Breakfast Beginnings

Hold onto your seats, this is going to be a long one, folks. I started this blog six years ago, when I was commuting to an office on Wall St. every day, and eating ALL THE DELICIOUS FOODS from Food Trucks outside of my office. I found, during that time, that having something to write about on a consistent basis was a good outlet for me.  When my six weeks in Manhattan were up, I missed writing. I tried (unsuccessfully, at that) to continue the blog - but I never found a subject matter that interested me enough to continue to write consistently. (All of the entries that I made in the past are still here, you can read them all if you're bored, but If you're that bored, we should hang out. Hit me up.)  A few months ago, I made a decision to change the course that my life was on. I ended a toxic relationship that I had been in for far too long, I cleared out my apartment and my head.. and I set out to find myself again. In doing so- I started a Sunday morning ritual that was something I had been wanting to do for a LONG time. I started finding restaurants that I had wanted to try, but had never gotten around to- for whatever reason. So, thus began my Sunday morning breakfast, brunch, lunch excursions. I always thought eating alone in restaurants was depressing. I would look at people eating alone and think, "Man, they must be so sad." Nope. Not sad. Possibly one of the greatest guilty pleasures ever. This isn't to say that I wouldn't rather have a companion to join me, but for now - I am enough.. and I'm fabulous fucking company.  Onto the good stuff- the blog is back!

St. George River Cafe - Warren Maine. 

I didn't set out initially for the St. George River Cafe. I set out for the restaurant at Morse's Sauerkraut. but as I quickly learned upon my arrival, they don't do breakfast on the weekends anymore. They do lunch starting at 10:30 - and have two breakfast items that they serve at that time, but since it was 9am, and I was starving, I loaded up on all the goodies I could in their market, and then got back into my car to decide where I should go instead.  (More on all the fun stuff I bought there at the end of this post.) I decided to head to the St. George River Cafe since it wasn't far from Morse's and I could stop at Beth's Farm Market on my way. (Yep, loaded up on fresh produce and cheese there.. more on that at the end, too.)

Upon entering the St. George River Cafe, I noted that it was really packed- I had a hard time determining what I was supposed to do, as there was no sign indicating if I had to wait to be seated. I headed to the counter and was greeted by a gentleman who helped me decide what I wanted to have for breakfast. I went with Val's Scramble and a coffee. With tip, everything came to $13.38. The gentleman at the counter said they were out of mugs, but that as soon as he had one cleaned, he would bring one over to me.

I took a seat at an empty table, and waited for my coffee. Before I realized it, I'd been sitting there for 35 minutes and didn't have my coffee yet.  It was delivered shortly in a paper to-go cup. I didn't care, at this point it was 10:30 and I hadn't had any coffee yet, and my breakfast wild goose chase had just begun. I was perfectly content, with my coffee and texting my sister on my phone to keep me company. I should have brought my laptop... they do have free wi-fi! The space is really really cute and inviting.. and just as you'd imagine, right on the St. George River. 

Soon, I started to notice that the natives inside the restaurant were getting restless. There was one large table of 8 who hadn't eaten, a table of four, two other two-tops.. and me. (and a few additional tables that filled after I had ordered.) There was one person in the kitchen, and one at the counter- so I knew it was going to be awhile before I got any food. I felt ridiculously bad for the poor guy at the counter who bore the brunt of the complaints. A few tables requested refunds and left. (You pay at the counter when you order) It was clear to me that we had all entered the restaurant at roughly the same exact time. There weren't any children in the restaurant- I have small nieces an nephews, I know that it is difficult to eat in restaurants with long waits when you have children. When they need food. they need food NOW- but there weren't any children in the restaurant today.  Except for one impatient adult who stormed up to the counter and demanded that he should get his Apple Pie with Cheddar IMMEDIATELY - he had been waiting 40 minutes, and said that he could have driven to the grocery store, bought a pie and some cheese, and eaten at home already. I wish I could have hugged the poor guy at the counter, but did find myself endeared to him further when he responded with "You know, you're absolutely right, you could have. But we are a small mom and pop operation, and there are only two of us. I'm happy to refund you, or you can continue to wait, I am sure you'll be happy you did."  And you know what? Grumpy pants adult sat his butt back down in his seat and waited for his food.  And I heard him tell the counter guy before he left that he was glad that he did. My food didn't arrive until I had been in the restaurant for an hour and 40 minutes... but you know what? It was worth every single second.

Pictured above is Val's Scramble - a combination of eggs, feta cheese, spinach, bell peppers, mushrooms pesto and tomatoes. Served with toast, and some sort of delicious berry jam. I'm not sure that I even completely tasted it - I inhaled it, as it was now 11:40, and I left my house in search of breakfast at 8:30 - but I will tell you that it was extremely light, and fresh tasting, and despite the wait, I would ABSOLUTELY go back here again. People, be nice to your service people in restaurants- they want you to enjoy your food. They want you to enjoy your experience. They want you to come back again! They can't control how many people came into the restaurant at once- if they could have done anything differently today, I'd say they could have prepared people coming in that the wait was going to be long. I had no idea when I sat down that I was going to be there for as long as I was, but the food was amazing, so I didn't care.

The haul- at Morse's I grabbed some Sauerkraut, Sour Mustard Pickles, Twice Smoked Kielbasa, Taylor Ham, Olives, Mushroom and Sauerkraut Pirogies, anchovy paste, and a legitimately illegal Kinder Egg. At Beth's, I grabbed fresh eggs, cheddar cheese, parsnips, beets, and potatoes. And I made a bonus stop at Borealis Bread for some Rye and Multigrain bread. There's going to be some good eats this week, friends.  

Hey, if you have any recommendations in the state of Maine where I should eat some breakfast, feel free to comment and I'll add it to my ever growing list! See you next week!