Page 45 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2018

DINING gimme some sugar
S outherners have always had a deep and abiding affection
for sugary treats. Meals most
often end with dessert, but
it is perfectly permissible to sit down to a cup of coffee and a slice of pie almost anytime. In ages past, it might have been a hot biscuit topped with sorghum molasses and a tab of yellow butter, but pies, cakes, and a dizzying array of pastries are pretty common place these days.
Most restaurants offer a good assortment of desserts, but the Coast also has a handful of kitchens that specialize in nothing but pastries and sweets. Stop by Tato Nut in Ocean Springs and see the line out the front door, or consider the fact that the pastry kitchens at the Beau Rivage and IP Casino hum 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No kidding.
But don’t get the idea that the sweets we adore are nothing more than sugary doughnuts or cupcakes. Want a very special treat indeed? Check out the sweet biscuits that are offered every day at the Greenhouse on Porter in Ocean Springs. I recently had a banana biscuit with peanut butter sprinkles and banana fluff.
Wow!
One of the most talented pastry
chefs on the Coast is Jackie Ladnier, owner of French Kiss and Apron Strings. Go in and peruse the display cases, full of everything from Bavarians to cannoli. Also, at the top of the list is Fleur de Lis bakery on Courthouse Road in Gulfport. They have many fabulous desserts and pastries to tempt your taste buds. They make beautiful specialty cakes on request and are especially known for their Strawberry Bavarian Cake that comes in different sizes.
If you want a different twist, visit Le Bakery on Oak Street, or Electric Maid in Biloxi. Then there is Serious Bakery in Bay St Louis, and we haven’t even begun to talk about the pastries and desserts offered by restaurants or
the newly reopened Lovelace Soda Fountain. If you visit Lovelace, ask about the Elvis Presley sundae.
It isn’t possible to mention all the bakeries and restaurants that have great deserts, but the newly opened Salt Grass Steak House shouldn’t be left off the list. However, sometimes
a simple sliced strawberry, sprinkled with a nothing but sugar, is just right.
MIDDLE TOP: 2 Fork Cheese Cake from Lovelace Drug Store.
ABOVE: Sweet Biscuit with banana fluff from the Green House on Porter.
story and photos by Julian Brunt
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November 2018 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 45
WHO DOESN’T LOVE
Dessert
TOP: Strawberry Bavarian from Fleur de Lis Bakery. ABOVE: Amazing Pecan Pie from Chef Patti Kallinikos, pastry chef at IP Casino Resort Spa.