bike ride three mile radius

There's a new brunch place I found boasting amazing beignets; a French Soul food cafe called Brenda's. Jersey and I rode our bikes to Polk and Eddy to check it out. I am always curious of places that label themselves Soul food. Growing up in the South and moving to California makes you suspicious of these eateries. I always complain the corn bread is too dry, the fried chicken is too greasy, the iced tea isn't sweet.



The wait was kinda long, 30 minutes to sit, it's a tiny place with just Brenda cooking. We ordered chocolate beignets, eggs bene (such a guy's brunch), Adouille and Cheddar Omelette.



I love the watermelon iced tea. It was sweeten perfectly and had a refreshing touch of Thai basil.



The food was really good, but the biscuit was divine! It had that wonderful pie crust crunch on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside. The homemade strawberry jam was too perfect. It wasn't overtly sweet and had a smooth texture.



We rode our bikes up Market after we ate to check out some stores. First, we stopped in Rare Device. They have a store in Brooklyn that carried pretty cool books, art, and jewelry. They opened this one last year.



A random mural outside on the construction area.



Down the way is DLX, a skateboard shop I used to hang out at when I was younger. I prefer FTC as I got older. Next door is Get Lost Books. A bookstore dedicated to traveling. I know there is a Borders that's closer, but whenever I travel out of the country I always trek up to Get Lost for my traveling needs. The staff is friendly, well traveled and always gives advice when you need it.



Jersey wanted to stop in Al's Comics.



Afterwards, we went to Grooves Inspiralled Vinyl. I've passed this record shop for over a decade never going inside. I don't know why. Maybe I wasn't ready for it, but today I felt like it was long overdue. A guy was walking in the same time I was and it turned to be an old friend of mine when I was a young street urchin skateboarding around San Francisco. He works at Grooves! I love happy coincidences.



We ended our Market Street biking at Flax. I needed a new watercolor set and Jersey needed a new architect book. By the way, I used to steal pencils and charcoals from this store when I was that street urchin.



We got home from riding around and I made a Mango Lassi dessert. Here is the recipe:

1 mango peeled and cut into cubes (remember to compost your seed and skin)
1 cup of low fat plain yogurt
1tbs of honey
1/3 cup of whipping cream

Throw all of this in a blender and puree! The whipping cream makes the Lassi more fluffier like a mousse.