Owners of popular Long Beach bakery open modern restaurant in heart of downtown
The restaurant at 200 Jeff Davis Avenue in Long Beach just opened and already is filled many evenings.
That’s partly because Radish has just 31 seats in its captivating dining room, and also because the menu is different than anywhere else on the Coast.
The response was immediately positive from the customers from Long Beach, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Ocean Springs who were among the first-week diners at Radish.
“Some people have been twice in the last week,” said William Rester. He and his wife, Brooke Rester, also own Dolce Bakeshop in Long Beach that provides decadent desserts for Radish.
If Radish seems like an unlikely name for a restaurant, it fits this place with its compact size and big, fresh flavors and connects to the history of Long Beach. Back in the early 1900s, the town was branded “the radish capital of the world.”
“Radish is a celebration of the agricultural spirit of the Gulf Coast and the unlikely connection between a charming coastal town and the humble root vegetable that put it on the map,” according to the restaurant’s website. Farmers planted the Long Beach Red, a radish that grew as long as a carrot and was served as a snack at bars in the north.
The Resters ran with the theme. Radishes grow in the planters on the front porch and a radish mural by Leanna Garcia decorates one wall of the restaurant. Radishes also are on the menu — as one of the nibbles on the charcuterie board that also features fresh cheeses, “pickled things” and other selections that change often.
Among the small plates section of the menu are radishes to be enjoyed the same way as they were more than a century ago — dipped in luxurious butter and coarse salt.
Southern food with a twist
Bringing executive chef Lauren Joffrion to Radish was a real coup, said William Rester, who previously ran a cafe in Gulfport and also is a chef at Radish.
Self-taught, Joffrion learned under the guidance of chef David Dickensauge before he left the area. She went on to become executive chef at Field’s Steak and Oyster Bar in Bay St. Louis for 2 and 1/2 years, then spent a year at the Thorny Oyster at Pearl Hotel in Bay St. Louis.
Together they create an eclectic take on Southern fare.
Joffrion said she likes to prepare Southern food and Asian food, sometimes in fusion, to make dishes like spicy Korean pork broth with Gulf shrimp, ramen noodles, bean sprouts and Thai basil. The dish quickly sold out when it was offered as a nightly special.
“I do a lot of things that are a little different,” she said.
She also likes to photograph the dishes she creates and post them on her social media accounts. Lately her posts on Instagram is “just food and nothing else,” she said.
What’s for lunch and dinner
The menus for lunch and dinner deliver the unexpected, like a vegan tomato bisque. For non-vegan diners the soup can be paired with a pimento grilled cheese sandwich for a tasty lunch, or a BLT sandwich made with fried green tomatoes.
Crab beingets with a bite from Crystal sauce Beurre Blanc and pepper jelly is one of the small plates.
The entrees deliver the taste of the Gulf South. Gulf shrimp scampi, New Olreans style barbecue shrimp, fried chicken with a sweet tea brine and honey, or cauliflower gnocchi made with Ranatza Farm cauliflower a collard green pesto and lemon zest are on the dinner list.
Even the sides get special treatment. Barq’s root beer gives a distinctive taste to mashed sweet potatoes and the hand cut fries are seasoned with garlic and rosemary.
They grow basil and other herbs at the restaurant to add fresh seasoning.
“Before service every night we just go out and get what we need,” Restezr said.
Drinks and sweets
The full bar at Radish offers wine, liquor, beer and specialty cocktails like the Radish Queen, with a red color makes everyone who sees it want to order one. Five stools at the bar provide extra space for dining or a before dinner cocktail.
The Dolce desserts are going so fast, they’ve had to bring in more. Radish has featured a “reverse” chess pie with a peanut butter crust and chocolate filling with a a toasted meringue topping.
The fruity dessert also is something different, Joffrion said. She pipes the black pepper cheesecake onto the plate and tops it with peaches.
Decor matches the upscale food
Radish is a nod to the past, yet the style is modern coastal by Adrienne Elliott of Elliott Homes with some touches of nostalgia.
“She designed the space,” Rester said, and although some of her choices initially took him out of his comfort zone, he agrees it works.
Above a big round table in the front window is a fun bubble chandelier. The combination of white walls, wood, black accents and rattan seats and lampshades creates a neutral color palette to make the food stand out.
Church pews from Picayune provide seating and a touch of history and recipes from Rester’s mother are framed and hang on the wall.
“I think the Coast is becoming very quickly a place where people do get excited about new restaurants,” Rester said.
He advises customers to make reservations if they want to try Radish and said the best way is online. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. When the weather cools, an alley next to the restaurant will provide outdoor seating under the lights.
This story was originally published August 11, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
