Oxford Obsessed: A Classic Look at a Southern Staple

by Sydney Blanchard

Cozy, pastel-painted homes portion themselves out among the tree-lined streets of Oxford, Mississippi. This far north, the flat, coastal state turns hilly, and cars bob up and down the road, lurching at each change in altitude.

Old, proud buildings boast their histories in the town's Square, the epicenter of life in Oxford. It's a football town, sure, but it's a town filled to the brim with culture, with history, and with delicious food.

Oxford doesn't preen or parade; it waits patiently to unravel itself to curious passersby.

It's impossible not to fall in love with Oxford.

I don't think I've ever been so taken by a town as I was with Oxford. I was smitten the moment we pulled into the city, seduced by the crisp fall air and the halcyon blue sky.

To an outside observer, it almost seems there are two Oxfords: there's the old Oxford, a college town swathed in its history and literary tradition, hoping to make peace with its Civil Rights-era past.

Then there's the new Oxford, teeming with the ambition and excitement of a town filled with academics and ready to be known more for their place in the culinary world than for their place in history books.

The old Oxford is inextricable from the new, and both versions of Oxford merit exploration and awe.

By the end of our four-day tour of Oxford, I was ready to pack my bags and move into one of the humble, soft-hued homes that ripple outward from the center of the town.

Below you'll find my guide to Oxford, highlighting the things that historically have made Oxford worth visiting. Next week, Blair will share her take on this new, revitalized, millennial Oxford.

Hop on the Double-Decker Bus Tour

View from Visit Oxford's Double-Decker Bus in Oxford, Ms.

Oxford is relatively small and easily navigable, but Visit Oxford's Double-Decker Bus Tour helped me get my bearings so I could venture out and explore the town on my own later. We were lucky enough to be accompanied by local historian and fifth-generation Oxonian Jack Mayfield, who talked us through the tour of the town. Check out the Spring 2016 bus tour schedule, and be sure to procure tickets in advance.

Tour the Beautiful Ole Miss Campus

The Lyceum at Ole Miss

Founded in 1848, the University of Mississippi is the largest university in the state. Walking or biking around campus is the best way to get a feel for it. College students roam about well-manicured lawns and beautiful architecture. Check out the University's art museum, scope out the Grove, or visit the Southern Foodways Alliance offices located in the Barnard Observatory.

Scarf a Southern Plate Lunch at Ajax Diner

Ajax Diner, located in the Square

Located alongside seemingly every other restaurant and business in Oxford's downtown Square, Ajax Diner serves up "good eats" on the cheap. Nothing makes my tastebuds dance like a real Southern plate lunch. You can't go wrong with any of their menu items, but I opted for meatloaf with fried okra and butter beans.

See Where Faulkner Lived and Worked 

A panorama of a room at Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's Mississippi home

The great Southern gothic writer William Faulkner spent his adult years at his Greek-revival home Rowan Oak in Oxford, his own little postage stamp of native soil. Strolling the grounds of Rowan Oak and touring the house itself, it's clear to any writer how Faulkner could find inspiration there. The home is maintained by the University as a museum, yet the gardens remain in ruin, just the way Faulkner liked it. Oxford is also home to the graveyard where Faulkner was laid to rest in 1962.

Listen in on Thacker Mountain Radio Hour

Sign outside of Square Books in Oxford

I've never experienced anything quite like Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. Each week in the spring and fall, the Thacker Mountain Radio Hour is recorded live from the Off Square Books store in the Square in Oxford. This live show, similar to NPR's A Prairie Home Companion in format, features musical acts and author readings and is open to the public and free of cost. As a public radio aficionado myself, this was the highlight of my stay in Oxford.

Chow Down on Catfish at Taylor Grocery

Eat or we both starve! The famous Taylor Grocery sign.

While not technically in Oxford, Taylor Grocery outside of Oxford is a local favorite. The music is jumping, the atmosphere irreverent, and the whole fried catfish worth the drive. Writing covers about every inch of Taylor Grocery which used to function as more of a grocery store than a restaurant. This place has a BYOB policy, so make sure to bring a brown bag.

Southern Foodways Alliance, Uprooted

by Sydney Blanchard

Each month, our Uprooted series will highlight local chefs, restaurants, organizations, and farmers who are spearheading the farm-to-table and local foodways movements in South Louisiana.

It would be negligent of me, perhaps criminal, to attempt to write a series about Southern foodways without giving mention and credit to the Southern Foodways Alliance based out of Oxford, Mississippi.

The Southern Foodways Alliance's offices are located in the Barnard Observatory at the University of Mississippi

Founded in 1999 by author and activist John Egerton, the Southern Foodways Alliance aims to document, study, and explore the diverse food culture of the American South while mapping its evolution.

The Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi acted as an incubator and provided start-up capital for the SFA. In 1998, the Center staged the first Southern Foodways Symposium, organized by then-graduate student John T. Edge. 

JoAnn Clevenger: A Girl Scout with Gumption. Owner of Upperline Restaurant in New Orleans. 

Now SFA's Director and award-winning writer and commentator, John T. Edge and his team collect oral histories, produce films and podcasts, publish pieces of writing, mentor students, and stage events to further their mission to challenge the way people think of the South. It's nearly impossible to understand the impact of their work unless you watch some of their films.

Their podcast and print publication Gravy was named Publication of the Year by the James Beard Foundation.

Many credit Edge and the SFA with putting Southern food on the map nationally. Before it was trendy, someone had to make it trendy.

The Gospel of the Alabama Oyster, featuring Murder Point Oyster Company.

The SFA hosts an annual symposium, recently rebranded as Food Media South, where major players in the culinary media world come together to network, hear prominent speakers, and enjoy great food. Last year's symposium sold out in seconds. They've even had to create a summer symposium in order to meet the demand of attendees.

While on a media trip with Visit Oxford, I met with Edge at the SFA World Headquarters at the University of Mississippi. He joined us with a warm plate of biscuits and a story that explains the gap the SFA is trying to bridge.

Edge told us about Biscuit Pit in Grenada, Mississippi, where Earline Hall had been making biscuits from simple ingredients for more than 15 years. Each day Earline would cut out rounds of biscuit dough using a disemboweled tin can and would turn the dough into biscuits that tasted like something your grandmother would make.

After reading Edge's Garden & Gun article about the Southern biscuit renaissance that mentioned Biscuit Pit's biscuits, Don Newcomb of Oxford, the visionary behind regional chains Newk's and McAlister's, decided to open a restaurant concept called MyGuys utilizing Earline's biscuit expertise.

The idea of the homemade-style Southern biscuit being brought into a modern realm is what Southern Foodways Alliance is all about, Edge explained. 

Further, he said, his role at SFA is to complicate people's ideas about the South.

"We all see our work as a progressive force in this region," Edge said. "It’s not an attempt to preserve the South, it’s an attempt to document the evolution of the region and tell stories of the region that change perceptions and deepen understanding."

In Edge's view, food serves as a vehicle for bettering the South. The organization doesn't shy away from broaching issues of race, class, religion, gender, etc. In fact, Food Media South's 2016 symposium is specifically focused on "how race and gender impact which food stories get told and who tells them."

Having these kinds of important conversations through the lens of food can be powerful.

If We So Choose, a short documentary about food's role in the Civil Rights Movement. 

Edge mentioned the taint of slavery on the South, and the love/hate relationship he has with the South many Southerners identify with. The tensions between the joys and struggles of the South is what brought Edge to Oxford 20 years ago, where he hoped he would be able to work out his feelings through writing.

"People who thoughtlessly love the South ain’t paying attention," Edge said. "I think that food writing, thinking, exploring food is the most accessible way to get at some of the issues that really matter in the South...to get at issues of race, class, gender, ethnicity. That’s why I do this work."

In a region so divided, is it possible food can serve as a uniting force?

"The South is evolving for the better in many ways," he said. "We’re taking old ways and adapting them to the present."

Read more Uprooted here:

Nino's Italian, Uprooted

Indie Plate, Uprooted

Red Stick Farmers Market, Uprooted

Iverstine Family Farms, Uprooted

Murder Point Oysters, Uprooted