The Bay's favorite bakery raises the art of sandwich making to a whole new level with scrumptious combos layered between slices of their own bread.
 - story by Lisa Monti, photos by Lisa Monti and Ellis Anderson

On a recent dreary weekday, when a hot grilled sandwich seemed like the perfect comfort food, I doubled down on The Works: Black Forest ham, Fontina, the fresh pesto, salty olives and rich sun dried tomatoes on Al’s Roasted Sunflower Seed bread.

The sandwich was crisped in a panini press (using olive oil, not butter) and served with a pickle slice and a bag of Lay’s potato chips, a classic accompaniment. Depending on availability and your preferences, the sandwich ingredients vary, but you know the bread and everything in between will be good and tasty.

Turns out The Works is a runaway favorite with Old Town workers who order their panini to go.

Back to those carryout items. The deep green pesto is a swirl of fresh basil, walnuts, garlic, sea salt, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. The spicy hummus (garbanzo beans, extra-virgin olive oil, tahini, garlic, cumin, sea salt, fresh lemon juice and just a bit of red pepper flakes).

You’re probably familiar with Serious Bread’s chicken salad, made with freshly roasted chicken, apples, almonds and cranberries, but maybe not with tabouli, a Lebanese salad blending bulgur wheat, feta, tomatoes, black olives, green onions and cilantro.

Another big seller, and also new to the menu, are the delicious energy bars. “We can’t keep them in the store,” said Janet Densmore, a seller of breads and sweets behind the counter.

The bars are made of dried fruits, sunflower seeds, peanut butter, oats, coconut, almonds, pecans, flax seed, sesame seed and honey. Like everything made at Serious Bread, they’re all natural.

It’s been a dozen or so years since the Jensens started making Serious Bread and selling it at farmer’s markets.  Lucky for locals (and visitors), for the past two years, they have an Old Town home at 131 Main Street.

Al, a retired oceanographer long known as "The Breadman," was a lifelong fan of sourdough and after he started baking his own bread, he and Vivian traveled to bread classes all over the country.

Between operating the Old Town storefront and working various farmer's markets, the Jensens and their crew stay busy making and selling all those great artisan sourdough breads, double chocolate brownies, cinnamon rolls, scones, and a variety of muffins and cookies. Their famous flatbreads are available in their cafe on weekends and on farmer's market days.

story and photos by Lisa Monti

111 Main Street, Bay St. Louis,  (228) 344-3330
Hours:  Lunch starts Jan. 4
11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday;
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday;
Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Jan. 10.

The new bistro will be in full bloom in the new year. The Bay Gourmet, which will open January 4, will sell Boar’s Head meats, imported cheeses, homemade chicken salad, fresh baked bread, high-end crackers and condiments, signature salads and dressing by the pint. Lunch service also will start January 4.

But the kitchen already is humming along in high gear, turning out shareable appetizers and generous entrees, plus a string of sides. Specials change daily, starting with red beans and rice on Mondays.

The Oysters St. Louis heads the list of appetizers, and rightfully so. The local oysters are wrapped in smoky bacon, skewered, fried to a crispy state and sauced with citrus beurre blanc.

Fried oysters. Bacon. Buttery sauce. Yes, please. Easily could pass as an entree.

The house-made pork and veggie spring rolls were crunchy and delicious on their own with the Thai chili sauce and came with Asian slaw that was a surprise standout, rich with soy sauce.

The appetizer list includes familiar favorites — crab cakes, fried green tomatoes — plus some unique ones like duck quesadillas and baked cheese gratin.

Each of the three chicken entree dishes sounded better than the next: Montrachet, Milanese, and Blue Corn. The Montrachet chicken breast was pan fried to perfection, stuffed with spinach and various cheeses and topped with pesto cream sauce alongside angel hair pasta. And the leftovers held up well  - until lunch the next day.

Bottom line: The long-awaited Old Cuevas Bistro is worth the wait and a welcome addition to Old Town.

  A Mandeville favorite and darling of the Food Network opens in the Depot District of Old Town.  You'll find the menu at the end of the story, too!
- story by Lisa Monti, photos by Ellis Anderson

The space, which used to house the popular Bay City Grill and later Jack’s, has had a full refresh, with more light and elbow room. The fountain in the center of the room contains flowers now, and the corner near the entrance houses Ginger’s own line of “bling.” As the menu advises: Eat, drink and wear jewelry.

Louie’s roots are in the French Quarter; Ginger’s are in the Irish Channel. She works the front of the house, and he’s in the kitchen. The chef, a former electrician, learned to cook from his grandmother and has cooked for 40 or so years to raves.

When he was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in 2011, host Guy Fieri called Louie’s grits & grillades “a breakfast that eats like dinner.” [Watch the Food Network video about the Mandeville location at the end of this story!]

As Ginger said: “Food makes a chef. God makes a cook.”

Our opening day lunch was a good introduction to the long menu:  rich, dark chicken and Andouille gumbo, loads of fried fish with sweet potato fries, and two hefty crab cakes coated in crunchy bread crumbs drizzled with a rich remoulade.

The generous fried green tomatoes were topped with poached eggs and the  crispy Leidenheimer bread couldn’t contain all the fried shrimp that came in the po’boy.

The breakfast and lunch menus have plenty to offer. There are seven versions of “Bay” Benedicts alone, including the house specialty: Eggs Nouvelle Orleans starring two crab cakes topped with poached eggs and the chef’s own take on hollandaise. Other options include pancakes and omelets and Depot Festival items served with grits and creamed spinach. You can enjoy breakfast from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Lunchtime offerings (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) include the storied Eggplant Algiers appetizer: a hearty stack of fried eggplant medallions layered with boiled shrimp, crab meat and crab cake, topped with a light cream sherry sauce, and otherwise known as Louie’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Here, also, are gumbo, salads, pasta, steaks, classic fried seafood, po’boys, and the list goes on.

The chef’s special holiday menu will run through New Year’s.

Watch for the rollout of daily lunch specials for $8 (red beans, baked chicken, spaghetti & meatballs, liver & onions and fried fish), Saturday brunch and extended hours in the near future.

Louie & the Redhead Lady is open Monday through Saturday. For now, bring your own wine.

With a menu that's different AND delicious, can it be healthy too?  You betcha! 
- story and photos by Lisa Monti

The chickens served at Starfish are “free of steroids, antibiotics and cages,” says Di, and the beef is grass fed at a farm up in Collins, Mississippi.

A recent lunch for our trio started with greeting friends we spotted at just about every table in the small dining room. It’s that kind of place: familiar, friendly, and comfortable.

Our timing was off because of a very long freight train so the must-have spring rolls were already gone. Get there early to enjoy the spring mix with tomato, carrot, mango, cukes, mint and sesame ginger dressing inside a tapioca rice wrapper. The accompanying peanut sauce is homemade, as you would expect.

Rebounding from the spring roll miss, we ordered the roasted asparagus “fries,” deliciously crunchy with a parmesan coating, and a delicious, addictive starter.   

One of the daily specials made its way to our table: the blackened Mississippi catfish tacos with mango mint coleslaw were served with organic chips and homemade pico.

The cafe gets extra points for letting customers — well, customize orders. On this day, half a Tur-Ba-Cado sandwich (fresh roasted turkey with bacon, avocado and provolone sauced in cranberry chipotle, pressed on house-made sourdough) came with a Winter Popeye Salad (spinach, goat cheese, pecans, Craisins, apple and pumpkin seeds dressed with pepper jelly vinaigrette).

“We’re so small that we can customize a lot of orders according to taste and dietary needs,” Di said. “If you have dietary restrictions, this is the place for people who find it difficult in other restaurants.”

If you’re the kind of diner who likes to go by the numbers, the cafe’s menu has an Under 500 section just for you. I’m not that kind of person but the Thai steak salad caught my attention. The marinated strips of filet topped a large portion of romaine, garden fresh basil, mint and cilantro and all of it was flavored with a citrusy Thai lime dressing. All that goodness and just 160 calories. I know.

There are a couple of other ingredients the folks at Starfish Cafe like to use in generous amounts. “We put a heavy portion of love and happiness in every dish,” said Di. “Our regulars tell us they can taste it.”

The couple opened West End in the summer of 2008, using the experience they had gained with Daddy-O’s, their popular breakfast and lunch diner well known for its signature doughnuts. West End came about when the Brelands set out to try a new type of restaurant post-Katrina.

Meals at West End start with a small loaf of French bread delivered to the table in a paper bag. It's a nice way to get a meal under way and the bread at West End is warm, light and crispy.

I didn’t do the math but our table seemed split between the menu classics and the daily specials. I had a cup of rich gumbo loaded with seafood along with half a  fried shrimp poboy on Leidenheimer bread. Pardon the crumbs. Enough said.
 
Up and down the table, all the choices appeared appetizing, from the generous and juicy West End burger covered with melted Swiss to the show-stopping avocado crab salad and the fried green tomato poboy. An appetizer of fried green tomatoes topped with crabmeat and accompanied by a small serving of a special sauce stood up well to the full-sized entrees.

West End is partial to seafood but if you lean more toward pasta, steaks, and veal dishes you can find those, too.

West End, located at 635 U.S. Route 90, is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Innovatively prepared steaks and seafood have made the Sycamore House one of the most successful fine dining establishments on the Gulf Coast, but each Wednesday, a very special menu offers... sushi?  Find out why Sushi Night at the Sycamore has become a favorite local tradition.
- story and photographs by Ellis Anderson

The menu offers two different kinds of sushi.  One is maki sushi, which is the roll most people have at least sampled.  Fillings and a special sushi rice are rolled up inside a sheet of toasted seaweed, called nori.  Sycamore House offers nigiri sushi too, which is a slice of shellfish or fish draped over a mound of rice. 

While die-hard sushi aficionados may go for the nigiri, it's probably a safe bet that most Sycamore House guests on Wednesday night are there for the maki rolls.  Even the lowly California roll takes on a new glamour.  While it's the norm at most restaurants to use the imitation crab meat in rolls, the ones at Sycamore House are made with the real McCoy, wrapped up with avocado, radish and cucumber. 

The crawfish roll pairs the cajun delight with asparagus, cucumber and a surprising chipotle boursin sauce.  Salmon pairs up with caperberry aioli, and the shrimp get a kick from a spicy mayo.  There's even a BBQ shrimp roll.  Really.  Made with the restaurant's signature recipe at the heart.  And they're generously portioned as well. 

The SycHouse roll leaves nothing to the imagination: everything you can think of (fresh crabmeat, crawfish, yellowfin tuna and asparagus) is stuffed inside and then tempura battered and fried.  The queen of rolls though has got to be the Surf n Turf:  shrimp and veggies on the inside, buttery tender steak on the out. 

Chefs Stella LeGardeur and Michael Eastham opened the Sycamore House in 2002, in one of Old Town's historic gems, graced by huge live oaks, front and back.  The restaurant has built a stellar reputation through the years with loyal customers who drive from the culinary capital of New Orleans to enjoy a meal. 

The sushi is Stella's baby, although it was one of the food specialties both studied while training at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.  Several years ago, the couple were casting about for something to jazz up mid-week in the restaurant.  The sushi idea came up since at the time there were few ethnic food offerings in the area.  Now there's a loyal following of fans that return each Wednesday. 

Reservations aren't necessary, but it's always best to make one:  call (228) 469 - 0107. 

Go ahead and give a big sigh of relief:  the chic cafe in the historic building may have new owners, but that's all that's changing. 
-by Ana Balka

Alicein, who grew up in Bay St. Louis, has traveled “far and wide,” and believes this has impacted her worldview.  And along the way, her family is gathering ideas to improve the Mockingbird. 

“We try to promote wellness on all fronts,” she says.  “That includes serving fresh foods, hosting revolving art shows, providing a home for Tree House Yoga Studio, and staging live family-friendly music events.  We have a free lending library and we’re home base for a weekly Fun Run.  It’s all about interacting with your community on a lot of different levels.”

The Mockingbird first opened in 2006, when Bay St. Louis was still digging out from the debris fields left by Hurricane Katrina.  To outsiders, it seemed an odd time to open a coffeehouse, but according to Alicein, "we saw a need for a communal gathering place that would offer love, hope, and a place for healing to begin."   The historic building quickly became known as the town’s “living room,” where volunteers and survivors shared stories, laughter and tears.

Over the past nine years, the Mockingbird has been featured in national magazines like Southern Living (repeatedly), Coastal Living and Cottage Living magazines and on NPR's Weekend Edition.  They’re known throughout the state in artistic and musical circles.  Their food is of special note too.  Recently, their burgers were named among the top ten in Mississippi.  So if visitors to Bay St. Louis were given a “Must Do” list, “hangin’” at the Mockingbird would be near the top.

Visitors can always find interesting locals willing to converse in the lively café.  On any given day, you’re likely to find college students who have stumbled on the Bay during their travels, scientists who work at Stennis Space Center, day-trippers from New Orleans and beyond, kids from the nearby schools and lots of artists and writers.  The mix of people is as irresistible as the food and beverages served up by welcoming baristas. 

The regular café menu is offered Monday through Saturday from 11- 2pm and from 5 – 9pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. In addition to the “world-famous Mockingburger,” fresh sandwiches, and flavorful salads offered on the menu, gourmet baker Hannah Roberts is whipping up signature muffins, cookies and specialty desserts (all available for cater-out).  Lemon/Feta cookies and the Aloha cookie (white chocolate, pecan and coconut) are the new local favorites.  Beverage-wise, patrons can order up anything from cappuccinos to locally brewed craft beers to fresh-squeezed Beatnik lemonade.  

About a year ago, the Mockingbird began offering breakfast on a daily basis (7am – 11am M – Sat., 8am – 1pm on Sunday) to resounding community applause.  Their made-from-scratch biscuits have been called the best on the coast by more than one Southern food lover (this writer among them).  Divine jams made in-house can be slathered on for the full flavor bomb effect (just DO IT!). 

Other favorites include frittatas, apple-smoked bacon, and the ever-popular José Loves Me omelet (with black beans, cheddar, avocado and made-in-house pico de gallo).  Fresh fruits, robust full-grain grits (not the anemic instant kind) and curry-seasoned home-fries round out a menu that will delight adventurous diners as well as traditional egg-and-bacon folks.

Also new in the past year is the Mr. Atticus Night Market, held on the last Friday of each month.  Offering live music, art vendors and a special tapas menu, the event has begun to establish itself as a coast favorite.   Alicein points out that the special menu gives the kitchen team a chance to stretch and try new things, while using seasonal, locally grown ingredients. 

Smith & Lens Gallery, located right next door, schedules their monthly art opening during the same time frame, so that night, Second Street takes on a festival atmosphere.  The Night Market concerts are similar to the other evening performances held throughout the month.  Adults take chairs and listen or chat with friends, while dozens of children are hula hooping and scooting and dancing their way through the crowd. That’s exactly the energy the Mockingbird crew has been cultivating.

“When you have children, you don’t stop wanting to go have a burger and a beer and watch a band,” Alicein says.  “We wanted to provide a place where that could happen.  All our events are children-friendly.  We have blocks and markers and hula-hoops and black boards to help keep kids entertained while the parents are enjoying conversation and music.” 

“Besides, you want outings like that to be a family experience and to cultivate a love of art and music in your children.  Then they’re going to grow up and want more of the same.”

“We’re all pieces of the big puzzle, working to make our town loved and successful,” says Alicein.  “Our philosophy at the Mockingbird is that kindness is the most important thing.”

The Gulf Coast shrimp season is approaching its peak and coast residents have dozens of delicious options when it comes to eating them!
- story by Lisa Monti/photos by Ellis Anderson

The larger white shrimp have long antennas, smooth shells and a mild, sweet taste. The tender meat is a favorite of cooks and the shells are easier to peel than other types of shrimp. Mississippi Gulf White Shrimp have light gray bodies, greenish tails and a yellow band on their mid-sections.

Mississippi Gulf Pink Shrimp are perfect for boiling because they’re easy to peel and its firm, tender meat is mild and sweet. It’s the largest of the Mississippi Gulf shrimp, reaching up to 11 inches.

You can buy shrimp off the boat, out of the back of a van, from the seafood market, the grocery store or you can catch them yourself.

The versatile shrimp lends itself to various preparations and dishes. Remember Forrest Gump? Shrimp can be baked, blackened, boiled, broiled, deep fried, grilled, poached, sauteed, seared and steamed. It stars in shrimp and grits, barbecue shrimp, jambalaya, gumbo, tomato-stuffed salad, seafood pasta and casserole and my favorite: shrimp stuffed with crabmeat. The list goes on. Shrimp also are rich in nutrients, low in fat and calories and very high in protein.

Diners at our local restaurants don’t have to wade too far into a menu to find shrimp appetizers, entrees, poboys, pasta and salads.

Rickey Peters of Rickey’s Off the Tracks said he chooses shrimp by size, not by species. The current customer favorite is shrimp remoulade with his special Creole mayo sauce.

Tony Trapani of Trapani’s Eatery declared that domestic shrimp are the best and that size or species doesn’t matter. Customers are ordering plenty of fried shrimp as well as the blackened and grilled versions.

To the delight of Lulu's legion of fans, one of Old Town's favorite restaurants expands their menu, their dining area, and their hours.

The dining area, once intertwined through the rambling Maggie May’s art gallery (126 Main Street), now gives diners a choice between high-ceiling rooms lined with original paintings, or a roomy (and bug free) screened-in porch.  No one’s going to be bumping elbows in either area. 

Even the kitchen has grown, from a cramped room to a spacious state-of-the-art chef’s dream. 

In fact, this all is a dream, one that owner/chef Nancy Moynan has been nurturing for decades. 

“It’s been my dream and my passion and finally I’m living it,” she says.  “All I’ve ever wanted is a place where the food, the service and the ambiance combine to give diners an outstanding experience.”

Moynan brings a lot of outstanding experience of her own to the table.  She grew up learning the nuances of flavor by watching her grandmother and mom.  She cooked for three years in the legendary Commander’s Palace restaurant in New Orleans.  She also worked for five years as private chef for a Lebanese family, adding expertise in Mediterranean cooking to her Creole and Italian mix. 

The new menu reflects all those influences, with Creole, Italian and Mediterranean choices. Even vegetarians will find delightful options.  Loyal fans of Lulu’s lunch will still find the Chicken Salad, Eggplant Panini and the Roast Beef Po’ Boy  - that many believe is the best on the coast.

The Sunday Brunch menu tempts diners with traditional favorites and scrumptious flights of fancy.  Authentic Grillades and Grits (a dish very difficult to find on menus now - even in New Orleans eateries), Crabby Lulu (a scrumptious crab cake and egg creation) and a Sausage soufflé. 

There’s also the tantalizing Redfish Florentine.  It features fresh gulf redfish, seared and served with a creamy spinach Madeleine, sautéed mushrooms and artichoke hearts and two poached eggs.  The whole seductive dish is covered in a homemade hollandaise sauce. Bringing friends who will share tastes of their own plates is highly recommended. 

Desserts served at all meals include homemade ice creams and sorbets, Lulu’s Chocolate Mud, and Betty’s Bread Pudding, named after the chef’s mom.

Even little things like the saltine crackers that come with the chicken salad showcase Nancy’s distinctive flair. What magic does she work to make them so savory, and downright addictive?  She holds her cards close to her vest, but encourages diners to experiment in their own kitchens at home. 

“That’s the best compliment someone can pay,” Moynan says.  “ I want them to leave looking forward to their next meal here.”

Take in an "air show" with your breakfast or lunch at the cafe in the new terminal building of Stennis International Airport.
 - story and photos by Ellis Anderson

There’s not much signage, so if it’s your first time visiting, drive past Hancock High School on your right and keep straight ahead.  Park in the lot in front of the grey and glass building, then walk through doors into a lobby that could double as the ground floor of a big-city boutique hotel. 

But, yes, you are still in Kiln, Mississippi.  And the name Stennis International Airport is not a delusion of grandeur.  Although there’s no commercial international flights traveling to and fro – yet – corporate, cargo, and military aircraft from all over the world frequent the airport.   Built to handle emergency landings for the Space Shuttle, airport director Bill Cotter says that the runway is one of the longest in the Southeast, stretching for over a mile and a half.  And it’s strong enough to handle super-sized aircraft like the Antonov, the largest cargo plane in the world.

Downstairs in the new air terminal, there are two chic lounges, a large corporate meeting room, a small, but posh, theatre and even small private rooms where travelers can nap in overstuffed recliners. 

Upstairs the entire side of the building facing the runway is glass.  In fact, it’s designed with the glass projecting outward at an angle, so observers watching the runway can lean forward in their excitement and not a nose will be broken.  

While more offices and meeting spaces flank the central open staircase, the lively part of the building is the corner café. 

The particular Friday lunchtime, the Jet Away Cafe was filled with every imaginable type of uniform from the armed services, as well as corporate types in business attire.   Each of the ten or so tables has a great view of the runway.   The types of aircraft landing and taking off on the runway varied as much as the uniforms in the dining area – supersonic jets for training NASA astronauts (in fact, two were departing as our group arrived) to sleek corporate jets, to lumbering cargo aircraft.  It’s a mesmerizing sight for all ages. 

The café is open from 8am to 3.  The breakfast menu is served to 10:30am.  The lunch menu kicks in from 10:30am - 3pm.  It’s a limited menu (you can download it at the end of this article), but the food is so good, pilots with assignments allowing them to pick their destination are flying into the Stennis Airport at lunch time.  They’re enjoying the fried or grilled shrimp (in a plate or as a po-boy), catfish, salads and gumbo.  Yep.  Authentic, made from scratch gumbo.  There’s also homemade mac and cheese and crispy sweet potato fries as side options to regular fries. 

But don’t expect to be looking at your food very much while you’re eating.  The astonishing variety of jets and planes zipping in and out  before you is guaranteed to arrest your attention, making the lunch hour fly in more ways than one. 

by Lisa Monti
 - this month - Hancock Medical's cafeteria puts hospital food in a whole new light. 

If you get a bad feeling at the thought of hospital food, you probably haven’t been to Hancock Medical Center’s cafeteria in a while, especially on Fridays.

“People come from miles around for our catfish and gumbo,” said Jimmy Lamy, HMC’s food service director.  “Some people call it the best kept secret in Hancock County.”

On a recent Friday, the fresh catfish was well seasoned and crispy as promised, and served with crunchy hush puppies, a fresh baked sweet potato and other sides. My bowl of gumbo was chock-full of shrimp and served with my choice of brown rice for a flavorful and filling lunch. OK, not so filling as to keep me from trying the rich bread pudding.

Cafeteria fans also line up for fresh turnip greens on Monday and Friday, and for the award-winning red beans and rice on Monday. “The best anywhere,” is how a fan described the Monday special.

Lamy said he and his crew of nine “hard-working, dedicated employees” pride themselves on the food, the portions and the price. “We pretty much prepare everything we can from scratch,” he said.

Tom “Tammy” Monti is a longtime regular customer. “I order carry-out meals at lunch time six or seven days a week,” he said, singling out red beans and rice among his long list of favorites. “The service is excellent, the staff is helpful and friendly, hours are convenient and prices are reasonable.”

The cafeteria serves breakfast from 7-9 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. seven days a week.

Every day, there’s a “Lighter Side” choice for those watching calories and salt intake. There’s also a grill for hamburgers and chicken, a build-your- own salad bar plus fresh sandwiches and wraps.

In the morning, there’s a full breakfast line and daily specials. Fresh donuts from Grammy’s are available for sale three days a week.

Lamy said the cafeteria doesn’t try to compete with local restaurants, and in fact, the hospital invites local chefs to come in and prepare their specialties so the hospital staff and others can get a taste of their restaurant menus.

“We just want people to come eat with us,” Lamy said.

by Lisa Monti, Willard Deal, Cathy Lawson and Tina Richardson
- This month - If you feel the need to pretend that eating seafood on Fridays during Lent is a hardship, please do. Otherwise, let’s just be grateful for an abundance of fish and other local seafood to keep us faithful and fed.

Every Friday during Lent starting Feb. 20, volunteers at local Catholic churches - bless their hearts - prepare a delicious lunch or dinner, with the option to dine in or carry out. What could be more convenient?  Check our Community Calendar for more details! 

On opening Friday, St. Rose de Lima Catholic Church volunteers worked in a well organized pattern of taking lunch orders, frying fish, filling styrofoam plates and matching customers with their meals.

There was a tiny wait when friends and I placed our orders but it was well worth it when we got our piping hot catfish, sides and dessert. The four pieces of catfish were crunchy and so well seasoned I skipped the ketchup and dipped into the tarter sauce only lightly. The potato salad was creamy and the green beans were tasty, too. (The cake came home with me for a mid-afternoon snack.) All that, including a canned drink or bottled water, for an $8 donation.

The St. Rose fish fry is held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Holy Spirit Center at 301 South Necaise Ave. Delivery is available with 10 or more orders. Call 228-467-9700.

From Tina Richardson, who volunteers with the OLG team.  She suspects by the number of  dinners sold this past Friday at the four churches mentioned here, that about 10% of Bay-Waveland residents partook of Lenten fish this week! 

At Our Lady of the Gulf, intrepid cookers sit outside in the cold frying up batches of catfish and hushpuppies.  Frank Ladner and a large crew of volunteers are frying and baking and serving catfish, green beans, hushpuppies, cabbage slaw, a beverage and cake to raise funds in support of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

The OLG conference of St. Vincent de Paul is composed of three parishes:  Our Lady of the Gulf, St. Clare and St. Rose de Lima. The Society helps residents of Hancock County who are in need, so fundraisers like the fish fry at Our Lady of the Gulf are an appropriate activity for the Lent.

Enjoy yours from 4:30 - 7:30pm for $10! 

Will Deal is a return customer at St. Ann’s in Clermont Harbor. Here’s his report:

Lenten fish fry dinners at St. Ann Catholic Church, situated on Lower Bay Road in Clermont Harbor, began just about six months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed Parish buildings, along with most church member’s homes. The first year, dinners were fixed outside on propane grills and cookers, but then that’s the way most people fixed meals in those days.  Today dinner is prepared in a modern kitchen and is for dine in or take out from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays between Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday.  Plate dinners cost $8, with desserts and drinks available at an additional cost.  Proceeds from this event go of offset Parish insurance costs, something we all wish we could for our own homes!

Diane Staszak coordinates this this event and dispenses desserts. Dinner always includes fried fish, coleslaw, hush puppies and bread, with homemade potato salad or mac and cheese while it lasts. Fries are available when those are gone.  Dessert selection depends on the specialties of the many folks who bring these items. Depending on the weather, somewhere around 70 to 120 meals are dispensed each Friday evening.  Many parishioners help with dinner, with the men taking over the kitchen while the several ladies greet friends and sell tickets at the door.  On the night of my visit, these women of the church represented a combined 24 years of experience at this task.

It was Cathy Lawson's first visit to St. Clare:
St. Clare is on a Lenten journey as a parish group moving together the next 40 days toward Easter.  And each Friday the whole parish works together to host a Lenten Fish Fry at the church from 5 to 7.  Fried fish and Shrimp plates, $10, Oysters and combo, $12.  Includes two sides, beverages and desserts available. 

The church did these fish fry events annually before Hurricane Katrina but have just now resumed them in the past four years since they have been in their new building.  The funds raised from the dinners goes into a general fund to support St. Clare and its activities.