Toulouse Petit creates as much of a French Quarter vibe as is possible in Queen Anne. The large, modern loft space has great floor-to-ceiling windows, plush booths, some ridiculous number of glass and ceramic tiles, and gorgeous custom-built wood tables, but it still feels a little like a movie set.

The food is much more inspired. The Creole menu ranges from light and springy to sumptuous. Oysters Rockefeller are prepared using Pacific oysters, spinach purée, cheese, cream, and lots of bacon chunks—they’re rich, elegant and better than the version you can get at Antoine’s in New Orleans, where the dish was invented. There’s also a wonderful version of “Crab Maison,” with blue crab with tarragon-chive ravigote on top of scrumptious fried green tomatoes. Jambalaya and crawfish étouffée are equally well executed, and there’s a fun section of “Curiosities,” like fried gator and Helix snails. In fact, the only Louisiana standard Toulouse Petit doesn’t do well is beignets. The solid wine list has lots of good food-friendly choices, but not many bottles that one would want to have by without a meal.

The menu is really too big, and the drawbacks of the bloated menu are evidenced by servers who don’t seem very knowledgeable and courses that are not well timed—they’re just delivered whenever the kitchen manages to get them through the line. That said, the little-bit-of-everything approach is always welcome at the fabulous breakfast, which is one of the best deals in town.