Straw Does Grits Right

When AB suggested we meet at new-kid-on-the-Hayes-Valley-block Straw, I was more than happy to oblige. At the very least, the carnival-themed eatery would surely provide us with a modicum of amusement and hopefully some tasty bites as well.

Having scored what we thought was the best seat in the house—the metal canopy in the corner (a 2-seater salvaged from some amusement park from god know's where), we scanned Straw's brunch menu dotted with dishes adorned with festive names such as the Hanky Panky (Belgian waffle with fried egg, hickory smoked bacon and cheddar potato croquettes) and Wilber's Revival (pork hash with sauteed onion and sweet potato, a fried egg, grits, fried onions and bechamel).

Though the Hanky Panky was nice—the highlight being the molten, oozing cheddar potato croquettes lightly breaded in panko, it was Wilber's Revival that knocked our socks off. We loved the uber creamy consistency of the buttery grits (I'd just had a disappointingly leaden and lumpy version at The Corner Store—OK, the flavor was good, but the texture was all wrong). We also loved the generous mountain of well-seasoned pork and the crispety-crunchety fried onion strings. My only tiny criticism: The egg was medium-hard ... I was hoping to have all that sunshiney goodness spill out when I cut into it.

Oh well, I'll still go back ... and next time, I'll try the cheesy grits with linguisa and prawns in Cajun butter sauce on Straw's dinner menu.

P.S. We were wrong about the metal canopy 2-seater. It has the most incredible reverb—so much so that at times I could hear the 2 boisterous bros sitting 20 feet away better than I could AB who was sitting right beside me.