Studio One is heaven for French toast fans.

Byline: ON THE MENU By Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Restaurant: Studio One Cafe

Spokesman: Owner Michael Opdyke, who grew up in Eugene and worked in the auto body and paint business before buying the restaurant five years ago.

"That line of work's not healthy because of all the chemicals," Opdyke says. "My wife (Marilou) and I looked at several places before buying this."

Fortunately, the previous owner stayed on for a few weeks while the Opdykes got their feet on the ground. Luckily, too, the head cook, Felipe, stayed on - he'd already been there five years - and is still on the job.

"I haven't tried to change a lot of things, just make them a little more cool," Opdyke says. In keeping with the cafe's movie/TV theme, that includes naming a new version of one of its staples - Eggs Benedict - the "Homer Simpson," which ditches the traditional English muffin in favor of a bed of home fries, but keeps the poached eggs, Canadian bacon and hollandaise sauce of the classic recipe.

Cuisine: Deceptively simple and always hearty, but defies easy categorization. Besides the signature French toast and Eggs Benedict options, the menu includes several Mexican-style dishes for breakfast and lunch as well as a variety of omelets, sandwiches, pastas, salads, even burgers.

Philosophy: "Carrying on the tradition of a very good home-cooked meal," Opdyke says. "Remember when you're at your grandma's house, and how she waits on you hand and foot? That's what we try to do here."

Entrees: If French toast and Eggs Benedict - choose from smoked salmon, Cajun, veggie, traditional (house) and Homer Simpson versions - don't appeal, try a breakfast quesadilla or Mexican corn cakes, a variety of egg "scramblers," or a plain breakfast of egg and bacon, sausage or ham breakfast. Breakfast items can be ordered any time, and the lunch menu kicks in at 11 a.m., ranging from a grilled eggplant sandwich with roasted red pepper, roasted garlic, fresh basil and provolone cheese to the Nacho Grande, "a mountain of crisp tortilla chips or home fries topped with black beans, bell peppers, green onions, tomatoes, cheddar and cotija cheeses, fresh guacamole, sour cream and salsa (with) your choice of grilled chicken or tempeh."

Many menu items can be ordered as a half serving.

Specialties: French toast, without a doubt. Studio One offers two types, both made with thick slices of challah bread from the Humble Bagel bakery, dipped in a batter rich with eggs and cream. The most popular comes "grilled and topped with a mouth-watering berry compote romanov, almond custard and your choice of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries or all three." The other, "golden oldie style," features whipped cream, walnuts and maple syrup.

"Even at lunchtime, a lot of people come in for the French toast," Opdyke says.

Studio One goes through a 5-gallon bucket of its French toast batter every day, he says. Between that and the cafe's egg dishes, his customers consume 12,000 eggs a month.

Price range: Breakfast entrees range from $3.50 to $7.50 for half orders and about $5 to $9 for full orders. On the lunch menu, appetizers run $5 to $7, entrees about $5.50 for half orders and $7 to $9 for full orders.

Decor: Diner style, with uncovered tables and casual settings. Opdyke has updated the collection of movie posters and photos on the walls, adding recent offerings such as "Dazed and Confused" and "The Stepford Wives" to classics starring the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn.

Capacity: 50 indoors and another 50 outside on two patios in nice weather.

Serving Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week.

Owner(s): Michael and Marilou Opdyke, with 9-year-old Kevin and 5-year-old Michaela. Opdyke says he's glad he switched businesses, but owning a restaurant's not easy, "and I'm certainly not getting rich." Most of his 18 employees - nearly all part-time - "drive nicer cars than I do."

Opened: Has been Studio One for a decade; the Opdykes opted to carry on the same name and atmosphere when they bought the cafe five years ago.

Location: 1473 E. 19th Ave., Eugene.

Telephone: [phone].

Reservations: Not really. "But if larger parties call ahead, we try to give them an idea of when they might be seated," Opdyke says.

Shared recipe: Studio One French Toast, $4.95 Munchkin (two pieces); $7.29 Regular (three pieces); $11 Double Take (six pieces) on the menu.

Studio One French Toast

For the berry compote:

4 cups fresh or frozen berries - strawberries, blackberries, blueberries - all the same or in combination

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 to 1 cup sour cream (can substitute plain yogurt)

If keeping the berries separate for serving, put each type into a separate small saucepan with 1/4 cup sugar and a small amount of water to prevent burning, if needed. Cook over medium-high heat - but do not boil - until the berries release some of their juice and become soft.

If doing a mixed-berry compote, put all the berries into the same large saucepan with all of the sugar and cook as above.

Remove the berries from the pan to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Add enough sour cream or yogurt to the berry juice mixture to make a thin sauce, and mix well.

Source: Studio One Cafe.

For the custard cream:

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons flour

Bring milk to a boil with vanilla in a small saucepan. In a heavy saucepan off the heat, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Beat in flour until well blended. Very slowly, pour in the hot milk, beating constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Cook custard cream over medium heat, but do not allow to boil. Custard cream will be done when it coats the back of a spoon.

Source: "Northern Italian Cooking" by Biba Caggiano (HP Books, 1992)

For the French toast:

4 eggs

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

12 inch-thick slices challah bread

3 to 4 tablespoons butter for frying

Whisk the eggs with the cinnamon and nutmeg until well mixed and frothy. Add the sugar, whipping cream and vanilla and mix well.

Melt half of the butter in a large frying pan or on a griddle over medium-high heat; use proportionally less if cooking slices in batches. Dip the bread slices into the batter, and fry until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook the other side of the French toast, adding butter as necessary to prevent burning.

Put finished French toast slices in a warm oven until ready to serve.

To assemble, arrange three slices of French toast on each plate, with the long sides slightly overlapping each other. Spoon about 1/3 cup of berries onto the center of each slice, either mixed together or with one type of berry on each slice.

Drizzle about 1/4 cup custard cream - a generous tablespoon per slice - over the left third of the slices on each plate. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the compote sauce over the right third of the slices on each plate.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Source: Studio One Cafe.

CAPTION(S):

Studio One French toast, a specialty at the restaurant owned by Michael and Marilou Opdyke, is smothered in berry compote and custard cream.