By By Robert St. John / food columnist
April 9, 2003
Robert St. John is the executive chef/owner of the Purple Parrot
Caf and Crescent City Grill in Hattiesburg and Meridian. He can be reached at robert@nsrg.com or (601) 264-0672.
I frequent local haunts.
Small diners and cafes tucked away in back alleys and side streets have always held a special place in my stomach.
When traveling, I usually compile a wish list of one or two fine-dining restaurants that need to be visited. In doing this, I discover new and creative ideas and find out what is happening in the restaurant industry throughout the country.
Once that task is complete, I strike out to find restaurants where the locals eat. That is where the REAL food is being served.
I love REAL food. Some folks think that restaurateurs and chefs eat only fine-dining food. Not so. Ask any restaurateur or chef where he eats his post-shift meal and you will find that they are not sitting down to platefuls of milk-fed veal and caviar. They are eating pizza, pasta and diner food.
Local haunts can be white-table cloth or casual. One universal rule applies: Local haunts are always independent, non-chain restaurants.
Community counts
I can go to Anytown, U.S.A. and eat at one of a dozen chain restaurants. But that restaurant is going to be exactly like the one I passed 70 miles back at a previous intersection. It might have good food, good service and good atmosphere. But it tells me nothing about that particular town and its inhabitants. In the restaurant business, community counts.
If I were traveling through Jackson for the first time and didn't know the restaurant layout, I would have no choice but to pull in off of the interstate and stop at one of the tried-and-true chain concepts that make their bones on consistency.
But in doing so, I would miss dining experiences like the Mayflower, The Elite, Creshale's, Hal &Mal's, Fannin Mart and dozens of other independent restaurants with local flavor
Don't get me wrong. I like chain restaurants and eat at them on occasion. However, local haunts are original to their locale. You can't purchase their goods and services anywhere else. Local haunts are what make up a city or town's restaurant culture.
New Orleans favorites
One of my favorite local haunts in New Orleans is the Domilise Sandwich Shop and Bar. Domilise is tucked away on the corner of Annunciation and Bellcastle just north of Tchoupitoulas Street.
One might find a better po'boy in the Crescent City, but you would have to look long and hard to find a locals-only neighborhood restaurant and local haunt that serves up the character and feeling of uptown New Orleans as well as Domilise has been doing for 74 years.
I just returned from New Orleans. I took my wife to brunch and to the theatre. Before we left, we dropped by The Camellia Grill. I have been eating at The Camellia Grill for 25 of its 56 years. It is a local haunt that has been discovered by the tourists.
The Camellia Grill is an old-fashioned short-order diner in the truest sense of the concept. It is located at the end of Carrollton Street at the river bend. The Camellia has two short-order chefs cooking directly in front of you. All of the seating is on stools at the counter. There are no tables or booths and usually no empty seats.
Fifteen years ago I took my soon-to-be wife on our first trip to New Orleans together. We ate at the Camellia Grill.
On that visit I introduced her to the Chocolate Freeze with ice cream. The Chocolate Freeze is the king of local-haunt drinks. A frozen shake made with milk, chocolate syrup, ice cream, simple syrup and ice, guaranteed to give you a brain freeze or ice-cream headache if you take it in too fast. A chocolate freeze is one of the best-kept drink secrets in New Orleans.
A sense of place
The tourists can have the Hurricanes, milk punches and sazeracs, give me a chocolate freeze.
Nowadays we are older and can't afford to eat like we did in our 20s although I still do. Yesterday we each had a chocolate freeze for old time's sake and had more fun at that local haunt than we would have at Commander's Palace, Peristyle and Bayona combined.
Local restaurant haunts give one a sense of place. They tell of a town and its people. They tell of their tastes, their loves, their passions and their interests. Local haunts provide an adventure in dining, and memories to spare.
Comeback Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1⁄2 cup ketchup
1⁄2 cup chili sauce
1⁄2 cup cottonseed oil
1⁄2 cup yellow onion, grated
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and mix well. Yield: 31⁄2 cups.