Breakfast this morning is just a cup of coffee, because that’s all that I can hold. I’m still feeling full after last night’s dinner.

After saying for I don’t know how many years that we were finally going to eat dinner at L’Etoile, we broke down and did it last night when they offered a special New Orleans style Prix Fixe dinner of cornmeal fried oysters and Creole fish stew. That sounded so yummy that we couldn’t pass it up.

“Prix Fixe” is French for “cheap enough that any bumpkin can afford it,” although “cheap” in this case is a very relative term. The people who dine at L’Etoile appear to be the kind who put on suit coats and evening dresses to go out on the town, although how that one guy got into a size four cocktail dress will be the subject of speculation for weeks to come.

So we were just a little out of place, although there were plenty of diners dressed just as casually as we were, and one woman put on her best track suit. I didn’t feel so terribly out of place.

It’s a beautiful little restaurant on the second floor of an old building on capital square. The dining room’s very cozy, maybe twenty tables arranged in a room about twenty feet wide and fifty or sixty feet long with a bar in the back and big picture windows in the front.

We had reservations for six o’clock, the first seating, which could be why we got a table front and center giving us a beautiful view of the capital dome, all lit up bright red (for Valentine’s Day?). Or it could be that they realized we’re just that special and gave us the best seats in the house.

The first course was cornmeal fried oysters, lightly breaded and very tender, served on a bed of shredded cabbage and served with a tangy tartar sauce. That was followed by a big bowl of Creole fish stew, rice and a spicy stock swimming with halibut, wild rock shrimp and thin slices of smoked andouille sausage. This was one of those dishes that make you go “Oh!” and “Ummm!” with every spoon full you put in your mouth.

That was enough to fill us up, but there was more: Dessert was bananas Foster, a banana sliced up the middle, covered in melted caramel and served with a dollop of ice cream. Bliss!

And that’s probably going to be our big night out for a while. We blew more on the tip that we do on hamburgers at the Harmony tavern on a Friday night, but it was worth it, and especially so because I think it did a world of good for My Darling B, who hadn’t been feeling well all day. She’s better now. Happy Valentine’s Day, B!