Ghini's presents a French accent
with its pleasant breakfast dishes
Tucson, Friday, August 5, 1994 - The Arizona Daily Star
By John Bret-Harte The Arizona Daily Star

Ghini's Cafe is one of those Tucson secrets that's too well-kept - at least from me. though the Star reviewed it three years ago, I forgot both review and restaurant until a few weeks ago, when my wife went there with a friend and described it.

Three things you should know about Ghini's. First, it's a breakfast and lunch place. It opens during the summer at 6:30 a.m. for the early bird, and closes at 3 p.m., by which time the owner and staff assume that people wanting a midday meal have had one, either there or elsewhere. Winter hours are a Little Longer.

The second thing to know is that Ghini's is French in inspiration and cuisine. Translated, this means good coffee, fine bread and dishes on the menu that you're not apt to run into in most other cafes hereabouts.

The last time to point out is that Ghini's sits cheek by jowl with La Baguette, a French bakery that also selves meals. The proximity is not accidental: the owners of La Baguette are the parents of the woman who owns Ghini's. The incidental benefit of this family closeness is a seemingly endless supply delicious, freshly baked French bread.

I went rust to Ghini's for breakfast one morning a week or two ago with my wife. We both opted for dishes with a French flair: she had a brouillade (eggs scrambled with fresh tomatoes - $3.35), while I decided on what we generally call a continental breakfast but what Ghini's calls a tartine ($3.25).

My wife's brouillade was very tasty; she thoroughly enjoyed it. as I did the forkful she gave me. The tartines, however, was a surprise. The image I had in m mind was of a tray with a pot of coffee and one of hot milk, two rolls and a pot each of butter and jam. What arrived was a cup of coffee and a basket full of split, toasted and buttered rolls of the type the French call baguettes, accompanied by perhaps eight little plastic containers of jam. It was a hearty and excellent breakfast, larger by far than the one in my mind's eye, but I missed the jam pot.

The next time I went to Ghini's I was alone, my wife having something else she had to do. Remembering how good her eggs had been on our last visit, I resisted the easy lure of a sandwich and chose instead a dish of Eggs Provincale ($4.25) - that is, eggs cooked as they do in the southern French region of Provence.

Provincial French cookery is very different from the haute cuisine in Paris that Americans think typical of France. The dishes of the provinces make more use of fresh fruits and vegetables locally available, and they are generally less elaborate. Eating provincial cookery is like eating at your mother's table; Parisian cuisine is like eating in a museum.

The Eggs Provencale illustrated the point. They came fried (at my request), cooked in oil, with fresh thyme and garlic, and served with broiled fresh tomatoes. The whole dish came surrounded by buttered, toasted baguettes. It was the tastiest dish I ate at Ghini's. and one of the tastiest I've had in years.

I had intended to return for lunch and try a sandwich; several on the menu looked very appealing. But my schedule wouldn't bend, so my wife and I went back for breakfast. I had a Danish ham and Swiss cheese omelet ($4.65), which was very good, if perhaps a bit overcooked. She, more adventurous, chose a pita sandwich stuffed with tomato, scrambled eggs, green chile, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and parsley ($3.49). She enjoyed this thoroughly, though her enthusiasm stopped short at hot lettuce, which she discarded as she came upon it.