Over the years I have always been amused when a caller suggested to Tom that he try out a place. Usually, Tom did not share the caller’s enthusiasm.
I thought of that over the weekend when I also remembered something Tom assiduously maintained throughout the years: Don’t go to restaurants before six months. They are still working out the issues.
Mary Leigh and I have taken the opposite approach, often going to restaurants the first day they were open. It was rare that we agreed with Tom. Most restaurants don’t open their doors without their act together. Of course, they get better with each day, but it seems (to us at least) to be an aberration when a restaurant isn’t ready to open.
These thoughts entered my mind last weekend when we drove to Long Beach to visit a place that not one but two callers mentioned on the show the previous week. What piqued my interest more than anything else is a rumored connection between the chef of Radish, and Jeff Hansell, the chef/owner of Thorny Oyster in Bay St. Louis. Thorny Oyster was opened after they closed our beloved Oxlot 9.
I’m not sure I have ever been to downtown Long Beach, which is merely a few blocks, with a charming new area comprising two of those blocks. There is a thriving bakery in town, Dolce Bakeshop. and the owner’s husband William Rester opened Radish.
Blinking would cause you to miss Radish, a little spit of a space in a newly constructed building. There is a little place out front on the sidewalk with three or four tables, and frankly, this is the best place to sit other than the bar.
Inside space is at such a premium that six tables measuring 2 ft x 2 ft are spaced so close to each other one can not only share conversation but food quite easily with their neighbor. These tables line the left wall, and the seating for them is church pews with armrest sides to them.
We were seated at one of these tables. Our poor waitress was so overwhelmed she forgot to ask us what we wanted to drink, so we just stuck with the water glasses she brought when she greeted us. I got up to ask the bartender a question and tried to squeeze myself between the armrest of the pew and the tiny table, amounting to a 6 “ opening. This was not enough to accommodate my contorting body, and I knocked over my water glass, which luckily soaked only me. If we had had neighbors they would have been doused as well. My water glass was never refilled.
A neighboring table of Gen Z young ladies was having a birthday party, and the three of them ordered in unison the pimiento cheese grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of vegan tomato bisque.
Pimiento cheese is a favorite of mine, but no one makes it as good as me, in my opinion. It is a tweaked version of the Southern classic from a master of Southern food, Frank Stitt, a celebrity chef from Birmingham, Alabama.
Whenever I see it on a menu I have to try it, but I didn’t want the sandwich. I asked for a taste of it, an appetizer portion with something to spread it on. Exactly the amount I envisioned arrived, accompanied by four wedges of toast, amounting to a deconstructed sandwich. The real sandwich would have been hot, and hot pimiento cheese is a no-no to me.
This was such a fantastic version of the famous spread I will make a recommendation to the owners: Offer this for sale by the quart on Instagram. Good side hustle.
We were there for lunch/brunch, and the menu wasn’t all that interesting. After perusing it a while Tom looked at me and said, “There’s nothing here.” I had already come to the same conclusion, but he ordered the hamburger and I settled on the fried chicken sandwich. The fries are hand-cut and dusted with rosemary and garlic. I asked for them plain.
Since I was completely soaked I wanted to eat and run. Each time the door opened I was chilled anew. The food took a little bit to arrive, It was easy to see why. Each time the owner and chef came from the kitchen, they demonstrated how meticulous they were.
All of the food coming from these two was beautiful. And even better, it tasted good. Really good. Tom’s burger was clearly hand-formed. It was a thick patty of high-quality beef, and it was cooked exactly to our request. Medium gave us a blush of pink. We liked the bun, the housemade pickles, and everything else about this sandwich. The fries too were clearly housecut and had that irregularity to them that proves it. (Usually.) They were nicely fried but a bit limp, and they needed salt. Maybe they go easy on the salt since there is normally rosemary and garlic on them. Except here.
My chicken sandwich was equally good, for a fried chicken sandwich. A nice breast with a good crust, though not as spicy as “Nashville Hot” is usually, this was tender, fried well, and dressed nicely with more delicious housemade pickles.
As mentioned before, there was not a lot on this menu. I did covet a beautiful cut biscuit that reminded me of Oxlot’s, which I got every time we went for brunch. The biscuit was part of an omelette plate that oddly included small wedges of Gouda cheese.
We switched our reservation to lunch to get home before dark, though there is more on the dinner menu. The most interesting part of the dinner menu is the Shareables section. I can see why this little newcomer is getting a buzz. The food is solid, polished, and comprised of top ingredients. With some improvements in the service, Radish can be one of those anomalies on the Mississippi Gulf Coast: a gourmet restaurant.
Coincidentally, Radish turned six months old the day before we arrived
