SOUTHWEST GEORGIA LIVING MAGAZINE

Island Time Georgia Style

BY K. K. SNYDER

Regardless of how you spend your day, you're sure to get hungry at some point, and if you're surrounded by salt water, eating seafood is a must, unless you're apt to break out in an allergic fit. Those of you not prone to rashes and swelling airways at the sight of seafood should head straight for Barbara Jean's.

It's a popular spot and there's usually a waiting line, but don't let that deter you. Once you're seated and place your order for the tastiest crab ever, you'll be treated to a generous basket of Barbara Jean's fresh baked bread--pumpkin bread, sweet jalapeño cornbread and homemade wheat rolls. The breads are so popular that beginning this October the restaurant will offer the bread batters for sale in its online store. But don't fill up on this delicious treat, save room for the feature attraction.

Those who consider themselves something of a seasoned she-crab soup and crab cake aficionado will see the light with just one bite. You will never taste crab like you taste crab at this local favorite.

"The secret ingredient is crab meat," teases Barbara Jean Barta, who has owned the island eatery with hubby, Jim, for the past eight years. "If you don't use it, they don't taste the same."

Her tongue-in-cheek attitude about the masterpieces she creates is well deserved. These filler-free crab cakes are so nearly pure crab meat that you'll want to eat it painstakingly slow and savor every morsel. So popular are they that the Bartas will ship them to you on dry ice lest you faint dead away before you get back to St. Simons to eat them again. These, too, are available through the Internet, and come with a DVD of Barbara Jean demonstrating her crab cake cooking techniques.