Julian Brunt: ‘Coffee, biscuits, beer and friends’ in Ocean Springs

The Greenhouse on Porter has a sign out front that says “Coffee, biscuits, beer and friends.”

A sign like that is sure to get your attention, and the Greenhouse, 404 Porter Ave., Ocean Springs, lives up to that motto.

In addition, the Greenhouse also is a meeting place, and true to its name, it is based in an old greenhouse.

If you choose to sit in the front room, expect communal conversation but don’t expect to talk about the stock market, or the newest fishing hole.

Do expect to find interesting people, such as the eclectic mix of folks I’ve encountered there, including a former bull rider turned artist, an architect or two, a museum curator, musicians, retirees, kids from the local college, a jack-of-all trades, whose real passion is surfing, and a few other adventuresome folks.

If you are not in a communal mood, sit in the functioning greenhouse where there are four private tables, a bench or two, a few scattered chairs, and a house cat named Mr. Sprinkles. There is plenty of room there for a private chat with friends, or a table to yourself to study, work on that laptop, read or just watch the world go by.

The Greenhouse, however, is more than just a place for good food, coffee and conversation.

There is yoga night on Thursdays. The Peddlers, a local bicycle club, meets there on Saturdays, and there is a lecture series called “Smarty Pants Thursday.”

There also is the Opp Shop, where you will find local arts, and other interesting items, including rabbit fertilizer, T-shirts for sale and live music on the lawn. Mix those assets in with the eclectic crowd, and you have something pretty cool.

The biscuits

But wait! Don’t forget about the biscuits. Add them to the mix, and this place is over the top.

Kait Sukiennik, who co-owns the Greenhouse with Jessie Zenor, said there is something magical, soothing and healing about making biscuits.

The recipe below is a family heirloom, but the magic extends to those who partake of these delicious, crunchy biscuits.

Crunchy biscuits? Indeed, and if you eat just one you will never crave soft and fluffy again.

Get a sweet potato biscuit and smother it in homemade pimento and cheese (you’ll never get that recipe out of the owners), and all of your troubles will melt away.

The Greenhouse offers a biscuit of the day, sometimes two or three, and they are always inventive and delicious.

The sweet potato biscuit with homemade pimento and cheese is a house favorite, but check out some of these recent specials: blueberry biscuit with spiced apples and vanilla fluff or a cheese sweet pepper biscuit with rainbow chard and herb fluff.

The biscuits are always good, but there also are different toppings you can choose, such as honey butter, seasonal jams, roasted tomatoes and fluff of the day.

The Greenhouse also serves gourmet teas and a great selection of coffee. Check out the rich Ethiopian coffee that has hints of blueberry. Wow!

They also serve a homemade soup Wednesday through Friday and sandwich biscuits, such as smoked ham and Swiss cheese, and a fruit and cheese platter.

Cold brews round out the offerings.

GREENHOUSE ON PORTER BISCUIT

2 cups all purpose Flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon fresh black pepper

1 sticks Butter

2 cups whole fat buttermilk

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut butter into chunks. Add half the butter to the flour mixture and using your fingers pinch the butter down into small chunks, until you have an almost cornmeal texture. Add the other half of the butter and pinch it down to dime-size chunks. Make a well in the center of the biscuit mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a spatula start on the outside and slowly mix the flour into the buttermilk until it all comes together. Do not over mix. Turn the dough out on a flour surface and pat it into a square about 1-inch tall. Cut into nine square biscuits.

BAKED BLUEBERRY AND RICOTA TOPPING

1 pint blueberries

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ricotta

Bake 1 pint of blueberries in the oven with two pats of butter at 325 f. until juicy and bubbly. Remove from the oven and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Cut open the hot biscuit and spoon on the blueberries and a dollop of ricotta.

Julian Brunt, who is from a family with deep Southern roots, writes Coast Cooking in Wednesday’s Sun Herald and has a blog at sunherald.com.

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 8:08 PM.