La retour -- C'est si bon!

I got all misty-eyed when Cafe Croissant reopened -- finally! -- on Duval.

It wasn't the emotion, though there was plenty of that. They'd been in exile in a Petronia storefront since their fire . . . on Valentine's Day '05, with four hurricanes close after, and it was terrific to have them back home after so many construction woes in those 19 months.

The mist was coming from some fans they'd installed to infuse a cooling spray on diners. The left lens of my glasses kept fogging up, because one of the fans was comin' right at me.

But when I dug into the poached eggs in brioche, with their wonderful whole-mustard sauce, I knew the cafe and I had both come home. And when Daniel came over for congratulations and a hug, maybe not all the mist was from the fans.