Mississippi
Jackson chef, two other Mississippi restaurants named James Beard Awards semifinalists
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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 of Elvie’s, Jackson
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.
Austin Sumrall and Tresse Sumrall of White Pillars, Biloxi
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, Ocean Springs
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