See what chef says is best to order at Eudora's, a new restaurant in The District at Eastover

More than 1,200 people applied to be a part of Eudora’s Mississippi Brasserie, which will have its grand opening Nov. 15 in the former Fine & Dandy location in The District at Eastover in Jackson.

When word got out that owner Tyler Alford would be paying a guaranteed minimum of $16.57 an hour, the lines began to form.

Alford and his team settled on around 100 employees total as they begin the process of a soft opening leading to big opening in a few weeks.

Alford says Eudora's becomes the first business in Mississippi to become living wage certified, according to the Living Wage Network, which recognizes employers who pay workers fairly.

"We want a workplace that honors the people who are working here and recognizes them as valuable," said Alford, whose prior organization, Tupelo Honey, also had a Certified Living Wage policy. "We want them to want to be here and to play a part in our success as their own success."

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Alford, who is a serial entrepreneur, having been a part of opening 22 restaurants in his career, said that he had been looking at properties in Jackson since 2019 but had not come upon the perfect location, until the property at The District.

"That restaurant property is phenomenal," said Alford, who ate at Fine & Dandy before it closed. "The District is a really well-structured development. Everything starts with a hope and a dream, but once we got into conversations with Duckworth Realty, we realized this really could happen. This is a great space, a great opportunity and everything began to fall in line."

While paying fair salaries is part of the mission, so is giving back as Alford said there will be one cocktail each month in which a portion of the proceeds from its sale will go to a charity. When Eudora's opens, the first to have that honor will be Roses Are Blue, a Paper Plane drink that combines bourbon, Amaro Nonino, Aperol and fresh lemon juice. Five dollars from each sale of Roses are Blue for the first month will go to Stewpot Community Services in Jackson.

This project is almost coming back home for Alford, who went to school at Millsaps College, where he met his wife, Sara, who is a Jackson native. He has moved back from Montana where he had been for several years.

They have settled in with their son Foxen and are ready to make a mark on the community.

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"This is the best team I have ever assembled," Alford said this week as he was tending to everything from drink machines to taste testing, preparing for a full-scale dinner testing later in the week. "I am excited to see all of them shine here as they all have taken ownership in this project."

Tab Fuqua is tasked as Chef Partner, who is coming to Jackson from New Orleans but has worked all over including in Natchez around 2008-09. Alford is high on Fuqua and hopeful that Fuqua could be nominated for a James Beard Award in the next two years.

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The James Beard Foundation Awards is one of the highest honors in the culinary profession and recognizes chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States.

"We are just going to let him loose and let him do what he does best," Alford said. "He's the best I have ever seen, and we could not be luckier than to have him here with us."

When asked what would be the first thing a patron should order when coming to Eudora's, Fuqua isn't shy.

"Boudin stuffed quail, no doubt," Fuqua said. "But the duck confit will be great as well. This is going to be great food and the people we have here are a real dream to have."

Chef de Cuisine on staff is Clay Strickland, who said he wanted to be a part of this team from the very beginning.

"You want to be somewhere like this where you are valued for your talents, but also as a person. Tyler makes that clear from the very beginning," said Strickland, who is coming to Eudora's from a previous stint in South Louisiana. He also spent time in Natchez. "There are a lot of great places to eat in Jackson but this is going to be different."

There is even talk among the crew of creating a culinary society in the Jackson area as more and more great chefs have come to the area to open restaurants.

"At our core, how we treat people and how we treat each other is important to us," Alford said. "We just want the people who come here to work to be happy, and we think that will translate to how we do business."

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or at 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Eudora's restaurant is all set to open in Jackson MS