Brunch at Eclipse Chocolate Bar & Bistro

Yesterday, on my way to brunch, I noticed that there were now painted lines and numbers in the Gala Foods Parking lot.

Compare that to the parking lot one mere month ago when we went to the grand opening of Eclipse (below)....

I was excited to have a brunch meetup with two supercool ladies, one that I would be meeting for the first time...

I had the pleasure of having brunch with the always witty and awesome Darlene of My Burning Kitchen, as well as the utterly fabulous Cy of any2ndnow.

This  was both our first time meeting Cy. Earlier last month, it was in fact Darlene, who alerted me to Cy's blog which covers mainly fashion, music and her family. I quickly became obsessed hooked on her fashion aesthetic and her penchant for naming post titles after songs (sounds familiar!).  We three had so much in common: we were of the same generation ("X"), liked the same music (80's all the way!) and are the same ethnicity (Filipina American).  Darlene thought Cy's fashion sense reminded her of me (black, leather, studs 'n spikes, etc). I knew we all had to meet up!

Since I got there early, I waited at the bar. Just a note, they do not take reservations here but it wasn't a problem since it wasn't crowded like that first day. Wil, the owner, was there and was very gracious and said he'd seat us once everyone arrived.

While waiting and perusing their brunch menu, I was asked by no less than five employees if I needed anything (separately of course, not all at once).  Their service was quite attentive. One of the servers was the same guy who complimented me on my Tokidoki bag last month. When I reminded him of it, he remembered me! I showed him my bag patterns up close so he could see that it was the "Favola" print ("fairy tale", Fall 2010). He was so excited because he said he was obsessed with fairy tales AND Disney as well as Tokidoki and hadn't seen that print before. So cute!

Both Cy and I ordered the  Mocha with the Sea Salt Caramel infusion ($5). It came with a feather light frothy top and two house made marshmallows. This was the same coffee Bert had during the Grand Opening.

Brunch is $16 for any three plates. You can choose from the sides, soup, main entree and desserts. You just cannot order two mains. You can also order a la carte, but the best value is the Brunch 3-fer. Here is their menu closeup (taken at home):



We were seated in the private dining room which has these porthole windows where you can peek into the goings on of their kitchen.

Below, our three brunch items:

Cy's "Build-a-Benedict" with pulled pork. I'm not sure which sauce she chose (bechamel or Holladaise or cocoa).

which was ordered with a side of rosemary potato wedges.

Darlene's Cocoa Glazed Bacon with a  Rosemary Turkey Panini with Muenster and maple buttermilk bechamel sauce. Underneath her bacon was a slice of buttermilk toast with orange peel and vanilla bean butter.

I ordered a new menu item, the Mushroom Thyme Quiche in a flaky puff pastry, also with the burnt caramel Hollandaise sauce, with a side of two Garlic Parmesan biscuits which included roasted garlic within and a hint of white chocolate. The butter was the same as Darlene's. I thought the biscuits were a bit heavy and ended up taking one home for Bert and TC.

I really liked this lighter version of a quiche. The only thing quiche-like about it was the filling. I love anything in puff pastry!

Over the course of brunch, we had such a great time chatting with each other, especially about music. I was the lone rocker betwixt two major Duranies! The trivial power we possessed could make us major winners on Jeopardy, if the categories were all about 80's music and pop culture!

Our desserts...yes, two are the same. Darlene broke her own food blogger rule! : )  But seriously, I think it's because the remaining two choices were unappealing to either her or myself (churros and chocolate cherry yogurt).

Darlene and I both had the Burnt Caramel Apple Cobbler with vanilla bean creme and aged cheddar. I normally don't get pies or cobblers or any dessert served warm but I wanted to try something out of my comfort zone. The pastry and sauce was good (but was a bit spicy due to the chile in it), but I wasn't a fan of the apples because I could taste the spice. Bert, however, enjoyed my leftovers later that same afternoon!

Cy's Frozen Peanut Butter Mousse with a brownie crust, chocolate glaze, pb crumbs and smoked sea salt. OMFG, this is what I want to get next time! They better not take this off their menu! I know Bert would have loved this as well.

Service was very very attentive. Both the server and Wil came by several times to check on us. The next time I go here, I will try to make sure I get things that don't have the same sauce because the chile caramel sauce seemed to be in everything I picked.

After our brunch, we took a quick peek inside the neighboring stores up the street, Bad Madge, The Make Good, Junc and Graphiti Beach across the street.

These were photo transfers on canvas of cassettes. Get this...they were by genre!!!! The one on the left was "rock" (more of what I like) while the one on the right was "rap". These smaller panels were going for $60. These were so fkg cool! They remind me of my old cassette shelves back in college!

There was a bigger panel higher up on the wall which had 80's bands!!! This was going for twice as much. The lady working there said they also had a "Heavy Metal" version but were sold out! Bummer! I would have liked to see that one!

If I only still had my old cassette tapes, I would do this myself! We did a lot of purging about ten years ago so I have only a few of my favorite cassettes left. Bert's stereo in his car still plays cassettes. If you want to hear "Rush", "Boston", "Tesla" or "Scott Joplin Ragtime Favorites", it's there! He even has an old mixtape I made him in college featuring hard and heavy guitar-based songs.

The same artist also does the same thing with album covers!!! I love this!

Outside Graphiti Beach is one of South Park's iconic bike racks but entirely covered with crocheted yarn (aka "yarn bombed" by the Crochet Grenade. Voila, instant art installation, eh.

I remember seeing something similar at the 4th Avenue District in Berkeley two years ago.

On Ivy Street near Eclipse, someone's urban garden. Very nice!

Darlene was very kind enough to gift us with a quarter of a homemade yellow cake with sour cream chocolate frosting...

Her cake was so moist and the chocolate filling and frosting so delicious!

Eclipse Chocolate Bar &Bistro
2145 Fern St.
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 578-2984
eclipsechocolat.com

Previous visit to the following boutiques:
Fab Shopping on Fern (February 2013)

And once Darlene posts her recipe, I'll make sure to link it here.
[Update on 3/13 - Hot off the press! Darlene's recipe post!]

[Update on 3/18 - Cy's post is now up, , cleverly titled, "Pink Candles in My Burning Kitchen"! Love it!]

Once spring break rolls around, we'll be sure to utilize Bert's "prize" of a free brunch! I like that they will be doing seasonal menus too. I just hope they don't get rid of that Frozen PB mousse dessert!