NATCHEZ – Plans for new Natchez restaurants include a moviemaker and celebrity chefs reopening Smoot’s to serve gourmet bar food and reconfiguring the former Steampunk cafe as a full-fledged restaurant renamed The Little Easy Bistro.
The Little Easy on High Street should open this month along with nearby Smoot’s Grocery, said
chef Nick Wallace. He spoke about his plans last week at the annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration.
Smoot’s — a live music venue and bar on High and Broadway streets — had a sign on its doorway Tuesday saying to get ready in March for Wallace to reopen “a Natchez landmark” with movie director Tate Taylor and celebrity chef Cat Cora It closed earlier this year after about four years in business under previous ownerships.
Movie producer John Norris is also a partner in the new Natchez restaurant ventures with Taylor and the chefs.
Wallace told literary festival-goers Saturday The Little Easy Bistro should be open in about two weeks. Steampunk Coffee Roasters moved last year to Franklin Street. Plans call for the former High Street espresso bar to be open seven days a week serving meals from morning to evening, Wallace said. The building is to be expanded.
As indicated by Wallace, Smoot’s offerings will expand beyond the music and beverages it formerly served. Elaborate bar food and an oyster bar will be its featured appeal.
Wallace’s resume includes winning a Food Network “Chopped” TV competition in 2017 and being an executive chef for the Marriott hotel chain.
Cora also gained fame on TV since becoming the Food Network’s first female “Iron Chef” in 2005. She’s also been inducted into The American Academy of Chefs Culinary Hall of Fame.
Both Wallace and Cora are Mississippi natives, with Wallace being from rural Edwards and Cora from Jackson. Taylor also grew up in Jackson and now lives in the Church Hill community near Natchez. Movies he’s directed include “Get On Up,” “The Help” and the upcoming “Breaking News in Yuba County” filmed in Natchez and other Mississippi locations.
Wallace is also involved in plans for making Natchez’ old Broadway Street railroad depot a restaurant. That development remains in the works with Taylor and Norris.
Outside Natchez, Wallace has his hands in a new eatery to open soon near Taylor’s estate. Church Hill Variety is across the road from Christ Church, the rural 1857 Episcopal church. The restaurant-grocery store will feature the farm-to-table cuisine that Wallace emphasizes.
The Little Easy Bistro’s name is derived from New Orleans’ moniker The Big Easy.
Its plans do need to be approved by Natchez regulatory boards to ensure it adheres to architectural and land-use rules for the historic district it’s in. The Natchez Preservation Commission will review plans for the High Street building’s commercial addition March 11. The Natchez Planning Commission meets the following week March 19 to consider The Little Easy’s request to combine two property lots into one.
