First Street Café hopes to get reacquainted with Brookhaven as it runs under new management.

The small shop housed within the First Street Business Center is back and ready to serve home cooked meals to those in the area. It is now being run by Sheila Chisholm Wicker.

The First Street Café was opened in 2016 to accommodate the clients in the First Street Business Center and the surrounding area, offering sandwiches, soups and salads. There weren’t hot plate lunches at the time. This is one thing that Wicker is adding to the menu.

“The older we get, the more home cooked meals we need,” Wicker said.

Wicker, a longtime resident of Lincoln County, took over the café in March. She has worked in the food industry on and off since she was 16.

“Working at all those places, I’ve gotten to listen to the customers and what they want,” Wicker said.

Initially, she saw an advertisement about the café being available while working as a cook at the Bogue Chitto Truck Stop.

“It dawned on me that I wanted to run my own place,” Wicker said. “I wanted to offer something other than fast food.”

After contacting the phone number in the advertisement, she toured the café and liked what she saw.

“Some people only want burgers and fries,” Wicker said. “Not everybody wants that.”

After coming in and looking around the café, she met with building operator Mark Chambers.

“I told him about my ideas and he loved them,” Wicker said.

With the doors open and the ovens hot, Wicker will offer not only the existing menu but add items and services of her own. This includes hot plate lunches, a kid’s menu, catering and a website where orders can be placed and deliveries requested.

She currently manages the café by herself, but Wicker hopes to hire help in the future.

“I wanted to show myself that I could do something like this,” Wicker said.

Wicker has been cooking since she was seven years old, when she cooked for her father. She taught herself how to cook full meals. During the last few months of her father’s life, Wicker cooked for him.

“A lot of my home cooked meals are some that I cooked for him,” Wicker said. “In a way, I’m dedicating my lunch specials to my father.”

Wicker hopes she can build the First Street Café back up to its former glory.

“I really hope for this café to really boost up and show a lot of people that something that’s fallen down can come back,” Wicker said.

The most important thing to Wicker is providing the best possible experience for her customers.

“That’s the only you can keep a customer happy,” Wicker said.

The First Street Café will host “Getting Acquainted Reopening” June 10 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Customers will receive a free coffee and pastry with their breakfast and a tea and dessert with their lunch.

For more information, contact Wicker at 601-810-0297.

 

Story by Gracie Byrne