After my requisite cup of hot, commercial, fresh coffee, served in a Cracked Egg mug, I downed a tumbler of what the menu calls "fresh squeezed grapefruit juice." If you're seeking one of those pulpy juices served at, for instance, Original Pancake House, this isn't it. But it does taste fresh. Next I tried El Vaquero, a huge three-egg omelet folded around chorizo, green chile, salsa and cheese, topped with sour cream, and it was just about perfect. The biscuits and gravy, a real truck-stop dish, were impressive, too, mainly because of the smooth, delicious gravy.
The Classic: Butter |
Rich and salty and sweet and slathered on anything, butter is God's way of reminding us that the reason to live is unrelated to moderation. The reason to live is dripping-wet excess. A little butter can make any food 22 percent better; a lot of butter pushes it over the halfway mark. Licking butter from one's fingers makes any given day 30 percent better, and when butter is practiced as a philosophy—indulgence and sensuality atop down-home friendliness—it makes a life 260 percent better by age 50, after which a butter-lover is unlikely go on living, but sudden death will punctuate a life well-lived. Butter makes all sorts of crappy foods edible: Steamed broccoli cannot slide down the throat without it. Whitefish without butter makes sense only if you are adrift in the Pacific. And butter makes mediocre foods noteworthy: Baked potatoes, otherwise pockmarked globs of foof, become foil-wrapped bundles of joy. At the Minnesota State Fair, there's a Butter Princess competition. Artists take foot-high chunks of cold butter and carve the likenesses of young beauties into them. That's a food! I challenge you to name a food so diverse in its offerings. Butter can be used as a salve for minor burns and a grease for pans, and it aids in slipping one's rings off. It smells divine and sells troughs of stale movie popcorn and is both the starting ingredient and the garnish for many a food. I had lunch with a friend the other day, and on the side of my omelet was a bagel and three pats of butter. I had just finished doing yoga. I could have foregone the butter in favor of a dollop of jelly or light cream cheese or consistency with my ascetic morning. Instead, I covered my bagel in butter, watching it seep into the toasted tops and drip over the edges onto the plate. For this I make no excuses. Stacy J. Willis |
Naturally, there are huevos rancheros, an open-faced tortilla smeared with refried beans onto which eggs, jalapenos and salsa are heaped. This is one of the world's great breakfast dishes, and this version has nothing to be ashamed of. From the griddle, there are pancakes, waffles and a few creative types of French toast. There's even a Monte Cristo, a retro sandwich currently undergoing a revival. It's turkey, ham and Swiss cheese on white bread, dipped in French toast batter and deep-fried.
I liked my multigrain pancakes, which had a fluffy texture and the faint perfume of spice and oats, and also the orange-pecan French toast, although it could have used a little more pecans and a lot more orange. Like most breakfast joints in town, The Cracked Egg does not serve real maple syrup. "I offered it at extra charge," Altreche told me, "and no one ordered it."
After 11 or so, the crowd turns to lunch.
The homemade soups are terrific, especially the rich, creamy potato Parmesan and the tortilla soup, full of chicken, cheese, chunked tomato and crunchy tortilla strips.
The salads aren't terribly creative, but they're dependable. (I'd like the Hail Caesar more if I could taste anchovy in the dressing, and the Cobb with more bacon and avocado.) The rest of the menu is composed of burgers and sandwiches. My choice among burgers is the patty melt, a big, meaty burger between two slices of rye, lined with Swiss cheese and grilled onion.
The House Original, a mammoth conceit of roast beef, cream cheese, red onion, tomato and lettuce on horseradish-smeared sourdough, is just too much. But the Philly, a classic cheesesteak, is just fine, thanks. And there's a nice egg salad on wheat bread.
Altreche is constantly tweaking her menu—she recently added a Kobe beef burger, for example. Let me further suggest some Nueske's bacon from Wisconsin and a few fancy coffee drinks. There can never be enough good breakfast places.