The Blue Monday "low country Louisiana boil" is catered by Mr. Pig, and dished up at the BarrelHouse Brewing Company on the second Monday of each month, to Ricky Nye's boogie-woogie piano, a feast for body and soul!

My erudite companions to Blue Monday were soon-to-be-famous local writer Jack Kerley, author of The Hundredth Man, and his brother -- poet, artist and rabbit-wrangler Mark. Jack is in training for his upcoming book tour, and this was a good warm-up for his swoop through Mississippi and Louisiana.

It was obvious that most of the attendees were regulars, because when the announcement came that food was being served, the queue formed instantly. Mr. Pig's crew brought out the appetizers first, but I use the term loosely: The first course alone was enough for a meal. Cold starters included two spreads -- possibly chicken salad and ham salad -- that were pretty much gone by the time newcomers got to the front of the line. There was just a spoonful of olive relish left in the bowl, but I scraped the bottom for it and was richly rewarded.

There was no shortage of hot dishes! Our plastic plates were piled high with cornbread, red beans and rice and greens. The servers smiled as they asked us if we wanted hot or mild ribs, and surprisingly enough, they kept smiling when I replied, "Can I try both?"

This food was generous in every sense of the word. The red beans were mixed with a massive quantity of smoky andouille sausage, and the greens were peppered with flavorful ham. The ribs were meaty and delicious, dripping with flavor. As Jack said, there's nothing better than food that requires a "brick of napkins" -- and this food surely did.

And imagine -- after all that, big vats of shrimp boil were dumped onto a plastic covered table. Pounds and pounds of big pink shrimp, bright red crawfish and tender red skinned potatoes, corn on the cob and fat smoked sausages. Incredible. This is the real thing. I was fit to burst.

Ricky Nye kept that fine music a'comin', making an electric keyboard sound an awful lot like an old upright honky-tonk piano. He was accompanied by the bass player from The Sidecars, and the two of them put out some mighty fine tunes. We moaned about our full tummies in a sing-along fashion, until finally a couple singers from the Cincinnati Blues Society got up to do their thing.

We toasted Jack's announcement that it had been a year since he'd written any advertising copy. Although being a novelist is not all roses and champagne: Last week, he had to take his own picture for People magazine. Several other members from the Cincinnati Writers Project stopped by to share their congratulations for Jack's success, which is better than sharing their true feelings of absolute jealousy and rage.

Blue Monday is a monthly event, and I give it a big recommendation. For 18 meager bucks, you get a belly full of wonderful food and an earful of great Blues. Let me also mention that the folks at the BarrelHouse were just as friendly as the folks from Mr. Pig. This is a great venue where the music is not so loud that it prevents conversation, and the air circulation keeps it quite smoke-free. Plus there's damn fine beer and homemade cream soda that makes a great dessert.

As we left, the singer pulled me to the microphone and asked me to "testify." Belatedly, what I should have said was "Great chow, great brew, great music and great company -- Blue Monday, how I LOVE blue Monday!" ©

Mr. Pig's Louisiana Low-Country Cooking
Go: BarrelHouse Brewing Co., 22 E. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine

Call: Mr. Pig at 513-651-2251 for reservations

Hours: Second Monday every month, 7 p.m.

Prices: $18 (food and entertainment)

Payment: Visa, MC, American Express

Red Meat Alternatives: None

Accessibility: Excellent

Grade: A