A Great Pair of Eggs at Café Artiste

The Eggs New Orleans ($8.99) at Café Artiste (1601 West Main, 713-528-3704) are a masterpiece of architectural design and culinary creativity. The base consists of a thin, homemade, pan-fried crab cake sitting under a thick slice of tomato. Steamed spinach is next, followed by a slice of Canadian bacon. The whole stack is topped off with an upturned, perfectly poached egg. A mildly spiced hollandaise sauce, poured on top just before serving, slowly drizzles down the structure, coating all sides. Two of these sit next to each other on the plate like a pair of magnificent, braless orbs. Since the structure is fairly tall, the trick is to break the egg, slice through everything else and taste it all at once -- a feat that's not so easy.