Second Saturday - May 2015

Join Old Town during the monthly Second Saturday Artwalk in celebrating motherhood with art, music, food and good spirits!

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The French Potager, Mother's Day 2014.

Spending Mother’s Day weekend in Old Town Bay St. Louis has become something of a tradition for many families across the region.  Mom gets spoiled during an afternoon and evening during the Second Saturday Artwalk.  She’s treated to live music, gallery openings, shop specials, all in a festive historic atmosphere. 

Sunday brunch/lunch can be enjoyed at one of Old Town’s restaurants, ranging from casual fun to elegant dining.  The afternoon is spent strolling along the beachfront, or feeding the geese at the duck pond or lounging on the porches of family or friends. 

Choosing a special gift for mom becomes simple during the Artwalk.  When she admires something, sneak back and buy it, then watch her face light up with surprise the next day.  She’ll have plenty to choose from.  Old Town features dozens of galleries, boutiques and antique stores. 

The Second Saturday festivities also feature two businesses each month.  For May, the Hot Spot light falls on The French Potager (213 Main Street), and Lulu’s (126 Main Street).

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The French Potager
213 Main Street
BSL, MS
228.364.3091

All day Second Saturday - Free gift with purchase over $50.  Also Imagination Station (free art project for kids) will be set up, this month's project, "Fairy Doors" garden art.

Martha Whitney Butler has a growing fan club, although they’re split into three different camps.

Admirers of her instantly recognizable artistic style call her a Design Diva.  Others, observing her mover/shaker Get-Things-Done-and-It’d-Better-Be-Fun approach to community life, encourage her to run for mayor.  Customers who frequent her Main Street shop, the French Potager (213 Main Street) assert she’s an encyclopedia of knowledge on antiques and collectibles.

However, all members of Butler’s fan club agree on one point:  now that she owns her own building in Old Town, more good things are going to happen.  Lots of them.  Butler has magical green thumbs when it comes to growing ideas into reality.   And now that she’s purchased the commercial cottage that’s been her headquarters for the past two years, her community roots run deeper than ever.

Butler’s extraordinary vision and enterprising attitude form two walls of her success triangle.  At the base, is a work ethic on steroids – the sort that is on the endangered character traits list and is about as common now as the Ivory Bill.  The combination seems unstoppable.  And who would want to?

The French Potager is a case in point.  When Butler first visited Bay St. Louis five years ago, the Old Town commercial district was languishing.  The national economic crunch and the oil spill had stalled the long struggle toward recovery from Hurricane Katrina.  Yet, Butler, arriving with nothing but “pocket change and a dream,” was immediately smitten by the town.

“I saw a lot of opportunity for someone in their twenties to be able to achieve the American Dream,” she says.  “You have to make sacrifices when you start your own business.   It’s beyond the comfort level for a lot of people.”

Willing to make those sacrifices, Butler opened her own collectibles shop.  Regular customers (and there are many) at the French Potager have learned to expect the unexpected.  Every item in the store tells an interesting story, from the antique jewelry to the chic sculptures Butler creates from vintage finds.  For instance, an antique fan might wind up as a table lamp or a book page could be transformed into a keepsake note card.  

Even the displays and windows at The French Potager cross the line from retail to conversation-provoking art.  Butler sees the window as an opportunity to create art installations – an art form rarely practiced on the Mississippi Coast.  She has actually developed an international fan base for her windows; design professionals across the world compliment her work when she posts pictures on Facebook.

Two years ago, Butler began offering floral designs in the French Potager.  Her style is heavily influenced by the Japanese art of Ikebana, but she shakes things up by using uncommon flowers that she calls “Dr. Seuss” varieties.  Savvy brides from across the coast and New Orleans are now clamoring for her show-stopping  Zen/Seuss arrangements.

“It’s all about the bride,” says Butler.  “I want to exceed her expectations. 

Butler serves as a board member for The Arts, Hancock County and is also the founder of the Raw Oyster Marching Club – a group of colorfully dressed women of all ages who perform dance routines in parades and other area events.  But busy as she stays, right now a personal dream is taking shape.  Her boyfriend, chef Wes Debenport, recently proposed. 

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“This story definitely has a happy ending,” Butler says, smiling.  “But hey, will you put it out there that we’re currently looking for a rental house in the $700 range?”

Consider it done.  This writer is in the Diva camp of fans. 

Second Saturday column
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Second Saturday
Happenings!

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The Mockingbird Cafe 110 South Second St -

Live Music 7:30 - 9:30pm
Honey Boy & Boots

Annual Children's Art Show - Starts 5pm
Dale Pohl's Waveland Elementary art students will have work hanging from all the rafters on the porches.

Children are singing one BB King song at 6:00.

Belly dancing at 7:00

In the Mockingbird Gallery: Joy Lyons, Kat Fitzpatrick, Marsha Prejean, JJ Foley and Robert Waldrop will have new work.

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Antique Maison Ulman Tearoom  - 317 Ulman Ave.  Open 4pm - 8pm on Second Saturdays, serving complementary samples of lunch room menu, deck dining now open.  Come shop and experience the best of Bay St. Louis. Pottery Candles, Melts and Wax Melters have arrived in time for Mother's Day.

The Bonner Collection - 108 S. Beach Blvd.  Suite D.  Visit the Bonner Collection to see our new Spring home decor, gifts, jewelry, art arriving almost daily. Would love to see you and enjoy some refreshments. Cheers!

California Drawstrings -  216 Main Street - New spring Flax and linens have arrived!

Gallery 220 - 220 Main Street - Always one of the liveliest places during the Artwalk, this co-op features work by more than 20 artists (who are usually there, which accounts for the liveliness!), live music, and an appetizer buffet.  This month, the featured artists are Ann Chapman and Pam Marshall. 

George’s Girls - 108 S. Beach Blvd. Ste B, (inside the French Settlement building). Purveyors of Fine Linens.  George's Girls is a great place for beautifully scented candles and soaps.  We have new Spring Yala, Spartina 449 and Gretchen Scott just in.  And we are now carrying Dash and Albert rugs!

Magnolia Antiques, 200 Main Street.  If you haven't seen the totally rearranged shop, it's definitely worth a stop! We have completely turned it around.  And of course, we'll offer snacks and bargains!!

Serious Bread Bakery - 131 Main Street, Suite D - Along with signature artisan breads, flatbreads and sweet things, you can also try pesto, hummus and our special tomato sandwiches.  As always, we offer samples of our baked goods.

Social Chair - 201 Main Street -  May Second Saturday Artwalk Celebrating MOM and our 9 years in Old Town!  Sharing our success with all of our loyal customers, beach themed dinner napkins reg. $6.05, $1.25 with purchase. No limit, while supplies last. All Mother's Day gift purchases include a FREE Robicheaux Chocolate.


Bay Emporium - 112 S. Second Street -  Thirteen shops under one historic rooTime After Time Antiques (Inside Bay Emporium), 112 S. Second St. Offering a unique array of antiques, furniture from different eras, collectibles, and home decor.  Between the hours of 4PM and 8PM we offer 20% off furniture.  Our selection changes monthly, so come see us.  New shipments of Pottery Candles, Melts and Wax Melters have arrived in time for Mother's Day. 

Flowers by Martha Whitney Butler, photography by Ann Madden

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Lulu's on Main Street
126 Main Street
BSL
228.463.1670

Lulu's will be serving their legendary lunch menu during Second Saturday from 4pm - 8pm.  Call now to reserve seating for Mother's Day Sunday Jazz Brunch!

Mid-morning for the past 20 years, people have been calling Nancy Moynan asking “What’s For Lunch?” Now, folks will be calling the chef asking “What’s for Dinner” and “What’s for Brunch,” too.  The restaurant has expanded just about everything.

For starters, since Sunday brunch and evening meals have been added, the name has changed from “Lulu’s What’s For Lunch” to “Lulu’s On Main.”  The Jazz Brunch is already in full swing, feeding folks from 10:30am – 3:30pm on Sundays. Favorite coast performer Bobby Allison will be performing for each brunch in the month of May.

Then starting in June, the restaurant will add dinner service on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

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 Nancy Moynan’s been nurturing for decades. 

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

Moynan grew up trailing her grandmother and mother around the kitchen, watching, learning, tasting.  She says they were her biggest influences and she still cooks by smelling.

“If it smells like my mom’s and grandma’s food, it’s good.” 

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Crabby Lulu features poached eggs on crab cakes

Later, 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. 

That variety is one reason Moynan’s popular “Lulu’s What’s For Lunch” gourmet boxed lunches instantly became a hit in New Orleans.  She took orders and delivered to lawyers, business people and shop owners who couldn’t go out for a mid-day meal.

Making the move to the coast in 2003 seemed part of a natural progression, since Moynan family had been coming over to the Bay-Waveland area since her childhood.  Although she lost both her Waveland and New Orleans homes in Hurricane Katrina, she purchased the building at 126 Main Street in 2007.  Maggie May’s Art and Gift Gallery and Lulu’s What’s For Lunch shared the space for the past eight years.

As a noted Old Town anchor that led the Bay recovery efforts, Moynan’s twin businesses were recognized in 2009 as Hancock Chamber Bay Business of the Year.  Then in 2010, the Mississippi Main Street Association named her Merchant of the Year.

But the entrepreneur is hardly one to rest on her laurels.  The new configuration of 126 Main has consolidated art and retail in the front of the 5300 square foot building, while Moynan has spread her wings in the back. 

The menu’s taking flights of fancy too, with tantalizing dishes like 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.   

The Sausage Souffle, a new brunch fave

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 make it difficult to chose just one dish during brunch.  Desserts that are 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.

The new evening menu will be an “inspired blend” of Creole, Italian and Mediterranean dishes. 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.

Moynan says that after she moved to the Bay full time, she’d still drive back into New Orleans for the perfect roast beef po’ boy.  Finally her mother pointed out the obvious. 

“She asked why didn’t I put one on my own menu,” she says, laughing.  “It’s been a hit ever since.” 

Moynan invites new customers and long-time fans in to check out the changes.

Come and feel the love and passion that I have for food,” she says. “You’ll go home tasting the flavors of the Bay.”