The Cantina

On a warm summer's day I dropped into The Cantina for lunch, and a few days later found myself there for brunch with family.  The Cantina was a long lived restaurant in Mill Valley that left for a bit, replaced by Maria Maria, then it came back with some reinvention.

 

Chips and salsa arrived soon after I sat down, and I found that the chips are gluten free and made fresh every day on premises.

 

I enjoyed an old favorite, and found a new twist.  This arroz con pollo had a pounded chicken breast atop Mexican rice.  Along with the ranchero sauce, there were chunky pieces of red and green bell peppers and onions.  Usually I've had this dish where the chicken was served over the rice in tenders, and not with such fresh and colorful peppers and sweet onion as toppings. Also my experience of this dish at other places is without the corn cake, refried beans and green lettuce.  This dish shined.  The only thing I would have changed is to have some kind of dressing or topping for the plain, yet crisp and fresh lettuce.

 

A second trip for brunch found me irresistibly drawn to the crab omelet. The omelet was accompanied by soft potatoes, sour cream and pico de gallo. I was happy with this dish.  The crab was very smooth and paired well with the egg envelope.

The latest food inspection reports can be found here.

The Cantina
651 E Blithedale Ave.
Mill Valley, CA 94941
(415) 381-1070

For directions, try Anna's Map.

Lovely brunch

I was treated to brunch at Piazza d'Angelo in Mill Valley by some good friends one recent Sunday. We had a peaceful corner to ourselves (once the music from a speaker directly overhead was turned down). There were quite a number of delicious-sounding menu items, but we managed to choose.

Michael and I both chose the Wild Mushroom Frittata. We were being particularly precise about our opinions on the frittata. Michael thought it was a bit thin and overcooked, it could have been made a little fluffier for his taste. Personally, I was looking for the mushrooms. It didn't contain many to carry the moniker "Wild Mushroom Frittata". I thought the addition of the potatoes on the top was particularly decorative.

Michael's wife ordered the Pan Fried Trout. It looked luscious! She loved it, and we decided it was the best dish at the table.

Their older daughter was in the mood for veggies, so ordered a Grilled Vegetable Platter. She asked the waiter for some Parmesan and made quite a tasty and healthy dish for herself.

The younger one thought the Omelette Campagnolo sounded good with its filling of onion, mushrooms, bell peppers, fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese. She asked them to leave out the mushrooms, however it was served with mushrooms when it came. Our waiter was new to the restaurant so was still getting used to things. She just removed them and was ok about it.

Since it was a bit of an occasion we shared a couple of desserts. The first was a feather-light yet creamy Tiramisu. The chocolate shavings on the top gave it an extra air of festivity, and of course we chocolate lovers dove in!

The other dessert was an open pastry puff with pineapple flavored cream. There were small chunks of pineapple in the filling. It was light and sweetly satisfying. I was having difficulty with getting a good shot of this without shadows, so Michael took the photo on my camera from a different angle. Although there were some glitches in our service, having been here many times it was definitely the exception and I would not hesitate to come here again for delicious Italian food.

Restaurant Inspection Results

Critical: 1

Noncritical: 1

Last inspected: 7/21/2008

Previously reviewed:
November 7, 2007
April 27, 2007

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A tasty reunion

My friend Paul dropped in for a quick visit from Portland, so we had to enjoy one of his favorite places for brunch on Sunday last. And that was Comforts in San Anselmo. Paul was generally dismayed at the lack of Sunday crowds everywhere we went in Marin, however Comforts was bustling. We didn't have to wait for a seat luckily.

I had to try the Gulf Shrimp Foo Young over Jasmine rice with a scone. The Gulf Shrimp Foo Young sounded so exotic! It is served frittata-style with shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, celery and a light soy-oyster sauce. It was tender and lovely taste-bud stirrer to open the day to adventure. It also had some fresh pineapple and honeydew on the side.

Paul felt like something simpler - Applewood Smoked Bacon and Eggs. He was drawn to the bacon immediately when reading the menu. He had his eggs cooked hard and also had the jasmine rice and some sourdough toast. He enjoyed his dish as well. The service was friendly and prompt and we were made to feel right at home, comfortably!

Restaurant Inspection Results

Critical: 4
Noncritical: 0
Last inspected: 10/6/2008

Previously reviewed:
November 29, 2007
October 21, 2006

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Cute new spot in Sausalito

Dad and I got over to Cibo in Sausalito the other day for lunch, which I turned into brunch. It's a simple yet very elegant and pleasant place. It's great to see a new restaurant with all the closings in the past few months.

The freshly made lemonade with fresh mint in it in a large glass container on the counter looked SO good we had to have it. It was very refreshing.

Dad wanted a panini, so he ordered one stuffed with prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and pesto spread.

I went the brunch route and had their French Toast. Wow. I usually don't like thick French toast where it has been soaked all the way through, but this was quite the exception. It could even convert me to this style when executed so well. The interior of the French bread was the perfect texture, like a soft custard. The fruit that garnished it was a peak of flavor and the whole dish was fabulous. Cibo is only open for breakfast and lunch. I have a feeling this new restaurant will be a keeper here in Sausalito.

Restaurant Inspection Results
This one is so new, it's not listed. If you want to check on it, go to the County's main search page at: http://marin.ca.gegov.com/marin/search.cfm.

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Early Father's Day brunch

Holidays such as those honoring our parents seem to fill up the restaurants with noisy hordes. My father is uncomfortable around noisy hordes since at 88 he has trouble hearing and trying to make sense of all the inputs around him. So it seemed the perfect solution to celebrate Father's Day a bit early. So we tried Il Fornaio's Sunday brunch in Corte Madera yesterday. And it was the right thing. Besides the food, Dad loved the friendliness of Alberto our waiter, not feeling rushed and of course, being able to carry on a good conversation.

We were delighted to see freshly squeezed juices on the menu. Dad enjoyed his small fresh orange juice.

While I was ecstatic over the taste of freshly squeezed grape juice. It bears no resemblance of the purple stuff in the store. It reminded me of my Uncle Jim and Aunt Dorothy's ranch where they grew grapes, and squeezed them fresh for juice in the morning as a special treat. I would come back just for this.

Dad was in the mood for Pancakes with pure New England Maple Syrup, and noted how good these fresh Italian flapjacks are.

I had a special Eggs Benedict - sauteed spinach, poached eggs and fresh crab cakes on filone bread with lobster cream sauce and parmesan; served with potatoes and caramelized onions.

I was impressed that the waiter inquired how done I'd like my eggs. I chose medium. I loved my breakfast. It all melded together and just burst with flavor. I was so impressed with how beautiful the eggs looked, I had to take a close up. The cantaloupe and strawberries were was at their peak and the fruit was a nice finishing touch. Dad enjoyed his early Father's Day all the way through, and Alberto was so kind and thoughtful to my father which also added to his delight with the outing. This is a wonderful place to treat anyone.

Restaurant Inspection Results
Critical: 0
Noncritical: 2
Last inspected: 4/24/2009

Previously reviewed:
December 3, 2008
December 21, 2006

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Good for you, good for the earth

Last time I was near San Francisco's Mission district, I stopped by the Universal Cafe for brunch. It was very busy, and seems to have a lot of fans. The staff was friendly even while the place was slammed. The restaurant emphasized local and organic, so I felt right at home. I also noted that the silverware was actually silver, a nice touch.

I enjoyed soft scrambled eggs with new-crop local asparagus and ricotta, toast and mixed greens. It was perfectly prepared, soft yet cooked and the salad was very fresh tasting as well. It would be remiss not to mention that the bread was uncommonly good too. The menu stated that "most of our products come from environmentally sustainable farms and ranches" which is also attractive to a lot of locals. I would definitely recommend this place if you are prepared for a bit of noise due to the popularity.

Historical Place

Although we didn't choose breakfasty food for brunch one Sunday at Rancho Nicasio, Dad and I did in fact visit and enjoy a leisurely Sunday brunch in historic Nicasio.

Rancho Nicasio was built in 1941 in the place of a hotel which burned down. The interior definitely had an old-time country feel to it although the music playing was vintage 70s.

I thought the Dungeness Crab Burger sounded interesting. I was so shocked at the appearance when it came, I thought the waiter had made a mistake and brought a hamburger! It was so dark! He said it was no mistake. A blackened crabcake? The dark part overpowered the taste of the mild dungeness crab. However it was mostly crab rather than filler so that was a plus. The fries were greasy and rather limp.

A bit after my Dungeness Crab Burger arrived, the waiter brought over a plastic cup of cole slaw, making me wonder whether he was kind and giving me a bonus, or this was something that was supposed to come with the burger.

Dad ordered a simple grilled Ham & Swiss cheese sandwich which came with potato chips. He was pleased. Looking at the website menu, I see that this was supposed to come with cole slaw. Hmm... I wonder if the waiter gave me the cole slaw that was meant for Dad?

I wasn't terribly impressed with the speed of service, however the waiter was quite friendly. I asked him about the music scene there and he directed me to take a peek at the larger room with stage. I have friends who have waxed quite enthusiastic about the music events here, so I'm thinking the charm of this place lies in its being out of the normal hectic time and space of the more urban Marin, and the atmosphere of people coming together to enjoy music, rather than a strict draw of the food. The 'feel' of the room certainly added to that impression as I could almost feel the echos of good times here.

Restaurant Inspection Results
Critical: 1
Noncritical: 0
Last inspected: 9/22/2008

Marin Breakfasts. The photo above was taken this morning in north Sausalito. It was a little misty and cool, and seemed to represent to me mornings here in Marin County and nice walks around Richardson Bay after a warm breakfast.

I became interested in finding breakfast places a couple years ago when it was the one joy I could bring my father during the course of his cancer treatments. He loves new things, and it was a little treat to find somewhere new each day after he finished with the hospital.

After going through the usual, I had a hard time finding where breakfasts were served in Marin. I've continued to look, and not found a good source for lists of breakfast places in Marin County, so I thought I'd share my list, which is not all-inclusive (yet), but has enough places so that you won't go hungry! Breakfast is a very important meal! For interesting information on breakfasts around the world, Wikipedia has a great round-up.

There are a couple places I checked where I expected to find a reasonable list of breakfast places for Marin County, but didn't. The first is the Marin IJ's "Bon Appetit", where you can search by town or cuisine, but breakfast isn't an option, and it's a paid advertising service, so the entries are actually rather sparse. I also looked in the San Francisco Chronicle's search in their Food and Dining Section. In the past it would come up with about two choices for all of Marin County, but today, using advanced search, keyword search, etc. it yields no breakfast or even brunch results for Marin County. I thought Yelp would be helpful, but when I run a search for 'breakfast' and 'Mill Valley', you have to scroll to the middle of the second page before the results leave San Francisco and give you an actual Mill Valley or even Marin result.

Also, my definition for a 'breakfast' place is that they open before 9 a.m. on a weekday and have at least one protein choice on the menu (no American-style continental breakfasts count). Those restaurants who choose to open only on weekends or a weekend day for brunch are really not breakfast places in my mind, but I list them separately as they usually do a bit more upscale and interesting things on the weekends and make a nice round out to the week.

I welcome your comments to point me to other places for breakfast in Marin or your experiences with any of these.

Since there seems to be no other breakfast reference for Marin on the web yet, I'm going to add a legend to my side bar and indicate with a * after restaurant links if breakfast is served there, and ** for weekend brunch only places (some brunch only places only serve one of the weekend days, so you should check before showing up).

Places I've been for breakfast

Corte Madera
Corte Madera Cafe

Fairfax
Koffee Klatch

Greenbrae
Cafe Z

Mill Valley
Caffe Oggi
Dipsea
Mama's Royal Cafe
Mill Valley Coffee Shop
Rain Tree Cafe

Kentfield
Half Day Cafe

Sausalito
Bayside Cafe
Bridgeway Cafe
Caffe Divino Sidewalk Cafe
Caffe Trieste
Lighthouse Cafe
Poggio

Tiburon
New Morning Cafe
Sweden House Bakery & Cafe

San Anselmo
Comforts Cafe

San Rafael
Lighthouse Diner

Places yet to go for breakfast

Bolinas
Coast Cafe - Brunch only

Fairfax
Cafe Amsterdam - Brunch only

Larkspur
Left Bank - Brunch only
Tabla Cafe - Brunch only
Ward Street Cafe

Mill Valley
Buckeye Roadhouse - Brunch only
Champagne French Bakery Cafe
Shoreline Coffee Shop
Small Shed Flatbreads - Brunch only
Toast Cafe

Olema
Olema Farm House - Brunch only

Pt. Reyes
Station House Cafe (domain expired 11/9/06 but will probably come back to life)

San Rafael
Flying Pig Diner
Seafood Peddler - Brunch only
The Crepevine
Le Croissant
Theresa & Johnny's Comfort Food

Stinson Beach
Parkside Cafe