City Grocery Chef wins Judge’s Choice Culinary Best award at Natchez festival

City Grocery’s Head Chef Jon “JD” Davis won the Judge’s Choice Culinary Best in Show this weekend at the Natchez Food & Wine Festival.

Davis, 35, became the chef de cuisine or head chef, at City Grocery earlier this year.

Raised in Memphis by his grandparents, he came to Oxford in 2007 to attend the University of Mississippi. He has worked for Boure, Saint Leo, The Graduate and the Blind Pig. He left and spent time in a restaurant in Cape Cod and later was the sous chef at the Jackson Convention Center before returning to Oxford.

In a recent Oxford Magazine feature , Davis said while he loves to cook, he enjoys teaching others to become better than he is. Appreciative of all the chefs he’s worked under throughout the years, he now wants to share that knowledge with his staff.

City Grocery was opened more than 30 years ago and has become an iconic restaurant in Oxford. It has received recognition features in publications such as The New York Times, Southern Living, USA Today, Bon Appetit and more as a fine Mississippi establishment.

To Davis, food is more than just nourishment – it’s a chance to tell a story.

“Whatever I put on a plate, I want it to tell a story,” he said. “I want there to be some type of component of ‘This is what I feel,’ ‘This is who I am’ – whether it’s something that brings back a memory or something I just enjoy eating and want to share that with others.”

The Food and Wine Festival was held on July 26-27. The event features chefs preparing the best food and drinks in the region.

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