A TASTE OF CAPE: RICH FLAVORS FEATURE BACKGROUNDS OF CHEFS

A green flame erupted after Mollie's Cafe and Bar chef Matt Tygett added brandy while cooking a wild mushroom salad.

Tygett topped off the wild mushroom and rice salad with pine nuts. Portabella, oyster and enoki mushrooms are mixed with romaine lettuce, roasted red bell peppers and Minnesota rice. The edge of the serving dish displayed a design made by Tygett from paprika.

Mollie's Cafe & Bar Chef Matt Tygett created a wild mushroom and rice salad with pine nuts, Portabella, oyster, enoki mushrooms mixed with romaine lettuce, roasted red bell peppers and Minnesota rice.

The French brag of rich sauces, Italians of pastas, Germans of sausage and cabbage and Cajuns of gumbo and jumbalaya, but in Southeast Missouri, residents and passers-by can drool over the tastes of these regions and more.

Since he made his first spaghetti and lasagna at age 9, Mark-Anthony Chesner, owner and chef du maison (house chef) of Cafe Alexander on Broadway, knew his passion was cooking.

He learned Italian cuisine from his grandmother and French from Yeve Menez, one of the top 12 French chefs in the world. Eighteen months ago, he picked up Greek.

Cafe Alexander's menu highlights the best of all three cuisines. Because French is his forte, Chesner recommends the filet mignon bordelaise, a char-broiled beef tenderloin dressed with artichoke hearts, mushrooms and a red wine sauce.

In Greek cuisine, he claims to make "a mean Mousaka," with layers of egg plant, zucchini, potatoes and seasoned ground beef. An Italian favorite is spinach and cheese or seafood canneloni, both rolled in huge sheets of fresh pasta with ricotta, romano and mozzarella cheeses. The entree is served in medallion cuts.

Picture perfect presentation is one of two things important in Chesner's cooking. The other is making everything from scratch. The only pre-prepared food in the house is the ranch dressing mix.

Another restaurant featuring a wide array of world flavors is Mollie's Cafe & Bar on Spanish Street, one of Cape Girardeau's more costly dining atmospheres. Owner John Wyman refers to the menu as "contemporary continental," or "any cuisine influenced by anything and everything out there that happens to be hitting the national food scene."

In addition to a core menu that has the expected seafood, steak and poultry entrees like Cog Au Vin, a pan-seared chicken breast in wine sauce, the restaurant offers 10 to 15 specials a night. It might be a Thai tea-smoked shrimp, Japanese sashimi (fish rolled with vinegar, rice, seaweed and nori) or French roasted duck breast with fresh blackberry glaze.

House signatures include stuffed mushroom caps, an original recipe fresh baked bread and, for dessert, the Italian specialty, tiramisu, and chilled chocolate fudge cake.

Although specials can range from $20 to $25, the more conservative customer can have a Mollie's fine dining experience for as little as $10 with a chicken or pasta dish, a side vegetable, salad and bread.

Wyman and his wife, Jerri Ann, also own the Royal N'Orleans at Broadway and Lorimier, which is similar to Mollie's in price but with a traditional, non-smoking setting. The dining room, done in classical French Quarter style, boasts elegant chandeliers, full silver place settings and long-length velvet-colored curtains.

The menu is equally exquisite. For hors d'oeuvres, pate de maison (house pate) and escargot bourguignonne (snails) jump at the French food lover's curiosity. In New Orleans tradition, Creole recipes are used for arnaud, one of the shrimp cocktails, smoked frog legs, Mr. Tibbs Shrimp Creole and more.

The restaurant is best known for its steaks, which are all cut at the restaurant. The most popular item on the menu is the chateaubriand, a steak more tender than prime rib. In addition to a tray of daily dessert specials such as amaretto pecan pie, after meal delights include the house favorite, Italian cream cake, or the flaming desserts like cherries jubilee and peaches flambe.

A menu almost entirely dedicated to Cajun cuisine belongs to Broussard's Cajun Cuisine on North Main Street. The spicy flavor of Louisiana rivals Mexican cuisine, but manager Kenneth Ruffin clarified: "Mexican is spicy because of the salsas they put on their food. Cajun is spicy because of the spices we cook on and in the food."

Most people patronize the restaurant for the broiled crawfish tail dinner or the crawfish and etouffee -- the caviar of Cajun -- half and half. The popular southern Po Boys, sandwiches served on long loaf breads, come with oysters, shrimp, catfish, ham and cheese or kielbasa sausage, a polish sausage with Cajun spices. And the menu wouldn't be complete without alligator ribs, jambalaya, gumbo, crab meat stuffed flounder, trout and Mississippi Mud cake.

Nick Accardo is familiar with Creole cooking also. He learned the art from his Cajun mother. His father, a native of Italy, taught him Italian as well.

At Nicky's Whistle Stop Cafe in Jackson, Accardo serves both, the okra gumbos and poboys as well as the spaghettis and ravioli. Nicky's is next to the St. Louis Iron Mountain Depot at U.S. highways 61 and 25.

Accardo recommends the Cajun rib-eyes, 8 or 12 ounces, to sample his personal recipes, but he is also proud of his family's red beans and rice and the crawfish etouffee prepared in a light cream sauce. Bread pudding tops off a meal as the traditional Cajun dessert.

Another spicy flavor comes from the Bel Air Grill on Spanish Street across from Mollie's. It's the only place in Cape Girardeau to find Jamaican "jerk" chicken. Chef Bill Sparks roasts the chicken for an hour using a mixture of Jamaican spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice or clove and other spices. To finish the fowl, he charbroils it and adds barbecue sauce, if ordered.

The chicken is jerked off the bone if ordered as a sandwich. Otherwise, the Jamaican "jerk" chicken dinner comes as half a chicken with the meat left on the bone.

A change from the hot and spicy of Cajun and Jamaican to a more hearty meat and potatoes cuisine, Tric's Family Restaurant on Highway C in Altenburg offers an authentic German smorgasbord every Saturday from 5 to 8:30 p.m. At any other time, German entrees can be ordered by the plate.

With the buffet, sauerbraten (roasted beef marinated in a sweet and sour sauce and covered in gravy), bratwurst (pork sausage), saurkraut and ribs, country-cured ham, fried chicken, cooked purple cabbage in a German sauce with apples and German potato salad can be eaten until the heart's content for $6.59.

By September, Tric's owners Harlan and Rose Obendorfer will be offering a wider variety of German sausages and cheeses.

For room to spare, the list of homemade pies is endless. The biggest seller is coconut cream, but there is also rocky road with chocolate pudding, pecans and marshmallows, lemon, strawberry, blackberry, peach and more.

If by the time the bill arrives, customers realize they left their wallets at home, a "Kumm druucke die schiss-le" ("Come dry the dishes") might be the payoff for a stuffed belly.