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One of my favorite meals in San Francisco was brunch at a Provencale French restaurant in Cole Valley (upper Haight) called Zazie. It's one of those restaurants that really bums me out 'cause there isn't an LA equivalent. Zazie's has no pretense and even though there was a wait, it was manageable. DK and I got there around noon on a Sunday and waited 15-20 minutes. The first thing I ordered once inside (we could've been seated in their gorgeous heated patio, but I was cold) was sparkling wine with mango juice. I'm so sick of only having an OJ and champagne option. Zazie's has a few different options. Novel, eh?

I ordered one gingerbread pancake with roasted bosc pears (only came with one on top) and the St. Trop Eggs Benedict. The gingerbread pancakes are award winning and now I know why. They're light and have the perfect amount of gingery taste. I always waffle about ordering eggs benedict somewhere new because most are disappointing. Zazie's Benedict with smoked salmon, red onions, capers and a light dollop of hollandaise sauce were perfect. The food was so good that I was content without ordering my usual side of hollandaise sauce. This is definitely a light and fresh tasting Benedict. The side of roasted fingerling potatoes were some of the best I've had in a restaurant. DK loved his Croque Madame. Again, it was a lighter version but very tasty. The menu has a ton of options, too.

The service was great and our waiter stopped (even though he was crazy busy) and took a few minutes to think of other good breakfast spots when we asked him. I even ordered a cafe au lait just because it came in a bowl. I love those even though I've never seen them in France. I rarely drink coffee anymore, but they had excellent coffee. My only minor complaints were that I expected the pancake to have more pears and there were a million capers on my eggs. I found that amusing,