Brad’s Breakfast Tour of Boise / March 22, 2015
March Visit – Sunday

Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals. That’s how yesterday, and this entire idea began. Karen ‘s L.A. Junk doesn’t open till noon on Sunday, so we were able to spend a little more time in the little apartment she has decorated and adorned with antiques in a way that makes it home. That’s been the case in all ten homes we’ve shared since merging our families in 1987. No matter where we live, house, townhouse, apartment, she has made each place home. Not that Al the Engineer’s place doesn’t feel like home, but Karen’s gift is so unique. It’s like the house or apartment is the canvas and she’s the artist. Now, on to breakfast!

The third stop on Brad’s Breakfast Tour of Boise was a longtime family favorite, the Trolley House. The Trolley House was originally the end of the line for the Boise Transit System’s street car. 1920 brought the end of the line for the street cars and the building, listed on the National Historic Register, became a restaurant. Our favorite time to have breakfast at the Trolley House is when it’s warm enough to dine outside, but it was a little windy today so we stayed warm inside. Karen reprised her selection from Friday at Bacon Breakfast Bistro, the Trolley House’s biscuits and gravy with a side of VERY crispy bacon.

I ordered a side of the same gravy for my hash browns and loved it. There are big chunks of sausage; I’m guessing it’s chopped up Basque sausage, a specialty at the Trolley House. But the main attraction for me is the Trolley House’s Taco Omelet, stuffed with spicy ground beef, cheddar cheese, tomatoes and sliced jalapeno peppers, topped with rich, tasty Hollandaise sauce.

Part of the attraction for Karen is the drive along Warm Springs Avenue. Some of Boise’s oldest and most historic homes are located in a ¾ mile strip, a few blocks of large, old, beautiful homes, some with old hitching posts at the street, harkening back to Boise’s horse and buggy past. Visits to Boise aren’t complete without a drive along Warm Springs as well as Harrison Boulevard, another street famous for its large, stately, vintage homes. But there are no breakfast restaurants in that neighborhood, so we’ll save that for another time.

 

Keep reading for the previous days of Brad’s tour…

 

Brad’s Breakfast Tour of Boise / March 21, 2015
March Visit – Second Course

Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals. That’s how yesterday, and this entire idea began. So this morning, we found ourselves rushing out of our beautiful Boise home for another stop on Brad’s Breakfast Tour of Boise. To balance our budget after yesterday’s $40 visit to Bacon Breakfast Bistro, we paid a visit to the place that claims the title “Boise’s Best Breakfast.” I’m not sure which poll or popularity contest they won to earn such acclaim, or how recent the award. Whether The Capri is indeed Boise’s best, it IS one of our favorites.

Located in an old no-tell motel, Capri’s fast moving veteran waitresses bark orders into the very efficient kitchen with forcefulness that would make a drill sergeant snap to attention. They hustle the food out to a cross section of Boise that runs the gamut from retirees talking about their next fly fishing expedition to white collar Boiseans speculating on next year’s Bronco football team, to the most bohemian mix of tattooed, pierced and hungry diners. There is no doubt that Capri is fast food – good food served really fast, which was a good thing this morning as I had some work to do before leaving the apartment, and we had a short window before Karen had to open her L.A. Junk Antique Store; in such a hurry that we didn’t wait for one of the tables or booths and sat at the old diner style counter.

For me, it was a toss-up between one of the daily specials scratched on a whiteboard above the window into the kitchen, or my old standby, the dish by which all breakfast places must be judged; I went for the latter, Chicken Fried Steak. We all know the cut of “Steak” used by most restaurants for their chicken-fried goody isn’t exactly the best cut the cow has to offer. I’ve experienced many a chicken fried steak that was tough and gristly. That is NOT the case at Boise’s Capri. The meat is tender and easy to cut, well seasoned, as is the light, crispy breading. Theirs is definitely award winning chicken fried steak. Top it with an egg over easy, their country gravy slathered over the hash browns and it was delightful.

Speaking of the tuber so closely associated with Idaho, I’ve always wondered how hash browns are supposed to be cooked, as there seem to be as many treatments as there are cooks. Many places doctor them up with everything from green onions and peppers to cheese and sour cream. But at The Capri, we’re talking about your basic shredded potatoes spread out and fried. Some places will cook once side to a crispy finish, leaving the uncooked side hot but not crisp. Others flip them over, crisping both top and bottom, with the middle hot but soft. Others seem to mix them all up while cooking, lightly browning the whole batch. At Capri, it’s crispy top and bottom, soft middle, and yummy, perfect for a little salt and pepper and a nice coating of country gravy.

You’ll find that savory artery clogging dressing a common theme when Karen and I dine out for breakfast. While The Capri wins high marks on just about every category, the gravy on Karen’s biscuits and gravy yesterday at Bacon Breakfast Bistro wins hands down, with a richer flavor and more sausage. But we never have breakfast at Capri without their gravy! It’s that good!

One of Karen’s key criteria for breakfast is her favorite, a bacon and cheese omelet. Anytime she orders bacon, whether in an omelet or strips as part of her meal, she always asks for it to be really well done, and she’ll add, “Really Crispy,” to make sure the waitperson understands the gravity of the situation. Unfortunately, that comes as a curse for anyone else having breakfast with Karen. IF they get it right for her, my bacon tends to wind up over-done too, as was the case yesterday at Bacon. In her bacon and cheese omelet today at Capri, it was perfect. Boise’s Capri gets our vote, and at least one breakfast visit every time I’m in Boise.

Brad’s Breakfast Tour of Boise / March 20, 2015
Prologue

Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals. It’s not that breakfast food is my favorite; it would be sushi, Mexican food, frankly, many things that would land farther up the countdown than breakfast food. A 5 Guys hamburger, for instance. That Mortons Prime New York stacked thing with bleu cheese and tomatoes. And Mortons bleu cheese stuffed olives in a really cold Grey Goose Martini. Oh wait, this is about food, breakfast in particular.

See, here’s the thing about breakfast. It’s about scarcity. I’ve been doing morning radio for most of my 40+ years on the air. I don’t eat before I go on the air … unless you call cup after cup of coffee, eating. So for my wife Karen and I, weekends have always been special. Sleeping late and dragging ourselves out to breakfast has become a special part of our relationship. It’s time to talk, to dream, to reminisce, to catch up, and enjoy omelets and bacon and biscuits and gravy, hash browns and lots of coffee. So now that Karen’s L.A. Junk Antique Store keeps her in Boise most of the time and my work at MartiniInTheMorning.com keeps me in Hollyweird, breakfast comes about one weekend a month, so it is a celebration of fried eggy goodness. With that, Brad’s Breakfast Tour of Boise begins.

Spring into Bacon! On the day Spring officially arrives in Boise, Karen and I tried Boise’s Bacon Breakfast Bistro. We were in once before and frankly, didn’t go back for various reasons, among them the price. With a pretty limited menu and breakfast for two at about $40, it’s a splurge. So what lured us back this time? THE BACON! From the “House” Berryhill Bacon that’s comes with my selection, the Berryhill Bacon and eggs, to the side of Maple Rosemary bacon Karen ordered, to the strip of bacon garnish to go with the pepper, olive, carrot and celery making my Bloody Mary nothing if not a healthy morning beverage to rival the fruitiest smoothie. Karen ordered her Bloody Mary with the well vodka, usually quite adequate in a Bloody Mary, but I had to try Bakon vodka from Seattle’s Black Rock Spirits. Someone brought a bottle to the station and by itself, it was a little much. In a Bloody Mary … YUM! Then restaurant rimmed the glasses with their own salt, pepper and bacon crumble concoction that was too good not to lick off the rim, much to Karen’s disgust.

It’s an interesting menu filled with things like the Scramble Burrito with cheesy steamed eggs, salsa fresca, roasted potatoes and Berryhill bacon wrapped in a flour tortilla. There’s the Egg Whites Mediterranean Bake, one of several items for those trying to lead life without gluten, and Karen’s choice today, House Made Big Biscuit & Sausage Gravy. The biscuit was big and light, the sausage gravy rich with plenty of fabulous chunks and bits of sausage. Thank goodness she shared!

At the end of the day, it’s the bacon that will keep me coming back. According to the bacon menu posted on the wall, there are 9 varieties of bacon, all of them displayed in what looks like a refrigerated meat market or deli counter. I think next time, it’ll be an order of Berryhill Bacon (probably not the “Chocolate Bacon …” not big on mixing sweet and salty flavors), and their fabulous Bloody Mary. Karen wondered if they would sell bacon for breakfast on the balcony overlooking Boise’s Silver Lake. According to the bacon menu, the answer is yes, for $18.75 a pound. While breakfast and the balcony, the lake and that delicious bacon is tempting, the overall look, feel, taste and smell of Boise’s Bacon Breakfast Bistro, and not having to clean up the kitchen, will bring is back to Bacon.