Jackson Jambalaya

I assume it's going in Robert st John's failed location. Wishing them better luck.

Never heard of Taste. Enzo Osteria announced they are closing. Is Taste going into their location?

I hope it does better than the prior two restaurants at that location. Sorry to hear about Robert St. John's restaurant closing.

RSJ hit the culinary wall with his Italian and Tex-Mex "concepts." My hope is the new owners will be too busy to spend half the year in Europe...

Really good food at the Starkville location.

Note to whoever approved the initial billboards/ads for Renaissance-at-whatever: You never should have included PICTURES OF PEOPLE. The pics of people you picked, may have made it through the various filters (diverse-enough, young-enough, chic-enough...), but they doomed Renaissance-at-whatever, from the beginning.

I expect one of the usual vicious slapdown replies one always gets, when criticizing Renaissance.

Cursed building. Once 2 restaurants fail the building becomes known as Nora desirable place to stop and eat. Regardless of the name on the building.

It's really difficult to make it as an Italian restaurant in Jxn area as long as Amerigo is still around.

I actually ate Enzo for the first(and apparently last) time labor day weekend. Needed a qucik dinner and everything else was closed. Service was great, food was mehhh. I told my wife it is very "ok". For $150 in italian I have had better. I agree with the post above about the owner spending half his time in Italy. I know he posts to this blog about his travels, however, history tells me that businesses do better when owners are actively involved in the business.

Oh hell naw. That location is jinxed. Taste in Starkville is fantastic, especially the bar.

What do y’all recommend ordering from Taste? I have been there a couple times and always been underwhelmed.

I’m in Italy currently. As I walk down the vineyard foot paths I found myself reading the fish blog and noticed this. I prefer white wine which hopefully this new place will have. I’ve perused some of the most exquisite dining facilities made by man on this earth. I travel here to the Tuscan tundras every 4 days and back to MS. I hope this new establishment will reek of old leather bound books and mahogany as my villa here does. Chow

Ideal location. Biaggi's thrived there for many years (far beyond the average restaurant lifespan). Enzo priced the market but didn't match on food. Hate it for RSJ's investors. Taste will do well, though. Thrilled for it to come.

No great Italian in Jackson since Mario’s closed. Mario’s off McDowell was great

I've been to Taste 2-3 times, Had a different fish dish each time and enjoyed them all.
That said, I do think there is some validity to people (subconsciously or not) avoiding any location with multiple failures dining options before.
I will for sure give them a chance and wish them well!

Why the insistence on Italian in this building? We already have Bravo, Amerigo's, Fratizi's... The building gives off "chain" vibes, and people don't want that (not for faux fine dining anyway). You have to do something very out-of-the-box to overcome the cursed building label. We'll see.

have eaten at enzo's and biaggis many times, biaggis better 100%, enzo no owner involment and food extremely mey , somebodies got to be in charge , instead of looking for mailbox money.

We don't have real Italian food in this area.

Made a comment months ago that sir Robert needed to spend more time in the kitchen. Went there once never went back.

@1:23 it's Ciao. Someone as traveled as yourself should know this.

Ecco was real just not around very long

Is this the one with the stained plywood exterior? ...an outparcel?

@9/11 1:23 PM I see what you did here. Why be so obtuse? St John opened a new restaurant and then immediately left town for Italy. There's no way this restaurant could have succeeded with an absentee owner. My last 2 experiences with his restaurants have extraordinarily bad. He's living on his (former) reputation and his friendshipwith other "influencers".

Ya'll need to go try Amore on Old Fannin or Fratesi's in Ridgeland. There's good italian here.

Uhhhh, heads-up for Kingfish....after this restaurant opens in Ridgeland, there STILL won't be a "real Italian restaurant in the area"...good grief man, this food service stated in STARKVILLE. Are you serious! :D

What about class, politeness and tact?

I've heard folks rave over Amore too 2:39. I really need to check it out.

Kingfish is correct: there are no real Italian restaurants around here. Most are a "greatest hits" of Americanized fare from different regions. The truth is that most people don't want real Italian food because they wouldn't recognize it! Olive Garden will suit the masses - Bravo and Amerigo will pass for fine dining but not authentic. My wife is not an accomplished "culinary icon" like the RSJ, but she learned to make a real ragu while traveling abroad that is better than anything I've ordered around here...

Tilapia or Swai?

Sad to see RSJ leave. I've had wonderful experiences at his restaurants in Hattiesburg. In H'burg, you have a lot of college students trying to hustle and make money to pay bills. Service and food has always been excellent down there. Just running into a Little Caeser's in H'burg was a great experience. You're lucky if they have any pizza's, let alone fresh, pizza boxed up and ready to go in the Ridgeland location. For the most part, it's a totally different mindset in Jackson area almost everywhere I go.

@1:30 and Fish. The menu at Taste in Starkville has no Italian foods listed. And Pulito Osteria in Belhaven, Jackson is really good authentic Italian food.

Nor real Mexican. We do have more than enough places that identify as Mexican but they all serve the exact blah food.

Gino's in Baton Rouge. Mama Marino, Rest in Peace, was from Sicily.

Pulito is the best restaurant in the greater jackson area. It's not a chain though so I would not expect those from Madison or Rankin Counties to know about it.

Maybe people don’t want Italian? Nah. Let’s make it Italian for a 3rd straight time. That’ll work!

12:35 I am not Renaissance, but I will slap you down on their behalf. Who hurt you? I don't even remember seeing people used, usually furniture and food. Maybe I'm just hungry. Can't wait for Taste!

KF, I moved here from Italy after living there for 10 years. What many don't understand is that food in Italy is regional, like in many countries. I wouldn't buy seafood in Florence but I would and have in Naples, dozens of times. Pizza in Rome does not taste like or resemble the pizza in Naples, where the Margherita pizza was "invented." (It was named after Princess Margherita of Spain when Naples was part of the Spanish kingdom.)

Having said the above, the best Italian restaurant in Madison County that I have eaten at is Fratisi's. The grandparents are from Italy and I consider their food to be authentic Italian food.

I ate at Enzo's twice and I wasn't impressed, even though it is owned by an "expert." It was mediocre.

For authentic tiramisu, go to the bakery at The Fresh Market.

Lastly, having traveled throughout Italy from the boot to Austria, I have never seen "spaghetti and meatballs" on a menu. Methinks that it is an American invention.

Kingfish, you are correct about Gino's in Baton Rouge. Whenever I'm working in Baton Rouge, I try to dine there. Great food and service!

Did you and 12:06 even *read* the post?

Yup. Killer lasagna. Lawrence bread is outstanding and the arancine defines arancine. Try it, Pulito's. The chicken kabobs are great if you want to eat healthy but the lasagna is killer. I mean next level. Doesn't have a wine list but a wine book. Decent selection of Italian wines as well.

6:12 is spot on. Meal service is much different also. You guys are a tough crowd. Support your locally owned and sourced restaurants. That money will circulate locally much more than national chains.

I'm still laughing 1:23 PM.

"old leather bound books and mahogany "

That was too funny !

Taste will last 2-3 years unless the money runs out sooner.

I actually miss P.F. Chang’s there. These local restaurants ain’t working. What about a Cheesecake Factory.?

Ridgeland Italian restaurants are doomed.

New Orleans is my favorite restaurant. Maybe Taste will give Amerigo some competition and raise the bar for the Jackson area.

Living in Hattiesburg, we rarely choose a RSJ restaurant for a meal. It's all just so much meh anymore. There are more interesting places to eat in town. Try any of Nelson Haskin's places downtown- and you'll more likely than not see Nelson himself there, working hard.

"I ate at Enzo's twice and I wasn't impressed, even though it is owned by an "expert."" He's an expert alright - expert at marketing and that's about it.

Wonderful news. My wife and I love our trips up to Jackson so we can have a fancy meal in Ridgeland.

For those who think there is no real Italian food in the Jackson area... Someone already mentioned Amore on Old Fannin Road just east of Spillway Road. The same Albanian family also owns Roma in Clinton. Good food, traditional menu, nearly identical menus. Give 'em a try it you can't wait till the first of next year for Taste to open.

Thanks for always keeping us informed on what is closing and Gone! in Hinds County and what is opening in Madison.

Pulito's in Belhaven is hands down the BEST Italian around.

The only good Italian restaurant is St. Leo's in Oxford. Everything else is overpriced oily goop. It's dressed up Sysco foods. The essence of Italian is hyper regional. It is about sourcing quality ingredients and cooking simply and letting the quality of the ingredients shine and speak for themselves.

Second the praise for Pulito. EASILY the best (and most-authentic) Italian in these parts.

RSJ seemingly has had only one real long-term success that's still going, Crescent City in Hattiesburg. Multiple other concepts in H'burg, Meridian, and Jackson have failed. I tried Enzo multiple times heading north on the way home from work and I found the food just ok, the service generally bad, and the restaurant never more than 20% full.

As others have said, I think he's taken his eye off the prize and whatever money he's come into over the past several years has shifted his interest to travel & leisure and away from the daily grind of running quality restaurants.

Hattiesburg metro area resident here. We do not eat at RSJ restaurants anymore. The best RSJ restaurant in my opinion was his 589 Family Fish House, located north of 98/Bellevue going towards Sumrall. Not sure why he closed it but my family loved it. My personal opinion is RSJ has become too focused on celebrity status/travel guru/projects that garner award recognition and less involved in the things that made his restaurants successful in the first place. His donut shop closed, El Rayo closed, now Enzo. All I have heard about his Loblolly Bakery venture with Martha Foose is it’s good but expensive. Why does RSJ even think he should try to open restaurants outside of the Hattiesburg area. Focus on what you have, Robert.

biaggi went broke, enzo when broke, but this guy seems to think cause he made it in starkville, he gonna tear a new asshole in the restaurant scene in madison. good luck , you gonna need it.

the best mexican food is at the small buffet diner at the latino grocery store at the corner of old canton and county line road in the old winn- dixie grocery store.

I love Cerami's. Quaint place and Fred is great.

9:57, you’re aware that Albania isn’t in Italy, right?

Here's a hint on picking an "Italian" eatery: if it has things like chicken parm, spaghetti with "meat sauce" or meatballs, garlic bread, Caesar salad (Mexican, BTW), etc. on the menu, be wary. If it claims any such things are in any way "Italian," avoid the place. If it claims such things are "traditional," "authentic," or any other such nonsense, they are full of cazzate.

@3:39 PM - Italy has a large ethnic Albanian population, as Albania is just across the Adriatic Sea from Italy.

@1:23 "Chow"? sarcastic or meant "ciao" in comment about authentic Italian?

So THAT's what 'Albanese' means, when added to titles and descriptions? ...and when it's a surname? I'd just assumed it came from 'Alba' (white - like in 'Rosa Banksiae Alba Plena').