Jackson Free Press

On Aug. 2, The Palette Cafe at the Mississippi Museum of Art closed for a revamping of sorts. But it wasn't the decor.

For the last couple of weeks, the museum's culinary curator and executive chef, Nick Wallace, has been working with restaurant staff members to create a menu "inspired by Mississippi foodways traditions, local ingredients, and the art on the Museum walls," a blog post on the website says. "His artistic appreciation and culinary prowess will now be fused in forthcoming menus that draw explicit connections between the narratives depicted by Mississippi visual artists and the storytelling that informs his own culinary creations."

Today, Aug. 25, the museum has announced the unveiling of the new menu. Here are some highlights:

Tomato pie: It's a classic Southern dish, but Wallace and his culinary team have added their own elements to it. The Palette Cafe's has baby sage, kale, sage, basil-whipped cheese and peppery olive oil.

Juke joint burger: For many people, nothing is better than a really good burger. Like the blues, this burger has soul. It's got Swiss cheese, a Hereford beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions and a homemade steak sauce, and it's all piled on an egg bun. And like any good burger, fries come on the side.

Vegan skillet: Vegans need love, too, right? Wallace had that in mind when he created the vegan skillet. It has caviar couscous, baby kale, confit tomatoes, pickled onions, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, wheat germ, oats, cauliflower, red quinoa, flaxseeds and tomatoes.

See more here.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/aug/25/26626/

Sombra Mexican Kitchen is following in the footsteps of Amerigo Italian Restaurant. In November, a new location of the restaurant will open in Flowood in the former space of Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen.

The new space is 8,400 square feet and will be able to seat 225 guests. It will also have an outdoor patio.

“With the overwhelming embrace of Amerigo opening in Flowood earlier this year, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to open Sombra next door,” David Conn, who is a co-owner in 4-Tops Hospitality, the company that owns and operates Amerigo, Char Restaurant and Anjou, said in a press release. “The people of Flowood and Rankin county have been great to us, and we look forward to bringing our unique take on Mexican cuisine and house-made specialties to the neighborhood.”

Look out for our business round-up next Tuesday for more information.