Tableau

I’ve enjoyed jazz brunch at Mr. B’s in the past, but this time we decided to try Tableau, a large restaurant just off Jackson Square. It was a beautiful late morning, sunny and warm for November, so we chose to sit on the balcony overlooking the buskers in front of the cathedral.

Technically, it’s a brass band brunch and unfortunately, the musicians were downstairs in the main dining room. But not for long. The players stroll around during the brunch and even go table to table taking requests. As someone who often gets annoyed with a strolling violinist, I was surprised how calm I was with a tuba player standing next to me. But when he and his trumpet- and banjo-playing companions did renditions of “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans” and “What a Wonderful World” it was easy to enjoy.

So was the food, which included Duck Hash, a dense disk of meat and potatoes, topped with poached eggs.

And Eggs Houssarde, a sort of a riff on Benedict with medallions of grilled beef tenderloin in place of ham and French bread instead of a muffin. Poached eggs and hollandaise were also Benedictine, but the fried oysters brought it back to Nola.

Terrific service here, too.

Tableau is at 616 St. Peter St., New Orleans.