Bluestem Brunch

Ever since I ate at Foreign Cinema in San Francisco, I’ve been looking for a superior brunch. I decided to go to Bluestem because their brunch menu was similar to Foreign Cinema’s. I thought it resembled Foreign Cinema’s but with a Midwest touch. I thought the most impressive dish was the biscuits and gravy with Campo Lindo Crispy chicken. The dish had an array of flavors making every bite different. Bluestem just keeps you guessing every time you come back. 

Biscuits & Gravy

Campo lindo crispy chicken, sausage, scrambled eggs

Spiced Apple Nut Stuffed French Toast

Cream, maple syrup

Gourmet Pizza

Recently we made an award winning pizza recipe. The recipe came from the Fedora Café which was open in the 1980’s in Kansas City. Gourmet pizza is still making it into the best fine dining restaurants. I’ve eaten pizza at Olives in Las Vegas, Chez Panisse Café in Berkeley, California and at Zuni Café in San Francisco. This pizza though is honestly the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.

This particular recipe hasn’t been made in twenty years. First we made an 18 lb. batch of the dough. Then we let it set for one hour letting it double in size. After doubling in size we knocked it down letting all the gas out of it. Once we rounded the dough we covered it with plastic wrap on a sheet pan to let it proof. Then came the challenging part of hand rolling the dough into thin round shells. After brushing the crust with olive oil and herbs we blinded baked the pizza on a pizza stone at 500˚ till it started to brown.

This may be the most crucial part of the whole procedure; ingredients. Everyone always wants to pile toppings on a pizza. The real key is a quality thin layer of ingredients. These pizzas were no “Meat Lovers Mess” smothered with ingredients. First we applied a thin layer of sauce. Then we put down a thin layer of cheese. Finally we put down our meats or other toppings. Then we topped it with a little more cheese. The whole idea behind this is quality not quantity. These pizzas are cooked on a pizza stone for the second time at 500˚.


Second Proofing

















Blind Baking
















Extra virgin olive oil, mozzarella, provolone

Baking Temperature

















BBQ Crispy Shortrib Pizza




























Sweet baby rays bbq sauce, fontina, provolone, parmesan, red onion

Fig Gorgonzola Pizza
















Fig Puree, Prosciutto, fontina, provolone, parmesan, gorgonzola

Pizza Margherita















Tomato sauce, fontina, provolone, parmesan, fresh tomatoes, basil, pine nuts

Chorizo Pizza
















Tomato sauce, fontina, provolone, parmesan, red onion, pine nuts