The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint - Ocean Springs, Mississippi

 http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/12/3747617/fire-destroys-original-the-shed.html

The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint

7501 Hwy 57

Ocean Springs, MS 39565

228-875-9590

Open seven days

Sunday – Thursday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Friday and Saturday: 11:a.m. – 10 p.m.

http://www.theshedbbq.com/ordereze/default.aspx

The Shed …it’s down home Mississippi funky and the chow isn’t bad. If it’s just barbeque you seek without the experience – or fun – thrown in, you’re in the wrong place.

I hesitate to use the words eatery or restaurant to describe The Shed, though that’s what it is. It more resembles a ramshackle country junkyard.  The trash (someone’s treasure) - decorated yard, with its rough, extra long wooden tables and attached benches provide most of the seating, though indoor dining is available. At the center of this tumbledown dining area presides a dilapidated stage, where live music – Mississippi blues – plays most nights.

The Shed’s owners, the Orrison family (great marketers by the way, they've been on Regis and Kelly as well as Diners, Drive-ins and Dives), are known for
barbecued baby back ribs ($23), pulled pork, sausage, chicken and, of course, their BBQ sauce. The sauce was good but I prefer it less sweet, more savory. Sauce, however, is such a personal thing. We chose a chicken platter with two sides – cole slaw, and beans (about $9) - and a sampler with pulled pork and chicken (about $13). The meat: tender, juicy and delicious.  Baked beans: good enough to wish the serving were larger. Mac (macaroni salad) was a good choice, the cole slaw less so.  

It’s counter ordering here. We waited in line about 20 minutes but the food was delivered within seconds of sitting.  It was a semi-cool, beautiful, lazy Sunday afternoon on this visit. I can’t imagine eating outside in the throes of summer in the heat with bugs that must gather at the nearby river, but that’s all part of the experience – a worthwhile one at that. © Jane Feehan. All rights reserved.

For restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi, visit www.eatingoxford.com

Confusion - Gulfport, Mississippi

Confusion
162 Tegarden Rd.
Gulfport, MS 39507
228-604-4617
http://www.seekclarity.com/
Lunch: M-F 11:30 a.-m - 2 p.m.
Dinner Tuesday-Saturday: 5:30-9:30
Closed Sunday

By Jane Feehan

Located not far off the beach in Gulfport, Confusion clearly earns kudos for its ambiance and food. It’s reminiscent of New Orleans with large posters of Louis Armstrong, Congo Square and abstract art scattered throughout a colorful room with walls painted in orchid, rusty red or aqua. Confusion is urbane, casual and unique.

The menu is predominantly seafood with a hint of Louisiana – Barbequed Shrimp and Grits, Speckled Trout en Papillote, and several blackened fish entrees. Steak and pasta dishes are also available but the menu is limited – a wise move in a small establishment.

We started off with Ginger Shrimp ($9) – six large shrimp lightly battered in bread crumbs and served with a ginger sauce; it was a tasty start. From there it was a seafood linguine and a blackened mahi mahi – both about $21. The generous portion of pasta came with bits of wilted spinach, fresh pureed and flavorful tomatoes, and plenty of shrimp topped off with a dollop of warm goat cheese. The mahi mahi, perfectly blackened, was served atop sweet potato fries and with an accompaniment of properly wilted spinach. I would have preferred a more creative potato choice, but the meal was enjoyable.

The dessert list included crème broulee, a flourless chocolate cake, or bread pudding. We chose the crème broulee. The caramelized glaze was done to perfection with a few blueberries added for color but the rest of the dish, the custard, was a bit too cool, nearly cold.

Proprietors Martin and Erin Burn offer a full bar and plenty of vodka choices for martini lovers as well as an interesting array of wines. Service – good. Confusion  - warm, friendly and one-of- a-kind - is now on my list of Gulf Coast favorites. and  © Jane Feehan All rights reserved.

The Chimneys - Gulfport, Mississippi

The Chimneys Restaurant
1640 Beach Blvd.
Gulfport, MS
228-863-7604
Lunch: 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Dinner (5:30-9)Tuesday through Thursday
Fri and Saturday - 5:30 until 10 with jazz until...
Sunday 11:30-2 p and 5:30-9
Closed Mondays
http://www.chimneysrestaurant.com/

By Jane Feehan

The doors to The Chimneys Restaurant re-opened for business in January after a Hurricane Katrina- imposed hiatus. At the original site in a new and beautiful Acadian style structure, this Gulfport jewel is already a popular spot. Their years-old reputation and food serves them well.

The chef is back (along with some other staff), preparing food The Chimneys is noted for. Shrimp crab chowder is chock full of seafood and lightly spiced – excellent. I dined on stuffed flounder – a whole fish – that tasted like it was just pulled from the water. Asparagus and a salad with a lightly spiced Creole ranch dressing were perfect accompaniments. A fellow diner ordered sauteed shrimp;  the dish, with plenty of fresh shrimp, was heavy on the lemon. But the meal ended well. The chef recently added some great dessert items to the menu including a coconut cake ... delicious.

This is a sophisticated, yet unpretentious place. Overheard were guests claiming the new Chimneys has the same warm, friendly look and feel of the one the storm destroyed. The only criticism would be the poor lighting after dark of the dining room. Hopefully, that will be remedied. The owners, the Nords*, have plans to open the porch for dining when weather permits; it’s a beautiful setting with an expansive Gulf vista. If it's the view you're after, go for lunch or early dinner. Live jazz is played on weekends starting at 10 p.m. in the lounge area.

Dinners run about $15-30  - quite reasonable in this setting - and includes salad and a vegetable. Menu at link above. Service: Good. © 2010 All right reserved.
 * Unfortunately, Dix Nord passed away  April 17, 2012 after a courageous battle against cancer.


For more information about the Mississippi Gulf Coast, visit:

Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau at www.gulfcoast.org

Domenica - New Orleans

Domenica
123 Baronne Street (Roosevelt Hotel )
New Orleans, LA 504-648-6020
Open 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. Daily
504-648-6020

By Jane Feehan

John Besh’s Domenica is not your 20th-century neighborhood spaghetti house with checkered tablecloths, dim lights and the aroma of garlic wafting throughout. Instead, the décor is modern Italian minimalist, the atmosphere oozes trendy and the menu offers a wider array of dishes and flavors than we usually expect of an Italian restaurant.

There's an interesting collection of cured meats and cheeses on view, an antipasti list featuring wood grilled shrimp, fried squash blossoms, baby lettuces with beets and then, the "secondi," the main menu, that really gets the juices flowing.

The main course offerings are a collection of items that includes anolini, small ravioli with wild mushrooms; fettuccine with oysters, saffron and cream; spinach and ricotta gnocchi; rigatoni with crab; stracci - torn pasta with oxtail ragu; and fresh fish, veal, goat, pork and hen creations. Pizza is also served.

I sampled Burrata Mozzarella with tomatoes and grilled bread as a starter and was so impressed I ordered another antipasto, fried squash blossoms. Both dishes were memorable – as was the quarter-sized delicately flavored anolini, the secondi. I’m not big on desserts but was eager to experience as many of Domenica’s Italian delights as I could. The fig and ricotta fritters served with moscato zabaione – frothy egg yolks whipped with wine and sugar – was a delicious end to a meal I won’t soon forget.

Many of the antipasti and main course dishes are served in two sizes, two different prices - a great option. Reservations are recommended. Service: good. © 2009 All rights reserved. See review on Jane's Bits of another John Besh restaurant, American Sector.

Rickey's Bar and Grill - Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Rickey’s Bar and Grill

Highways 90 and 603

Zuppardo’s Plaza

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

228-463-0540

Tuesday-Thursday: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.

Friday: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.

Saturday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Closed Sunday and Monday

By Jane Feehan

O.K., so it’s in a gloomy shopping plaza and has a sign that’s pretty hard to read unless you’re just about on top of it, but the food belies the location and low-key ambiance of Rickey’s. It’s a Bay St. Louis favorite.

The expansive menu reminds one of a diner – most of us know of at least one where the eating is good. It’s really good here – and it’s several notches above a diner. I’ve been here a few times. Best to go at slightly off hours; it’s a busy place. I’ve dined on seafood and salads before and on the latest visit sampled a fried shrimp po-boy ($9.95). Perhaps one of the best I’ve had along the Gulf Coast, this po-boy was swamped in shrimp. Not just falling off the bread – they were overflowing the entire plate. The shrimp were fresh and fried with a tasty batter in clean oil.

Rickey’s serves pasta, catfish, redfish, oysters, ribeye or porterhouse steaks, filet mignon, crab and shrimp au gratin (dinners average $20), hamburgers (a local favorite), an array of traditional sandwiches, and po-boys with roast beef, crawfish and jalapeño and on and on …. Hungry?

Rickey’s is casual and serves a full bar. Service: good. © 2010 Jane Feehan All rights reserved.

Farradday's at Isle of Capri Hotel and Casino - Biloxi, Mississippi

Farradday’s
Isle of Capri Hotel and Casino
151 Beach Blvd.
Biloxi, MS
1-800-The-Isle
228-436-8749
Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 5-10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 5 – 11 p.m.
http://biloxi.isleofcapricasinos.com/dining-farradday.aspx


By Jane Feehan

Before and right after Hurricane Katrina, Farraddy’s occupied a spot in the Isle of Capri overlooking the water – a great vista with a friendly bar. Since then, it’s moved to another part of the hotel without a view but that can be forgiven. The staff tries to please here and the food is good. Lots of locals dine at Farradday’s for special occasions.

On my last visit I supped on seafood: Wahoo interestingly wrapped in strips of paper thin potato and set atop a bed of fresh asparagus - good. I passed on a salad this time; salads here are oversized - enough for two. If you’re tempted by bread, Farradday’s delivers some tasty morsels in three different varieties. Nice start to a meal.

I usually order garlic mashed potatoes and wish I had stuck to that routine. Instead I asked for the sweet potato casserole. It was overloaded with chopped pecans; I couldn’t find the potatoes for the nuts. Forget that dish. I’ll also pass on their southern dessert concept of fried strawberries in a Melba sauce. The berries were juicy but the batter was crusted in far too much sugar - solid white - and topped with so-so whipped cream. This dish may have been much better with an undressed batter coating.

A few stumbles at Farradday’s on this visit but I’ll be back. The food is usually good and the service is terrific. They serve steaks, prime rib, chicken, pork, and lobster ($17-35) as well as a great choice of appetizers (about $10-14) to make an entire meal from. Diners are welcome at their very attractive granite-topped bar.

If you self park, don’t get turned off by the dirty garage lobby and elevators. Otherwise valet park. There’s no excuse for dirty floors and carpet as a way to greet clientel. Clean it already, Isle of Capri, or paint the walls and replace the carpet. Geesh. It's like your customers don't matter. © 2010 Jane Feehan All rights reserved.

MiLa - New Orleans CBD

MiLa (in Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel)
817 Common Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
504-412-2580
Lunch: Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 5:30 -10 p.m.
http://www.milaneworleans.com/

By Jane Feehan

The cuisines of Mississippi and Louisiana, as interpreted by married chefs Slade Rushing and Allsion Vines Rushing, are presented at their New Orleans restaurant, MiLa, across the street from the Roosevelt Hotel.

With an accent on fresh ingredients – direct from a nearby farm – the chefs successfully blend their home states’ cookery with a French touch. There’s something for any palate - rack of lamb, pan roasted grouper, New Orleans barbequed lobster, crispy skinned red snapper, sweet potato pappardelle and more. I chose cream of parsnip soup as a starter. While I was enjoying that, the server brought, complimentary from the chefs, the “Muse Trio,” of the evening. This night it was three pieces of shrimp, one wrapped in a basil leaf, another dipped in a light tempura and the third in a mild sauce. The salad, with roasted sunflower seeds, was delicately flavored with a hint of lemon, perfect for most any entrée. My choice for a main course was Roasted Young French Chicken, with pickled chantrelles (a wild mushroom), fingerling potato, cabbage, and Foie Gras emulsion. I don’t remember ever eating food this good in Mississippi … nor anywhere in the Louisiana countryside.

Take two parts creativity, mix with three parts fresh ingredients and you get MiLa, a deliciously sophisticated dining experience. Service: excellent. Good selection of wines and single malt scotches.© 2010 Jane Feehan. All rights reserved.

Jocelyn's - Ocean Springs Mississippi

Jocelyn's
1608 Bienville Rd. (Access via Highway 90 East)
Ocean Springs, Mississippi
228-875-1925
Dinner: Thursday – 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday and Saturday – 5 p.m. – Until

By Jane Feehan

Jocelyn’s is a Mississippi Coast gem, and as her tag line says, “Like this, no place.” It’s a charming eatery run by a family working together in the kitchen, dining room and bar. Twelve or so tables fill up quickly Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the only nights it's open.

The food isn’t fancy but it’s good. Jocelyn serves mostly entrees from the sea: soft shell crabs, oysters, trout, shrimp, fresh catch of the day, seafood gumbo. If not seafood, there’s chicken livers shish kebob, calves liver, rib eye steaks and chicken. When I was there last, rack of lamb was a featured special. I tried lemon fish topped with crab meat au gratin and a salad with their homemade Roquefort dressing, which needed more Roquefort. Most of their deserts are homemade – pecan pie, rum pie, bread pudding. I settled on a homemade brownie with ice cream.

Two couples sitting next to me raved about their orders of fried soft shell crabs - a solid endorsement coming from native New Orleanians.

Jocelyn Mayfield works the dining room with help from her sister and granddaughter. Her son tends bar and delivers cocktails and wine to tables while his dad puts the meals together under Jocelyn’s direction and planning. She’s owned the restaurant for 28 years after working at another in Ocean Springs for decades. If she’s not busy, Jocelyn loves to tell her story. Bring cash; CREDIT CARDS NOT ACCEPTED. Reservations recommended. Casual or for special occasions.© 2009

Copeland's of New Orleans - Slidell, Louisiana (New Orleans suburb)

Copeland’s of New Orleans
1337 Gause Blvd.
Slidell, LA 70458
985-643-0001
Sunday-Thursday: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
http://www.copelandsofneworleans.com/

By Jane Feehan

After driving west along I-10 from Biloxi and seeing a sign of crawfish harvesting season - scores of empty vehicles parked off the highway - I developed a taste for crawfish etouffee, something that Copeland’s in Slidell serves.

Menus with pictures of dishes tend to get this diner nervous; it screams chain restaurant and mediocrity (Denny’s maybe?). No worries at this Copeland’s, one of several in six states.

The food, if not the atmosphere presided over by loud canned rock music, is good. I wanted to sample a few things, easy to do here with a good lineup of hot and cold tasting plates ($6-$9). Crawfish etouffee: tasty but not warm enough. I should have returned it. I had more luck with a flavorful Crabmeat Ravioli, served at the same time and at the right temperature with a white sauce. Another tasting dish, Apple Almond Bleu Salad, was an excellent combination of greens, chopped apples, toasted almonds, crumbled bleu cheese, red onion, and sun dried tomatoes, doused lightly with honey vinaigrette.

Copeland’s offers a wide variety of desserts, headlined by their house-made cheesecakes. This East Coast native was a bit turned off by the thick, sugary crust of their cheesecake. They do offer a New York style version, not house made, which has little, if no crust.

This eatery has something for everyone: steaks, pasta, chicken, po-boys, burgers and brunch items at reasonable prices. There's also a large full service bar for socializing. Service: marginal. © 2010 Jane Feehan. All rights reserved.
Tags: slidell restaurants, dining in Slidell