Page 150 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2018

DINING grits and greens in his blood
Tips from a Foodie NEW FEATURE: DEEP SOUTH CULINARY ADVENTURES
story by Julian Brunt photo courtesy of Julian Brunt
I can’t tell you how excited I am to be writing to you. Deep South Culinary Adventures is a concept I’ve been thinking about for years, a dream come true for
a culinary writer. I want to tell you what I’ve been doing, the chefs I’ve spoken with, restaurants I’ve visited, new foods I’ve discovered, new cookbooks I’ve found, and recipes tried. I hope it becomes your source for all things culinary on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It’s a tall order to be sure, but, with your help, I think we can do it.
The name was suggested to me by my friend Kim Wilson, full credit to her for the innovative title, and so much more that I owe her as a culinary friend (she taught me how to make a proper roux). The need for a single source culinary point of contact is obvious. There are hundreds of restaurants on the Coast, thousands of foodies, several amazing places to attend cooking classes, a small handful of grocery stores — some off the beaten trail — and dozens and dozens of great cooks and chefs.
Just the diversity of restaurants on
the Coast shouts out for someone to at least start the conversation. Whether
it’s a gas station that makes killer good cheeseburger po-boys, a local hangout where you can get red beans and rice
on Monday, a fine dining establishment that overnights fresh scallops from New England, or a place that has a sommelier on staff. Wow, what a lot to sort through.
And if you’re serious about the culinary world, perhaps you’d like a place to point you on your way to using the immersion circulator you just got, or to say a few words about that amazing smoky Scotch you tried the other evening. Oh my! The list goes on and on.
So why me? Well, lots of luck to be sure, but I’ve been interested in cooking, and dining all of my life. As a kid I perched on a tall stool in my mother’s kitchen
and saw magic happen for the first time. Black pepper, flour, buttermilk, chicken and hot oil was where fried chicken came from!
My father was an Army man, so I was fortunate to spend more than 10 years in Europe as a kid and young adult. I discovered my love for good restaurants there, and began to see the intricacies
of making wine, good olive oil, and that French cooking is the foundation of much of what we cook today. I also fell in love with creative writing and literature,
and although it took me a long time, I eventually found a way to combine these two loves into a way of life.
I’ve traveled extensively in the South East and South West USA, spent a few years in the Caribbean, traveled a bit
in South East Asia, but landing here in 1992 was the beginning of re-finding my Southern roots. I say re-finding because my family has been in Mississippi for almost two hundred years. I’ve got grits and greens in my blood, and moving to and falling in love with the Gulf Coast has added a fair amount of brackish water to that mixture that keeps me going.
So, again, I am delighted to be here, and hope we can become culinary friends. Feel free to drop me a line, and make sure to say hello when we bump into each other at that po-boy place.
Julian Brunt
HOT TIPS
(restaurants you should try)
150 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • June 2018
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
LA NORTAINA
authentic Mexican food Biloxi
CANNELLA
German and Italian food Bay St. Louis
STALLA
Italian, Beau Rivage
FAYARD’S
on Popps Ferry Road Biloxi
best cheeseburger po-boy ever
Julian Brunt
zin42@bellsouth.net