Utopia
Cafe
3320
SE Belmont St., 235-7606
Open for breakfast Mondays-Fridays 7 am-noon, Saturdays-Sundays
7:30 am-2 pm.
Kids welcome. All credit cards. Inexpensive.
Best
Bets: homemade brioche, rice served with raisins, hazelnuts,
and brown sugar and Baja scramble.
Cricket
Cafe
Southeast 32nd Avenue and Belmont Street, 235-9348
Open for breakfast Mondays-Thursdays 7 am-3 pm, Fridays
7 am-9 pm,
Saturdays 8 am-9 pm, Sundays 8 am-3 pm.
Kids welcome. All credit cards. Inexpensive.
Best
Bets: breakfast burrito, omelettes and granola.
You won't overhear major Internet deals during breakfast
at either Cricket Cafe or Utopia Cafe, nor will you detect
even a whisper about high-tech IPOs. Only powerless breakfasts
are served at either of these quintessential Portland neighborhood
spots, where every happy cliché about lumberjack
shirts and jeans is spot-on, and it's easy to fribble away
a leisurely morning while the world passes you by and you
face its busyness with complete indifference. Only a couple
of blocks from one another, these two casual spots are just
different enough to make it worthwhile to pay each a visit
the next time you're in the vicinity. I wouldn't urge undertaking
a serious cross-town trek, but there are simple, understated
rewards for an unharried eye-opener at either spot.
The better of the two is Utopia Cafe. Essentially a single,
spacious room with brick walls and wood floors, it features
a pleasant counter where you order coffee drinks from a
huge board. High tables and chairs up front, nice for solo
sipping, and soft jazz or classical music playing all day
complete the scene. Utopia lacks only racks of newspapers
to recall European cafes. At first you can't be certain
it's a place for breakfast, rather than just another coffee
house. But one of the very best examples of French toast
in town comes out of its simple kitchen. Produced from homemade
brioche, this version of the dish is, in fact, as good as
it gets. Brioche is a light yeast bread with lots of butter
and eggs, so it's incredibly rich long before you slather
butter and pour deep-amber maple syrup on it. The slabs
are thick and spongy, never doughy, and have that bouncy
feel that marks well-crafted brioche, while the syrup is
wonderfully warm, perfect for morning comfort. The pancakes
are decent, though not so interesting as the French toast.
Utopia offers a breakfast dish I have never seen before,
and it strikes a very satisfying note: hot wild rice. Let
the Chinese have their morning congee--a gruel of
boiled rice and water--this version of cereal will evoke
Minnesota lakes and Native American delicacies. The rice
is a mix of long gray and black grains, and it's thoughtfully
served with raisins, hazelnuts and brown sugar. Our waitress
asked if we wanted skim milk, but we resisted the temptation
of zealous health. Half-and-half is the only way to go,
and even that's a concession: next time, whipping cream.
The combination is luscious and sweet, and I look forward
to it again when the chilling rains come down.
There are no omelettes but rather a series of scrambles.
I recommend the "Baja," which is something like huevos rancheros,
with the appropriate addition of chorizo. Utopia nicely
undercooks it, but you might request an even runnier style,
which keeps the eggs, avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro and
salsa all nicely blended. The accompanying roasted potatoes
are perfectly executed, with a nice crust on them.
Utopia has the usual casual breakfast options, including
oatmeal, seasonal fruit with yogurt and eggs any style.
Most of the regulars seem content just to nurse their coffee
drinks, but it's a charming, quiet spot for a breakfast
and a tête-à-tête.
There's no doubt that Cricket Cafe
is a restaurant, with its several rooms on two levels, funky
art on the walls (recently, a show of rather good kids'
work), concrete floor, a scattering of picnic tables on
the sidewalk and a staff that's decidedly pleasant but hovering
somewhere between nonchalant and aimless. When I asked a
server how the "Cricket breakfast biscuit sandwich" was
made, he admitted he hadn't a clue; when I asked whether
the cook might inform him, he replied that the cook couldn't
tell him because the cook hadn't invented it. When I suggested
that perhaps the cook just might be capable of illuminating
us since he was indeed concocting the thing, a light went
on.
On another occasion, I ordered breakfast, waited at least
15 minutes before my coffee arrived and, when I inquired
about the delay, was told that breakfast would take at least
an hour because the chef had quit. "When?" I asked. "Yesterday,"
he replied.
That said, when things go well you can get a fine breakfast
here. There's a nice feature where you can design your own
omelette with as many choices as many pizza parlors offer.
If you so desire, Cricket Cafe will put together an omelette
of Canadian bacon, feta and zucchini. Scrambles must be
dear to the hearts of the Belmontese, for they appear here
too, hearty and quite tasty; they're served up in a kind
of bowl brimming over with ingredients. You can really fill
up at Cricket Cafe, especially with a breakfast burrito
laden with cheese, scrambled eggs, salsa and sour cream.
I was tempted by biscuits and gravy, having twilight memories
of such fare during an ancient drive through the deep South,
but I'd warn you away from it. The biscuits were doughy,
and the creamy gravy was a tad gloppy and didn't evoke magnolias,
live oak trees or kudzu; the listed ingredient "mush" ought
to have alerted me.
Still, the omelettes are a draw, the granola is excellent,
and the oatmeal interestingly and tastily comes with sundried
cherries. Best of all, you can sit by the windows with the
morning paper and linger out your life in flannel coziness.
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Willamette Week | originally
published September 8,
1999
|
