Jackson Free Press

Jackson has set big goals to renovate downtown. Lots of private business people have been getting in on the ground floor of some very exciting downtown developments. Mary Grace Brown, owner of Brown's Fine Art in Fondren, and her business partner, Shawn Hunt, recently have taken on a massive project that will contribute to the revitalizing of Jackson's downtown nightlife with the opening of Mardi Gras at 824 South State St. in an abandoned car dealership.

They hope that Mardi Gras will not be just a restaurant, but an entire experience of New Orleans culture with a Jackson flavor. The restaurant will have its grand opening Feb. 8. However, there will be a sneak preview of the club on Feb. 3, 4 and 5—reservations only with two seatings nightly in the restaurant.

Why did you decide to open the restaurant?
Shawn Hunt, my business partner, used to own a club in Maryland, and opening a club here in Jackson has been Shawn's dream for about 10 years. He is a ballroom dance instructor, and he has a studio. That is when I met him. I went for ballroom dance lessons. When we started dancing in competitions, we went traveling all over the country. We went to California, Arizona and New York. So as you know it is not just a restaurant; it is a restaurant, a jazz piano bar, a dance club and a dance studio. So when we went to all these places to dance, we realized that there was nowhere like these places in Jackson. We first decided to go to Madison County and could not agree upon a property. So then we started looking in Fondren and could not find a place with adequate parking. So we just happened upon this Fowler Buick property. It is a great property, with a great parking lot and a great building, so we decided to put all of this in one building.

What do you like about your downtown location?
When I was growing up, all I knew was downtown. I remember when this area used to be called Morgan Center. Downtown, to me, needs to come back to what it used to be. It used to be a very thriving business area. Of course, it was the only place to shop.

What kind of atmosphere do you expect to have?
Very upscale. We are having fine dining in the restaurant. Our chef has been trained at Emeril's in New Orleans. So it will be a New Orleans flare, but it is going to be a Southern fine-dining-type food. And in our club, it's very upscale also. We will have a dress code and we will have a charge to go in so that we can cater to people who really want to come and enjoy.

What kind of people do you expect to attract?
I think a 30s to 50s crowd, at first, in the restaurant. But we will have different people, different nights. Like on Wednesday night we are going to have a country-western night, so that will attract the rodeo folks. We are going to have a dance studio party every Tuesday night. But we want an upscale atmosphere. We don't want people to come to start fights. We want very upper-class people. We want people to feel comfortable, but we want them to feel a part of our building, so they will want to take care of it.

What is something about you that people don't know?
I started my first business in 1953 when I was 23 years old. And celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003. I started this business (Brown's Fine Art) in 1965.
— Ayana Taylor