Adventurous eaters will find plenty to love in Mississippi. While our state is perhaps best known for Southern soul food staples, you’ll find endless variety in their preparation and presentation, crafted by accomplished and award winning chefs, distillers, brewers, and mixologists. Whatever flavors you’re craving, you’re sure to find it in the ‘Sipp’.
Known for its creative tasting menus emphasizing seasonality, sustainability and locality, Vestige has quickly become one of Coastal Mississippi’s must-visit restaurants. Chef Alex Perry working alongside his wife, Kumiko Omori, creates a memorable dining experience that reflects his uncompromising vision for experiential dining.
James Beard Awards Recognition: Outstanding Restaurant (finalist, 2024), Best Chef South (nominee, 2023), Best Chef (semifinalist, 2022, with Kumiko Omori), Best Chef (semifinalist, 2019).
Industry Recognition: David Reese is one of only 28 Master Cicerones in the world. The certification requires “exceptional understanding of brewing, beer, and pairing — combining outstanding tasting abilities with an encyclopedic knowledge of commercial beers.”
Located in the heart of downtown Jackson, Cathead Distillery currently produces eight award-winning, small-batch spirits including traditional and flavored vodkas, a gin, chicory liquor, and Bourbon whiskey, as well as a line of canned cocktails, Cathead Sparkling. The distillery offers bar service on weekends and both private and public tours and tasting, by reservation.
James Beard Awards Recognition: Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer (semifinalist, 2020)
Elvie’s offers a cozy, upscale dining experience in the heart of Jackson’s historic Belhaven neighborhood. The restaurant, which was named after chef and owner Hunter Evans’ grandmother, features a New Orleans-inspired menu with emphasis on using the highest quality, ethically sourced, and best tasting ingredients available, sourced, whenever possible, from local farms.
James Beard Awards Recognition: Best Chef South (nominee, 2024), Best Chef South (semifinalist, 2023)
Wonderbird Spirits, located near Oxford in the town of Taylor, distills three gins including traditional gins and an “experimental gin” that features the subtle essence of Mississippi magnolia blossoms. All of their gins are fermented using Delta grown jasmine rice. The distillery offers cocktail service, tours and tastings, Monday through Saturday, by appointment.
Industry Recognition: San Francisco World Spirits Competition (gold medals for No. 97 Magnolia Experimental Gin, 2021), San Francisco World Spirits Competition (two gold medals for Gin No. 61, 2020)
City Grocery, founded by James Beard Award-winning chef John Currence, is an iconic restaurant located on the historic Courthouse Square in Oxford, Mississippi. Since opening in 1992, the restaurant has been heralded by publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Southern Living, Bon Appétit, and many others.
James Beard Awards Recognition: Best Chefs (winner, John Currence, 2009), Best Chefs (nominee, John Currence, 2008), Best Chefs (nominee, John Currence, 2007), Best Chefs (nominee, John Currence, 2005)
Located inside of Oxford’s historic theater, The Lyric, Bar Muse offers craft cocktails curated by James-Beard nominee Joseph Stinchcomb. The bar’s mixologists provide guests an intimate experience re-innovated each season through menus that emphasize locally-sourced ingredients and premium spirits.
James Beard Awards Recognition: Outstanding Bar Program (semifinalist, while head bartender at Saint Leo, 2019)
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