Beats for Birthday Brunch at Thee Parkside
I like to celebrate my birthday with brunch. It’s got all the components of a good day: booze, food and friends. This year my birthday fell on a Sunday, historically an epic brunch day. I was excited. I became even more excited when I learned that Thee Parkside was hosting “Beats for Brunch” with MoPo and an expert culinarian. Whoa. Throw in some beats, hold it my old hood, and this was shaping up to be a birthday for the ages. We rolled right over to Potrero. I insisted that we arrive early, which is on time in SF. Not for preference, but practicality. No one was there! It was the opening Sunday for “Beats for Brunch,” and MoPo threw down some Motown as we took a minute to enjoy our bloodies/mimosas and peruse the menu. We took in a sampling of biscuts and gravy, an egg and bacon sandwich, a fried chicken sandwich, and the French toast. Everything was scrumptious, brunch done with a sweet, soulful flare by Chef Josie Smith-Malave, who recently appeared on Top Chef, a television program. The chicken batter and biscuits were noteworthy, but the French toast was other world type flavor bomb. All in all, it was a great birthday brunch, even for a Sunday. “Beats for Brunch” is an on-going series at Thee Parkside every Sunday. Chef Smith-Malave has also made Thee Parkside the site of her pop-up, and makes one hell of a burger too.