Three Jackson-area restaurants receive MICHELIN recognition

Just outside Jackson, across the tracks in Pocahontas, is Sacred Ground BBQ. 

Sacred Ground just opened last year and this year, received a Bib Gourmand on MICHELIN's new Guide to the American South -- one of only two Mississippi restaurants to do so.

"It was really surprising," head chef Derek Emerson told MPB. "It just shows that putting in the work and trying to do the best job we possibly could paid off."

Emerson says he thinks that one reason Sacred Ground may have stood out to MICHELIN is because BBQ is so uniquely American. And, when it comes to Southern food more broadly, he's glad the region is getting in the MICHELIN spotlight. 

"I do think that the flavors that the South brings are something unique to the region," he said. "You don't get, braised collar greens up in New York."

"You just don't get some of the things like cornbreads and things like that that you get here in the South that that you know, it's just a comforting feeling."

Out of some of the other restaurants he and his wife own, a BBQ joint certainly stands out as being a little more on the casual side. But, that's exactly how he wanted it.

"You know, I've been doing this for a long time and I just needed something different," he said. 

BBQ became sort of a challenge for Emerson -- it involves a lot more creativity than some of the other cooking styles he's used to.

"Barbecue seems like it's kinda like the wild west of cooking," Emerson joked. 

Emerson bought his first restaurant in Mississippi with his wife, Jennifer, in 2001 -- the iconic Walker’s Drive-In. Since then, it's been the people who have kept Emerson going.

"We've had guests that have come in and they sat at the same table for twenty years with us," he said. "Those people become like your family." 

"To be able to have that and be able to look out at the dining room and and see people smiling and enjoying what they're doing, instantly has always been my driving force."

The Emersons also own Little Effie in Jackson, as well as CAET and Local 463 in Ridgeland. They plan to open a taco and burger spot in Jackson soon.

Pulito Osteria brings it all back home with MICHELIN recognition 

Chef Chaz Lindsay's worked at restaurants from New York City to El Paso, Texas -- also spending a year at a restaurant in Italy.

But he's originally from Belhaven and is glad to be back running Pulito Osteria, which MICHELIN listed as a recommended restaurant to visit in the South. 

"Everybody who lives in Belhaven really cares about Belhaven," Lindsay told MBP. "We've created kind of a destination oasis within Jackson and in Belhaven that's really, really special."

"Belhaven is my home: it's my heart."

For him, the heart of it all is the community he can build and the Italian-inspired dishes that Pulito Osteria has to offer guests.

"We've given people a new option and a new way to dine -- and there has been some guest education with that," he said. 

That means, for example, making pasta dishes the traditional Italian size -- so, a slightly smaller serving -- but pairing that with other plates to share.

"We want you share that steak and that pasta with you know two or three people and it's not just for you," Lindsay said. "Making dining more about family, friends, community, conversation and not just a pit stop to fuel up."

The name is a bit of an Italian-language lesson, too. 

"So the story is, is that the building that we're in used to be the laundry facility for Baptist Hospital," said Lindsay. "Well, you make a sheet of pasta, they used to wash sheets in the building."

That's where pulito -- clean -- comes from. 

"There's five tiers of Italian restaurants. So: Cafe Bar, Pizzeria, Trattoria, Osteria, and then Ristorante,"Lindsay explained. "Osteria is just right below that, so still approachable, but still a very good restaurant where you would go and celebrate something."

"So that came up and Pulito Osteria it was."

For Lindsay, it's a way to bring all the things he's seen and learned around the world back home to Belhaven. 

"Seeing how happy people are when they leave or happy for their second reservation when they return, there's something very, very special about that," he said. 

Lindsay said being on the recommended restaurants list is an honor -- and he's glad that's where the restaurant landed on the guide.

"Do we wanna push for the star? This is what we have to do, but then are we losing our identity as this restaurant that everyone feels comfortable in and is approachable?" he said. 

"Being where we are at and our impact on the community, I think it's more important to make sure that everyone is comfortable coming in."

"No such thing as a bad day" at Elvie's in Belhaven

According to MICHELIN, there's no such thing as a bad day at Elvie's. 

Elvie's in Jackson is the second Mississippi restaurant to receive the Bib Gourmand distinction in the new MICHELIN guide. 

And there's lots to choose from, all day. 

"We do breakfast, lunch, and dinner: so you can come here and have a very approachable, just like eggs and biscuit and bacon and grits and call it a day," general manager Cody McCain told MPB. "Or you can come at night and have very creative, more chef-driven menu that hits a little bit differently." 

"We try to hit as many people as we can and still hold each thing to being the best that it can be."

It certainly keeps the entire staff busy. But that's the vision McCain says that he and head chef Hunter Evans had when they started.

"We saw kind of a gap in the Jackson market, at least for just not very many breakfast options," McCain told MPB, sitting on the deck of Elvie's. "We're very thankful to be able to do all three different things because it opens up worlds of creativity. 

"You may think of a dish, but you couldn't run it at dinnertime: but it works in breakfast or at lunch, and so we can do all kinds of fun stuff."

They certainly started during unprecedented times. The journey since then has been filled with support, though.

"We opened six weeks before the pandemic happened," McCain said. "And so we had to shut down and do a bunch of just like fun to go things for a while there." 

"I think honestly, that helped us develop a crowd that just loves creativity, loves doing fun things." 

With the Bib Gourmand from MICHELIN, along with multiple James Beard nominations, McCain says they're looking at what's next for themselves -- and the community.

"We are just trying to work on consistency here at the restaurant and continuing to push forward and keep doing fun things and find new ways to support the community, he said. "Recently with the SNAP benefits and things like that under fire, we worked with Mississippi Food Network to help raise money to provide food for people in Mississippi."

"I think there's always stuff to be done for that."