Bessie Johnson cooks from the gut and serves from the heart. Her recipes are decadently Southern. And the hospitality she bestows upon customers is no less warm and personal than what you’d find in the Louisiana café scene, where total strangers are treated like friends and family.

Her restaurant, Magnolias, is a large sunny space situated in the brightly colored Market Creek Plaza at the corner of Euclid and Market streets. A cocktail bar and booths occupy one half of the layout while two additional dining rooms with high ceilings and ample table seating absorb the other.

Since opening two years ago after running Bessie’s Garret in La Jolla and Encanto, Magnolias has become the new hotspot for spooning down gumbo, jambalaya and etouffee (prepared four different ways) and for cracking into Southern fried chicken and catfish cloaked in crispy, delicate crusts. The menu is a delightful amalgamation of soul food and Cajun and Creole cuisine that exudes spunky flavors and a nurturing, homey essence that seems lost on the heels of San Diego’s ever-evolving culinary renaissance.

Johnson clapped her hands gently when I chose the BBQ Shrimp as my appetizer. And for good reason. About a dozen of the medium-sized crustaceans came bathed in a garlicky, buttery barbecue sauce that gets put through the kitchen smoker for added dimension. The dish was so sensational that my companion and I clung onto the plate for mopping up the leftover sauce with our table bread and sweet, crunchy corn muffins.

A commodious Caesar salad graced with a fine creamy dressing ensued, as did a bowl of Creole Okra Gumbo stocked with shrimp, scallops and a lean, piquant sausage that originates from a local distributor. As evidenced in most of the hot items, Johnson uses her own specially concocted 10-spice seasoning that blends white, red and black pepper along with garlic, onion and salt. The remaining ingredients are a secret that we couldn’t coax out of her.

My companion opted for the Portobello Mushroom Etouffee, available also with crawfish, catfish or chicken breast. Yet in this more modern twist of etouffee, the animal flesh was hardly missed as the mushrooms delivered a meaty, grilled flavor that paired nicely with the rice and a dousing of silky brown sauce that resembled cream-based gravy.

I was hell-bent on ordering Johnson’s Southern Fried Chicken, keeping in mind that she grew up in DeQuincy, La., where her mother ran a small café and exposed the family to the joys of Southern cooking. And joyful this chicken was – two tender breasts dredged simply in flour and Johnson’s secret spice and then fried to a golden finish. Surprisingly, the chicken isn’t pre-soaked in salt water, nor does Johnson toss buttermilk into the batter. Yet the poultry smacked of that classic mouthwatering quality that only Southerners seem able to accomplish, and it fared well the following day when I reheated the leftovers.

In the “Magnolias’ Favorites” section, you’ll find sausage jambalaya made with either shrimp or chicken, Crawfish Enchiladas that oblige to local palates and Red Beans and Rice with sausage, which I found as hearty and flavorful as any I’ve had amid the blooming magnolias in my visits to Louisiana.

Of the side dishes we tried from the “Lagniappe” list, the Candied Yams delivered us to Christmastime with their aromatic spices that hinted of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. The Black-Eyed Peas were enjoyably dense with a mild kick of cayenne. And the Fried Okra, cut into small barrels, was carefully battered, non-watery (like it can sometimes be) and easy to pop down despite the gluttonous lineup of food we consumed with it, which didn’t exclude a couple of springy and satisfying hush puppies!

Johnson’s signature dessert is Bread Pudding, a dreamy cake slice of the stuff speckled with bits of green apples, slivered almonds and drizzled in rum-butter sauce. Having never been a fan of bread pudding, this version knocked me out.

Magnolias has a comforting family feel that intensifies once you start eating the food. Johnson, along with her husband and son, help operate the restaurant. They often roam the floor chatting with what appears like a tight-knit base of repeat customers while extending their welcome mat to newcomers who, like us, came and left with a warm, full feeling in our bellies.