Ceci ce n’est pas une revue.

Much ado has been made about the design of Toulouse Petite, the new New Orleans inspired restaurant in Lower Queen Anne (601 Queen Anne Ave. N.) brought to you by the owners of Peso’s. Owner Brian Hutmacher made a decision about every surface, the textured walls, the tiled floors, the table tops. As a result, every detail of the place has the ability to attract and detract. For example, the outside of its sister restaurant next door is beyond a little much, while Toulouse Petite’s exterior seems jarringly unfinished. On the inside, past the plain green paint job that frames the ornate French Quarteresque windows on the outside of the restaurant, those windows and their many hand-cut panes of glass frame the Space Needle and every drop of rain beautifully.The first thing you’ll notice walking into Toulouse Petite is the reverent use of candles, then the smell of matches, leftover from the lighting of the insane number of votive candles littering the walls. It was only 6:30 p.m., and the smell disappeared quickly as tables began to fill, and smells of food replaced it. Most of the dishes on the menu, much like Peso’s, smartly range between $8 and $15. A bowl of French onion soup could not go unordered on such a blustery evening. The significantly beefy broth hit the spot. We also shared a sausage plate, flavorful slices of plump, juicy sausage on a warm French lentil salad, all punctuated by smears of Dijon mustard decorating the outside of the plate.The cocktail menu lists half Bourbon Street classics along with simple, brightly flavored drinks, like the Bitter Love, lightly sweet and 2/3s of a Negroni (gin and Campari) melded with house strawberry syrup and Prosecco. At the bar, the cocktail was presented, then the float of bubbly poured in front of me, a little touch I always appreciate. I predict much jockeying for the twelve or so seats at the bar.Staring at the custom inlay on that bar alone will keep you busy, and the tables, too, each one a different, voodoo symbol-inspired pattern. The back bar introduces visual interest with wooden shelves at different levels and different depths. Faux-finished within an inch of its life, the walls of the restaurant are a mix of barren and candle bedecked shelves. Toulouse Petite needs a full house to soften the impact of these details; then you can enjoy them bit by bit. Otherwise it all overwhelms, but nobody can say you won’t get enough ambiance here.