Ellington

JACKSON — The Mustard Seed (1085 Luckney Road, Flowood), a community for adults with developmental disabilities, is hosting its own Food Truck Friday event on Aug. 19, with the goal of bringing people to the campus to see what the organization does and meet its clients.

"We had originally wanted to have a food truck event come here anyway, but we decided that we wanted to open it up to the community and use it to show people what we're all about," Del Harrington, executive director for the nonprofit, said. "The Mustard Seed's ministry gives our 'Seedsters' a place to participate in fun activities, take part in volunteer groups, exercise, develop friendships and generally enrich their lives. Our clients also paint ceramics and make other art projects that we sell in our gift shop, which provides a significant portion of our funding."

The food trucks taking part in the event are 2 for 7 Kitchen, Capitol Coney Island, Deep South Pops and One Guy Steak and Chicken. The Mustard Seed's clients will be selling bottled water and other drinks during the event, and the staff will also conduct tours of the campus and introduce visitors to the Seedsters.

Food Truck Friday at the Mustard Seed will take place Aug. 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 601-992-3556, visit mustardseedinc.org or find the organization's Facebook page.

Flora Butcher Opens for Business

Chef David Raines, who opened Seafood R'evolution (1000 Highland Colony Pkwy., Ridgeland) two years ago, left the restaurant last year to pursue a new business venture. On Friday, July 29, he held the grand opening for The Flora Butcher (4845 Main St., Flora), a butcher shop that specializes in locally sourced meat, a variety of hot dishes and Wagyu beef, a type of beef that is renowned for its marbling and extreme tenderness.

"Marbling is basically a quality that the rating of a meat is based on," Raines said. "The good marbling in Wagyu means that the meat has more feathery streaks of fat in it, is more tender (and) has a more mild flavor than other kinds of beef."

Raines' business is a pasture-to-table operation, with his father raising the cattle on the family's Louisiana Wagyu beef farm. Imported Wagyu can sell upwards of $130 per pound, but Raines offers his Wagyu anywhere from $9 to $40 a pound, depending on the particular cut of meat that one buys.


Before moving to Madison, Raines worked at Restaurant R'evolution in New Orleans as a sous chef and worked for chef Emeril Lagasse as a cook, butcher and saucier at Lagasse's NOLA restaurant in the French Quarter.

"I've been in the restaurant business for a long time, but it feels good to be able to move into something new and do my own thing," Raines said. "I had originally wanted to try out a butcher-themed restaurant, but running a butcher shop is complicated enough on its own, and I thought it would be better to supply restaurants with quality meat from this shop, especially my dad's Wagyu beef."



In addition to providing meat from local farms, The Flora Butcher also features locally made artisan knives, sauces and rubs, as well as 30 varieties of local and regional craft beer. Flora Butcher also has daily blue-plate specials featuring two hot dishes available to go. The hot-dish selection changes each day and includes items such as red beans and rice, roasted chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, Wagyu meatloaf and pot roast.



The Flora Butcher is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, call 601-509-2498 or find The Flora Butcher's Facebook page.

New Residence Inn Coming to Eastover

On Aug. 18, the District at Eastover will see the opening of a new Residence Inn by Marriott (1248 Eastover Drive), which will feature 95 suites ranging from studios to two-bedroom options. The inn will also feature large common spaces and an outdoor pool, fire pit and grill.

The new Residence Inn will host a ribbon cutting and open house in conjunction with the opening, though the date of these events is still to be determined. For more information, call 601-362-8003 or visit marriott.com/janmd.