Category Archives: breakfast

High Seas Coffee on the Alberta Prairie

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High Seas Coffee is in the middle of central Alberta farmland

High Seas Coffee is in the middle of central Alberta farmland

I’m not expecting a coffee roaster in a rural Alberta village. Certainly not in a community of 725 souls, with a strong Mennonite heritage.

But then Linden, 100 kilometres northeast of Calgary, has always punched above its weight. Witness a strong agricultural manufacturing industry. And, from a culinary perspective, the longstanding Country Cousins, which attracts folks from Calgary and beyond for its Mennonite meals (think sausage, perogies and cabbage rolls) and legendary peanut butter pie.

So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find High Seas Coffee serving fresh-roasted java in a little main-street café. It opened this spring, when Krista Boese took over the former Global Grounds, adding it to an existing roasting business she started with her brother Tyler.

Yes, High Seas is a local hangout, with customers chewing the fat around a cluster of tables. But it also has a big-city vibe that includes small-batch roasting of fair-trade organic beans (pick up a pound of Farmers Blend) and cold-brew coffee.

The small-town coffee shop and roastery even has a patio

The small-town coffee shop and roastery even has a patio

The short menu starts with fresh-baked pastries like Danishes, cinnamon rolls and croissants. Heartier fare includes a French toast breakfast sandwich and a lunchtime pulled-pork Cubano sandwich.

You can even text in your order so it’s ready for pick up on your rural road trip. But I’d much rather grab a corner seat, sip an excellent Americano and soak up some small-town character.

High Seas Coffee
107 Central Avenue, Linden, Alberta
Monday to Saturday 6 am-6 pm. Closed Sunday
403-546-2007

World Famous Cafe in Boulder City, Nevada? You Bet

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The World Famous Coffee Cup—in Boulder City, Nevada—is a classic diner

The World Famous Coffee Cup—in Boulder City, Nevada—is a classic diner

What’s a classic diner without a table full of old timers? The regulars are already stirring their coffees and kibitzing when I arrive, 6ish am, at the World Famous Coffee Cup, in Boulder City, on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

“The teacher always said if you don’t know how to spell a word, look it up in the dictionary,” one observes. “But if you don’t know how to spell it, how can you look it up?”

There’s a long counter begging to be sat at, so I grab a stool and take in my surroundings. The place is lined with old Nevada plates, a surfboard and water skis and stacks of photos.

The vintage neon sign completes the look

The vintage neon sign completes the look

As I scan a menu of diner standards—biscuits and gravy, omelettes, burgers and the like—the waitress swings by with a pot of good coffee (Colorado River Coffee Roasters) and takes my order of a short stack of pancakes.

“Can I get those with blueberries?”
“No problem. Would you like sugar-free syrup?”
“However did you guess?”

A few minutes later, the “short stack”—two plate-size cakes—arrives straight off the grill. They’re steaming hot, slightly crispy on the edges and bursting with berries. The scoop of butter on top melts into a puddle. Perfect.

A perfectly cooked "short stack" of pancakes

A perfectly cooked “short stack” of pancakes

“You know, hummingbirds and helicopters shouldn’t be able to fly,” one of the regulars notes.

Think they’d mind if I joined them?

World Famous Coffee Cup (made more famous by a Guy Fieri visit)
512 Nevada Way, Boulder City, Nevada
Daily 6 am-2 pm

A Blockhead Goes to Banff

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Joining the masses, overlooking Banff Avenue in Banff National Park

What am I thinking? Walking into the gaping maw of Banff townsite on a sunny summer Friday. During the height of a historic tourist season.

I do have an excuse, of sorts: doing research for a new edition of my Day Trips From Calgary book (out next year!). And if I’m already there, rubbing shoulders with the hordes, might as well eat.

So I head in late morning to what I call restaurant row: three narrow joints within a span of about 50 feet on Caribou Street. At longstanding Coyotes Southwestern Grill, folks are cutting into slabs of sourdough French toast, dipped in free-range, organic eggs. It looks tempting, but I’m more interested in lunch.

Lining up on restaurant row on Caribou Street

Lining up on restaurant row on Caribou Street

Next door at Tooloulou’s, they have both meals covered, serving big plates of eggs, po’ boys and other Cajun cuisine. But the line is out the door, and I don’t do well with waiting.

Fortunately, a few doors down, tapas-focused Block Kitchen + Bar has just fired up the lunch grill, and other than one occupied outside table, it’s just me, co-owner Andy Burke and the cook. Perfect.

It takes no more than five seconds of menu scanning for my eyes to fix on a winner: a house-roasted pork belly naanwich, with pea shoots, house pickles and tangy mango sauce, plus a mess of fries on the side. This honking big sandwich is delicious and, for a resort town, great value for $15.

The pork belly Naanwich was a delectable, filling meal

The pork belly Naanwich is a delectable, filling meal

Indeed, I nibble on it all afternoon as I drive around the town’s tourist hot spots, before heading up to Lake Louise, where the traffic is so heavy I have to park a kilometre down the road from the fabled lake. What am I thinking?

Block Kitchen + Bar
Corner of Caribou Street and Banff Avenue, Banff, Alberta
Daily 11:30 am-2 am
403-985-2887

A Perfect Road Trip Meal

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At Big Bang Bagels, in Fernie B.C., all the action, including the cooking, takes place behind the counter

At Big Bang Bagels, in Fernie B.C., all the action, including the cooking, takes place behind the counter

When driving considerable miles on a road trip, you generally don’t want to sit down to a lengthy meal. What you want is quick, delicious and affordable. Character helps, too, which eliminates all those fast-food chains that just specialize in fast.

Big Bang Bagels, in the southeast B.C. mountain town of Fernie, ticks all those boxes, as I was pleasantly reminded on a recent drive along the Crowsnest Highway (3). It’s the perfect stop for a fabulous bite. Why? Because it keeps things simple, efficient and high quality.

As the name suggests, everything revolves around bagels. I’m not normally a fan of bagels, which are typically thick, dry, throat catching. But when, at Big Bang, they’re hand-rolled, boiled, baked and fresh as can be, I happily make an exception.

There are three-dozen bagel choices, ranging from standard poppy and sesame to pesto spinach and jalapeno cheese. But the rest of the menu is pared down to just 10 breakfast and lunch bagelwiches, featuring fillings like roast chicken, Montreal smoked meat or smoked salmon.

Now, THIS is a breakfast sandwich

Now, THIS is a breakfast sandwich

Now, many cafes equate efficient with pre-made. Not so Big Bang. Every bagelwich is built to order. A cook manning a little grill, in the open kitchen, is perfectly frying an egg for my Mr. Fernie, which also boasts melted, aged white cheddar, ham, avocado and grilled onion, all squeezed inside a toasted multigrain bagel.

It’s a first-rate, considerable breakfast (for about $8) delivered piping hot in all of five minutes. Throw in the best Americano I had on a week-long road trip (using San Francisco espresso blend beans from Lethbridge’s excellent roaster Cupper’s), and I’d say it doesn’t get any better than this.

Big Bang Bagels
502 2 Avenue, Fernie, B.C.
Daily 7 am-5 pm
250-423-7778

Breakfast For Two at Tommy’s Dutch Lunch

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Tommy's Dutch is a great breakfast diner in Walla Walla, Washington

Tommy’s Dutch is a great breakfast diner in Walla Walla, Washington

The heads don’t quite swivel when we walk into Tommy’s Dutch Lunch, in an industrial section of Walla Walla, Washington. I’m a bit surprised, as we’re obviously the only tourists in the place and my sister is the only woman, other than the two waitresses. Continue reading →

Eggslut Kickstarts My Los Angeles Morning

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At Los Angeles's Eggslut, the "Slut" is a coddled egg served in a glass jar

At Los Angeles’s Eggslut, the “Slut” is a coddled egg served in a glass jar

The big bell clangs at 8 am, just as it has for the past century, and a small gang of regulars trots to the far end of Grand Central Market, in downtown Los Angeles. They’re racing to be first in line for their Sunday-morning fix at Eggslut, a name that might not go over well in San Francisco but that has done nothing to deter a devoted following in its short time in L.A.

The morning line at Eggslut moves quickly, thanks to an efficient staff

The morning line at Eggslut moves quickly, thanks to an efficient staff

Eggslut specializes in deluxe breakfast sandwiches such as my Fairfax ($7), a lovely blend of scrambled eggs, caramelized onion, melted cheese and sriracha mayo, inside a warm brioche bun. The leader of the trotting troupe insists I should add some crispy bacon for a couple of bucks more. A simple brekkie sandwich but nicely pulled off by an efficient crew that keeps the growing line moving.

The Fairfax is a lovely medley inside a brioche bun

The Fairfax is a lovely medley inside a brioche bun

A couple of seatmates order a Slut, racily described as “a coddled egg on top of a smooth potato purée, poached in a glass jar, topped with gray salt and chives and served with slices of baguette.” Take that, SF.

Eggslut
317 South Broadway (Grand Central Market), Los Angeles
Daily 8 am-4 pm