Brunch at Fuel

Saturday morning. You wake up in a hazy state of mind, throw on a pair of jeans, ask yourself whether it was really necessary to order that third bottle of wine at dinner last night, and then wonder where your next meal is coming from. Grands biscuits just aren't going to cut it, and the thought of going out for something as simple as bacon and eggs seems futile. Showering requires too much effort, so Brennan's and the like are out. Where can you go?

Welcome to Fuel Cafe, a quaint Magazine Street coffee house whose brunch menu reaches beyond the standard fare.

Case in point, Fuel Benedict: jalapeno corn cake topped with slow roasted pork, poached eggs, and chipotle hollandaise. From my Twitter research, I believe this dish is a holdover from the tenure of Chef James Leeming, who left Fuel last October to open Coulis.

Here is what I love about this dish. (1) The jalapeno corn cake is a marked improvement from Holland rusks or English muffins in terms of flavor and texture. (2) An overly generous ladle of hollandaise flows over the cakes. (3) Slow roasted pork >>> Canadian bacon.

Fuel has taken a page from Elizabeth's playbook by serving praline bacon. Unlike the sticky syrup-like coating at most other restaurants, Fuel's version covers the strips with a layer of crushed pralines so thick that the result is more akin to a bacon candy bar.

Fuel also offers daily specials which are announced via Twitter. On a visit back in November, I had a hearty vegetarian Moroccan soup of chick peas in a tomato base with a dollop of yogurt. Delicious.

But truthfully, your best choice at Fuel isn't even made in house. Once upon a time, Chef Maribeth was in the kitchen at Fuel cranking out hand pies on a daily basis. She left the kitchen at the beginning of the year and is now out on her own, but her pies are still available at Fuel. It's all in the ethereal crust.*

In the past year there have been quite a few changes in the back of the house at Fuel, but for the most part the menu has remained constant. Sweet potato pancakes, shrimp and grits, and the aforementioned Fuel Benedict are still dished out on Saturday and Sunday till 3:00pm.

Fuel Cafe - Birdie

*Though we had been told otherwise, Chef Maribeth is not providing baked goods for Fuel. However, her hand pies are available on direct order from her new venture, Betty's Bake Shop. We apologize for our mistake due to misinformation. Lookout for more on these hand pies in the coming weeks, including a full report on whether it's true that Chef MB sold her soul to the devil in exchange for the recipe for a pie crust that good.