If the Parasole restaurant group were to be equated to the once-mighty British Empire, Muffuletta might be its Gibraltar; small in stature, but rightfully distinguished. (Gibraltar for its crazy apes, Muffuletta for its elegantly innovative cooking.)

But with the exception of a crunchy breakfast pizzetta, Muffuletta plays it pretty straight and old-school with its brunch choices. The classic Eggs Benedict were served on toast rounds that initially seemed insubstantial, but soon revealed themselves to be excellent choices as they — along with the strips of ham, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce — relaxed into an easy-to-gobble down mass of breakfasty goodness. Tougher bread bases for Benedicts (leathery English muffins, for example) do a slightly better job of maintaining structural integrity, but at the expense of the actual experience of eating the meal. And the poached eggs were perfect; runny yolks with hardening around the edges. Mm. Good.

An order of banana brulee pancakes obeyed the cardinal rule of sweet breakfast foods; take a step back from being 100 percent sugar, and you make a far more interesting and delicious meal. The warm buttermilk pancakes were pleasingly light, and the caramel sauce that topped them lacked maple syrup’s tendency to saturate and over-sweeten.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It has become known to frequent brunch-eaters that while a sweet brunch is Very Delicious, a savory brunch is ultimately more nourishing and a better long-term bet. The answer to this classic problem? Order one sweet entree for the whole group to share as a brunch appetizer, and then order savory mains. Thanks to Noah of Chino Latino for making what I think will be recognized as one of the most important brunch-related insights of 2007.

Complimentary coffee cake with an apple topping made a nice grace note. And I didn’t personally try the other savory entrees that hit the table, but there were no complaints to be heard from as fussy a group of epicures as I’ve dined with in quite a while.

Service lagged, but our party was 30 minutes late for our reservation… and hell, it was a Sunday. There may have been slacking going on in the dining room, but there was no evidence of it happening in the kitchen.