The Weekly Margs by Zach Margolis
J is for Jane
It's ya girl
Hi! Welcome back!
As I’ve mentioned a million times in this newsletter already, I’m a creature of habit. Once I find an item on a menu I like, say a cocktail at a bar, or a really good toast at a café, I’m pretty content to come back often to the same spot and order the same thing over and over.
That’s basically the story of me and Jane on Fillmore, a precious café a few minutes walk from home. It’s my neighborhood spot, it’s one of my favorite places to go on a slow weekend morning. Sometimes I’ll go on weekdays too if I have the day off, or a very late morning at work. Whenever friends visit for the weekend, this is almost certainly one of the spots I take them for breakfast.
So this week I want to share lots of little memories of Jane. They closed for a while during the early parts of shelter-in-place. Luckily their bakery, Jane the Bakery, a few blocks away on Geary stayed open so I was able to continue picking up their stellar sourdough loaves (and other treats).
Let’s get into it!
This is one of the first images I can find that I’ve taken at Jane. It’s got their black and white herringbone pattern table which is the same pattern on their paper bags. On this day I got a hot chocolate, one of my go-to orders at a café. Theirs has a small cube of a marshmallow in it, which I find super charming.
I love the vibe at Jane. Here’s an older picture of the wallpaper and one of the booths.
A year or two ago, they updated their interior. They colored in the wallpaper and picked some bright yellow upholstery that popped more, I really like it.
This is it! This is the dish that I discovered at Jane and order now almost every single time I go, their Avocado Mash. Their avocado toast is prepared so well! It’s my reference, I now rate all avocado toasts against this one. Their tangy avocado spread is topped with a soft-boiled with picked onions and jalapeños, served on some of their stellar sourdough. I’ve got what feels like a million variations of this same picture, it was a little tough to pick one that could adequately represent Jane in my newsletter.
As soon as Jane opened back up for to-go orders, of course I ordered one of these. Unfortunately, toast does not do so well in a takeout setting, so if we’re being honest, I was a little disappointed. I still do what I can to support the business: am getting their breads to go, and have gotten a few sandwiches and salads, but I think I’m going to have to wait until it’s safe to eat in until I can really enjoy their avocado mash again.
This is basically just to show that I get other food besides the Avocado Mash. They had biscuits with clotted cream (and blackberry jam, I think) as a seasonal treat and that was stellar.
And one last photo! Mandy took this one of me in my happy place when we got breakfast there one weekend that she visited. That weekend we ended up eating at Jane both Saturday and Sunday breakfasts, a true luxury.
Thanks for reading, I hope you’re staying safe and healthy. See you next time!
XOXO,
Margs