2002: Ma Mama's: Downhome Goes Upscale

This story was selected by the Country Roads magazine editorial team as the representative piece for 2002 in the archival project "40 Stories From 40 Years"—celebrating the magazine's 40th anniversary on stands. Click here to read more stories from the project.

On the quaint main street of downtown New Roads, Louisiana, one groovy hot spot is causing a stir. Ma Mama’s Kitchen is a hip and lively eatery that, despite the sound of its name, is neither Italian restaurant nor country cookin’ café. It stems instead from a commitment to made-from-scratch dishes that don’t scrimp on real ingredients. Just like your mama’s. 

It’s no surprise then that this hangout is run by a mother-daughter team. Chef/owners Donna Ewing and Kim Duhon, Ewing’s daughter, have cultivated a culinary style best described as an amalgam of French, Italian, Creole and traditional New Orleans. Ma Mama’s features interpretations of always-welcome standards such as Oysters Rockefeler, crawfish bisque, soft shell crab and turtle soup with sherry. (Check out the popular inch-thick crab cakes. They’re unique in their fluffy texture and intense spiciness.)

But while Ewing and Duhon celebrate traditional faves like thes, they can’t be fenced in by them either. 

Their menu–deliberately large so they will never get bored in the kitchen–is chock-full of original creations that pair big flavors with even bigger flavors. The decadent Oysters Orleans, their own recipe, nods to Ewing’s roots in the Crescent City. Here, a fried oyster is set atop shrimp and crab stuffing, finished off with melted provolone and accompanied by a side of hollandaise. The flavors are similarly large in the often-requested Portobello Ma Mama’s, which features the mushroom cap breaded and fried with ribbons of fresh spinach, provolone and fresh mozzarella and Roma tomatoes. If that wasn’t enough, the dish is then topped with crawfish tails and hollandaise. It’s so popular among regulars that some have requested gift certificates not in dollar amounts but in Portobello Ma Mama’s. 

The current favorite among the restaurants close-knit waitstaff is a succulent grilled pork chop perched on a bed of savory garlic mashed potatoes and topped with a portobello and Cabernet demi-glace.

Whether a dish is traditional or new style, each is prepared from scratch–including sauces, salad dressings and signature honey wheat rolls that accompany them. Ewing and Duhon are also committed to using fresh ingredients and change their fare according to what looks good and plentiful that season. For example, with trout in season, the duo has added a not-to-be-missed whole broiled speckled trout, simply seasoned and cooked to perfect flakiness. 

When possible, they tap into local produce–picking up tomatoes and such from the nearby Glaser Farm, a familiar vendor at regional farmers markets. Ewing and Duhon also grow some of their own ingredients. The garlic, chives and parsley that permeate many of their dishes hail from the family’s gardens. 

Ma Mama’s menu draws a loyal following of both regulars from around town and outsiders on a culinary road trip. The vibe is bright and cheery and the décor unconsciously funky. There is an eclectic collection of found objects propped here and there–some put to a useful purpose. Note the odd antique bathtub on the bar that serves a vessel for bags of rolls. You’ll also find examples of Donna’s artwork–she’s a wildlife artist. The long, cozy bar, which, like everything else in the place was designed and built by the family, makes for a nice place to hang out on those weekend nights when you might face a wait.

The desert menu boasts a short list of impressive homemade delights, including the family’s simple bread pudding and three-layer German chocolate cake. The thick, creamy cheesecake, whose crunchy crust features pecans, is topped with blueberry, strawberry or pecan praline sauce and fresh whipped cream. The serving size of these sinful delicacies is enormous and would be impossible to finish but for a welcome loss of self-restraint. 

What makes Ma Mama’s unique is that it is designed for the foodie. There’s no rushing through seatings or turning away stragglers who drag in close to quittin’ time. Ewing and Duhon believe in using good raw materials–including real butter and cream–and in concocting dishes the way they would prepare them at home (They’re even happy to meet special dietary needs.) Neither has culinary training–they simply cook from a lifetime of eating well and from perfecting recipes derived from “a long line of mamas.” And what could taste better than that?