South Park residents will soon have a quaint Chinese cafe to add to the small list of cheap dining options. Uncle John’s Cafe is taking over the old Mother Road spot in the Stillwater Hotel at 9th and Grand. Mother Road closed just as quietly as it opened. Yelpers, foodies, and bloggers all deemed it just OK. We went once, and nothing about it was memorable, other than the overpriced hand written wine list. In comes Uncle John to the rescue.

Uncle John’s Ham “N” Eggs has been serving Chinese and American grub to downtown blue collar workers and residents for years at its current location on 8th and Olive. The new cafe will serve the same Chinese dishes like their Spicy Pork Chops loaded with jalapeno peppers and green onions, a sweet Chasu (BBQ Pork), Chow Mein and Kung Pao Shrimp, along with the standard American fair like hotcakes, omelets, burgers, BLT’s, and patty melts. The plan is to serve breakfast and lunch Monday through Saturday, and eventually offer dinner Wednesday through Saturday nights. Finally, a place in South Park to grab some good Chinese. Look for it in early May.

Uncle John's modest kitchen kicks out tasty Chinese and American dishes.

The Spicy Pork Chops, fried to a perfect crispy brown and loaded with jalapeno and green onions, eggs over easy, and fresh hash brown potatoes.

Sweet Chasu BBQ Pork with eggs and potatoes makes the perfect Chinese/American pairing.

Uncle John's Cafe, located in the Stillwater Hotel, is just a few weeks out from opening.

Two magical things have come together at the Bazaar, Brunch and Jose Andres. Beginning April 11 brunch will be served on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-3pm, with High Tea being served Friday through Sunday from 3pm-5pm. To make reservations call 310-246-5555. Requests for a brunch menu have gone unanswered. But I imagine it’s got to be good.

If you’re looking for a nice brunch place for this Valentine weekend, look no further than Comme Ca in West Hollywood. Their French twist on the American Brunch is fantastic. Steak tartare, a wonderful Comme Ca burger, Croque Monsieur, Pork Belly Baguette, Eggs Benedict, Quiche, cheese plates, and so much more (full menu below). Hair of the dog cockatils include champagne, a carafe of wine, or choose from one of their specialty drinks like the El Diablo or East Side Cocktail. Or, S’il vous plaît, sip on some delicious Intelligentsia coffee with desserts from Boule. Bon appetite!

The Pain Perdu, creme brulee french toast.

The Prosciutto and Brie Baguette

The delectable Comme Ca Burger

Comme Ca brunch menu, click for a larger version

When was the last time you walked into a restaurant for brunch, starving from the long night of drunkorexia, and pined over a list of tasty looking appetizers? Probably never, well, because breakfast is primarily just a single course meal. Sure you may get toast with your eggs, or order a side of bacon with your flapjacks, but breakfast appetizers are about as popular as an egg and bacon soufflé at a taco truck at 2am.

Jar has popovers, Grub has a bowl of dry cereal that’s plopped down at your table before you order, some places offer breakfast scones, but that’s about it. I love breakfast, so why not enjoy a few small bites of bacon, potato and sausage goodies before the main course? So this past weekend, I set out to make a few of my own.

The first appetizer I took a stab at was just an idea I had floating around in my head. Mini crepes with crab and herb scrambled eggs, finished with a spear of asparagus (recipe at bottom). I found some Russian Blini at Surfas. They resembled crepes, and since they were pre-made for me, and I had lots of cooking to do, they were the perfect stand in. I used a can of crab meat from Trader Joes, some fresh basil and rosemary from the garden mixed in with the scrambled eggs. I cut the asparagus in half and then blanched them in some boiling water. They turned out great, but were sort of hard to grab and eat with your fingers without the egg falling out.

Next on my list was a recipe that I stumbled on while on Chowhound. They are called Potato Bites, they reminded me of large potato knishes, but made in a muffin tin. I struggled with the poorly written directions a bit, and my food processor turned the potatoes into a grey mush, just as someone else had commented on. They turned out mushy on the inside but crisp and brown on the outside. I recommend dicing the potatoes by hand instead of putting them through the food processor, or perhaps pulsing a few potatoes at a time to avoid the mush factor.

I started on the Fresh Berry Tart next from Rouxbe, and quickly realized I should have started these first, as they were a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. I used some puff pastry shell that I got at Surfas Café instead of the making the Pate Sucree Dough provided in the recipe. Maybe one of the reasons why they puffed up as much as they did while baking (plus I was lacking the dried baking beans and pie weights). The dough and custard require additional refrigeration time, so that’s why I suggest you start the tarts first to get them out of the way. But once assembled with the custard, fresh cut fruit and apricot glaze, they looked and tasted delicious, and made a nice little final course for our breakfast appetizers.

Finally, and probably the winner of the apps, was the Sausage with Puff Pastry that I got from B&B Online. The site provide recipes from Bed and Breakfast locations around the US. This dish was very comforting, and I could imagine snacking on these with a cup of coffee and a newspaper on a porch at a B&B up in Napa before a day of wine tasting. Simply brown the sausage, peel and chop an apple, add in 2 scrambled eggs, herb stuffing, green onions and mushrooms then wrap in a puff pastry. Very simple to make.

When it came down to it, it was lots of cooking for just a few bites. But I enjoyed having a taste of several different small breakfast goodies as opposed to having a heavy plate of just pancakes. I doubt I’ll be walking into a restaurant anytime soon and ordering any appetizers for breakfast, but in case you do, you heard it here first. Tip: the mimosas with a floater of Grand Marnier helped pass the time while cooking.

Crab and fresh herb mini crepes with asparagus

1 package of Russian Blini
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh basil (chopped)
2 eggs, scrambled
5 (approximately) asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the crepes in the package according to instructions. Scramble two eggs, add the chopped fresh herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Open and drain the crab meat, add as much or as little of the crab meat to the eggs as you want. Cut the asparagus in halves lengthwise and blanch in a pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Drain and set aside. Open the package of crepes and overlap 2 of the crepes slightly and add the crab and egg mixture over the crepes. Finish off with a couple of asparagus spears and serve immediately.

Betty Fraser, the Top Chef that people either loved, or loved to hate. Her and Denise DeCarlo’s hidden breakfast and lunch spot is tucked away amongst film studios and post-production houses. I knew Grub existed, but I had yet to try it out. Voted over and over on Citysearch in the top ten of breakfast spots in LA, I figured it was time to check it out. Situated in an old 1930’s bungalow, it was originally meant to be the home of their catering business, but they soon opened it up to the local neighbors and studio workers as they realized the desire for a local lunch spot.

The restaurant is quirky, with a pleasant outdoor patio and inside dining room. A very loud and warm inside dining room. Note to self, wait for a patio seat next time. The food, which has been deemed California Comfort food by it’s creators, was pleasant, fresh and comforting, but they won’t be winning any awards for presentation anytime soon. The Egg Sandwich, with fried or scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese on toasted croissant (overly so) with a delicious dill butter. The Friggin’ Amazin’ French Toast comes with your choice of croissant or raisin bread coated with cinnamon vanilla mix and cooked to golden brown served with maple syrup, pecans, raspberry butter and fresh fruit.

The service is skewd towards the sassy, with the loud dining room, I would say it’s right on par with Fraser’s personality that you saw on Top Chef. And for some reason we weren’t offered their signature bowl of sugary cereal to munch on while we were waiting for our food. Which took a while to come out and would have been a nice snack to enjoy with our coffee. And it’s good coffee, for $2.95, if they offer you a refill, my advice is you take it. They may not be back to refill it for a while. They are open Sun-Sat, with breakfast served on the weekends and lunch during the week. Oh and the 2 bedroom apartment above the restaurant is available for $2600 a month and includes $100 a month in spending cash at Grub!