A friend of mine once asked me: what’s the difference between a regular breakfast and a really good breakfast?
The answer: about 5 bucks.
That’s right. For an extra five dollars, you can move from ordinary breakfast to extraordinary. Take that, Law of Diminishing Returns!
The question about good breakfasts came about because of Tupelo Junction. They are more expensive, but oh, the breakfast you will get.
The purist will scoff at the beignets and insist that the real ones only come from Cafe du Monde under half a pound of powdered sugar. Sure, okay. Or…try a variation with creme anglaise with a subtle hint of mint? That’s at Tupelo Junction.
I ordered the wild mushroom, asparagus and truffle scramble. It also came with choice of bread (banana, corn, biscuit and toasted baguette) and a small salad, $13. Very delicious and generously portioned.
Others at the table had the Tupelo equivalent of Eggs Benedict: Dungeness crab cakes with two poached eggs, $16. It was very rich and decadent, and very good. I would have gotten that if I didn’t have this unnatural obsession with truffles right now.
This is the only breakfast menu I’ve seen that offers “Firsts” and “Seconds.” We had a giggle over that and rolled our eyes, but we did order both.
Tupelo Junction
1218 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
www.tupelojunctioncafe.com
A good place for lunch. A bad place for conversation. I’ve been here twice for business, and once for a birthday. On all occasions it was very hard to hold a conversation, and some of those times it wasn’t that crowded.
It’s neat that the staff wear nice jackets and are wonderfully polite. Is this new? The first time I went, our waitress was more of a party girl who kept draping beads on me and my co-workers. Awkward.
I had the crab cakes, which were okay. Accompanying veggies were nicely crisp-tender. An order of beignets went sadly uneaten since we were trying to talk and it’s dangerous to talk with all that powdered sugar flying around.
The lunch menu is perfectly satisfying. Not big, and not small, a respectful portion with an equally respectful price, less than $10.
I’m sure I would have had a better experience if my intent was to party or charm people with my feminine wiles.
Palace Grill
8 East Cota St.
Santa Barbara, Ca 93101
www.palacegrill.com
