In the last years of Tom’s life we would often drive on the weekends just for adventure. Most often, those trips took us east, to the Gulf Coast. The first time was in 2022, when we followed my favorite restaurant to Bay St. Louis. Thorny Oyster was entertaining for a while, and then we moved on to Biloxi, and Ocean Springs. Since Tom has passed away, ML and I will take trips there, beginning in July when we first went to Orange Beach as my brother’s guest for the 4th of July holiday. That was such fun we returned the following weekend, and have since dropped in for the day quite a few times a little closer to home.
We found ourselves back in Bay St. Louis a month back where we went to Field’s, a steakhouse I've been curious about for years, but it was too dark to take Tom there. Since I first took notice of Field’s Steakhouse, I have also seen that they opened one in Biloxi, in a very nice old plantation-style building. But by the time we made it there, they had rebranded as a Mediterranean place, and that just didn’t seem to fit. And then on a trip to Ocean Springs we noticed a Field’s Italian.
Not long ago I saw on IG that St. James Cheese Co. opened in Pass Christian. I have paid almost no attention to Pass Christian since a very mediocre meal at Bacchus on The Beach. But St. James Cheese Co. is guaranteed good. I love the place. We went on a Sunday afternoon. It was balmy and breezy there, and we sat at a picnic table outside in a breezeway between two brand new buildings. It’s a new development that houses a retail store called Coast, a frozen custard shop, St. James Cheese Co. and across the fake grass between buildings is yet another Field’s Italian. We resolved to try this closer version of the Field’s brand.
We went on another Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, because reservations on Saturday were impossible to get. We sat outside because it was lovely, and there were at least as many seats outside as inside. We wondered as we sat there how this would work for them when the weather got rainy, or cold, or both. Time will tell.
Even though we were the only table with everyone in the party seated on the patio, we did not get any attention for a while. A group of what appeared to be regulars got the attention of the better waiter. Finally our waitress appeared. There was a lot on the menu that appealed. Our lack of interest in drinking cocktails or wine registered immediately, and shortly after I realized why. There were several tables of regulars this evening having private wine tastings with servers. This appears to be a regular occurrence. In lieu of a wine bottle, assertiveness was required to get attention. This was also an issue at the original Field’s. When the waiter realized we wouldn’t be drinking we practically had to wait on ourselves. Drinking is highly encouraged in the Field's brand, it seems.
Finally the waitress was ready to take our order.We started out with the hot charcuterie board, which is something I have never seen. It was an odd assortment of things: meatballs, crab arancini, fried Mozzarella sticks, and a link of Italian sausage. This came with hot honey for the cheese sticks and marinara for everything else. There were two slices of toasted sourdough bread to round out this heaping platter.
And for entrees we got Cacio e pepe and Chicken Parm. For some inexplicable reason I inserted a chopped Italian salad into this order.
The salad came up first. It was enormous, and the two of us could have called it an evening after sharing this. A creamy dressing with a lot of Parmesan cheese coated everything. There were artichokes, tomatoes, salami, pickled peppers, and lots of chopped Romaine, but plenty of olives stole the show. I love olives, and this was enough for me. We liked this salad, and were filled when it was gone.
The platter arrived after, and it too was huge. Mozzarella sticks doesn’t quite explain what was there. These were three huge logs of Mozzarella sticks. The meatballs were a duo, and they were enormous too. A single link of Italian sausage looked cheap, and frankly more like andouille. And the crab arancini looked like hush puppies. There was maybe three tablespoons of marinara sauce in a tiny ramekin. Definitely not enough for all of this. We asked for more and were brought a cup full, at no extra charge.
The meatballs, homely though they were, tasted very good. They were the perfect meatball texture, fork tender but not crumbly. And the sauce was outstanding. This meatball section was a pleasant surprise.
I didn’t understand the Italian sausage at all. It had little flavor of any kind, much less the special anise flavor that makes Italian sausage Italian. It didn’t even look good.
The Mozzarella sticks were just ridiculous. They were about 8 inches long and at least two inches in diameter. Inside was a solid bat of Mozzarella. The crust on the Mozzarella sticks and the arancini appeared to be the same, and both were fried fine: golden brown and greaseless. And they were both uninteresting, though the Mozzarella sticks had the prize on this platter.
There were two arancini balls, and they more accurately could be called crab balls. Instead of the crab in the center as all arancini stuffings are, this was less a ball of arborio rice congealed around a defined center, and more of a stuffing with breadcrumbs and shreds of crab integrated into a whole. I can’t say they tasted bad but neither were they good. They seemed more suited to a Remoulade sauce than the marinara.
But I’m glad the marinara was on this platter, because it was the star of the platter. It was dense and rich, with that cooked-all-day flavor. Smooth and thick, this was terrific.
The Cacio e pepe and Chicken Parm arrived after we were full. As expected, the Cacio e pepe wasn’t even an attempt to be authentic. It was much too heavy on the pepper, and too creamy. It was almost Alfredo-like. My daughter said it tasted like melted ice cream to her. I didn’t get that, but it was indeed dairy-like. Not bad, just stridently ordinary.
The Chicken Parm, on the other hand, was by far the best thing on the table. All the pasta is made in house, and it was very nice. The marinara is sensational, and the Chicken was breaded and fried perfectly. It was crispy and greaseless, though a bit too thick. I was also surprised to see a bone. There was a tremendous amount of cheese on this, which also accounted for its overall goodness.
.jpg)
As we sat there watching the other tables do their private wine tastings, I marveled at the irony. I remember a loyal cadre of Pass Christian residents who were gourmets. It was Tom’s most gourmet group of listeners, at least on the Gulf Coast. None of what was on the table that evening would have registered in goodness at all with them. It wasn’t appreciably better than anything else on the Coast highway. And that isn’t a very big endorsement at all.
At least its neighbor St. James Cheese can uphold the food standards of the city all these residents left.
