Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published January 24, 2007 Click here for the current edition Friday Lunch Returns To Antoine's For about twenty years (until my newlywed bride put a stop to it), I had lunch at Antoine's every Friday. I loved it. The menu was so enormous that, instead of ordering favorites all the time, I burrowed through the thing until I'd ordered everything on it. Then I learned that many more dishes lurked in the repertoire but weren't on the menu. (Poulet crapaudin, for example.) I always sat in the front room for lunch. I love the front room at Antoine's, with its mirrors and ceiling fans and lines of little light bulbs along the ceiling. At night, there's so much traffic through there that it can be less than relaxing, but at lunch things are calmer. The menu is the same as at dinner. The trick is splitting courses. Really, who needs six oysters Rockefeller at lunch (or at dinner, for that matter)? You can construct a magnificent lunch of appetizers, too. Start with the salade combinaison (hearts of palm, avocados, blue cheese, tomates, and greens) and finished with oysters Foch. The fish entrees work for lunch, too, especially the trout amandine and chicken Rochambeau. When Antoine's reopened at the end of 2005, the only midday meal it was able to serve was its new Sunday brunch. (Staffing issues.) But people kept asking: could you at least open for lunch on Friday? Two weeks ago, they did. They kept it a little quiet--Chef Mike Regua said he had to juggle a few people and routines, and was a little uncertain at first. But it seems to be working okay, so now, there it is: lunch at Antoine's. And, in case you haven't heard this from me before, the food is better than it's been since before my wife told me to lose that habit. Good enough for me to take it up once again. Antoine's. 713 St. Louis. 581-4422. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com