4 Crazy Breakfast Creations

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. The Jet Cafe subscribes to this philosophy and has continuously risen to the challenge of making many unusual meals into breakfast! The Jet prides itself in its breakfast creations. Here are some of the best ones from the past few months:

•  Steak & Egg Crepe. Pretty safe - savoury crepes have been devoured by the French for ages, but the Jet packed this beauty with a slew of sirloin, eggs, onions and peppers, and topped it with homemade hollandaise for a perfect brunch dish.

• Tailgate Chili Breakfast Burrito. This mammoth breakfast-for-dinner featured scrambled eggs, cheese, beef, onions and bell peppers all folded into a large soft flatbread wrap, and topped with a generous ladling of the Jet's famous spicy beef and vegetable chili and a dollop of sour cream. A heap of homemade home fries on the side, and you've got one of those meals I like to call "blupper" because it pretty much takes the place of breakfast, lunch and supper.

• Southern Fried Chicken & Waffle. This one has become one of the Jet's most requested specials. The secret is the bone-in chicken breast, marinated for 24 hours in buttermilk and then battered and deep fried. The juicy chicken is paired with a sweet Belgian waffle and fresh cut fruit with honey. This is really a meal and a dessert all in one.

• Thanksgiving Breakfast. Okay, who doesn't love a Thanksgiving dinner feast? And who doesn't love breakfast? Bam! The idea of the century: mix the two together. So you've got juicy oven-roasted turkey with gravy, stuffing, and cranberries co-mingling with crispy Yukon Gold home fries, toast and scrambled eggs. This one truly solved that age old brunch problem of making a decision between delicious a breakfast plate or mouth-watering dinner. Plus the fact that this was offered when it wasn't even near Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other holiday made it even more fun!

Follow on twitter @thejetcafe or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jetcafe where I post the specials every day.

The Year of the Snake? Or the Year of the Jet?

The Year of the Snake begins tonight according to many Asian cultures. This is a year for change and unpredictable things. So the timing was perfect for the Jet Cafe to buy a new building in the up and coming area of Barton Street.

First, let's make one thing clear - the Jet Cafe on King St. is not closing or moving. King Street is awesome, and the customers that frequent the cafe are awesome. How could anyone give that up?

Jeff and Sarene Valentine, owners of the Jet Cafe, were looking for another property with the idea of being a part of the arts and culture boom in Hamilton. A building became available at 746 Barton, and everything came together. 

The building is a former Portuguese banquet hall, and has all the beautiful craftsmanship you would expect - hardwood floors, chandeliers, tiles. It needed a little TLC, but it's back to its former glory after some renovations. 


Sarene, whose smiling face you might recognize from behind the counter at the Jet Cafe, is a member of a local Taiwanese-Canadian hiking club. Her group christened the new building with a celebration to ring in the year of the snake. 

The large hall easily accommodated the group of about 60, with lots of room to spare. There is a bar area that naturally seemed to attract a constant crowed, including Hamilton councillor Jason Farr, who dropped by to help celebrate. A huge stage anchors the other end of the hall, perfect for firing up a round of karaoke. 

Jeff envisions many uses for the space, and has batted around the idea of artist market with booths, or a live/work studio making use of extra rooms behind the stage for a loft-style apartment. He is also considering launching an alternative wedding venue - a stylish place with an affordable price tag for those that don't want a $30,000 wedding. The possibilities are endless, especially in a city like Hamilton that strongly supports its local businesses. And it is the year of the snake - who knows what could happen?

Glamming up the Ticats

If there's one thing you need to know about the Jet Cafe, it's this: we stand behind our Ticats. 

Jeff, owner of the Jet and a season ticket holder, can tell you everything about the players, the CFL, and sports in general. The Jet is lucky to have hosted many different Ticats for breakfast or lunch - here's a shot of Jeff and one of his brushes with greatness (Henry Burris, Ticat quarterback):

I recently read in the Hamilton Spectator that 90 million women watch pro sports in the U.S. and the audience for the Superbowl is comprised of 45% female viewers. Seriously, almost half of the viewers of the Superbowl are women! This stat has intrigued various corporations of course, and the NFL actually commissioned a designer to come up with a line of super girlie, high fashion NFL gear. Does faux fur, metallic logos and snakeskin-esque leggings belong at a football game?

I decided to check out the merchandise of the Ticats, to see if they were also bedazzling their hoodies and t-shirts to cash in on female fans. Just a block up from the Jet Cafe in the funky International Village sits the offices of the Hamilton Tiger Cats, with its TigerTown store at the main entrance. It's well-stocked with Ticats gear, definitely leaning towards the more traditional sweatshirts, logo hats and toques, plus all the game-day essentials. 
 
There are quite a few nice items for women. 

A vintage-style t-shirt is glammed up with a metallic logo channelling a retro cheerleader. 

A yoga hoodie is perfect for going to a game, or wearing to the gym to show your Ticat pride. 

I like my sporty clothes to look sporty, but to fit like it was made for a girl, which the TigerTown store has nailed. But can you imagine showing up on game-day in a white faux fur vest and snakeskin leggings with stillettos? Just add a football-sized pooch in a purse, and you'd be all set. 

Any other female Ticats fans out there with a different opinion? 

5 Cool Things in Hamilton's International Village

The Jet Cafe is in a part of downtown Hamilton called the International Village. Now, there are a lot of cool little nooks in Hamilton like, yes, James North, Locke Street, Westdale, etc. But the International Village has character and so many little details that sock you in the face with Hamilton-ness.

Let's take a little tour. The International Village is bordered by Main St. E. and King William St., from Mary St. to West Ave. In the heart is King Street East, home of the Jet.

Across the street from the Jet, there's a new gift store called the Mystery Cube. What I find most mysterious is the giant stuffed bear that disappears and reappears in the front window every day. 

A little farther down the street is a new variety store called Munchee's. I love their unpretentious sandwich board out front touting hot coffee, smokes, bread, milk, and smiles - all the basics.

A block away is the awesome Ferguson Station, a defunct train station that acts as the perfect little urban space for events. The fence around the station is lined with children's art. This one is definitely the best. A demented campsite, awesome.

Generally, I don't enjoy graffiti. I think most of these guys deserve a giant spanking for ruining people's property. But where else but Hamilton would you see a proclamation of love for one's city written in spray paint?

The Lazy Vegetarian

Here's a little-known secret about why I am a vegetarian: I am lazy. 

I grew up picking the meat out of various dishes - spaghetti sauce, beef stew, hamburgers. I have just never enjoyed the taste or texture of any kind of meat. But there comes a point where you can't be bothered to try to pick shards of chicken out of your chicken noodle soup, so you just eat it. 

Thus, I was a half-assed vegetarian for most of my life, until I discovered that if you use the magic word - "vegetarian", people suddenly do all the work for you! 

Special meals are delivered to your table at weddings, friends and family prepare separate dishes just for you, all in the name of vegetarianism. I wish I had known sooner.

In all seriousness, I did give it a lot of thought, especially after reading one of David Suzuki's books where he said if everyone gave up meat one day a week, it would solve the world's hunger problems. I'm paraphrasing his words, but it made a big impression on me. If I gave up meat EVERY day of the week, I would be doing that much more to help the world. Of course, giving up something I didn't like anyway was pretty easy. 


It can be a little difficult sometimes when eating at a restaurant - many simply do not offer any kind of meat-free options. This is one of the reasons why I instantly loved the Jet Cafe - they will de-meatify anything. I've had the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benny sans salmon, and the Steak & Egg Crepe sans steak. My Jet mcmuffin is always ham-less. Still mega delicious, and even more nutritious!

Social Media Fun

Well, hello there, Hamilton! 

Let me introduce myself. I'm Suzanne and I'm a Social Media Manager for the Jet Cafe. 

What does a social media manager do, you ask? 
At least, this is the question I am asked all the time by curious diners at the next table over when I'm photographing my lunch.

In a nutshell, handling the social media for a great restaurant like the Jet Cafe is awesome. I post photos of food on Twitter and Facebook, I post lunch specials for the day, I jump into interesting conversations about Hamilton, and generally just have a blast. 

It doesn't hurt that the Jet has a large following with nothing but positive feedback. It also helps to live in a city like Hamilton, where there are tons of interesting, passionate people. If you haven't followed #HamOnt on Twitter before, it's worth checking out.

You can find my tweets @thejetcafe and my Facebook posts at www.facebook.com/jetcafe