Photos: Jolie Ruben

Fergus Henderson’s brunch this past Saturday at the Breslin may have been the third and final act of FergusStock 2009, but it was an otherwise groundbreaking event. According to owner Ken Friedman, it was the first time the British chef had cooked breakfast in a restaurant, ever. It also marked the start of Breslin chef April Bloomfield’s breakfast service.

Fist off, we have this to say: Please please please please please keep Henderson’s anchovy rolls on the menu. The tiny doughy buns were smeared with a creamy paste made from the salty little fish and, according to our waiter—a very friendly guy who was still learning the ropes, so it’s not impossible he was mistaken—pork jowl. They’re the perfect bar snack, a savory, saline, one-bite foil to whatever you’re drinking.

Aside from that, highlights included the restaurant’s signature Bloody Mary, one of the best renditions we’ve had in a long time; Bloomfield’s tasting of four terrines (guinea hen and morel, pork, rabbit and head cheese); a breakfast cake flecked with caraway seeds and splashed with Madeira wine; lamb kidneys on toast; and a wonderfully moist black pudding studded with cubes of gelatinous pork fat and topped with two fried eggs.

Surprisingly, some tables sat empty, perhaps a sign that Henderson fans were too hungover from the dinner the night before to make it out of bed in time, though it may have been for the best since the kitchen ran out of certain dishes early. If you missed it, you’ll have to wait until next year, or get yourself to London.