It’s more photogenic than a celeb on a walk-and-repeat — Insta-worthy when it hits your table and the camera eats first. And when you cut into the poached eggs, they melt properly into the roasted green chilis and flaky croissant toast. The green chili hollandaise is lush and creamy with just a touch of spiciness that melds perfectly with the runny yolk. The duck confit is rich and sweet, picked pieces perfectly bite-sized, and the toast rounds absorb all of that gooshy mix and hold together just long enough for you to bring your fork to your mouth, providing an oh-so-gentle croissant crust crunch.
The salad that goes along? A perfect healthy ride-along.
But this is a bait-and-switch Denverlicious ode, because — as much as I love the benedict at the Mayfair bakery La Fillette — my first and always true love will be their BYO Sandwich on a fresh croissant with that opulent duck confit, over easy eggs, melty gruyere, and caramelized onions (and sometimes leeks for a pop of veggie earthiness).
The only reason I didn’t lead today’s column with that duck-and-egg breakfast sandwich is… well… I couldn’t find a photo in my phone that has the star power to live at the top of the fold.
But still, look at that thing — gorgeous and gooey in its brown paper wrapping, a beige beauty with a fringe of eggy sunshine.
No matter.
Here’s what I love about this particular breakfast delight:
It’s fucking delicious.
It’s everything I love about the benedict, but in sandwich form: fragments of salty duck enmeshed with warm gruyere and jiggly eggs, sweet-savory onions fused into the amalgamation. Brown flakes of airy croissant stick to your fingers as you eat — this is not a sandwich you want to put down — and bits of everything drip out the sides, all scoopable with a fork or fingers before you go wash your face and hands.
If the Benny is a refined dish you eat with a fork and knife, the BYO is the dirty little guilty pleasure you consume like a ravenous beast.
Either way, you’re guaranteed a happy mouth and happy belly.