Fried Des Allemands catfish, mustard greens, jambalaya, and sweet potato pie: sounds like a soul food joint’s daily specials, no? Think again: the lovely plate of down home cooking pictured is (gasp!) hospital food. The locally caught catfish was fried to order, the mustard greens were just a tiny bit spicy, and the sweet potato pie (not pictured) could have graced a Thanksgiving table. It’s typical of the food at St. Charles Parish Hospital’s The Oyster & Pearl Cafe, where red beans, grilled chicken, crawfish etouffee, seafood stuffed eggplant, gumbo, and other scratch cooking is a regular thing. (Read the weekly menu here.)
The cafeteria, located inside the hospital at 1057 Paul Maillard Road in Luling, LA, is open to the public, and prices are modest. Lunch for two, with drinks and dessert, runs to $15.
Quite a far cry from the pond-raised, frozen tilapia served to me last year at another area medical establishment. Read my post on the wrong way to do hospital food.
Bouillie 
I’d love to read a chat with the cook. I know you stuck your head in the kitchen.rl
The kitchen is run by chef Blaine Guillot. Read more about him here: http://www.stcharlesparish-la.gov/index.aspx?recordid=2883&page=26
and here: http://www.heraldguide.com/details.php?id=10456
The hospital that Alexis works for (she now works at one of their dr offices) has a good variety and high quality in their two restaurants. I think that many hospitals are working to break the long running reputation (and well earned I might add) for horrible food like hi protein jelllo. But this one sounds like it has come out on top!