You’ll soon be able to go to a deli/butcher/restaurant where you can pick out your choice of fresh meat from a Mississippi farm and have a top chef cook it up for you under a new concept coming to downtown Clarksdale.
The Hooker Grocer + Eatery will open Monday, Nov. 19 at 316 John Hooker Lane.
The business, which is owned by Portland businessman Eric Meier, will have chef Johnny Cass as its operations manager. Cass is the creator and founder of Levon’s Bar and Grill, which he operated until departing this summer.
At his new venture, Cass said he was looking to do something different with food as the focus.
“There’s a space that needs to be filled for people who want fresh seafood, fresh meat and bread baked daily,” Cass said.
Customers will be able to select beef, pork and lamb products fresh from the Home Place Pastures farm in Como. There will be fresh seafood delivered twice a week and Cass will be baking bread daily. The business will sell imported cheeses, cured meats and salami, and gourmet dried goods, such as Mississippi grits from the Delta Blues Rice Co. in Ruleville, flavor-infused olive oils from New Orleans, pasta and raviolis, chow-chow, and bread and butter pickles.
“This is stuff you’re not going to get in Walmart, basically,” Cass said.
There will be a hot bar serving breakfast and plate lunches off a short-order menu. There are plans for a coffee bar in conjunction with the local Meraki Roasting Co. and craft and domestic beers will be sold. Diners will also be encouraged to “brown bag” their favorite liquid refreshments to go along with their meals.
“You’ll be able to get your coffee, your cold brew and your espresso,” Cass said.
Starting out, the business will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Cass said there are plans to expand in the next four to five months and offer dinner hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
In addition to serving as the operations manager, Cass will be one of the main chefs at Hooker Grocer + Eatery. Other employees will be Jay Brennan, who had been the head chef at the Cleveland Country Club, and Greg Birdsong and Chasiti Jaco, two former Levon’s employees who will be working the front portion of the eatery, offering up recommendations and serving food and drinks.
“We’re all really serious about food. We’re really passionate,” Cass said of he and his staff. “When we cook, we cook like it’s going to be for our mom, our dad or our kids. We want to put our love in it. That’s really the secret ingredient.
“Because we’re serious and passionate about food, that’s going to come across in our dishes.”
The goal is to be a “an affordable, family-oriented” offering, Cass said, noting prices will likely be in the $10 range for breakfast and $12 for plate lunches.
The business will be open Thanksgiving and they’ll be offering specials throughout the week where people can place orders for side items, sweets and breads.
“My whole life has always been about food and music,” said Cass, who is a musician and performs with the local band 3D Lions. He hopes to be able to eventually offer live music at his new venture.
The location, which is just up the street from the Delta Blues Museum, formerly served as the home for the Oxbow restaurant and the Pink Bar.
Hooker Grocer + Eatery
316 John Hooker Blvd., Clarksdale
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday
Phone: 662-624-7038
