Yazoo City

A basket of spicy cornbread (served, unfortunately, refrigerator-cold) comes with a crock of pickled red onions. Soups are sensational. One evening, a lush and smoky Pennsylvania split-pea soup was studded with ham and bacon. Another time, gumbo-like Key West seafood contained tilapia, catfish, crabmeat, corn and potatoes.

Skip the boring house salad. Instead, if they are available, try the perfectly fried cornmeal-crusted Delancey Street oysters. Another evening, Lochapolka fish sticks, similarly fried slabs of catfish, were a delight.

An entree of Mississippi jerk chicken was a real firecracker, the boneless poultry seared, then baked in a roasted corn and chile salsa, served with fried sausage grits topped with barbecue sauce. Another blazing success was the griddled "snake-eyes" steak smeared with a green chile chipotle paste and served with marvelous Texas fried potatoes. I liked the New England baked flounder with a subtly spiced, house- made grape ketchup that resembled revved-up Welch's jelly. Coney Island pasta -- penne with chicken and mushrooms in a hot Italian sausage tomato sauce -- had a slow smolder. It contained 12 ounces of pasta, enough to feed at least six people. The Gelinases believe in putting way too much food on your plate. Check your diets at the door and prepare to leave bearing leftovers.

Gulf Coast stuffed catfish contained sweet, succulent fish, but the crabmeat-cornbread dressing tasted of dull dried herbs. A similar smoked-sausage cornbread stuffing marred the otherwise fine "prairie dog" chicken, finished with a mild brisket gravy. Does brisket work with fish? It did in the case of the stuffed catfish, made with a brisket and Rice Krispies dressing. And I loved the Kentucky fried steak with its lush smoked-ham cream gravy.

Finale favorites, served with freshly whipped cream, included the light and fudgy "ragtime" chocolate pie and the cornmeal buttermilk chess pie. The Sleepy Hollow pie translated into cheesecake with a pumpkin custard topping. Good stuff.

With your check (the restaurant takes only cash or American Express), you'll get a "fortune fish" and a plastic whistle shaped like lips -- the kind of mementos you'd expect to take home from a carnival. In view of Yazoo City's freewheeling menu and easygoing ambience, the souvenirs seem entirely appropriate.