By Kinnon Phillips

Cuisine editor

By now, you have likely not been able to miss the giant plane segment on Airport Boulevard in front of the just-opened Cooper T’s. I hear so many drivers are craning their necks that quite a few fender-benders have taken place.

The first comment about Cooper T’s is that it is unique and creative. As you step out of your car, flight instructions and gate arrivals are piped outside as you enter the “airport.”

All of the staff is dressed as either mechanics in jump suits; classic steward and stewardess uniforms or as pilots. Everything around you is a virtual experience of airplane travel when it was new, luxurious and glamorous. The décor is done in rich blues, white and hammered metal.

Mobile has a history with airlines. The Waterman Steamship Company operated one of the first airlines in the late ‘30s out of Mobile. Cooper T’s owner David Cooper was able to unearth old photographs of inside and outside of the planes, along with other lines that flew here at the time and of Brookley Field. They are positioned as murals on walls and are ingeniously spread across room divider panels in some areas that reveal a close-up look at these relics.

There are four main dining areas and some private dining rooms still under construction. Upon arrival, you wait in the lobby, sitting in a comfortable airplane seat – watching the computers overhead for your departure time to commence eating and drinking.

The first area consists of several booths that can be made private by pulling a circular screen around them – but this screen is the same one used on planes to separate first class from the tourists. All of the chairs are glossily painted a royal blue with thick fabric cushions and the tabletops have a hammered steel effect.

The next area, to the left of this one, is a long series of “booths’” in even rows, with a narrow aisle down the side. Your perspective is altered as you walk down the aisle for the wall ahead of you is covered in a large picture of the inside of a plane, the aisle perfectly matched up with the one you are on. This is really cool; the people in the photo are looking onto the aisle with a stewardess walking behind a little boy marching down toward you. There are so many plane parts used in the restaurant, for example each of these booths contains the rounded side of the “fuselage” – with the windows each containing a different view.

Don’t be tempted to get drunk and slide down the “runway” bar. Lit from above and endlessly running down the length of the bar is a “runway” with red and yellow lights down the side. The plane will actually be in right off the band area and will be used for seating. I do not want to give too much away as I will have a write a shorter review later on, but I will run through the menu with some highlights.

Do expect a number of the popular items from Felix’s. So all of you living in WeMo will no longer have to drive all the way down to the Causeway to enjoy good seafood. Otherwise the menu is based on old family recipes from Constantine’s, a long time Mobile institution. I am anxious to try out the chicken parmesan and meatballs and spaghetti – both I ate often as a child at Constantine’s. Steaks, veal crab cakes and shrimp and grits (aw, the son-in-law finally got recognized) pepper the menu. And soon, the take-out area will be open to order any of the menu items along with Felix’s Famous Barbeque. But more about that later.

Chili Cook-off

Look for me at the cook-off, for this year I will be an official judge for the finals. In the meantime, try out my favorite non-red chili.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Serves Four to Six

2 tablespoons corn oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast meat, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 15-ounce cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans)

1 cup canned chicken broth

1 7-ounce can diced green chilies

1/2 cup whipping cream

Grated cheddar cheese

Chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, and dried red pepper. Sauté 5 minutes. Push onion to one side of pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan. Sauté chicken approximately five minutes.

Drain beans; reserve 1/2 cup bean liquid. Add beans, broth, chilies, cream and reserved bean liquid to chicken. Simmer until chicken is tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared one day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat before using.) Ladle chili into bowls. Top with cheese and sprinkle with cilantro.

Note – I have often used dried beans, and have doubled the recipe. Make some jalapeno cheese cornbread to go with it.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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