On the Cover: Locally Raised Chefs

Locally Raised Chefs

Cover image by Katherine Swetman

Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

For eight years now, Country Roads has had the distinct pleasure of discovering and celebrating the Gulf South region’s Small Town Chefs through our annual awards, which honor chefs working in towns with populations under thirty thousand. Nestled meekly in between the raging culinary destinations of this food-centric region, these small towns—for one reason or another—offer something to these chefs that the big cities can’t.

This year, our winners are drawn to Coastal Mississippi, to Central Louisiana, to small town Acadiana for a very particular reason: it’s where they grew up. After acquiring experience in the restaurant business elsewhere, they each felt a calling to open something new, innovative, and elevated in their own small town—bringing with them new experiences, economic opportunities, and ways to support local food producers. Take chefs Stephanie and Michael Paoletti, for starters, whose pop up experience, Food, Booze & Hiccups, in Ocean Springs is featured on our cover. Their creative take on dining experiences allows them the flexibility to curate intimate interactions with food selected precisely for its locality, seasonality, and its intrigue.

Read more on this year’s Small Town Chef Award Winners in our Features section, starting on page 30.