On 2013-08-05, Dave Smith > wrote:

> made champagne for $20-25, or that Spanish stuff for about $12. French
> champagnes here start at about $40. It really is a lot better.

Yep. Back when I was jes a hack, almost every resto in CA served
Franzia Almond Champagne for Sunday brunches. Didn't matter if it was
a Mexican chain, an independent, or a pretty good bistro ....FA
sham-pog-nee! It was the gold standard fer CA Sun brunches. The no
longer make it. More's the pity.

Later, my tastes stepped up. Finally, I settled on the perfect New
Years Eve meal: Fresh Dungeness crab, SF sourdough bread w/ real
butter, and Fr Champagne. I haven't had it since I left CA 5 yrs ago.
Maybe this yr.

As for the eggs Benedict, the best I ever ate was EB made with real
Hollandaise and D-crab instead of pork. I'll never understand how
that Thai resto went out of business. 8|

nb