2012 August 08 - Brenda's French Soul Food

2012 August 08 - Brenda's French Soul Food
San Francisco, CA

Today three of us are headed to the City to see the matinee of Les Misérables the musical.
Elsa and Patti are riding with me as I decided to drive my car into the City.  We leave early so that the two of them can get in some shopping before the 2:00 PM start time.

I packed a bento (Japanese lunch box) for both of them so they could eat lunch while en route and have more time to shop.  :-)

It was a gorgeous day as I parked at a meter near the Civic Center.  My handicap tag allows me to ignore the meters and the time limits.  The photo is of San Francisco's impressive City Hall.


Since cameras are not allowed inside the Orpheum Theater I have no photos of the musical.  But we had planned on dinner after to somewhat avoid the commute rush to get onto the Bay Bridge.  The show let out at 5:00 PM.

Since Gobo's Lunch Bunch has 2 and a half Filipinos we had to try Brenda's French Soul Food.  Brenda owner and head chef is half Cajun and half Filipino and grew up in Louisiana.  So the cuisine is Cajun French, hence French Soul Food.

The sandwich board on the sidewalk listing their daily specials

Entering the restaurant

Brenda's is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the weekdays except no dinner on Mondays and Tuesdays.  On the weekends they have an extended Brunch menu in place of the breakfast and lunch menu.

Menus in the window

Daily specials are also on the chalk board at the entrance

We arrived early just a bit after 5:00 PM and were only the second table seated.  When we left they were full.

The restaurant has a center divider to split it into two longish sections

Deciding what to have was a bit of a problem.  Too many good choices.

Elsa has a Crawfish Beignets and I have a broiled oyster - Casino (Bacon, scallion, biscuit crumbs, parmesan, gruyère)

Elsa's

Mine

Patti had decided to have a dessert Beignets instead of an appetizer.

My main course is Brenda's Fried Chicken with collard greens and a creamy biscuit.

The girls both have the BBQ Spare Ribs with Mac and Cheese.

Here we are eating

The food was wonderful.  Very spicy and very tasty.  The biscuit was so creamy that I did not need any butter.

Their check is a cash register receipt and a clothes pin.

We are too full to have dessert.  The girls even had a doggy bag.

Then I just had to take at least one photo of food from a neighboring table.  Here is Brenda's Oyster Po' Boy with coleslaw.

About the owner from the restaurant's web site:
A native of New Orleans, Chef Brenda Buenviaje was born into a creative Filipino-Creole household that nurtured her love of food and the arts. Upon graduation from Louisiana State University with a BFA in Painting and Drawing, she remained in New Orleans to follow her first love, cooking.

Over the last ten years in the Bay Area, Buenviaje has worked as Head Chef of Sumi in the Castro, Head Chef of Café Claude in downtown San Francisco and Executive Chef of DeLessio Market and Bakery.

Here is a link to the restaurant's web site:  (the link will open in a new window)

Brenda's French Soul Food

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