Sam a.m. Opens

During the past few months, Sam a.m. has been sharing pictures and info as work on their new cafe in the Paulus Hook neighborhood progressed. As they worked on menu items and showed off their coffee skills and got closer and closer to opening, I (and many others) watched all of this with growing excitement and hope. Over Labor Day weekend, it finally happened: Sam a.m. opened.

Here's what I don't like about Sam a.m.:
1) it's relatively small (although this is also part of the charm) so there will be crowding and wait issues.
2) I don't live in Paulus Hook so it's a bit out of the way for me.
Yeah, that's about it. Seriously.

The first time I walked in, I was immediately impressed with the space. There's lots of sunlight, gleaming copper, white walls, and warm wood and while it is small, there's still room to move around and more seating than I would have thought. It's cute without being cutesey and there's a definite charm to the place. A lot of that comes from the very friendly, enthusiastic staff. Considering how much time and work goes into opening a restaurant, I am amazed at how nice and how dedicated the entire team seems to be. They have a very small prep/kitchen area and yet seem to have the flow down pretty well. Everyone is happy to pitch in where needed and there's just this incredibly happy, welcoming vibe to the place.

Sam a.m. doesn't currently have a permanent menu and while there are constants, the daily menu is clearly market driven and they use what's in season to create some great options. As an example, one of the days I was there, they had waffles with chicken gravy as they commonly do but they also offered them with fresh homemade peach ice cream - it was a hard choice to stay away from that one. I've been twice and both times, it was a struggle to decide what to get and there wasn't a single thing on the menu I didn't want.

The first time I was there, I decided to take advantage of what's left of tomato season and ordered a BLT. I love BLTs and while they seem simple, it's harder to find a good one than you might think. Believe me when I say if this wasn't the best BLT I've ever had (and I think it was), it's certainly in the top five. It was wonderful. The heirloom tomatoes were fresh, juicy, sweet but tart, the lettuce was crisp and hearty, the cherrywood smoked bacon was both chewy and crispy, all in excellent proportions, and the bread - oh the bread! It was a very thickly sliced rye and while I was slightly concerned upon first glance that all I would taste was bread, my fears were quickly put to rest. Even if all I had been able to taste was bread, it wouldn't have mattered. It was soft but it didn't fall apart even with the tomatoes and was both dark and light, slightly sour and delicious. This was a thickly stacked sandwich but somehow it held together incredibly well and was beyond filling. I could have stopped after half but didn't because it was just so good. Everything was so fresh and worked so well together - I really wish all sandwiches had such clear attention paid to the ingredients and were this well-constructed.

The next time I went, I stuck to the breakfast menu. The omelet of the day was a creamed spinach omelet served with a market salad and toasted sourdough with cheddar. I was curious as to how the omelet would be accomplished so it was a pretty easy choice.  Out came this beautiful, fluffy, thick semi-circle of egg folded perfectly over the creamed spinach filling to almost envelop it so that the spinach didn't mix into the egg itself  and it had some cheese lightly melted on top with scallions and fresh black pepper. I wish I had taken the time to take a better picture because it really was so nicely done (sorry). The eggs were cooked to perfection and the creamed spinach filling was incredible. Very well-seasoned with a touch of garlic and onion, and not at all clumpy or stringy. The cheddar sourdough was also very good and added a crunchy counterpoint to the omelet. There was just enough cheddar to add a little of that crisped cheese flavor without it becoming cheesy bread. The market salad was light, refreshing, and rounded out the meal nicely. There were bursts of intense tomato flavor, crisp, cool cucumber, and snippets of sweetness from the corn and blueberries. I could have happily eaten a plateful...although then I would have missed out on the omelet and there's so way I was missing that.

The coffee at Sam a.m. is also noteworthy. They use Stumptown coffee and they know what they're doing with it. Both the regular coffee (they are very generous with refills if you're eating in) and the latte I had were excellent. The latte was rich and creamy but I could tell it was still coffee instead of just milk with coffee flavor. I anticipate going by frequently as the weather turns colder. They also serve Stumptown cold brew by the bottle which is genius and a great addition to the iced coffee offerings in the area. If you're picking up your morning coffee, they do have a customer card which is a nice perk and you might as well also pick up some pastries (they have a fresh variety daily). While I haven't tried them, I did see them during both visits and they looked amazing.

The menu is overall brunchlike with some breakfast items, some lunch, and some in between and they are happy to explain the daily offerings and what's in them and make recommendations. It manages to be both simple and creatively complex at once and makes the most of what's around. It's very reasonable price-wise(around $8-$15; coffee is in the $3-$5 range) and while you won't be getting giant, diner-size portions of food, you won't need them.

All in All
Sam a.m. is great. The coffee, the food, the service, the cafe itself - it's all great. While there are occasional waits and rough spots in service, it's clear these are just the minor problems of a newly opened restaurant and I doubt they will last much longer. I'm so excited Sam a.m. is open and I'm sure I will visit many more times. All I can really say is you should absolutely go try it out for yourself - I guarantee there will be at least one thing about it that will make you smile.

Check out their facebook or twitter to find out more for yourself.