New kind of seafood restaurant opening in South MS. Here’s what makes it special
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- French Hermit Oyster Co. opens in Ocean Springs, offering farm-to-table oysters.
- Customers can shuck on site, buy pre-shucked pints, or grill oysters outdoors.
- Business integrates oyster farming, retail supply, shell recycling and restoration.
A true farm to table experience awaits in Ocean Springs, although the farm is in the waters off the coast of Deer Island and the food comes to the table when customers shuck their own oysters.
The grand opening of French Hermit Oyster Co. is Friday and it’s as much an adventure as it is a place to eat.
The restaurant at 5600 Washington Avenue, just north of the drawbridge, is in the building that housed Mikey’s on the Bayou. The dining space is outside on a covered patio overlooking the water.
The scenery itself is worth the stop, providing customers a combination of bayou views and breezes off the water that laps the shoreline nearly at their feet.
The concept of a shuck-your-own oyster restaurant is new for South Mississippi and similar to Hama Hama Oyster Saloon in Washington State, said Greg Cenac, who is operating the business with his wife and owner, Cecelia Cenac. They grow the oysters, bring them ashore and operate a combined restaurant, oyster supply house and gift shop.
Shuck your own
“We farm the oysters behind Deer Island. We harvest about once a week right now, but as we get more orders in, it’ll probably be more often,” said Ryleigh Sprague. She’s a marine biologist who manages the French Hermit operations, one of the original aquacultural farms just off the shore of Biloxi, and oversees the oyster operations at the new restaurant.
For those who want to shuck their own, a shell cracking tool makes it much easier. Place the oyster, pull the handle and the oyster pops open.
“So all they have to do is cut the muscle,” Sprague said, using a knife or seafood scissors. The cracker and scissors are for sale for those who want to take them home or to a seafood buffet or seafood boil.
Sprague said they will meet with the fire marshal this week to determine where a grilling station can be located, so customers also can grill their own oysters.
For those who don’t want to shuck their own, French Hermit has pints and quarts of shucked oysters in the cooler, ready to eat.
Add a stick of butter to one of their own seasoning packets they will privately label and see how it will kick up the flavor of the oysters, she said. They also are creating a custom mignonette sauce, a tangy vinegar-based sauce for raw oysters.
Cans of cold beer brewed for French Hermit by Chandeleur Island Brewing Co. shares the cooler with the containers of shucked oysters.
“Then in our freezer over here, we’ve got frozen oysters on the half shell,” she said. “We’re working out a deal with some of the shucking packaging companies around here that do that sort of thing. We’re going to provide them with our oysters, and they’re going to flash freeze them for us.”
Fun and learning
For those who don’t like oysters, food trucks will be stationed outside the restaurant and parents are welcome to bring a sack of nuggets for the kids, Greg Cenac said.
Cornhole and other activities will be set up and shoreline plants they are growing in connection with the Mississippi State Extension Service as part of the native plant producer network.
Customers shucking oysters at the long counter can drop their shells atop the ones below on the shoreline or recycle them.
“We do highly encourage people recycling their shells, because we personally will use them to help living shoreline or reef restoration,” Sprague said.
Local artists use some of the recycled shells in art they sell at the French Hermit gift shop. “Chandeleur Brewing Co. also has an oyster stout beer and uses shells to brew the beer,” she said. “So we’ve been saving some of our shells for that.”
Oyster culture and safety
“We’ve always been interested in oysters because Greg’s family was involved in oysters before the 1900s and my family’s from Biloxi,” Cecelia Cenac said. They moved back home from Colorado and took on the oyster company and reef restoration.
French Hermit Oyster Co. supplies oysters to some of the best restaurants and seafood shops in South Mississippi.
In operating the French Hermit oyster beds and the new restaurant, conservation and food safety are their priorities.
They farm in approved waters, Greg said. “We harvest our oysters. They have to be on mechanical refrigeration and down to temperature between certain times.
There are only a few places you can actually land oysters in Mississippi,” he said, “so this is an approved landing site for oysters, because it’s very, very specific on the regulations.”
Customers can watch the boat come in, he said, see the oysters being processed and the quality control and realize for themselves: “Hey, these just came off the water. They’re already at refrigeration. They’re safe,” he said.
The new restaurant will educate customers about oysters, he said, the way a national park visitor center does about its history and habitat.
Customers also can get bags of oysters to go. The restaurant will be open Tuesday through Sunday and those who want to ensure a bag of oysters will be available to them can call the restaurant Monday at 228-369-7118.
This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 12:59 PM.
