You may have heard the story. Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash had breakfast one March morning in 1969 at Art’s Deli on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles and then went for a stroll.
The two singer-songwriters stopped by an antiques store and, encouraged by Nash, Joni bought a pretty glass vase that she had spotted in the window.
The couple returned to her house in Laurel Canyon which they shared with two cats, and as it was a chilly day, Nash said he’d sort out some wood for the fire.
The song had written itself within an hour: “I’ll light the fire, you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today…”
Our House was recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on their 1970 album Déjà Vu and Nash said in his autobiography: “I thought that in the ordinariness of the moment there might be a profoundly simple statement.”
Molly’s Café Bar
This delicious slice of Americana served as the perfect backdrop at Molly’s Café Bar in Stonehaven one chilly March morning as it was playing when we sat down to breakfast there.
In keeping with the musical selection, I went straight for the American-style option of pancakes, maple syrup, bacon, OJ, and coffee with cream and sugar.
Although I didn’t actually order it like that, this was after all Aberdeenshire and not Los Angeles, so I said “orange juice” and a “decaf Americano with hot milk on the side” like that.
I also opted for a dash of vanilla syrup in my drink, figuring, hey I’m on vacation, why not push the boat out?
Until this point, I had no idea how much a flavoured syrup can elevate a cup of coffee. Did you know this?
I could smell the vanilla before our server had even put down the cup and was reminded, as Graham Nash was, of the joy in simple pleasures.
The food
The orange juice was a bit of a rock star too, arriving in a tall, cold glass, with ice, slices of fresh orange and a candy-striped straw for an added flourish.
As the CD player continued to select ever more fitting tunes for my stateside fantasy, my pancakes arrived and it was all I could do not to demolish them before I’d taken a picture.
There’s a reason why Molly’s is so popular – because even the simplest dishes taste divine.
It’s also a delightful space, full of personality with an industrial-bohemian aesthetic, warm woods, quirky design touches and fabulous sea views.
But back to the pancakes. First, there were three of them and they were fresh and fluffy, so full marks there.
Next, I’m not supposed to eat bacon, I’m not sure anyone is, so I save up my bacon credits for when I think it’ll be worth it – and wow was this worth it.
We’re talking the crispiest, smokiest, tastiest bacon this side of the Pond I reckon.
So good in fact, that I did something I’ve never done, which is order a second portion of something while I’m still eating the first.
Look, I’d got my ratios all mixed up when I poured the maple syrup over everything so I had to order more bacon to get the balance right and that’s my excuse officer.
Intoxicated from my vanilla syrup experiment I’d also ordered a side of berry compote which rounded out all the salt and sweet flavours nicely.
On the other side of the table, my husband had gone for the full Scottish breakfast because unlike me, he wasn’t imagining he was in California in the late Sixties.
This included bacon, sausage, haggis, hash brown, potato scone, mushrooms, slow roasted tomato, Heinz Beans, fried egg and toast.
We had a minor tussle as I tried to stop him from diving straight in to eat while I took a picture of his meal, but I did manage to get a few snaps while he batted me away with his elbow, so it all worked out in the end.
His first observation was that they had mixed mushrooms in with the haggis and that it tasted great.
Although, when we commended them for this, it turned out that the mushrooms had just happened to be next to the haggis – a happy accident but something to consider for future.
He was also much impressed with the tomato – I know, it’s just a tomato right – but as he pointed out, they are often an afterthought, whereas this one had been slow roasted.
The man had a point and I had to agree that this fabulous tomato was holding its own among the rest of the A-list ingredients including the aforementioned scene-stealing bacon.
We watched the sea from our table by the window, the ledge of which had been decorated with an Easter theme, and talked about the décor, America, and music.
I told him the story of the song Our House and we walked back through the town, half hoping to spot a pretty glass vase in an antique shop window.
Information
Address: Molly’s Cafe Bar, The Promenade, Stonehaven AB39 2RD
T: 01569 762378
E: mollyscafebarstonehaven@outlook.com
Price: £34.50 for two breakfast dishes, two side orders, two orange juices, two coffees and a pot of tea
For more information about Molly’s see Molly’s Café Bar on Facebook.
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