COMPETITOR

The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen

HEAD COOK: Alex Eaton

COMPETITION: World Seafood Championship

After honing his culinary skills in kitchens across the country, including a position with celebrated chef John Besh in New Orleans, Louisiana, Alex Eaton has happily returned home to Jackson, Mississippi to put his heart and soul on the plate. Born in Jackson to a half-Lebanese family, cooking has always been a huge part of Eaton’s life. His younger years were spent cooking on open fires at Boy Scout camp outs. While studying business at Mississippi State University, he spent his college years working at The Veranda Restaurant. After graduation, he followed his passion of cooking, completing a degree at Johnson and Wales School of Culinary Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina. Eaton helped open Domenica, a John Besh’s Italian restaurant in New Orleans, where he learned the art of wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas. Eaton then added Cajun food to his repertoire by working at Mr. B’s Bistro under Chef Michelle McRaney. Though his career path has taken him all over the country, Eaton always wanted to return home to learn the business side of food from restaurateurs Al Roberts and Bill Latham. The trio, with the addition of Executive Chef Mike Roemhild, teamed up to open Table 100 in Flowood, Mississippi. Meanwhile, Eaton had been building a concept for his own restaurant. His cross-country travels were training for what would become The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen, his Jackson-based restaurant with partner Steven O’Neill. Voted 2015 Best New Chef by Jackson Free Press and the current titleholder of King of American Seafood, Eaton brings with him a love for artisan foods, passion for locally-sourced products, and a burning desire to make his friends and family proud. He resides in Jackson with his wife Jamie, sons louis + levi, and dog Snoop.