Cuisine
J A N U A RY 2 0 2 1
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FOOD
TOURS OF THE FUTURE
RENAISSANCE
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BIG THINGS A COMIN’
Taken to Church
IN NATCHEZ AND BEYOND, GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT.
Story by Lorin Gaudin • Photos by Ken Kochey
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In Natchez, Chef Ashley Allen, pictured, is helping to head up several new culinary hotspots in the new year.
’ve always loved Natchez for its slightly sleepy, faded belle vibe, woven with deep history, culture, food, and drink. Going into the new year there is new life, a reinvigoration. It’s exciting to watch the evolution of Church Hill Variety Group (“CHV” is partnered by Chef Nick Wallace with filmmakers Tate Taylor and John Norris) enlivening Natchez hospitality—a revitalization filled with community spirit, legacy, and delicious food. At the helm of their extensive culinary project is Chef Ashley Allen, a transplant to Natchez from the Virgin Islands. Chef Wallace tapped Chef Allen to join the project: “I’ve known Chef Ashley a long time,” he said. “We worked together about twenty years ago, and I remembered his incredible skills, art, and nurturing ability. I called him about the project and asked if he’d be interested in coming to Mississippi to make the vision a reality—to create a dynamic restaurant group of diverse people and kitchens with a goal to educate, employ, and provide the foundation for entrepreneurship.” After giving an emphatic “Yes,” Chef Allen now leads the CHV culinary team, all hard at work putting together menus and the many details that go into the restaurants: Smoot’s Grocery, Little Easy Bistro, and Church Hill Variety Restaurant and Farm Store, affectionately referred to as “the mothership.”
Smoot’s Grocery The Smoot’s Grocery reboot looks to put itself on the map, literally, by connecting its rollicking music-food venue to the existing Mississippi Blues Trail. Meanwhile, the live music lives on and there are simple, sophisticated foods like lush brown sugar and coffeerubbed brisket tacos with a tart cranberry slaw, CHV farm microgreens, and Chef Ashley’s heady bourbon BBQ sauce; smokey, meaty nachos; and crisp-tender chicken wings.
Little Easy Bistro
Opening this month, Little Easy Bistro is an elevated coffee shop serving breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks, including a charcuterie Happy Hour from 3 pm–5 pm. Chef Allen’s food here draws on Mississippi staples with a touch of island vibes. There are standards like eggs, pastries, muffins, and cinnamon rolls, of course, but specials built The Church Hill Variety Restaurant and Farm, considered CHV’s “mothership,” promises to bring fresh-fromthe-farm fine dining to the community of Church Hill and surrounding areas in 2021. Chef Allen’s way turn into 36
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dishes like jerk-spiced waffles topped with pecan-crusted fried chicken, a sticky bourbon-laced syrup, and vanilla bean butter; or smoked brisket with a collard greens chimichurri, avocado butter, and caramelized onions. As a brunch option, Chef’s twist on lox and bagels includes a crisp flatbread topped with smoked salmon, sun-dried olive tapenade, lemon, capers, and greens. Late afternoon happy hour brings more choices: charcuterie and other savories, homemade tater tots, and a trendy fried chicken sandwich with Kool-Aid pickles and jalapeño aioli that is all about that salt-fat-acid-heat.
Church Hill Variety Restaurant and Farm Opening in February 2021, the “mothership,” Church Hill Variety Restaurant and Farm in Church Hill (Tate Taylor’s birthplace), is eight miles east of the Mississippi River and about twenty minutes north of Natchez. The restaurant boasts an open kitchen with indoor and outdoor seating, combined with a farm store stocked with grab-andgo meals, homemade preserves, produce, farm eggs, and ice cream. For this
