In the heart of downtown Jackson sits a place that combines the history and richness of Southern culture with a modern sensibility to create a culinary experience like no other.
Inspired by the cultures and ingredients that populate Mississippi, Parlor Market serves seasonal, Italian-inspired cuisine with other regional ethnic influences. Much like the South, the menu evolves constantly, changing multiple times a year to make use of fresh, regionally-sourced products.
Inspired by the cultures and ingredients that populate Mississippi, Parlor Market serves seasonal, Italian-inspired cuisine with other regional ethnic influences. Much like the South, the menu evolves constantly, changing multiple times a year to make use of fresh, regionally-sourced products.
ABOUT THE RESTAURANT
Southerners are storytellers by nature, and like our people, Parlor Market tells a story. The restaurant is housed in an 1898 building on Capitol Street that once served as a grocery store called Parlor Market. The store specialized in local produce and cured meats.
Today, our focus on locally-grown products, including strong support for local farmers' markets and curing our own charcuterie, harkens back to this history. Above the grocery was a lumber company, which is reflected in the rich wood throughout the building: Louisiana cypress beams in the ceiling, beams from an 1858 south Louisiana plantation at server stations, transoms and doors from a Garden District home in the bar and a floor of repurposed hardwood floors. After the Parlor Market grocery closed in 1926, the building had a number of other lives before its present incarnation, and that history, along with a desire to make the restaurant look as if it has been here forever, infuses everything. Chairs and drink menus are backed in leather because the building housed Continental Leather. At one point it served as the only oyster bar in Jackson, Al's Half-Shell, so a raw bar sits at the back of the restaurant. As a reference to the building's stint as Dixie Marble, both the bar and raw bar have marble countertops. Look closely and you'll notice that purse hooks underneath the bar look like meat hooks, a nod to the property's time as Jackson Smokehouse and Capital Meat Market. The sense of history extends to the Edison light bulbs, doorknobs from the 1800s and tabletops made from trees with a history. When you walk into Parlor Market, you enter a space that has a sense of place and invites you to sit a while, bring your own story and become a part of ours. |
oUR FOUNDER: CRAIG NOONE
Parlor Market was the vision of Craig Noone. Noone had a dream and that dream was Parlor Market.
After studying at the Texas Culinary Academy (now Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts) and the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners, he went on to work under James Beard Award Winners, Chef Dean Fearing, Chef John Besh, and Chef Stephan Pyles. Despite his career skyrocketing in cities like New Orleans and Dallas, Craig's home was where his heart was and he returned to Jackson in 2010 to make his dream a reality. Noone handpicked a team of chefs and went to work, creating a hot spot for inventive local fare in the middle of an awakening downtown Jackson. Noone meticulously planned out every aspect of his beloved restaurant, being careful to pay homage to its rich history, all while adding a new spin on Southern favorites. "Everything from the buildout of the restaurant to its name to the ingredients and flavors we use has a reason behind it that helps tell a story. Southerners are storytellers and I want people to have that experience through dining," he once said. Tragically, just after he saw his cherished Parlor Market turn a year old, Chef Noone’s life was lost in a tragic car accident on October 14, 2011. The team he so carefully assembled continues to live out his dream of making his patrons happy. We invite you to join us at Parlor Market for a taste of Noone’s dream. |
