John Currence

John Currence is owner and executive chef of six restaurants in Oxford Mississippi, winner of the James Beard Award, and has created recipes featured by The New York Times,^[1] Southern Living magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. He is a contributing editor for Garden and Gun magazine.^[2] John is active in the community, having served as chairman and president of the Mississippi Restaurant Association and president of the Yoknapatapha Arts Council.^[3]^[4]

Early Life

John Currence was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the Gulf of Mexico he procured his first cook position on a tugboat. He began his professional cooking career under Bill Neal at his restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Crooks Corner. In 1989 returned to New Orleans as the sous chef at Gautreau's co-owned by Larkin Selman. He later pursued an avenue of ownership in the fine dining arena in Oxford, Mississippi, beginning with his first restaurant, City Grocery, originally a Reconstruction era livery stable. He has resided in Oxford, Mississippi since 1992 and currently lives there with his wife Bess.^[5]

The majority of his childhood was spent in the South, but in the early 70's he and his family moved to the United Kingdom. His mother, a history teacher, would take Currence and his brother out of school for four-day weekends. During these long weekends they would spend their time traveling around Europe and exploring their new home. From these excursions, Currence experienced multitudes of ethnic cuisines from Italy, Germany, to France. ^[6]

After returning to the Carolina's and graduating highschool, Currence moved on to pursuing a college education at the University of North Carolina. During his time at the University, he began a few part-time jobs until he became a dishwasher at Bill Neal's Crook's Corner. During the time of his hiring, The New York Times had recently published a story about the restuarant and its climb to fame. ^[7]

After working at Gautreau's as a sous chef in New Orleans, he realized that even with a job he loved, he wanted to begin his own restaurant business. After visiting a friend, an undergraduate at the time at the University of Mississippi, Currence decided to pursue the building, which was once a livery stable, into what is now called City Grocery.

Career

TV Appearances

John Currence was featured as a contestant on season 3 of Top Chef Masters. He was knocked out during the _____ round. On the first episode, the dishes he prepared for the judges were_____. ______ ultimately won the ____round of the competition. Bravo TV, the network on which Top Chef Masters is hosted, released John Currence's pre competition interview^[8]. On the show he mentions_____. The Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods, hosted by Andrew Zimmern, explores The Blues Trail with John Currence on the subject of Bizarre BLT, featuring a BLT made with testicles [1]. He has also appeared on an episode of "No Reservations: Parts Unknown", hosted by Anthony Bourdain, about the Mississippi Delta and southern culture [2] In 2010 he was featured on the CBS Early Show during a segment called, "A Chef on a Shoestring." The segment featured how to cook a three course meal for four under $35.

Restaurants

Currence owns six major restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi. He is the owner of City Grocery, Big Bad Breakfast, Bourè, Lamar Lounge, Snackbar. He also owns The Main Event, a catering business based in Oxford, Mississippi for in-house and off-site catering events. [3] Currence's next project is underway in Atlanta, Georgia, his second opening of Big Bad Breakfast.

City Grocery, John Currence's highest reviewed restaurant by media outlets like Southern Living [4], The Daily Meal [5], and The New York Times [6], has been situated on the Oxford Courthouse Square since 1996. In the fall of 1999, the first Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence has recognized City Grocery's wine list, program, and education. This recognition has been acknowledged every year since[7]. City Grocery is typically categorized as deep South and traditional Creole French. After opening his first restaurant, he opened Bouré, Snackbar, and Big Bad Breakfast. He later took ownership from an already presiding business in Oxford, Lamar Lounge.

Big Bad Breakfast is one of the six restaurants owned by Currence in Oxford, Mississippi. The original Big Bad Breakfast is located in Oxford, Mississippi. Later, Currence opened a location in Birmingham, Alabama and is currently in pursuit of opening another location in Atlanta, Georgia. ^[9]

Books

He had authored two books titled, “Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey: Recipes from My Three Favorite Food Groups and Then Some” and “Big Bad Breakfast: The Most Important Book of the Day.” His first book, "Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey" was featured and reviewed in articles by The New York Times, Washington Post, and other news outlets. His first book has been described by The New York Times as "a culinary rebel yell in a new key,"^[10] Currence's second cookbook, "Big Bad Breakfast" was featured on the Los Angeles Times Cookbook of the Week page written by Amy Scattergood.^[11] The second book can be purchased through major book distributers such as Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Penguin Random House, Currence's publishing company.

Community Involvement

As president of the Yoknapatapha Arts Council, Currence's involvement with the "Square Table Cookbook", a collection of Oxford, Mississippi recipes, made him a culinary asset to the creation of the book. As a fundraiser for the Arts Council, the book was published in 2005 and is currently in its fifth printing. Tony Chachere was in search of the best tailgating recipes, and the "Square Table Cookbook" represented the University of Mississippi in the competition. ^[12] One of the recipes from the cookbook was selected as a Top 12 Finalist in the Tony Chachere's Tailgating Cook-off Competition. Currence submitted a Catfish and Tasso Savory Cheesecake recipe from City Grocery. ^[13]

Awards

John Currence was the recipient of the James Beard Award in 1992 for Best Chef South.^[14] The Mississippi Restaurant Association awarded him the Restauranteur of the Year and Chef of the Year awards. The Southern Foodways Alliance awarded Currence the Guardian of Tradition award in 2006. ^[15] And also awarded the State Tourism Investment Award.^[16] In 2008, Currence won The Great American Seafood Cookoff hosted annually in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2014 the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance awarded Currence Best Cookbook Award for "Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey".

The Southern Documentary Project featured John Currence's acceptance speech in a video. Stanley Tucci, presented the nominees for Best Chef South, and revealed John Currence as the winner. After awarding the James Beard medal, Currence danced onto stage and joked about sitting in the middle of the row illustrated his improbability of winning an award. ^[17]

His speech focused on______.

http://www.saucemagazine.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2009_jbf_restaurantchef_award_semifinalists4.pdf

http://www.oxfordeagle.com/2015/09/30/oxfords-john-currence-receives-state-tourism-investment-award/

Philanthropy and Activism

Currence was featured in The New York Times for launching a protest against House Bill 1523, in response to Governor Phil Bryant’s legislation of an anti-gay, Religious Freedom bill called the Big Gay Mississippi Welcome Table in response to . Buzzfeed also wrote an article about Currence and his protest against anti-gay legislation.^[18] Both articles depict the opposition to the enactment of House Bill 1523, a bill that gives businesses the freedom to deny customers on the basis of religious beliefs.^[19] This bill allows businesses to make decisions based on religious liberties such as businesses legally turning away customers based on sexual orientation. Earlier in the year, Currence was booked to cater an event, an event that ended up being scheduled after the House Bill's enactment.In response to the legislation, Currence hosted his own event, named the Big Gay Mississippi Welcome Table.

When interviewed for Top Chef Masters, he emphasized that if he won the competition, he would donate money towards No Kid Hungry, which is a fund designated to end childhood hunger in the United States and is sponsored by many large networks including Food Network, Walmart, Citi, and Arby's. ^[20]

John Currence bought the restaurant, Lamar Lounge, and currently runs the building as a not-for-profit business. All revenue sourced from the business is used for general upkeep of the building and workers' salaries. The remaining funds are then donated to Mississippi not-for-profit organizations.

To distance himself from the anti-gay legislation, and promote

https://www.buzzfeed.com/wyattwilliams/chef-john-currence-wants-to-save-mississippi-from-itself

^ "The New York Times".
^ "Garden and Gun Magazine".
^ "Jackson Free Press".
^ "The Local Voice".
^ "Jackson Free Press".
^ "Jackson Free Press".
^ "Jackson Free Press".
^ "Meet John Currence".
^ Fuhrmeister, Chris (September 21, 2016). "Chef John Currence Is Coming to Atlanta for a Big Bad Brunch". Eater Atlanta.
^ "The New York Times" (PDF).
^ "The Los Angeles Times".
^ "John Currence, Top Tailgate Chef".
^ "Currence, Top Tailgate Chef".
^ "James Beard Foundation".
^ "The Oxford Eagle".
^ "Mississippi Tourism".
^ "John Currence Wins James Beard Award - 2009 Best Chef South". Vimeo. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
^ "Buzzfeed". BuzzFeed.
^ "HB1523 (As Sent to Governor) - 2016 Regular Session". billstatus.ls.state.ms.us. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
^ "End Child Hunger in America".

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Po'Monkey's

A while ago started working on this page in my sandbox. I haven't written anything about this page, but I have compiled a few articles to use to expand the history of this juke joint. The Po'Monkey's page has already been created, but I think there is more to the history of the Juke Joint than what this page has laid out for its audience. It is important that this page be linked to the main page "Juke Joint" because Po' Monkey's is one of the last juke joints left in America. But on this page, I think most information about the outcome of Seaberry's death (the owner of Po'Monkey's), and the legacy of this landmark. There is no mention that Po'Monkey's is the last standing Juke Joint in America and that it is a landmark for Mississippians. There is no mention about how or why the joint was opened or the impact that it has made on Mississippi culture. It is important to build out its reputation as a landmark for the Blues Trail because it is so important to Mississippi and tourism.

I would like my article to mirror the Juke Joint page, but I would like to give further history on the actual place, rather than restating solely the story oHistory of the Juke Jointf Juke Joints:

Po' Monkey's

Juke joint

I have listed my research below:

For the past 50 years, Po' Monkey's has been in operation as a incubator for the Delta Blues scene. This shack, originally sharecroppers' quarters, now housinta raunchier crowd filled with dirty dancing, strippers, and $2 cans of beer. ^[1]