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A Jackson chef joins two Biloxi chefs and an Ocean Springs restaurant as semi-finalists in the prestigious 2025 James Beard Awards.
For 35 years, restaurateurs throughout the nation have sought out recognition from the James Beard Foundation, a national nonprofit that gets its namesake from the renowned chef, cookbook author and television personality, James Beard. The foundation annually recognizes exceptional culinary talent with semifinalist and finalist rounds of awards.
This year, Mississippi appeared three times on semifinalist lists, which the foundation released Wednesday morning. The finalists for each category will be announced in early April.
Hunter Evans, the chef behind the New Orleans-style café Elvie’s in Belhaven, is a semifinalist for the 2025 James Beard “Best Chef: South” award.
Evans is one of 20 semifinalists from the category that includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Puerto Rico.
This year is not Evans’ first recognition by the James Beard Foundation. Last year, Evans was one of five finalists for “Best Chef: South,” and in 2023, he was a semifinalist.
In a past interview with the Clarion Ledger after his being named a finalist in 2024, Evans, a Jackson native who studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City before moving back home, called Elvie’s a “farmer-and-season-driven restaurant that explores Mississippi-French cuisine.”
Elvie’s is an homage to Evans’ grandmother, May Elvieretta Good, who provided the chef’s first memories of the complex nature of food. Evans grew up visiting his grandmother in New Orleans and fondly remembers eating her classic Southern cooking, which inspires Elvie’s menu today.
In 2020, weeks after Elvie’s had opened, the restaurant fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic and, like so many other restaurants around the world, shut its doors. The closure was temporary, however, and Evans and his crew managed to grow the restaurant through pop-ups and takeout meals.
Five years later, Elvie’s is still going strong. The menu, split between day and night, includes classic Southern breakfast dishes such as home fries and cheese grits, as well as some more upscale dishes, including oysters and caviar service. The menu includes a wide range of wine and specialty cocktails.
Since 2020, Evans has continued to deepen his roots in Jackson by buying, renovating and reopening the Mayflower, a historic restaurant in Downtown Jackson, not too far away from Elvie’s. Evans, along with co-owners Brandi Carter and Cody McCain also recently opened Levure Bottle Shop, a specialty wine store in the former Bridal Path location in Banner Hall.
Tresse and Austin Sumrall, the husband-and-wife duo behind White Pillars in Biloxi, are together a semifinalist for the 2025 James Beard “Best Chef: South” award.
White Pillars, which opened in 2017, is a nationally recognized farm-to-table restaurant exploring the different tastes of the Mississippi Gulf Coast with a few unexpected twists. The restaurant serves small plates and sample menus with a variety of dishes from caviar toast to shrimp pad thai.
Austin, a McComb native, studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York before returning to Alabama to put down roots with Tresse, a Gulport native. After welcoming their son, Ollie, in 2015, the Sumrall family moved back to Mississippi with hopes of opening a restaurant.
The Sumrall family is no stranger to the James Beard awards. In 2020, Austin was a semifinalist in the “Best Chef: South” category, the same honor he holds now in 2025.
Vestige, a restaurant specializing in market-driven tasting menus, is a semifinalist for the 2025 James Beard “Outstanding Hospitality” award.
The Ocean Springs restaurant caters to diners seeking a unique experience by providing an ever-changing “chef’s choice” menu. Each seating includes a multi-course meal designed by chefs and husband-and-wife duo Alex Perry and Kumi Omori.
Perry and Omori, much like the other Mississippi chefs on this year’s semifinalist list, are well acquainted with the James Beard Foundation. In 2024, Vestige was named a finalist for the “Outstanding Restaurant” award.
This year, Vestige is one of 20 restaurants that made semifinalist for the “Outstanding Hospitality” award which, according to the James Beard Foundation, recognizes a “restaurant, bar, or other food and drinking establishment that fosters a sense of hospitality among its customers and staff that serves as a beacon for the community and demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality and operations.”
Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri’s win over Mississippi State hinged on a few explosive, and at time, ridiculous plays.
The Tigers scored on two pick sixes, benefitted from a 60-yard return on a botched snap on a field goal while Ahmad Hardy did something no Missouri player has done in the 21st century.
Here’s three takeaways from the victory for the Tigers.
If Ahmad Hardy only took carries on plays where he scored touchdowns, he still would’ve rushed for 125 yards on three carries. On touchdown carries of 72 and 43, Hardy was virtually untouched past the line of scrimmage.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?@Ahmadhardy29 pic.twitter.com/ueYPAhh0nP
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) November 16, 2025
In total, Hardy rushed for 300 yards on 25 carries, the second-most yards for any Missouri player in a single game.
READ: How Ahmad Hardy Almost Scored ‘Too Quick’ for the Mizzou Defense
To little fault of his own, this didn’t end up as the Heisman-worthy season for Hardy that it looked like it could be after the first four games of the season. But this performance was a deserved feather in the cap for Hardy, plus a peek into just how far his dominance could reach next season.
On top of Hardy, the rest of Missouri’s offense was able to find explosive plays at a higher rate than it has all season long.
Running back Jamal Roberts also had rushes of 19 and 21. Quarterback Matt Zollers also completed touchdown passes of 26, 34, along with a completion of 17 yards.
The runs were due to an impressive job from Missouri’s offensive line on blocking on the outside zone.
“I thought the O-line and tight ends obviously prevented penetration, allowed him to get to the second level,” Drinkwitz said of Hardy’s big runs.
The touchdown pass of 26 yards was arguably the best pass Zollers has made all season, connecting with true freshman Donovan Olugbode for the first points of the game.
Matt Zollers hits Donovan Olugbode on this beautiful touchdown pass
True freshman to true freshman for Mizzou — SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 16, 2025
Missouri seemed to have an over-reliance on hoping the deep pass game would get going against Texas A&M, with Zollers attempting eight passes of 20 or more yards.
Against Mississippi State, the Tigers instead connected on those deep passes more often on fewer attempts, while leaning much more on the run game.
The play distribution between the two teams in the first half was incredibly odd. Mississippi State ran 40 plays compared to 20 for Missouri. Mississippi State held the ball for 19:16 compared to 10:44 for Missouri.
Despite this, the Tigers outgained the Bulldogs with 232 total yards compared to 134 and held a 21-10 lead at halftime.
The disparity in plays was mostly due to penalties on the Missouri defense — the unit was called for six penalties for 44 yards. All six of those resulted in automatic first downs, extending drives for the Bulldogs. Two of those were targeting calls, leading to linebacker Josiah Trotter and edge rusher Nate Johnson being ejected from the game.
The penalties weren’t the best look for the Missouri defense, though several of the calls were questionable.
But the fact that Mississippi State was still held to the low output in the half is a huge credit to the Missouri defense.
On one drive in the second quarter, Mississippi State ran seven plays inside Missouri’s 10-yard line thanks to a targeting and facemask call on the Tigers. But Missouri’s defense held them to zero points, with the snap on a field goal attempt bouncing off the holder’s knee and being returned 60 yards by Toriano Pride Jr.
The first half was a weird half of football. The job the Missouri defense did to stand through the chaos was impressive.
Starkville jumped to a huge first-half lead and held off Hoover’s late rally to hand the Bucs boys basketball team its first loss in 49 games. The Mississippi squad beat Hoover 59-49 on Saturday in the Cavaliers Classic in Caledonia, Miss.
Alabama’s three-time defending state champions had not lost since Jan. 19, 2024, when Thompson beat the Bucs 65-55.
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Missouri football has transitioned to a new, but final part of its season. With the College Football Playoff now out of their reach, the Tigers set out to what can still be another impressive season if they’re able to win out.
That starts this weekend with Missouri’s final home game of the season, hosting Mississippi State. Missouri hasn’t hosted Mississippi State since 2015.
In the latest episode of the “All Things Mizzou” podcast, Missouri football reporters Joey Van Zummeren and Michael Stamps gave their thoughts on what a 10-win season could still mean for Missouri, the looming coaching carousel, how the Tigers match up with the Bulldogs and more.
You can watch the episode via YouTube with the link below, or through Spotify, Apple Podcasts or onAmazon.
The “All Things Mizzou” podcast is presented by MissouriOnSI. Tune in every week as reporters of various sports provide news, analysis and opinions on everything going on in the world of Mizzou athletics.
Though Beau Pribula was surprisingly listed as doubtful on Missouri’s availability report, this is expected to be the second game where the Tigers have true freshman Matt Zollers as the starting quarterback.
Zollers’ first career start in Week 11 was tough sledding for the former four-star prospect. He completed just 7 of his 22 passes for 77 yards. Missouri’s first three drives averaged four plays and 23 yards.
“It’s about getting comfortable earlier in the game and creating some easier opportunities for him to get into a rhythm,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press conference Tuesday. “We never really got him into the rhythm offensively, and so we’ve got to do a better job of creating some offensive rhythm and not putting him in situations where he feels the entire pressure.”
The game will also include Missouri’s Senior Day celebrations for 20 players — Vince Brown, Kevin Coleman, Daylen Carnell, Jalen Catalon, Stephen Hall, Bralen Henderson, Khalil Jacobs, Tommy Lock, Xavier Loyd, Chris McClellan, Henry McDermott, Logan Muckey, Triston Newson, Drey Norwood, Toriano Pride, Connor Tollison, Keagen Trost, Sterling Webb, Connor Weselman and Zion Young.
“This group of men have worked extremely hard,” Drinkwitz said of the seniors. “Some have been here for a long time, some have been here for a short time, but all have contributed to the success of Mizzou football.”
Missouri takes on Mississippi State at 6:45 p.m. Saturday night. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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