Hernando MS – the delta review

April 19, 2021April 19, 2021

Go To The Barn at Cedar Hill Farm and You’ll Be in Love

My friend and I were debating about where to meet for dinner when my Facebook timeline suddenly showed something called The Barn at Cedar Hill Farm. I had heard of the farm, but neither of us knew about the restaurant, so we made the decision to meet there for dinner and to try something new.

Cedar Hill Farm, as it turns out, is a 120-acre working farm, and although its address says Hernando, Mississippi, it is actually located in a community to the south called Love, Mississippi, which was formerly a railroad station on the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad (now the Illinois Central). It functions as something of a tourist attraction, especially on holidays such as the Easter season. When I arrived at the spot, kids were being photographed on haystacks in front of seasonal displays, or on old tractors; other kids were being pulled around on wagons behind tractors.

The Barn is Cedar Hill Farm’s restaurant destination, born of a certain degree of desperation, as the COVID-19 pandemic cut into the farm’s ticket revenues; the restaurant consists of a vast array of outdoor tables and a large indoor dining area as well. The menu was surprisingly diverse and somewhat upscale, including grilled steaks. All guests receive complementary home-made potato chips, which are frankly addictive. They are spiral-cut and lightly fried, served with dipping sauce. My friend and I opted for catfish dinners, which were quite delicious, but after dinner, we saw and smelled the steaks being grilled outside. I will certainly be trying a steak on my next visit. Desserts come from Area 51 Ice Cream and City Hall Cheesecake, both well-known Hernando institutions.

In addition to delicious food, Cedar Hill Farm also has a small store, which sells a number of food and home gifts, including local honey and fudge, which we bought.

So for great food and fun in a pleasant environment, head out to The Barn at Cedar Hill Farm. You’ll be in Love in more than one way!

The Barn at Cedar Hill Farm

8 Love Road

Hernando, MS 38632

(662) 429-2540

April 19, 2021April 19, 2021

A Bit of the Crescent City Comes to Hernando

After a coffee at Coffee Central in Hernando one Friday night, I drove past a shopping center on Commerce Street where I noticed a new sign that read The Parish Oyster Bar and Restaurant. Within a week, I had gotten a call from my friend Ronald Grayson asking me if I had heard of the place; he actually was with the owner at the time, and told me the owner was a friend of his. Within another week, the restaurant had opened.

Just to avoid confusion, it needs to be said that there is no connection between The Parish Oyster Bar in Hernando, Mississippi and Memphis’ Parish Grocery, which I reviewed last summer, although both are New Orleans-themed restaurants in our metropolitan region. Po-boys are the primary focus of the Parish Grocery, while more upscale seafood dishes characterize The Parish in Hernando. My friend and I arrived at 3 PM and still faced a significant wait for a table, given that it was the restaurant’s first week open.

Inside, the owners have done a great job of recreating the atmosphere of New Orleans. A white-aproned man shucks oysters behind the bar, while great Louisiana music plays from the speakers. The walls feature decorative flour-de-lis patterns, and the air is full of the smell of frying seafood.

I opted for the fried shrimp with french fries, and I was quite impressed with the seasonings used in the shrimp. Furthermore, the french fries were crispy and flavorful, and there was a mountain of them. My friend was pleased with her catfish filets as well. Afterwards, neither of us had room for dessert, but the desserts sounded delicious, including creme brule and bread pudding. By far, The Parish offers the most authentic New Orleans food experience in the Memphis area, and is worth the drive to Hernando.

The Parish Oyster Bar and Restaurant

427 E Commerce Street

Hernando, MS 38632

(662) 469-4200

April 19, 2021April 19, 2021

New Digs and New Hours at Hernando’s Coffee Central Squared

For many years, Hernando, Mississippi has been coffee challenged; for awhile, only Big Muddy Coffee existed, and it closed at 6 PM. Later, Coffee Central opened as a small corner in a gift shop on Highway 51, but it closed even earlier at 5 PM. There was a Starbucks in the new Kroger Homeplace, but it was inconvenient and inconsistently open. But things have recently changed for the better in regard to coffee in Hernando.

On a recent visit, I noticed that Coffee Central has moved out of the gift shop (replaced by a bakery) and has acquired an old and historic house on Commerce Street near the iconic courthouse square. The new location is welcoming, and has outdoor tables on its porch, as well as plenty of table space indoors, and a party room which was in use for a birthday party during my visit. The coffee bar has added extended hours to go along with its new building, and now stays open until 8 PM.

As it did before the move, Coffee Central offers coffees from Dr. Bean, Ethnos and Onyx, baked goods, and a number of healthy food options. They are a great place to drop by after a dinner on the square.

Coffee Central Squared

39 W Commerce Street

Hernando, MS 38632

(662) 469-4349

June 19, 2018June 19, 2018

A Taste of the Gulf at Hernando’s Crossroads Seafood

Hernando’s new Crossroads Seafood is not exactly easy to find. It sits on Highway 51, near the Interstate 69 overpass between Hernando and Nesbit, and there is no exit on 69, although you can see the restaurant from the expressway. From Memphis, it’s best to exit at Nesbit and go over to Highway 51 and take a left. The restaurant will be on your right as soon as you pass under the interstate. But while finding Crossroads Seafood might take some extra effort, it’s worth the trouble, as this place has the best seafood in Desoto County, and some of the best in the entire Memphis area. From the road, the restaurant looks fairly small. There is a patio, with a few tables outside in the sun. But inside, the place seems bigger than it looks, comfortable and cool, with country music videos playing on the big screen televisions. The menu is fairly diverse, but despite steaks and burgers, the reason people come here is seafood, and for good reason. On my first visit, I tried the catfish dinner, which was as good as any I have had in North Mississippi. The dinner comes with two filets and two sides, for which I chose french fries and the homemade potato chips, the latter fried to a golden brown and still warm when they come out. On a subsequent visit, I tried the grilled redfish, which was reminiscent of one I loved at a Houston seafood restaurant, and at $13.99, a real bargain. It too came with two sides, and I chose french fries and macaroni and cheese. The the mac and cheese here had been baked, and seemed to have been made with sharp cheddar, which gave it a burst of flavor. My lady friend tried the catfish, and was thoroughly pleased. We ended our visit with a shared piece of caramel cheesecake, which while not made in-house, was still well-crafted and delicious. Crossroads meets a real need in Desoto County since the closure of Boiling Point several years ago, and will be seeing us again.

Crossroads Seafood
23 Highway 51 S
Hernando, MS 38632
(662) 469-9188

May 20, 2018May 20, 2018

Great Ribeyes Along The River Road at Rena Lara

For a city of nearly 20,000, Clarksdale, Mississippi is severely under-represented when it comes to restaurants, particularly fine dining. During Juke Joint Festival, the problem becomes more significant, as the main restaurants are either on special festival menus with limited choices, or outrageously crowded, with wait times that can exceed an hour and cause you to miss a performer you were hoping to see. But on the way to Mardi Gras in February, I had become aware of a place in Rena Lara, about 10 minutes from Clarksdale, that has ribeye steaks and live music on weekends. The Great River Road Country Store, from Highway 1, looks like a gas station, but looks can be deceiving. Of course you can purchase gasoline there, and inside, it has all the usual items you would expect in a country store. But once inside, you notice a vast array of tables, and a large performance stage. The fact is, on weekends, the Great River Road store turns into a combination steakhouse and live music club. I arrived too early for the live music, and the rain was pouring down outside, but I ordered a rib-eye steak, and I was thoroughly pleased. Ribeyes are not my favorite cut of meat, yet this steak was tender, with no tough fat or gristle, and excellent flavor. There was nothing particularly fancy of gourmet about it. Just a delicious steak, with Texas toast and a baked potato. As for the atmosphere, it was interesting as well, with some children who were related to the owner dressed in hunting gear and running joyfully around the premises. The woman who was serving me explained that the owners’ son owned Catfish Blues in Hernando, and was opening a new steakhouse in Senatobia called Delta Kitchen, which I had already heard about. Although the Great River Road sells food everyday, steaks are only cooked on weekends. It’s worth a drive down into the Delta for great food, great fun and occasional great music.

Great River Road Country Store
3915 Highway 1
Rena Lara, MS 38720
(662) 628-4837

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017

Bikes and Blues On Historic Ground near Como

On the last weekend of September, Memphis-based blues and southern soul singer Gerod Rayborn asked me if I would play keyboards with his band for a blues show taking place at Como, Mississippi. The show turned out to be the Bikers’ Rally and Blues Show at LP’s Ballfield on the Hunters Chapel Road, east of Como, a location which has a rich history in regards to the Hill Country blues.
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, LP’s was a place where Black fife and drum bands came together to perform at picnics or in friendly competitions, and there are historic photographs of Otha Turner, R.L. Boyce and other Hill Country musicians that were taken at the ball park.
Unfortunately, the venue was inherited by a son of the original owner, who has redirected it away from the traditional Hill Country music in favor of rap and hip-hop, car shows and southern soul.
Although fans of southern soul often refer to themselves as “blues fans”, and the terms “blues” and “southern soul” are used interchangeably, there is a vast difference between Hill Country blues and the kind of music that is performed at a southern soul performance, such as the one I was playing at. Southern soul could best be described as a modern genre that seeks to continue a vein of Black music that was largely abandoned elsewhere with the coming of disco, funk and ultimately rap. Lyrically naughty, and often concerned with cheating, southern soul is rural music for rural Black folks. Of course, through migration and family relationships, the genre has a following in larger cities as well, even in the north, but references to things like “trail rides” clearly establish the country frame of reference.
Working for Select-O-Hits Music Distribution for 20 years, I knew a lot about southern soul, but I didn’t expect the absolutely tremendous crowd that showed up for the event on this particular Saturday afternoon. Bikes were everywhere, and a lot of the new bike/car hybrids known as Slingshots. The warm weather was perfect for the event, and lots of people had come down from Memphis, particularly to see the headliner, Big Pokey Bear, whose song “My Sidepiece” was currently the hottest thing going. In addition to bikes and near-bikes, there were classic Corvettes and large RV’s, where some people had made themselves at home, watching college football in between the acts on stage.
Bev Johnson of Memphis radio station WDIA was the master of ceremonies for the event, and she soon brought up the first act, a band called the Smooth Groove Experience from Memphis, which featured a female singer. They were quite good, but as we were the next band up, I had to start getting ready to go up on stage.
After our performance, I hung around the event for awhile, as I had intended to check out all of the various performers. But my girl was in Hernando at the Front Porch Jubilee, and when she called and told me she was missing me, I decided to leave and meet her at the other event, which I did. She and I ended the evening at the Brick Oven Pizza Company in Hernando, after which I headed back home to Memphis, thoroughly tired but with a sense of satisfaction.

January 14, 2017

Great Catfish and Live Music at Hernando’s Catfish Blues

I love catfish, and I love blues music, so when a place puts them together, like Hernando, Mississippi’s new Catfish Blues restaurant, I am intrigued, to say the least. Because in its earliest days, the restaurant was running as a buffet only, I had held off on trying it, but finally my girlfriend and I decided we could delay no longer, and we were pleasantly pleased with what we found. Catfish Blues is located east of downtown Hernando, near the railroad tracks on Commerce Street in a building meant to resemble a train depot. The room is expansive and cheerful, with plenty of blues memorabilia on the walls, including pictures of North Mississippi stars like Duwayne Burnside and the Rev. John Wilkins, and there is plenty of room for live music, which typically happens on Saturdays. On the Friday night we visited, there was no live music, but the star of the show was catfish, which comes in two ways. The traditional catfish has the usual cornmeal batter, while the “Robert Pettiway” is a New Orleans-style breading which more resembles what you would get at Middendorf’s in Louisiana or Tug’s Casual Cafe in Memphis. Its name commemorates Robert Petway, the bluesman who first recorded the song “Catfish Blues.” Altogether we found the service cheerful and the prices fairly reasonable. If it wasn’t the absolute best catfish we had ever had, it was darn good, and overall a pleasant experience. We will certainly return.

Catfish Blues
210 E Commerce St, #8
Hernando, MS 38632
(662) 298-3814
http://catfishblues.com
https://www.facebook.com/Catfish-Blues-748897315241435/

November 26, 2016

Celebrating The Legacy of R. L. Burnside at Hernando’s Front Porch Jubilee

The Clifton Gin was a large building that loomed over the West End neighborhood of Hernando, Mississippi where many blues musicians lived and played their trade in nearby jukes. The Rev. Robert Wilkins, Gus Cannon and Jim Jackson all lived in the area for a time, and Mississippi Joe Callicott was from nearby Nesbit, Mississippi. Now each year, the city of Hernando commemorates that musical legacy with an event called the Front Porch Jubilee, held on the grounds of the historic gin, as part of Hernando’s larger Water Tower Festival. This year’s jubilee honored the legacy of the late R. L. Burnside, and members of the Burnside family were presented with a plaque. Performers included Jack Rowell and Triple Threat, Desoto County native Kenny Brown, who was mentored by both Joe Callicott and R. L. Burnside, Duwayne Burnside, Lightning Malcolm, rockabilly legend Travis Wammack, and R. L. Burnside’s grandson Cedric, performing with Trenton Ayers as the Cedric Burnside Project. In addition to the great music, there was a considerable amount of great food too, including some excellent pulled pork and the homemade ice cream from Senatobia-based Bliss. A warm afternoon turned to a chilly evening, but a stalwart crowd of about a hundred stayed to the end of Cedric’s last set. It was a great day of blues in Hernando.

June 29, 2009

6/12/09: Urban Network Music Summit, and a Tornado

I got up early and ate breakfast downtown at the Marriott because the panel I was to speak on at the Urban Music Summit was supposed to begin at 10: 30 AM. Things were actually running a bit behind schedule, and I ran into Janie Jennings as well as Carlos Broady, the super-producer from Memphis. I grabbed a lunch out at Harbor Town at the Movie and Pizza Company, and then made my way back to the convention for a listening panel that was to take place in the afternoon. During our critiques of artists, the sky turned black in the west and warning sirens started going off downtown. Later, after the panel was over, I drove down to Hernando to Windy City Grill for dinner, discovering that large areas of Hernando were without power and that there was a considerable amount of damage. To my dismay, I found that there was absolutely no power at all in Bartlett or Raleigh. Worse, in front of the movie theatre on Stage Road, trees had been uprooted and strewn across the parking lot. The nearby Starbucks was one of the few places with power and open for business, so I sat in there awhile, drinking coffee, and listening to people talk about the storm, which some were calling a tornado. When I got back to my house, the power was still off, but it was clear that we had suffered major damage. The tree in our front yard had broken apart, and parts of it had struck the corner of our house, and two large trees in the back yard had fallen and demolished our neighbors’ fence to the back of our house. I lay in the dark, trying to call the insurance company on my cellphone, but I couldn’t get through.