Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published December 1, 2005 Click here for the current edition Henri Has Breakfast! Lunch and dinner, too. Henri, one of the most beautiful little dining rooms in New Orleans, opened twenty years ago as the super-deluxe restaurant of Le Meridien Hotel on Canal Street. It was delicious, but nobody went there, so it closed. For years, they've used it as a banquet space, but retained the decor. Well, now it's back. The hotel (now called the J.W. Marriott, not to be confused with the Marriott high-rise across the street) turned over the room it had been using for its all-day restaurant (Midi) to the construction crew for Shula's Steakhouse (see above), and moved the three meals into Henri. This is good news, because of the dearth of decent breakfast places, and because Midi's breakfast buffet was the best such in New Orleans. It's back, exactly as it was, for $14.95 in Henri. Yesterday, I had their outrageously good, thick, pepper-crusted bacon (really, one slice of this is enough), sausages, shirred eggs with hot peppers and cheese, a few pastries, and chunky potatoes with Creole seasoning. The chef is out there doing omelettes and waffles. Unfortunately, the hotel is not offering the excellent brunch buffet they had been. The general manager wondered whether the business was there; I encouraged him that indeed enough people have asked me about brunch to indicate a crowd big enough to fill the place to overflowing. But the daily breakfast buffet is better than some Sunday brunches. So it's on the pathetic list of brunches later in this same newsletter. © 2005 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com