Growing up in Kenner near the airport, a favorite fine dining establishment was only blocks away at Messina’s. It was a delicious Sicilian Italian restaurant with white tablecloths. We never went to places like this except for very occasionally, and going to Messina’s was always a special treat.
Even though I was long gone from the neighborhood, the closure of Messina’s after Hurricane Katrina hit hard. It was the loss of a great place to eat in an area without too much of that.
Messina’s landed on the other side of the city at the old New Orleans Lakefront Airport. The new place is called Messina’s Runway Cafe, and it is affiliated with their catering operation. They were always exceptionally good at catering, at least to my pre-Tom memory. The Walnut Room at the airport is the venue for weddings that they cater.
The rest of the very large building with the Art Deco decor is Messina’s Runway Cafe. They serve breakfast, lunch, and brunch on weekends.
We have talked a bit recently about the old Messina’s and it was on my mind. We decided to visit the place in New Orleans East. I’ve done this before but not since 2016, and we were overdue to return.
Walking into the front door you pass the old 1940s era diner, which is very cool. They will serve you in there, because they are so nice, but the actual dining area is at the back with windows for viewing the runways.
What is most striking to me about the menu at Messina’s Runway Cafe is how expensive it is. An omelet they describe as a ” meat-lover” is $17.50. It is open-faced with ham, bacon, andouille sausage, as well as cheese and potatoes. It comes with toast, biscuit, or English muffin. And a side. I got grits and a biscuit.
We also got a simple stack of pancakes that came with berries, and Leon’s crabcakes, which at $29 made me think these were “real" crab cakes that were pan-seared rather than deep-fried and were lump crabmeat rather than crab stuffing.
I was wrong. Here were two crab patties (more accurately), pan-seared and served with two eggs I ordered over medium (served with what they called Brabant potatoes.) I would call these potatoes roasted red potatoes, though technically brabant potatoes are "crispy potatoes." That is exactly what they were, though I still think that most people, when they hear the term, imagine cubed white potatoes that are deep-fried like the ones at the Grande Dames.
The crab cakes were flat little crab stuffing patties with little going for them in terms of appearance. The flavor was fine, even spicy, and the eggs were cooked as I asked. They were topped with a generous layer of Hollandaise.
The Doolittle Omelette was the most interesting breakfast entree I have ever encountered. It was full of meat, with some cheese, and three of these potato wedges baked hard into a large Frisbee-sized disc. This would have been much better had it not been so overcooked. And that is saying something for me, who prefers eggs with a lacy crust. I loved this whole idea, but wish it wasn’t such a mass. This came with a side and the grits I ordered were the perfect basic white grits. I like them that way. Add lots of butter and salt and voila!
But the best thing on the table was the biscuit. I originally asked for an English muffin but realized there would be no other chance to try the biscuits in the house. I switched to a biscuit and was very happy with what came. My preference for biscuits may not be the majority opinion, but I love a cut biscuit that has some crunch to it. This was dryish and crunchy on the edges. Exactly what I wanted.
The stack of pancakes was quite nice. Fluffy on sight but a little mushy in the hard-to-cook-properly middle, they were sweeter than most pancakes we encounter. This worked for Tom, who happily devoured them with a generous pile of cut strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.
.jpg)
Tom had some coffee that he complained about, which is rare for Tom.
The bill for this was $71, which seems high to me for three plates of breakfast food with one a stack of pancakes. None of this was bad in any way, but none of it was especially good. And that makes me sad for a place I remember as being a restaurant that thrilled me so many years ago in Kenner.
