Jersey Chef Shakes New Orleans

In November; Chef Jesse Jones flew to New Orleans. This is newsworthy—the chef, who is the Garden State's indisputable expert on Southern cuisine, had never visited the Big Easy.

Jones had been invited to do a cooking demo at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, a nonprofit living history museum dedicated to the discovery understanding and celebration of the food, drink and related culture of the South. Jones was admittedly nervous. For the event, he had chosen a personal favorite, shrimp and grits. Which itself presented a dilemma. “ Everybody does grits there.” In addition, the chef's interpretation deviates significantly from Southern expectations. Jones's shrimp and grits are not a generous bowl of Low Country comfort food; his dish is fine dining fare, inspired by the chef's years in classic French kitchens. Jones prepares a small round cake made of grits, tops it with microgreens, two shrimp and Creole sauce. The dish is elegant and spare.

New Orleans is the food mecca of the nation. During his visit, Jones met Leah Chase, the queen of Creole, and Poppy Tooker; host of Louisiana Eats! on NPR. How would his grits stack up?

The chef needn't have worried. People just gushed: “Your food is amazing.”

It was an epiphany Jones, who had pushed himself outside his comfort zone just by getting onto an airplane, was moving and shaking in New Orleans. His personal takeaway: “Get out into the world. Meet new people.”

The city offered the chef another epiphany which, to be sure, was not news to him, but which, to everyone, becomes a different reality when experienced.

“You can eat and drink all night. I never wanted to come home.”

Jones grew up in New Jersey but spent his childhood summers with his grandmother in rural North Carolina. Hannah Lewis Jones was famous for her sweet potato pie and her molasses pudding. It was her daily creativity at the cast-iron stove, cooking with whatever ingredients were available, that inspired Jones to become a chef. In the South, Jones reminds us, cuisine was divided between big house cooking and field cooking. Field cooking demanded creativity, and dinner was made from what was thrown at you. It was an art. “Everybody comes to the pot differently. Everybody has their own style.”

Jones, who lives in Maplewood, last year published a collection of his favorite recipes. POW! My Life in 40 Feasts is a memoir and a cookbook, a collaboration with Linda West Eckhardt, an award-winning cookbook author who lives in Maplewood. Recipes include the chef ’s Southern fried chicken and sweet potato waffles, plus his baby back ribs and buttermilk cake.

It was a good year for Jones, who in September won best in show at the annual Pig Island all-day pork fest in Brooklyn. Jones prepared whole hog pulled pork with cornmeal pancakes.

What’s on the agenda for 2019? An appreciation party is planned for Jan. 6 at Garden State Kitchen in Orange. And Jones promises more pop-ups, demos and a trip to Montreal. (See his Facebook page for event details.)

He follows the advice he gives to his son, who is an NBA prospect: “Dream big.”

Southern Cuisine in NJ

Dishes with Southern influences can be found on menus throughout the state, from the Voodoo Shrimp n' Grits at INC in New Brunswick to a decadent lobster mac and cheese at the Witherspoon Grill in Princeton. The following is a list of some of the (sit-down) restaurants in the state that focus more intently on cuisine from America's South. Many of course, offer unique interpretations of Southern food.

Corinne’s Place
1254 Haddon Ave., Camden
856.541.4894

Cornbread
1565 Springfield Ave., Maplewood
973.313.0328
cornbreadsoul.com

Delta’s
19 Dennis St., New Brunswick
732.249.1551
deltasrestaurant.com

Drew’s Bayshore Bistro
25 Church St., Keyport
732.739.9219
drewsbayshorebistro.com

Eleven Clinton
II Clinton St., Newark
862.234.2269
elevenclinton.com

Marcus B&P
56 HalseySt., Newark
973.645.0004
marcusbp.com

Modine
601 Mattison Ave., Asbury Park
732.893.5300
modineasbury.com

Vonda’s Kitchen
183 W Kinney St., Newark
973.732.4532