The food mixer whirred and gas burners blazed as Mamie Jenkins surveyed the kitchen at The Eola Hotel. &uot;It’s time,&uot; she told a kitchen helper who wondered whether to move salads to the dining room for the luncheon buffet.

&uot;Here’s our bread pudding, one of our featured desserts,&uot; she said, jumping from first to final course without the blink of an eye.

Pointing to the large stainless steel bowl, she said, &uot;This is cream cheese frosting for the cake.&uot; The cake sat on her counter, fresh out of the oven and perfectly removed from the bundt pan.

Jenkins, a cook for more years than she wanted to tally, followed the desserts to the table in Juleps Caf/, the breakfast and luncheon eatery at the landmark Eola. Fussing

like a housewife expecting guests, she arranged cake plates, rum sauce for the banana pudding and the pudding dishes &045;&045; just so.

Back in the kitchen at the stove, cook Jo Ann Bindon stirred hot vegetables, took corn muffins from the oven and tended the chicken sizzling in the deep-fat fryer.

She began to fill carts with the buffet pans, preparing for the big push to get all food on the buffet line before 11 a.m., when lunch would begin, continuing until 2 p.m.

The salad bar was ready &045;&045; mixed fruit, broccoli and grape salad and tossed greens mounded in big bowls.

Vegetables and meats came next, emitting aromas of good Southern dishes throughout the long hallway leading past the restaurant.

And, sure enough, people began to arrive at 11 sharp. They were regulars. Food and beverage manager Sonny Foggo knew them and greeted them personally.

&uot;The lunchtime buffet is what ties us to Natchez,&uot; Foggo said. &uot;We have it six days a week, rarely on Saturday. And for the most part, Natchez likes the Eola.&uot;

Local business is essential to the success of the Eola, Foggo said. &uot;That is true of any restaurant in this town,&uot; he said.

The evening crowd is sparser, and Foggo is working on that, hoping to find a way to draw more people to the Caf/ LaSalle.

&uot;It’s a more formal setting, but no formal dress is required,&uot; Foggo said. &uot;We want people to come as informal and comfortable as they want.&uot;

The success of the luncheon buffet is twofold &045;&045; Foggo listens to what customers like and want; and the hotel staff faxes more than 100 menus throughout the business community every day.

Some foods are staples, expected to be on the menu every day. &uot;Fried chicken is one of our signature foods,&uot; Foggo said. &uot;And on Fridays we always try to have barbecued ribs and catfish.&uot;

Working with the cooks, Foggo tries to keep the menu creative while not disappointing those who expect certain dishes. &uot;We meet and talk about ways we can break out of the routine.&uot;

Jenkins has her own ideas about cooking and good food, saying her &uot;real good down home cooking training came from J.P. Trosclair,&uot; the late renowned Natchez cook.

&uot;Cooking is an art,&uot; she said. &uot;It comes with a mental attitude. When someone says they can watch me make something one time and then do it themselves, I know it’s not so.&uot;

The weekday buffet is $9.50 per person. The Sunday buffet, because it is more elaborate, is $12.50.

&uot;On Sunday, we have seafood, maybe Cornish hens, fried shrimp and oysters. Basically, we’re putting on the Ritz,&uot; Foggo said. &uot;And complimentary champagne is offered with the meal.&uot;