It’s no reflection on the former T9 or the equally first-rate Turtle Soup, which is currently at the cross-town site. But when you give a Rhode Island veteran directions to that Broadway address, no matter how many restaurants come to occupy the location in the future, you’ll save time by saying, "You know, where Leon’s on the West Side used to be."

Leon’s was a popular gathering place. Chef-proprietor Billy Andrews had wanted it to be part of the Downcity renaissance and hoped to relocate to the Waterplace Park basin, but that didn’t work out. So Providence has lacked a Leon’s since three summers ago, and Andrews spent some of the intervening time in food R&D for the Bess Eaton Donuts corporation.

But like a phoenix rising with a strand of spaghetti in its beak, Leon’s is back. Four months ago, Andrews partnered with the owners of a nightclub in the Providence Place Mall. So now Leon’s & Stitchës, describing itself as a "metropolitan bistro" and "komedy kafe," is seeking a synergy between fun and food.

The place wasn’t designed to have a kitchen, so the cooking facility is small and won’t allow for the design-your-own pastas of the old Leon’s. The new orientation is to lunch and early dinner, so you won’t have to choose between fork-lifting and knee-slapping when the show starts, although the occasional martini olive might still be propelled across tables after a successful punch line.

The emphasis is on grilled pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and appetizers that can assemble into a meal tapas-style. The signature Billy’s Squid ($8.95), tossed with Andrews’s dry vermouth balsamic vinaigrette, is still available. There are chicken tenders as well as wings ($7.95), and omelets ($8.95) are made to order. The grilled pizzas ($8.95-$11.95) include five without tomato sauce, including one with baby shrimp. As for the eight menu entrées, opportunities change weekly, but there is always a fish and a chicken of the day, two pastas and sirloin steak, as well as sirloin tips.

Brunch was always a treat at Leon’s, so we figured we’d check it out at the new place. (Also, having breakfast, there wouldn’t be the prospect of a fly being placed in my soup to give the waiter a gag line.) You’re served in the small, friendly upstairs area — Nickelodeon was on the tubes when we were there — instead of the large space below with a stage in one corner and a long bar along one side. While the atmosphere is informal, the ambience is upscale, with colorful prints on the walls and black slate tiles in the restrooms.

The brunch choices, although limited, are all tried-and-true greatest hits, and how many breakfasts can you eat at one time, anyway? There’s a smoked salmon and bagel platter ($12.95), served with an herb-horseradish cream cheese. A breakfast burrito ($7.95) is filled with scrambled eggs and chef-choice goodies, and those who need theirs sunny side up to brighten the morning can have "The Moonstruck Breakfast" ($7.95), with two eggs fried in olive oil and set atop focaccia and sausage patties.

We chose our favorites from the variations on French toast and eggs Benedict. Johnnie deliberated about having her eggs with smoked salmon, but decided on the Florentine Benedict ($7.95). Great choice — and this coming from me, who’d hoped to snag her discarded Canadian bacon. The poached eggs had just-right runny yolks with firm whites — the danger that the latter might be underdone makes me avoid a dish that I love. The Béarnaise sauce was tangy, although the real treat was that the spinach was not simply wilted, but creamed with ricotta and feta. Delish.

My bananas Foster raisin bread French toast ($8.95) also earned a thumbs-up from both of us. My favorite recipe has the bananas fried to bring out their sweetness, but this version brightens them up a different way: lime juice gives the fruit slices a tang that contrasts nicely with the velvety combination of maple syrup and butter. The raisin bread is thick-sliced, which leaves the interior soft enough to come across as your choice of: 1) soggy or 2) "like bread pudding," as Johnnie would have it. I gotta go with two.

After the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. brunch, there is jazz from 4 to 7. Andrews is a drummer, so you might catch him playing with his vocalist wife in the Mary Andrews Quartet some Sunday, when you have to settle for the pleasant waitstaff for good humor. Send over an order of calamari for the musicians, and watch Billy smile.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at billrod@reporters.net.