Sunday, October 16, 2011

Brunch of the Gods

I'm a pumpkin patch snob. I can't just go to one of those lame pumpkin stands on the side of the in town.    The idea of just picking up a pumpkin at the grocery store is sacrilege. I feel the same way about those pumpkins outside of Safeway in the giant cardboard boxes as I do about grocery store sneakers. They're just not right.

So, today was pumpkin day, the day every year where I drag some unwitting soul to the pumpkin patch, where they're forced to follow me around with a wagon for 4 hours until I find the perfect pumpkin. Being a snob, despite the fact that I've moved away from Santa Cruz, I still needed to go to my favorite Ocean-side patch.  Rodoni Farms has a HUGE pumpkin patch on the side of Highway 1 just north of Santa Cruz, CA.  Gorgeous. Pumpkins with an ocean view. So, off to Santa Cruz we went.
Mike's Mess @ Zachary's Santa Cruz

Luckily, Raed and I were awake before 9 AM. So, before we hit up the pumpkins we had time to hit one of the best brunch joints I've ever been to in my life, Zachary's.  When I lived in Santa Cruz, I used to go there every weekend... sometimes twice.  Amazing breakfasts. Insane lunches.  The best burger you've ever had. Great coffee. A different homemade salsa/coffee cake/fruit pancake/chili special every day. Line of people outside that barely lets up before they close at 2:30 PM. This place is beyond memorable.  Even the oatmeal is an experience.
Tuna Melt of the Gods.

Having not been to Zachary's in some time, after having been in a hot war over the Foursquare mayorship, I had to order the signature dish of the place: Mike's Mess.  It's basically a frittata on steroids.  Eggs, their AMAZING home fries, bacon, onion, mushrooms, topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions and tomatoes.  I always order the fresh salsa of the day on the side and always with their oat bread.  It really is an amazing dish.  I don't know how they do it... but it doesn't matter if tomatoes are in season or not... they will have the reddest, most perfect tomatoes of all time on top of this thing.  I consider this proof that they are using powerful magics.

Raed had their tuna melt.  He loves tuna sandwiches, and I've had the tuna melt at Zachary's plenty of times. Crazy good. Why? It's just a tuna melt! But it's so good.  Made on their dark oat bread with melted swiss and very thinly sliced red onions. The tuna salad itself it just a trip.  Huge chunks of tuna. It's almost smokey in flavor.  Outlandishly amazing.

...I honestly cry for lack of this place every weekend.




1 comment:

  1. I used to live in Santa Cruz too! But I've got a decade on you age wise. Zachary's was the shizz back then too.

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