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| - You're gonna wait for this food.
You're gonna be glad you did.
The thing about the Borderline Cafe is that it's run by two women, who are scurrying the entire time to make it run for the morning. It's only open for brunch, really, which makes it a little special, like the way that Cadbury's Eggs are only available part of the year so you pig out when you get it. The inside is colorful, vaguely spanish, filled with other people who are here and thrilled to be in on the secret.
So what's the food like? Well, they take the standard breakfast fare, do a pass with some Southwestern cuisines, and make ordinary dishes into the most phenomenal, tasty goddamned things you could imagine. My favorite - I'm a little addicted - is the Eggs Benedict, to which they add avocado and just a hint of lime, so the entire thing becomes suffused with a delicate taste that turns it into something else.
It is the most sublime experience, because Eggs Benedict is not normally a subtle meal - hey, it's a gloppy thick sauce on top of poached eggs, which are about as subtle as Dane Cook - but somehow, the Borderline cafe manages to make every ingredient into a delicate interplay, so each bite is tangy and tasty and HEY KEEP YOUR FORK AWAY FROM MY PLATE, DON'T THINK I DON'T NOTICE YOU TRYING TO STEAL A CHUNK, I WILL STAB YOU.
The fruit cups are filled with thick chunks of fresh fruit. As in, they chose the fruit and cut it themselves, not dumping it out of the back of some Dole truck. This is emblematic of their attention to detail - not a snooty detail, but the kind of thing where they said, "Hey, what kind of fruit would we want in a cup?" And so they change what's available according to the season. The French toast is also pretty tasty.
This place accepts cash only. Why? Because they can. So fill up your wallet, get ready for the wait, and be pleasant. You'll get your turn. And when they escort you to your table, you'll be smiling, because they're still obviously having fun doing this after all these years.
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