YST4

Restaurant: You Say Tomato
Location: 2801 Holmes, KC MO
Food: Home cooked - lovingly cooked - breakfast and lunches
Service: n/a (but everyone is friendly and they wear knitted hats that look like tomatoes)
Atmosphere: relaxed, comfortable, inviting, cheerful
Price: $2 coffee (free refills), $6.95 quiches, $4.95 corned beef hash a la carte, etc.
Rating:  three napkins

Currently, I find it incomprehensible to allow a weekend to pass without going out to brunch. And if you follow Napkins (hah!), you know what the favs are - Room 39, Blue Bird Bistro (1 and 2) and You Say Tomato (1, 2 and 3).

This morning, it was YST that called our name the loudest, so I vowed, at least, to try something new ensuring it was not only worthwhile, but bloggable.



Same inviting scene when we arrived - crowded, happy looking people, the smell of coffee, eggs and baking crusts in the air.

I had not seen (though it may have been there) the corned beef hash on the menu before, which normally comes with eggs and toast, but can be purchased a la carte. Bingo. Sounded just right for me; I was looking for something savory and with a little meat. Healthy not really on my mind. I chose the a la carte route and added a side of the cheese grits.

Elizabeth attempted to order the first quiche on the list - blue crab - but we'd arrived just too late. Sold out. It was with only the slightest amount of disappointment, then, that she ordered the eggplant and broccoli quiche instead. We've yet to have a bad experience with a YST quiche, so we weren't worried.

With the quiche she ordered a side salad: romaine with tomato, zucchini, red onion and red bell pepper, covered in balsamic vinaigrette. A little too much vinaigrette, actually, as it ran all over the plate and spoiled the texture of her otherwise immaculate quiche crust (a small infraction not to be held against YST).

Her quiche was lovely - fluffy and smooth. It needed a little salt but the eggplant and broccoli worked well in it. The crust was a thing of beauty, thick, flaky and buttery.

I was a little underwhelmed with the appearance of my hash. Everything was diced smaller than I expected, and the potatoes and onions lacked color from frying. I was skeptical they would have any flavor or texture, but boy was I wrong. The pile of salty corned beef and small-diced potatoes and onions was packed with flavor and had plenty of texture contrast - crunch from the well cooked bits and smoothness inside.

I knew what I was getting with the grits, which emitted a thick column of steam when I extracted my first forkful. They were hot but tangy and oh so intensely satisfying. Craving spice, I doused everything with several dashes of Tabasco since it was noon and my taste buds were ready for the added pizazz. These grits were, indeed, perfect.

Everything we put in our mouths was a success this morning and we left only deeper in love with YST. YST review five may be only a week away :)

Rating: three napkins