Fresh & Local: M. Henrietta's Recipe for Success

By John DiGilio in Food on Nov 30, 2010 8:00PM

The old adage says that two heads are sometimes better than one. Can the same be said about restaurants? When the owners of M. Henrietta set out to replicate the success of their popular flagship M. Henry by opening a sister restaurant - appropriately named M. Henrietta - they were tempting diners and fate. If the long wait list for Sunday brunch is any indication, culinary lightning can strike twice.

M. Henrietta’s motto, “Chow for Now”, is the same as its sibling restaurant. So too is the promise of its owners and chefs to use the “finest natural and seasonal ingredients available” and employ the “healthiest cooking methods”. Localvores should take special note that M. Henrietta does its best to use locally produced ingredients whenever possible. The same goes for organic produce when available. The menu is an eclectic selection of breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner entrees followed by a tantalizing offerings of fresh baked goods and desserts.

We stopped in with some friends on a busy Sunday morning to sample the brunch menu. After a bit of a wait, we started with a round of the fruit & yogurt parfaits. An artistic layering of thick yogurt and seasonal fruits, they came quickly and were bigger than expected. For an entree, we chose the vegetarian Latina Omelette. It was a hearty mix of black beans, diced tomatoes, sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onions and cilantro topped with chipotle sauce. The sweet plantains on the side provided a nice accompaniment to the savory main dish, though the house potatoes were slightly dry. One of our companions was rather vocal about his appreciation of Fannie's Killer Fried Egg Sandwich and its layers of over-medium eggs, applewood bacon, sliced plum tomatoes, gorgonzola, and fresh thyme.

The food and the service at M. Henrietta were both impressive. The quality of the meals and the attentiveness of the staff more than made up for the long wait for a table. The fact that there was such a wait for food on a Sunday morning in Edgewater certainly says something about the recipe for success the folks at M. Henrietta have concocted. It has served them well . . . twice.

M. Henrietta is located at 1133 W. Granville.