Schriever senior group told to stop confusing identity
October 25, 2011
Joseph Herbert Naquin
October 27, 2011
For the loyalist to traditional south Louisiana cooking, it seems like admitting a secret to say that sometimes one might want something different from expected selections.
Just as folks outside Cajun country get a pleasant surprise when trying new foods common to this region, so too, can locals accustomed to gumbo, crawfish and even alligator expand their horizon and discover new culinary pleasures with a Mediterranean fare.
“I wasn’t sure about it at first,” Assistant Food Service Director Brenda Jens said when her parent company, ShopRite, announced it would begin offering Mediterranean and Lebanese food as a side restaurant to their newest grocery and gas location in Houma. “But it is really good,” she said.
When ShopRite began connecting different themed restaurants to many of its convenience grocery stores, the company started with the basics of burger or chicken restaurants.
In 2010, ShopRite founder, John Dan Gielen, decided to pay tribute to his grandmother, an immigrant for Lebanon, and feature her recipes in a diner setting.
The first Mommie’s was opened in Crowley. Based, in part, on the success of that location, a second Mommie’s opened just four weeks ago in Houma.
“Everybody around here loves the food,” Food Service Director Anthony Meosina said. “It is healthy and very good for people.”
Mommie’s features meat pies, spinach pies, roasted eggplant, lamb and beef gyros, kabobs, hummus, tabouli, multiple salads and a variety of other tasty treats. Their selection might seem unfamiliar to many in these parts, but remember, there actually are some people in the world to whom a shrimp poboy sounds strange.
For those wanting to go with more familiar foods, while sampling a taste off their dining partner’s plate, Mommie’s also offers burgers, catfish, chicken tenders and, yes, shrimp poboys.
“Mediterranean food is very health conscious,” Meosina said. “Some of it has an acquired taste, but for the most part everything is wonderful. It is a different type of food.”
Mediterranean cuisine is unique to itself as it blends influences from Europe, central Asia and northern Africa. It is characterized by being flexible with a range of ingredients used in regional variations. Lamb meat and goat cheese are staples. Fish is also common and seafood is a standard dish. Cooking with olive oil and garlic have added to other elements in making the Mediterranean diet one praised by cardiologists.
“[For first time visitors], I would tell them to take the sampler,” Jens said. “It has just a taste of everything in the Mediterranean menu. It has the kibbi [beef with cracked wheat and spices], the meat pie and everything.”
While Mommie’s food is served in a-pay-at-the-counter-first line and served in quick fashion, employees stress that this is not fast food. “Everything is homemade,” Meosina said. “We do a lot of preparation. Our average ticket time is two minutes or less.”
Beef and lamb served at Mommie’s is first slow cooked for four hours. This eatery goes through 60 pounds of meat per day. Food prep includes sauces and fresh vegetables prepared daily.
“I come here once or twice a week,” Carolyn Cox of Houma said, while treating two of her friends to lunch. “I think it is fantastic, and I don’t have to drive all the way to Lafayette or Baton Rouge to get my Greek food now. It is very, very good.”
Customers asked said that service is as good as the food and encourages repeat business. “I’m really glad we tried this,” said one patron who did not offer her name.
“Customer reaction has been overwhelming,” Jens said. “We have the same people coming back and bringing more people. We have family members or people that they work with. It is great how the community has responded to us being here. It is refreshing.”
As for projections, Meosina said their goal is to “do as good as possible and stay busy.”
Serving a new flavor to the Tri-parish menu are, from left, Mommie’s assistant manager Crystal Trahan, food service director Anthony Meosina and assistant food service director Brenda Jens. MIKE NIXON
