Over the weekend we took a drive to the Gulf Coast. I remembered that St James Cheese Company had added a location in Pass Christian. It was not too far and not too close and not Bay St Louis. With the growth in sheer population and the tourist interest in these Mississippi towns I am shocked at the dearth of good eating there. That is changing, fortunately, with new development happening all the time.
St James is located in a cluster of sleek and modern rentals and retail spaces a block off the beach behind Bacchus on the Beach. Bacchus on the Beach is the place that replaced Tom Wolfe’s excellent New Orleans Bistro. I am not a fan of its successor, which I feel is the very height of ordinary, including what they did to the space. Since Pass Christian is close, and not Bay St. Louis, I am happy about this new addition.
The development also includes another Field’s, which seems to be spreading rapidly across these parts. Field’s Steakhouse came to our attention from our first visit to its next door neighbor Thorny Oyster. Then they added one in Biloxi, and soon changed it to a Mediterranean place. And Italian Field’s arrived in Ocean Springs, and now this Field’s Italian in Pass Christian. We still haven’t made it to the Italian version, but the original Field’s Steakhouse intrigued us on our first visit. We won’t be regulars, but it’s a cool place.
On this visit to St. James the day after carving the Jamón Serrano, I chuckled when I noticed they were serving some Spanish dishes just for fun. There was a Serrano ham sandwich offered, along with a hot shrimp dish. I got both. I went there looking forward to any of their regular menu items but the coincidence of the Spanish dishes was just too fun. ML got the very basic Hook’s Cheddar turkey sandwich with a side salad. A salad was on my mind when I went because I thought the salad that came with my Ploughman’s Lunch a few months ago was outstanding, with its simple vinaigrette on greens so elevated by a blanket of grated Parmiggiano Reggiano.
But adding that would have been a ridiculous amount of food. We already had too much, with the shrimp dish, the Serrano ham sandwich, and the turkey sandwich. And of course if mac’n’cheese is offered….
This macaroni and cheese at St. James Cheese Company is different everyday, because it is made with leftovers from the previous day’s cheese. To us, there is no such thing as a bad macaroni and cheese. The combination of cream, cheese and pasta has no downside to us. But I have had this before and liked it more. I guess the leftover cheeses on that day combined in an intensity of flavor that was a little much for us.
The ham sandwich I ordered was definitely Spanish. The ham was cooked just a bit and the cheese was melted on top, with various peppers and Spanish oil to give it extra flavor. It was warm, and layered on one side of a dense crusty loaf. This served my purposes of paying homage to the Spanish ham, but nothing more. It was tasty enough, though.
The shrimp dish was also nice enough. I liked the sauce, which was a garlic butter and wine base, though thicker than I expected. It was very buttery. I asked them to cook the shrimp more than they ordinarily would, and this made them harder to eat because the shells were hard to peel. But that’s on me. This was a very enjoyable dish that I would love to have had more of, with some crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.
The Hook’s Cheddar and turkey sandwich was served on a fluffy ciabatta loaf and it had basil as dressings, with tomato and mayo. This turned out to be my favorite thing on the table. I do have one question, though, for all places serving sandwiches. It was the same one Tom had: why can’t bread for sandwiches, or bread in general, be served toasted? Yes, a sandwich may be good, as this was, with just perfect ingredients. But a big factor that will be remembered is that it would have been so much better toasted. In fact, I will go even farther to say that no bread coming from a kitchen should be served room temp. It is often an invitation to just throw it away.
It is an extra step for sure, but it leaves a powerfully good impression rather than disappointment on the part of the diner. It was a great sandwich that would have been simply wonderful had the ciabatta been crusty. Too bad.
We sat outside in a breezeway that was indeed quite breezy. Even sitting on a picnic table, it was exceedingly pleasant with a view even a block away of the Gulf.
Driving to the Gulf Coast just to step out of the routine is a nice way to reset everything. Highly recommended.
