Meet Bergeron's City Market, Your New Lunch Spot

by Sydney Blanchard

 

With its crisp white exterior and sleek black and white signage, it's impossible to miss Bergeron's City Market on Jefferson Highway.

Chef Don Bergeron's latest venture took over where Pat's Seafood used to be. Not only is the City Market the hub for Chef Bergeron's catering and retail operations, it also serves up a rotating menu of hot lunches and dinners.

Bottles of wine abound in Bergeron's City Market retail space

Most notable is the market's decor. Chef Bergeron's team did a bang up job renovating the building and turning it into a clean, white, airy space with tons of natural lighting.

Local products and a selection of wines gleam in the retail space, and freezers filled with take-and-bake dishes and desserts line the walls.

Another view of the wine and frozen goods at Bergeron's

According to Chef Bergeron, his most popular take-and-bake item is his lasagne, but his crawfish bisque also flies off the shelves.

Get in line here to grab a hot lunch or dinner

Beyond the retail space lies a beautifully decorated seating area and cafeteria-style lunch line. The menu changes daily and weekly and serves up dishes like red beans and rice, white chicken lasagne, tomato basil soup, and an array of salads.

Hamburger steak, burritos, and fish were a few of the options that day

Fridays, or "fry-days" as they're known at the market, typically feature fried catfish and shrimp. Weekly and daily menus are available on Chef Don Bergeron's website and on Facebook. 

White chicken lasagne at Bergeron's

One of the day's offerings: the savory and creamy white chicken lasagna with flavorful greens and succotash.

Fish with green beans and field peas

Another: fish and cream sauce, with green beans (some of the best I've had) and field peas.

"Heart healthy" chicken burrito at Bergeron's

Last, the "heart healthy" chicken and black bean burrito option.

Beyond weekday lunches and dinners, Bergeron's City Market also does a Saturday brunch with tummy ticklers like crawfish and grits and chicken and waffles. During brunch, each entree comes with a mimosa.

I was super impressed with Bergeron's City market: the atmosphere, the hot lunch and the take home offerings. I can totally see myself grabbing a frozen lasagna, a bottle of wine and some dessert and being the hero at dinner.

Have y'all been to Bergeron's City Market yet?

Oxford Obsessed: A Classic Look at a Southern Staple

by Sydney Blanchard

Cozy, pastel-painted homes portion themselves out among the tree-lined streets of Oxford, Mississippi. This far north, the flat, coastal state turns hilly, and cars bob up and down the road, lurching at each change in altitude.

Old, proud buildings boast their histories in the town's Square, the epicenter of life in Oxford. It's a football town, sure, but it's a town filled to the brim with culture, with history, and with delicious food.

Oxford doesn't preen or parade; it waits patiently to unravel itself to curious passersby.

It's impossible not to fall in love with Oxford.

I don't think I've ever been so taken by a town as I was with Oxford. I was smitten the moment we pulled into the city, seduced by the crisp fall air and the halcyon blue sky.

To an outside observer, it almost seems there are two Oxfords: there's the old Oxford, a college town swathed in its history and literary tradition, hoping to make peace with its Civil Rights-era past.

Then there's the new Oxford, teeming with the ambition and excitement of a town filled with academics and ready to be known more for their place in the culinary world than for their place in history books.

The old Oxford is inextricable from the new, and both versions of Oxford merit exploration and awe.

By the end of our four-day tour of Oxford, I was ready to pack my bags and move into one of the humble, soft-hued homes that ripple outward from the center of the town.

Below you'll find my guide to Oxford, highlighting the things that historically have made Oxford worth visiting. Next week, Blair will share her take on this new, revitalized, millennial Oxford.

Hop on the Double-Decker Bus Tour

View from Visit Oxford's Double-Decker Bus in Oxford, Ms.

Oxford is relatively small and easily navigable, but Visit Oxford's Double-Decker Bus Tour helped me get my bearings so I could venture out and explore the town on my own later. We were lucky enough to be accompanied by local historian and fifth-generation Oxonian Jack Mayfield, who talked us through the tour of the town. Check out the Spring 2016 bus tour schedule, and be sure to procure tickets in advance.

Tour the Beautiful Ole Miss Campus

The Lyceum at Ole Miss

Founded in 1848, the University of Mississippi is the largest university in the state. Walking or biking around campus is the best way to get a feel for it. College students roam about well-manicured lawns and beautiful architecture. Check out the University's art museum, scope out the Grove, or visit the Southern Foodways Alliance offices located in the Barnard Observatory.

Scarf a Southern Plate Lunch at Ajax Diner

Ajax Diner, located in the Square

Located alongside seemingly every other restaurant and business in Oxford's downtown Square, Ajax Diner serves up "good eats" on the cheap. Nothing makes my tastebuds dance like a real Southern plate lunch. You can't go wrong with any of their menu items, but I opted for meatloaf with fried okra and butter beans.

See Where Faulkner Lived and Worked 

A panorama of a room at Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's Mississippi home

The great Southern gothic writer William Faulkner spent his adult years at his Greek-revival home Rowan Oak in Oxford, his own little postage stamp of native soil. Strolling the grounds of Rowan Oak and touring the house itself, it's clear to any writer how Faulkner could find inspiration there. The home is maintained by the University as a museum, yet the gardens remain in ruin, just the way Faulkner liked it. Oxford is also home to the graveyard where Faulkner was laid to rest in 1962.

Listen in on Thacker Mountain Radio Hour

Sign outside of Square Books in Oxford

I've never experienced anything quite like Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. Each week in the spring and fall, the Thacker Mountain Radio Hour is recorded live from the Off Square Books store in the Square in Oxford. This live show, similar to NPR's A Prairie Home Companion in format, features musical acts and author readings and is open to the public and free of cost. As a public radio aficionado myself, this was the highlight of my stay in Oxford.

Chow Down on Catfish at Taylor Grocery

Eat or we both starve! The famous Taylor Grocery sign.

While not technically in Oxford, Taylor Grocery outside of Oxford is a local favorite. The music is jumping, the atmosphere irreverent, and the whole fried catfish worth the drive. Writing covers about every inch of Taylor Grocery which used to function as more of a grocery store than a restaurant. This place has a BYOB policy, so make sure to bring a brown bag.

EatLafayette: 1895 Cajun Cuisine & Pub

EatLafayette's summer-long promotion of their one-of-a-kind locally owned restaurants recently came to an end, but not before I could check out a couple stops along the way. With over 70 participating restaurants, it is easy to see why the EatLafayette campaign has been so successful. Julie Calzone and Madison Barras helped set up some meals for me around the Hub City. One of my goals for 2013 was to get myself to both Lafayette and New Orleans more, so I jumped at the opportunity to check out a few restaurants at which I had yet to dined. The first on the list sits at 1895 W. Pinhook and is aptly named 1895 Cajun Cuisine & Pub. Address them by name! It opened at the beginning of 2013 so they haven't even hit their one year mark yet, but it seems like the restaurant is well on track to be around for a while. With plate lunches galore and a nice seafood offering, 1895 provides a nice local option in a busy shopping center. Now for a rundown of my feasting frenzy:

Cajun Crab Cake: full of lump crab meat and deliciously seared to create a nice crunch!

Atchafalaya Bites: cornmeal dusted catfish nuggets with tartar sauce

Crawfish Etoufee: a bed of rice smothered in a home-cooking mixture of Cajun trinity and crawfish tails

Mahi Mahi Tacos: fish tacos with mango salsa, poppy seed coleslaw, and chipotle sour cream

Plate Lunch: pork roast and gravy over rice, just like Maw Maw makes it! Never underestimate Lafayette's plate lunches

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Corn Grits: looks like a mess in my picture, but this was one of my favorite dishes!

White Chocolate Bread Pudding: what's not to love?