The Rest of the Story*

WHEN? Monday · March 2

WHERE? Hattiesburg, Mississippi · find us on the map

WHY? Lunchtime ... once again, we were hongry

Last September we put up a post on Robert St. John's Restaurants after we stopped in Hattiesburg and ate at the Crescent City Bar & Grill. We agreed to have today's lunch at the Purple Parrot Cafe on our way back to Alabama. Both restaurants are owned by Robert St. John.

The Purple Parrot didn't seem to be as large and was decorated with colorful abstract art. I'm no more an art critic than I am a food critic, but I do know that I like anything filled with many colors. That was true for my food that I selected on the basis of wanting to know what black-eyed pea gravy was. I also knew that I like pork tenderloin (peppercorn encrusted), mashed potatoes and green beans. The portion was a little bit more than I could handle, but I did my best. Wendell chose the pecan encrusted catfish, which also had some black-eyed peas with it, I think. I’ll have to say I was concentrating so much on my own meal that I don’t remember what else he had.

Certain things the servers and staff did were interesting to me. I don’t frequently dine in restaurants of this class, but I do appreciate the service when I do, such as help with my chair as I'm seated.

Here’s something neat: Have you ever dined in a nice restaurant with cloth napkins that are white and come out with lint all over a dark colored outfit? Because I had on black, they switched out my white napkin for a black one. At least that was my take on it.

The other thing that set this restaurant apart for me were various quotes written on the hallway walls. Two favorites:

“Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn.”
~ Garrison Keillor

“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”
~ Mae West

*An aside:

Paul Harvey passed away very recently on February 28 of 2009 at the age of 90. What an icon he was and will remain so because of all the memories of the many years he did what he loved while his fans enjoyed it. I’m one of those fans. I thought it was interesting that my first thought for a title for this post probably brought Paul Harvey to your mind just like it did mine.