I received a {totally} unexpected brunch invitation.  I love that.  Especially when it involves someone I haven’t seen in many months & to somewhere I have never been.  Today saw the dawning of another gorgeous Spring day in the Pacific Northwest & a little jaunt over to that swanky little suburb of Madison Park seemed just the ticket.  I was early.  I do like to be early.  On this occasion being early gave me the opportunity to wander up and down a bit & bump into several new eateries for my ever-growing list.  Madison Park seems terribly French when it comes to it’s dining spots.  That included Luc, my cafe du jour.  Luc, it turns out, is a delightful little place.  Posh without pretension, style without snobbery, chic without condescension.  The glorious sunshine flooding through the windows only added to the ambiance.

I confess I checked out the menu in advance of today & had secretly already decided what to have, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying reading it again, in the flesh, so to speak.  I sipped on hot chocolate while I waited for Jeanne to burst through the door, which she did a few minutes later.  Jeanne is one of those particularly effervescent gals who bursts through just about every doorway that she ever enters.  She has a laugh to match.

Luciano, our waiter, started earning his tip the moment he opened his mouth.  A voice like this, only with a Italian accent.  Oh yeah.  Luciano, you had me at “Good Morning, Mademoiselle.”  Now I know why I felt compelled to wear my cute, pink, girlie tank-top & floaty, sheer blouse.

After I gave Jeanne a quick initiation into the ins & outs, whys & wherefores of a Croque Monsieur, we ordered up our first course.

Luc’s Croque Monsieur wasn’t the classic version (to see classic go here) but it sure looked good & it didn’t take Jeanne long to start bursting forth with gratuitous ooohs & ahhhs.  The Spicy Cauliflower Soup was also a big hit.

Me?  Well, I just had to go with the Baked Eggs.  Unlike the Croque Monsieur these were the absolute classic version: eggs & cream, seasoned & baked in the oven in a bain marie.  Simple.  Delicious.  Perfect.  I could have done with a little more cream, but then I always was a cream-lovin’ kinda girl.

Served up with potato rissolée & a couple pieces of fresh baguette.  Those potatoes – they didn’t come from Safeway.  Fantastic  flavor.  And I wasn’t disappointed that I had to ask Luciano if I might have some butter for my baguette.  “Butter, Mademoiselle.  Of course.”  Oh yeah.

By the time Jeanne & I had done a virtual tour of Southern Utah, the Grand Canyon & Yellowstone National Park right there at our table,  we were hungry enough to take on dessert.  Luciano, can we have the menus back please?  “Certainly, Mademoiselle”.

Crêpes, fruit compote, chantilly cream.  It might have been wiser had we ordered one to share between us.  Who knew you could fit quite so much chantilly cream & fruit inside two delicate little crêpes?  OK, so ‘little’ is probably a bit of an understatement.

I lost track of how long we spent in Luc today, but I do know that it was long, and that Luc didn’t seem to mind at all.  I also know that we laughed a lot.  All in all it was a *very* fine brunch.

“It was our pleasure, Mademoiselle”.

No, trust me Luciano.  The pleasure was entirely ours.