New South MS restaurant and shop is scenic and unexpected, with a taste of NOLA
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- St. James Cheese Co. opened in Pass Christian, offering global and local cheeses.
- Menu features include gourmet sandwiches, seafood tins and curated cheese boards.
- Store plans catering and promotes ethical sourcing from regional producers.
People stop in during their lunch break, after pickleball and with friends and family to be among the first to sample St. James Cheese Company.
The new shop and restaurant, at Pass Bungalows on Scenic Drive in downtown Pass Christian, opened just over a week ago. It’s stocked with fresh, local produce, imported meats and a big variety of cheese crafted in the region and around the world. They also have all the makings for creative gourmet charcuterie boards.
“The reception has been great. I think everyone is really excited to have us here,” said Jess Mogren, who moved over from the company headquarters in New Orleans to manage the first South Mississippi location.
“The first three days that we were open, we had people already who are regulars, who are coming in every day, and some of them twice a day,” said Cree Donahos, general manager of St. James Cheese Company.
The store is filled with light and views of the water and the harbor across the street.
Yet instead of coastal fair, this store provides a unique experience for South Mississippi, Donahos said. It has the feel of a café, where people can choose a table in the air conditioning or outdoors in a courtyard with a breeze to enjoy their lunch or cheese board.
On the menu
All those meats, cheeses and fresh produce combine to make some delectable sandwiches that again, are different from what many people expect on the Coast. On the menu are hot muffalettas, Gruyere sandwiches with caramelized onions, pimento BLT sandwiches, and a brie and ham sandwich with French butter on a fresh baguette.
The favorite, Hook’s turkey cheddar sandwich with avocado, is big enough to share for those who also want to try one of the salads.
Even more different is the “tin special.” Customers choose a tin of scallops or other seafood and the staff adds seasoned butter, pickles, lemon and bread to make it a meal.
The cheese boards come in sizes to serve a couple or a crowd. A selection of meats and cheeses are decoratively arranged with charcuterie accoutrements like honey walnuts, sliced apricots and fig jam. Snackers may be satisfied with a shared plate of pickles, olives, pate or pimento cheese.
Lunch is from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and until 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The store is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Saturday breakfast is served from 9-11 a.m., again featuring unexpected choices like sweet or savory toast, gouda grits and smoked salmon with cream cheese on a bagel.
More than a meal
While their sandwiches, salads and cheese trays are freshly assembled, customers browse the selections of meat and cheese in cases and choose from the grocery items for their next party or a gift basket. They find surprises like potato chips still sold in a can, king cake wine jelly, artichoke cream soup and mousse of duck foie gras.
Unexpected selections also are found among the produce such as blue oyster mushrooms, fairytale eggplants and red okra that comes from Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.
Fondue pots are available for those who want to melt some of the imported cheese. Or they can wait awhile and like the stores in New Orleans, the Pass Christian store likely will have outdoor fondue pots bubbling during the holidays.
Catering will start soon in Pass Christian for those who want box lunches, party platters, cheese boards and other help with their entertaining.
A new direction
It wasn’t a planned expansion for the popular cheese company in New Orleans.
“The funny thing is that at the beginning of the year, we held a meeting with the owners and all the managers, and I stood up in front of everyone and talked about how the theme of the year was going to be ‘simplify,’” Donahos said.
A month or two later, the opportunity arose to open a store in the Pass. “I came out there with the owners and toured it and just saw the potential,” she said.
The company pays great attention to the producers of their cheese.
“We really try to make sure that we’re selecting from people who are doing it right,” she said, “and doing it right by the employees that they have, by the animals that they’re fostering. And making sure that we’re selecting people who are stewards of the land and the animals and the food.”
Shared space
The cheese company shares the same stretch of Pass Bungalows with two other new eateries.
Field’s Italian, a sister restaurant to the downtown Ocean Springs restaurant, has classic Italian family recipes and creative dishes.
Mabel’s Ice Cream and Coffee is busy in the morning, when people come in to get one of their specialty coffees and chocolate croissants or other pastries. Families go for Blue Bunny ice cream or one of the in-house custards like Reese’s, cookies and cream or no sugar vanilla.
