Café Soleil

In a word: Reasonable lunch at L'Etoile.

The specs: #0138
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; Sara without an H's note of appreciation; reviews at Yelp, Isthmus, 77 Square, the Culinary Adventures of Jahboh and Tossy, ; mention at Isthmus; official web site.

JM and Nichole shared a cheese plate. 
Nichole tried a cocoa and JM had the raspberry lemonade.
The bill was $11.60.
JM gave Café Soleil an A-; Nichole gave Café Soleil an A.

L'Etoile's brunch face was as good as we'd hoped, cheaper than we thought, and more welcoming than we expected. Our server took the time to introduce our cheese plate and answered Nichole's nosy questions about the kitchen setup. By craning our necks a bit, we could peer into the work area, which bustled with happy activity.

The cheese plate featured a small loaf of perfectly crusty bread, Future Fruit Farm pear butter, and two kinds of locally-made cheese that all went well together. The cocoa was likewise delish. The only point on which we disagreed was the raspberry lemonade: after sampling it, Nichole pronounced it too sweet while JM simultaneously called it not sweet enough.

We'll be back, and next time we'll try to bring a bigger appetite.