Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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May 25, 2012 By cheryl

Mama's (San Francisco): Eggs Worth The Odyssey

I have been called “the world’s most easily bored person.” By someone who knows me well, too. (And yes, despite such insensitive name-calling, we remain married.)

And so there are very few meals for which I would happily line up more than an hour — if I’m going to subject myself to all that boredom, the food had better be nothing short of earth-shattering.

In San Francisco, the one place that commands a wait of at least 90 minutes on most days and still has my devotion is a little corner restaurant on Washington Square Park called Mama’s …

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, California, Restaurants, Tales From the Road Tagged With: Bacon, Breakfast, Brunch, California, Californian, Eggs, French toast, Mama's, North Beach, Omelette, Restaurant, San Francisco, Washington Square Park

June 22, 2009 By cheryl

Mont-Saint-Michel: One Ancient Omelette


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We had heard about The Omelette, of course.

About how Annette Boutiaut, a late-19th Century innkeeper in Mont-Saint-Michel, had begun keeping eggs in store to whip together quick omelettes for hungry guests waiting for their dinner. We knew it was a key component of the town’s history — one that has thrived over the decades as a big tourist trap draw. 

Even so, as we approached Mont-Saint-Michel and marveled at its imposing medieval abbey on a mount rising from the water and towering over a vast expanse of grayish blue, it seemed like there should be more. 

If this grande dame of a town had to have a gastronomic one-trick pony, shouldn’t it be something more than a trifling breakfast dish masqeurading as dinner?

But there it was in every restaurant — most notably as the main course on a 55 Euro set menu at La Mère Poulard, where Annette’s omelettes first appeared. 

What could possibly be so special about a bunch of beaten eggs fried in a pan?

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Filed Under: Breakfast, France, Restaurants, Tales From the Road Tagged With: Annette Boutiaut, Brittany, La Mère Poulard, Le Mouton Blanc, Mont Saint Michel, Omelette, Souffle

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