Maison

Another venture into the cuisine that is "brunch".  Particularly, drunk brunch, everybody's favorite!  Right in the middle of the theater district, there is a place that is open 24 hours and specializes in the food of Brittany, France.  I'm not sure if they would call themselves a diner, restaurant, brasserie, or whatever else, but that's Maison for you.  We had brunch on a beautiful Sunday morning, seated outside under their big orange umbrellas.  All around us were theater-goers and theater workers (topics of conversation overheard included performing as a background singer/dancer at the Tony Awards) and tourists arriving by the bus-full.

Our waitress was a pretty woman with a heavy French accent (was it authentic or was it for show?) and looked exactly like Maya Rudolph.  Alex had the Maison burger with herb fries and I had the Farmer's Egg Cocotte.  I was confused when they brought out my entree - which I thought would be shaped like an omelette because it was listed in the omelette section of the menu - in a  cast-iron skillet.  Three sunny yellow egg yolks were looking up at me, nestled solidly among their egg whites.  I say "solidly" because the eggs baked in this manner were kind of tough and rubbery. However, once I dug under the top layer of skillet-baked eggs, I found a layer of caramelized onion, smashed potatoes, and duck/pork confit sausage.  The mixture below the eggs was amazing, particularly spread on the Maison bread.  The sausage lent a herbaceous, meaty flavor to the sweet caramelized onions.  I also like the interactiveness of eating this dish, scooping up a dollop of egg/onion/sausage/potato and spreading it on a crust of bread.

Although we were using a Groupon (typical of us, huh?), I found Maison to be pretty affordable for a place right in Midtown and there are a few items on the menu that I am eyeing for next time!