You’ll spend extra time reading the menu at 6th & G Breakfast Co.
It’s just two pages, back and front. The menu isn’t a novella like the one you’re handed at a Cheesecake Factory, but it’s intriguing and worth the read.
6th & G’s colorful menu is a unique combination of whimsy and complexity. Take the French toasts. Brioche bread can come with an explosion of flavors, like house jam, lemon glaze and fresh strawberries. Or, it may be covered with torched meringue and lemon curd.
Witness the Meat Lovers Omelet. The eggs are pasture-raised. The meats are Applewood-smoked bacon and ham, and the hearty inside is packed with soyrizo, red onion and cheddar cheese. It’s grounded by a side of tots.
I don’t tend to dawdle over a menu. Sadly, I’m like the stereotypical male shopper, be it at a restaurant or a clothes store. If I need a blue suit, I’ve zero-ed in on it immediately, tried on the pants and am at the cash register in less than 10 minutes.
That need for speed is impossible to accomplish sitting in a dimly lit booth at 6th & G. You’re surrounded by thought-provoking, mostly rooster-themed artwork, bookshelves filled with great works and a menu that prevents you from skimming. If you truly want to grasp what’s been mixed and matched among the benedicts, waffles, pancakes, French toast, omelets, sides and specialties it’ll take you a moment.
Founder and CEO Johan Engman is the driving force behind 6th & G in downtown San Diego’s East Village. It’s part of a 22-restaurant breakfast empire he oversees in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
Under the umbrella of the Rise & Shine Hospitality Group, brands include Fig Tree Cafe, Breakfast Company and Eggies. Feast & Fareway on the Coronado Golf Course is also in the Rise & Shine family.
Born in Sweden, Engman moved to San Diego at the age of 16. He says he bootstrapped, worked night shifts and took extra gigs to raise money to buy his first restaurant.
“After three months at the Fig Tree in Pacific Beach I was out of money,” Engman says. “But I had watched my mom struggle. I wanted to control my own destiny. I thought if I closed the restaurant I’d be closing the door on my bigger dream.”
Engman told himself he was willing to die trying to succeed. His self-driven ultimatum paid off.
Next time you’re cutting into a strawberry rhubarb pancake or a shrimp katsu benedict inside 6th & G, take a look at the decor. Books line a shelf on one side of the restaurant and fill a rack over the central bar.
The books have special meaning to Engman. Many have plots that involve a struggle by the protagonist to get their life back. Unbroken. The Voyage. The Long Walk. The Count of Monte Cristo. Papillon.
You can also scan the bookshelf for Meditations, a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius on stoicism philosophy. Engman is a big fan. “Marcus Aurelius says you should always be trying to make yourself a better person,” he says. “And that ultimately you can only control what you can control.”
Taking a cue from stoicism, I ask Engman what a restaurateur is able to control while operating in downtown San Diego.
On parking meter fee hikes enacted by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria: “It’s possible people won’t come downtown because of the parking. I don’t agree with it. It’s not smart. It will probably backfire.”
On doing business downtown: “I’ll never do a restaurant buildout from scratch again. The permits take so long. It’s incredibly difficult and costs so much money. It’s not worth the brain damage.”
I press Engman on these issues, but the stoic in him says he’s not going to waste time complaining.
“I’ll be looking at expanding in Texas in two years,” he says. “It’s gotten too tough in California. Too damn complicated.”
Before you finish a meal at 6th & G, look for the phrase “Amor fati” painted on the wall. The Latin expression translates as “love of one’s fate.” The stoics say it’s a mindset for tolerating hardship and using it to move on to greater things. SDSun
6th & G Breakfast Co. is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
