Lesly Bernard’s looong-awaited Permanent Brunch has everything we could hope for from the Redhead’s Meg Grace — shrimp and grits, steak and eggs, chicken and waffles, and perhaps the sweet-savory pièce de résistance, French toast stuffed with ham and cheese. Bernard tells us all the seating in the narrow space, which accommodates 40, will be at bar height, and the bar itself will serve five varieties of Bloody Marys. Bernard did a lot of the construction on his own (putting photos of the subway on tiles he made by hand), which partly accounts for the delay. Speaking about that, he tells us he may have been too hasty in taking the former Secrets of Thai Cooking space: “Little did I know that it was only a shell of a restaurant. I was calling it Permanent Construction for a while.” — Daniel Maurer
So, yes, I had read the warnings about interminable wait times from fellow reviews and gone anyway. What else can you do when a restaurant puts your favorite meal right in the name? Bacon calls and you slump, bed- and vodka-headed, up 1st Avenue. Then you wait 20 minutes for a table and another 40 for your food (unless you are my unfortunate roommate who waited another 10 for pancakes). They explained that the computer system was down, creating havoc in the tiny kitchen, and gave us an extra side of bacon, which, considering we'd already order three sides, a fourth seemed more punishment than compensation. Indeed, the artisanal bacon bar is brilliant in idea if not reality--two selections were overly fatty and the third (apologies, my dear Hungarian ancestors) tasted like it was smoked with lighter fluid. Otherwise, the food was pretty much like any other breakfast spot. I'll give them bonus points for a playlist that lets you vote on upcoming songs via iPhone. Supertramp goes surprisingly well with cold eggs.
Despite the mixed reviews here, I thoroughly enjoyed it for brunch this morning. It's only been open for five weeks - I think the reviewer from early August should try again. It's not perfect, but it's a fun crowd with good food.