>Plum’s Café
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Another leisurely morning at the Saturday
Irvine Farmer’s Market ended this time with a breakfast with Mom and Sis at Plum’s Café in Costa Mesa. Plum’s is located in a really bizarre location. Smack in the middle of a strip mall. I wouldn’t have thought that an artsy Café like this would have chosen this location; however, it seems to be working for them. The Café was totally crowded when we were there.Known for their spin on breakfast, they upped the ante on traditional breakfast foods by, for example, making their pancakes hazelnut flavored with bits of hazlenuts baked in. Then there’s the interestingly awesome smoked salmon hash I had which consisted of two poached eggs over pan fried cubed potato that had smoke salmon mixed in topped with some sort of hollandaise. Very tasty. I think there was some rosemary hiding somewhere in there.
The interior displays a handful of local artist’s paintings for sale and the restaurant itself comes off as an artsy minimalist modern kind of place. When walking in the ceiling and bar caught my eye b/c of its curviness. I had wanted to get a good picture of this, but already pushing it by being allowed one photo of the interior, I opted to get the bar happenings instead.
Being interested in why people get into the biz, I requested of the manager, Dennis (I think a Hapa* too) if he’d be so kind to grant me an interview with the pastry chef Jose and allow for me to take a picture. He hesistantly acquiesced “you look like you’re sincere.” So, as some would say, **“and Bob’s your uncle.”
*This is a term that describes somebody of mixed ethnic or racial background, usually (but not always) Asian/Pacific Islander and Caucasian. It comes from the Hawaiian term “hapa haole,” which means “half-white.” It is becoming increasingly used by the Asian Pacific American community and is not necessarily considered derogatory.
www.lorenjavier.com/asian/terminology.html
**I recently found out that this means “and there you have it.” A colloquial English (from England) phrase***.
***And Bob’s Your Uncle
This British catch phrase, meaning all will be well or all will be taken care of dates from the 1890s. Popular etymology says that it derives from a particular act of nepotism in the British government. Robert, Lord Salisbury, the prime minister (left), appointed Arthur Balfour, his nephew (right), to the post of Secretary for Ireland in 1887. Balfour was, at the time, considered young and a political lightweight, and the post was a high-profile, political plum currently embroiled in the question of Irish independence. Aside from the dates, there is no evidence, either way, to link this act with the origin of the phrase, although the phrase’s specificity makes this hypothesis appealing.
Partridge says the phrase may stem from the cant phrase All is bob, meaning all is safe. Although, Paul Beale, editor of Partridge’s A Dictionary of Catch Phrases, acknowledges the possibility of the Salisbury/Balfour story.
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorb.htm
learning to experiment 
>Breakfast eh? I think I’ll go check it out if they sell breakfast throughout the day. I doubt I’ll make it any other time but late– but I live only an hour’s drive away. I’m not a morning person. Haha.