Small blue things.....

SPECIALS
Pesto Caprese Panino - fresh pesto, mozzarella & provolone, marinated artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers.
Spicy Jack Panino - turkey, a very spicy pepper cheese, grilled red onion and zebra sauce.

Gypsy Soup - sweet potato and tomato-based vegetable soup with some exotic spicing. A cafe favorite. Vegan
Potato Leek Soup - vegetarian
Chili Con Carne - a beef and bean chili

Yesterday morning Michael and I went out for what has become our annual "Oh Crap, it's Mother's Day" Brunch. Now mind you we both did right by our mothers - phone calls, cards - the usual. And as restaurateurs we are very aware it is one of the single busiest days of the year. Our produce company has been warning for two weeks there would be delays on delivery starting Thursday or Friday. Still it seems Michael in particular has some biological clock that triggers a need to brunch twice, maybe three times a year and one of them always falls on Mothers Day. Without reservations most "good" restaurants are out of the question.

Armed with the name of a waffle house in Essex we headed out Edmondson Avenue. One thing and another, a missed turn off, distracted by sunny skies and conversation, we spotted a local diner/cafe and decided to stop there rather than finding the original destination.

It looked so promising. The cutest little place with a big U-shaped counter, we could see into the kitchen and it appeared Mom and Dad were in the kitchen and daughter was working the counter and small dining room. I was castigating myself for having not brought a camera. I was sure we had found a gem.

And then we got our food. It looked okay but was tepid. My omelette was unremarkable. Michael's eggs and sausage had clearly been sitting for quite some time before being served and his blueberry pancakes had blue spots.

Blue spots, people! Not blueberries (fresh or frozen), not dried or dehydrated berries; blue spots. We tried to figure out what caused the blotches, but dissecting the pancake only uncovered blue stained pancake. It seems Michael was the victim of blueberry flavored crystals.

Our lovely "Oh Crap it's Mother's Day" Brunch went down in flames. Oh the humanity.