking for?"  I told him just some scrambled eggs or something along those lines.  "I'll check and see if there are any left," the man offered, only to discover breakfast was now a thing of that day's past.  "That's fine," I told him.  "I'll make due."

Then the most fabulous thing happened.  The man offered to whip up some eggs for me, to order, right on the spot.  I told him that wasn't necessary, I could do something else.  But he persisted.  He asked if I liked salsa in my eggs.  I told him that sounded great.  He said, "Wait here.  I'll be back in a few minutes."

I then looked around for the proper bread product to have with my eggs.  Croissant?  Too rich.  I identified a pretty nice looking Italian boule, but it wasn't a sour dough.  Then I noticed out of the corner of my eye - at the pizza making station - a woman was taking some incredible looking twisted rolls out of the oven and putting them onto a tray.  I asked her what they were.  "Garlic knots," the woman told me.

I was sold.

So now I had a cardboard box with a really large, hot, just-out-of-the-oven garlicky knot.  I waited for my cook.

Finally he emerged from the kitchen, with a container of eggs big enough to feed a family of eight.  I let him know I couldn't possibly eat it all.  "How much do you want?" he asked.  I told him about a quarter of that.  (Which would have me eating enough for two, but I digress.)  He left and returned swiftly with a smaller container of eggs.

I went and paid for my feast.  Five dollars and change.  I picked up some ice water and a few pats of cold salted butter.

Oh those eggs!  I took my first bite - heaven!  Hot.  Fluffy, but substantial.  Loose enough to maintain a lot of moisture.  And that fresh salsa!  Perfectly intermixed with the eggs, specks of cilantro and onion, fresh chunks of gorgeous tomato.  And the garlic knot!  The cold butter melted to perfection, each bite was garlicky and chewy, with the perfect amount of toasty crunch.

Reader, I say to you in all sincerity.  One of my best breakfasts EVER.  And yet no photographic evidence remains.

You'll just have to take my word for it.