Brunchpeditions: Village Restaurant. 62 W 9th. 11:30 AM.

So because of of my old CNT friends was visiting "from out of town"...aka Princeton, NJ, I definitely wanted to get in some quality brunch time. My usual go-to spots are near my apartment, like Good Enough to Eat and EJ's Luncheonette, but I thought today could be...specialer.

Browsing Yelp! and Opentable, I came across Village, a cute spot that I fell for utterly and completely because it's petit francais. At 62 W. 9th Street, it's almost at the corner of 6th Avenue, but that was news to me. Almost every time I venture down to the West Village I feel lost and incapable of following simple directions. Today was different (I didn't get lost - Thanks Phone GPS!) and pleasant since I also had the opportunity to walk by Le Petit Puppy...where I saw the most adorable black puggle puppy in the window. In my head, I named him Deiter.

Village, in a word, was filling. To add another? Satisfying. Not in a Southern way, where the grits are dipped in lard fried and covered with lard again (i'm joking), but very understanded and hearty. All three of us were on the prix-fixe brunch bandwagon - for $19.50, we all got coffee, soup/salad, mains & a cocktail. I know you can do better than that, price-wise, in Manhattan, but think of the food. This isn't greasy spoon fare. I ordered a bloody mary (can't live without 'em on sundays) to start, which came with green olives and was properly spiced, as if the bartender actually made it special. Then came the salad with herb dressing and, for my main, the roast tomato, asparagus & goat cheese omelet - egg white omelet. I don't usually do egg whites only, but I've been going to the gym lately and I'm trying to do what the magazine say and eat healthier. Yikes, was I full after.

Not only was the food exactly what my stomach could handle after last night, but the ambience was perfect too. We sat at a table in the window, people-watched & listened to the circa-1940s French jazz piping through the stereo.

So we're probably going to make this a regular thing now - especially with the puppies.