Mussels: Sonny's

Lost somewhere in the snuggly glow of the miracle of life is the realization for my wife and I that the birth of our daughter has put the care free days of fancy dinners at classy restaurants firmly in the rear view mirror of our life. The site of us walking into a busy restaurant at night with a 4 week old strapped into a car seat would be enough to make even the most composed waiter lose their shit. Once our daughter's old enough to consume solid food and not poop her pants in public she's probably not going to be interested in dining at any establishment that doesn't have french fries (Duckfat?!) Finally the age that we can trust her to be at home by herself and not eat the chemicals under the sink is also the age that we have to worry about her rifling through the liquor cabinet with some 16 year old punk who just grew his first goatee... So until she's old enough to go to college our only salvation is Sittercity.com and brunch.

Fed, diapered and asleep the wife and I stowed her under the table at Sonny's at 11:30 on Saturday and enjoyed 45 minutes of adult conversation (well you take what you can get with me) with delicious runny eggs.

Main # 1 - Farmer's Eggs (however) over Rice and Beans $8 - I ordered my eggs poached and they came out perfect as you can see in the picture. The beans were black and just toothy enough. Combined together everything was delicious but required a touch of salt and pepper. That grilled bread in the center of the plate was corn and was an effective tool to scoop up the leftover yolk.

Bonus - Coffee Cake with Yogurt and Fresh Berries - This came for free with my meal. The cake was light and airy and the crust on top hit all of the necessary sugar notes. I would have gladly paid $4 for this so to have it come for free with my meal was awesome.

Main # 2 - Toro Burger with Fried Egg, Salsa Roja, Queso Blanco and Yam Fries $12 - The picture may look like crap but trust me, this is the best burger that human hands are capable of making. The bun is pillow soft and grilled. The burger is never overcooked and well seasoned. The salsa roja adds just enough acid to the mild cheese and the egg runs through the entire thing when you press the bun down on top, tying the masterpiece together. F-u-c-k-ing perfect. To say nothing of the sweet potato fries which have wrestled the Best of Portland title from their cousins at Silly's.

Our total including a bloody mary for the wife came to $26 plus tip. There were about 5 other things I would gleefully cram down my throat on the menu and the food is just as good as the exceptional brunch served up at The Front Room without all the noisy hipsters and yuppees. Well actually I counted about 6 hipsters at the bar but they kept it to a dull enough roar that the baby under the table never stirred.

Music: Classics of Love - Self titled

Jesse Michaels, better known as the front man for the legendary Operation Ivy and less legendary Common Rider, is back with his second release from his new band Classics of Love...and he is fucking pissed...again. With zero hard evidence to back up this outrageous claim, I can say with 100% confidence that Op Ivy is the most influential band of all time, or at least 2nd behind the Insane Clown Posse. Either way every shit head in high school since the early 90's has cut their teeth on Energy and thought about getting a righteous ska guy tattoo as the anchor to that sick sleeve they're piecing together. Whether you listened to Michaels' charged up lyrics or not, Op Ivy was infectious, fast and fun. After he blew up Op Ivy and went AWOL (supposedly as a monk) his work with subsequent bands including 2009's Walking in Shadows by CoL lacked the blistering intensity that caused Operation Ivy to strike such a chord. It was almost as if Michaels was afraid to truly unleash the monster inside him for fear that once again the world would embrace it and demand that he be justly compensated.

Thankfully that monster is on full display again in "Classics of Love" and the world is exposed to Jesse's best work since...well...ever. Its like Operation Ivy without all the silly "hope for the future" or "optimism." On Castle in the Sky, Jesse demonstrates his harder lyrical edge:

Everyone likes power, I wish I had some

But you would kill the prophets for your place in the sun

Now it's up to us to keep you well heeled...

Who's telling lies in the corner?

Laughing as the house burns down?

Although some may find it depressing that the biggest punk icon since Joey Ramone supposedly spends his days working as a short order cook in California, I think that ultimately the world is a better place with an angry/uncomfortable Jesse Michaels. If he'd been able to sit back and collect royalty checks from all those hipsters' tattoos then we'd be missing what is turning out to be an exciting twilight to a remarkable career.

P.S. Any review of Classics of Love would be remiss not to mention that Jesse is backed by San Jose's excellent trio, The Hard Girls. You can check out their fantastic debut EP for free here (or you could throw them a $5 donation you cheap fuck.)

10/10