Page 61 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2020

t’s not often that the foundation of a successful business is a broken deal, but that’s exactly the story behind The Blind Tiger.
Chef and restauranteur Thomas Genin, a graduate of the prestigious Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, got his
start in the kitchen of Chef Emeril Legasse, working in the New Orleans agship restaurant, Emeril’s. Following his time in New Orleans, Genin returned home to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to open a restaurant of his own. His rst restaurant, Tigres in Pass Christian, was named after Genin’s father, whose nickname was “Tiger.” The restaurant was high-end, o ering diners the same white tablecloth experience one could expect from a restaurant such as Emeril’s, but Genin, an outdoorsman at heart, always knew that a beachfront bar was on his horizon.
“Tigres was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and it was a total reset for me,” said Genin. “The restaurant was paid for and was making money, and then we lost everything. It was hard to start again, but it was at that time that I decided to hang up my chef’s coat, grab a pair of ip ops and get to work.”
Before The Blind Tiger became a reality, Genin co-founded Shaggy’s, a casual, open-air concept that is still a local favorite today. “I had a really fun time being a part of that project,” recalled Genin. “I enjoyed every minute of it, but I was constantly working. One day I realized that my little girl, Avery, didn’t know who I was – I was gone that much.”
With his family in mind, Genin sold his share and determined that he would take some time o to be with his family. He and his wife, Amy, welcomed their second child, Jaxon Tiger, to the family that same month. “Right then, my wife and I made a deal – that I would take o for one year before I started another project – and I agreed.”
Genin had every intention of sticking to that deal, but as fate – and his wife – would have it, that deal would be broken early. “We made that deal at Christmas, and by February 1, Amy was telling me that it was time for me to nd something to do,” Genin laughed. That “something” ended up being The Blind Tiger.
His days of being a chef behind him, Genin set out to open a cool little bar, a place where people could come hang out. “The original plan was to have a 30 or 40 seat bar and no kitchen – we would have an oyster pit and boiled seafood and that’s it,” he said. Right before nishing the 19’ by 70’ building he’d purchased on Beach Blvd. in Bay St. Louis, Genin decided to add a kitchen but with one catch: no freezers. Everything served would be fresh o the boat, and there would be no menus – only chalkboard signs letting you know what they had that day. While certainly a di erent approach, the idea was a hit.
“Each location has two chalkboards, one with the daily specials and one that we change up a few times a year based on the season,” said Genin. “The lack of menus isn’t for everyone, but then again, the people who don’t like our chalkboards don’t usually like the kind of place we are.”
“That kind of place” happens to be a child-friendly, dog-friendly, rough and rowdy, shoes optional and sand welcome kind of place, and that’s just how Genin likes it, saying, “If you like to have fun, you’ll probably like The Blind Tiger.”
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The Blind Tiger’s name is both rooted in the history of Bay St. Louis and a dedication to owner Thomas Genin’s late father, who was nicknamed “Tiger.”
Known as “Blind Tigers” during Prohibition, illegal bars in Southern towns served local moonshine and bootleg whiskey. Bay St. Louis and Lower Hancock County had several Blind Tigers, which were popular with musicians, businessmen and lawmen alike.
Owners of Blind Tigers coordinated shipments on small speed boats that could easily evade the larger and slower U.S.
Coast Guard boats that patrolled the coastline. Smugglers Run in Kiln became the headquarters of the smuggling operation because the Mississippi River granted easy access to both New Orleans and Chicago.
BEHIND THE NAME