Page 24 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2020

PEOPLE
24 |
|
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photo by Rory Doyle
Austin Sumrall, chef owner of White Pillars, is a semi nalist for the 2020 James Beard Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the culinary world. Sumrall was nominated in the category of
Best Chef: South, and was one of only 20 chefs nominated in the six-state region and one of two chefs nominated in the state of Mississippi this year.
Sumrall has been working in restaurants for many years and has had a passion for cooking most of his life. A graduate of the University of Mississippi, he received classical training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and has worked for three di erent James Beard award winners with the title of Best Chef: South. Today, he can most often be found manning the helm at White Pillars alongside wife, Tresse.
“Even though this is an individual award, there is no way I could take all of the credit for it,” said Sumrall. “Tresse has been right beside me the whole way and deserves a lot of credit, as does my fantastic team at White Pillars.”
The Sumralls have worked hard to make White Pillars what it is today, but the nomination still came as a shock. “Being nominated for this award has been a long term goal of mine and Tresse’s,” Sumrall said. “We just didn’t think we would be seeing this so quickly – this was the rst year that we were eligible for this award.”
Disbelief quickly turned to excitement for the couple, who are proud to represent South Mississippi. “It’s an absolute honor just to be nominated,” Sumrall commented. “There have been very few in Mississippi and even fewer in our area, so we are proud to represent the Gulf Coast. It
was our goal to help the Coast become the culinary destination that we think it can be, and this is a great step in the right direction.”
Sumrall doesn’t have a favorite dish to prepare, instead saying that trying new things is his preferred venture. From new techniques to ingredients he’s never worked with before, the White Pillars chef is always up for a challenge.
White Pillars Restaurant and Lounge
1696 Beach Blvd., Biloxi 228.207.0885 www.biloxiwhitepillars.com
May 2020 w
t
S
ww
|
ww
w
.
.s
s
m
ml
li
i
v
v
i
in
n
g
g.
.n
n
e
e
t
SO
OU
U
T
TH
H
M
M
I
IS
SS
SI
I
S
S
S
SI
I
P
P
P
PI
I
L
L
i
iv
vi
in
n
g
g
CULINARY HONOR
White Pillars Chef Austin Sumrall Announced as Semifinalist for James Beard Award