A recent relaxed Saturday-morning brunch at Toulouse Petit, the New Orleans-inspired restaurant in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, made us want to laissez les bon temps rouler (let the good times roll)!

Here’s a photograph of the interior, formerly a non-descript Chinese restaurant that has been transformed into something you’d certainly expect to find in the Big Easy itself. Fleur de Lis wall art, custom metalwork, and hand-blown lighting fixtures surround the dining area. Inlaid wooden tables are mini works of art. It’s said the custom mosaic floor contains more than 85,000 hand-cut tiles.

One of Toulouse Petit’s best, and signature dishes (not to mention one of seven Eggs Benedict dishes offered on the sprawling menu), Louisiana Blue Crab with Fines Herbes Benedict proved a lovely combo of warm English muffins, perfectly poached eggs, a fair amount of crab, and a decadent and not-too-lemon-y Hollandaise sauce sided with not-too-greasy breakfast potatoes.

I wasn’t quite as happy with one of the Egg Dishes–Eggs “Forstiere” (sic) with Oyster Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Fresh Herbs. Described as “a softly scrambled omelet,” the dish was instead a scramble with eggs almost to the overdone point. A side salad (substituted for the breakfast potatoes) contained nary a wilted leaf (one of my pet peeves), a sprinkle of confetti-cut tarragon (one of my favorite herbs), some finely diced scallions, and a refreshing vinaigrette. Hefty points for that!

The lunch menu offers dishes such as a Fried Chicken Po’ Boy, Creole Gulf Shrimp Cakes, and Mussels à la Mariniere with Frites.

Dinner promises a choice among 14 different side dishes (!) including grits and red beans and rice, as well as entrées such as Crawfish Etouffée, Toulouse Jambalaya, and Louisiana Redfish.

Even during our mid-morning Saturday brunch, chef Eric Donnelly (former Oceanaire Seafood Room exec chef) was on the scene, striding in with a huge rolling pin that he probably bought up the street at the new (and fabulous!) Metropolitan Market. We were glad to see him keeping his  eagle eye on the bustling kitchen, and look forward to returning to this “Petit” restaurant with grandiose dreams.

In related news, it was announced earlier this month that the $6 Breakfast Deal, offered from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on weekdays, has been extended indefinitely.

From the press release:

The $6 breakfast happy hour includes almost every item on the Toulouse Petit breakfast menu. The two exceptions are the USDA Prime Rib Eye Steak and Eggs, which sells for $10 during happy hour, and the Louisiana Blue Crab Eggs Benedict, which sells for $9.

In addition to making the breakfast happy hour permanent, Toulouse Petit also recently rolled out an expanded lunch menu, adding more seafood and poultry dishes, more USDA Prime steaks, and additional soups.