Downtown Starkville has become increasingly diverse in its selection of cuisine. One building that is hard to miss is the sweet potato colored two-story at 100 East Main St., home to Restaurant Tyler and Clinton-native Chef Ty Thames.
The building’s color is only a sneak peak at the unique menu that awaits inside. Entering the dining room, your senses come alive. Dynamic local art is displayed on a back splash of vibrant colors making the space trendy, yet still sophisticated with crisp white linens, a full wine list and a wait staff dressed to a tee. The smells wafting from the kitchen immediately set your senses on a pleasant adventure.
Since its inception on May 23, 2007, Restaurant Tyler has delivered on its promise to provide a unique take on the South’s culinary palate while keeping the ingredients local and all natural. Thames has forged his extensive pedigree at The New England Culinary Institute in Vermont; Maria Luigi Restaurant in Parma, Italy; The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C. and numerous other experiences and combined them into a menu that is both diverse and familiar.
“I create what people from the South haven’t experienced before but will recognize,” Thames said. He calls his food New Southern Cuisine, which incorporates the great local food the South has to offer. With sweet potatoes from Vardaman, catfish from Macon, muscadine wine from Natchez, produce from the areas farmers markets and the restaurant’s personal garden on Cotton Row, it’s a quality that you can taste.
Brien and Amanda Henry, husband and wife from Starkville, have eaten at Restaurant Tyler often, and both say the local ingredients shine.
“Every time,” said Brien Henry on noticing the difference.
“The food is delicious; the local ingredients, like the catfish and fried shrimp, are really great,” Amanda Henry said.
And the critics agree. Restaurant Tyler has been featured in ESPN Taste of the Town, Mississippi Magazine, The Commercial Dispatch, The Starkville Daily News, Ya’llmagazine, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, The Clarion-LedgerandSouthern Living Magazine.
“The fusion of elements comes together best in the sweet potato gnocchi, lush with homegrown sweet potatoes and braised wild boar sausage, topped off with truffle sauce, wild mushrooms and Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan beer,” writes Southern LivingMagazine.
The menu is constantly changing with what the local farms have in-season, and there are usually a handful of new specials every night. Thames’ creations and local flare can also be found at his other restaurants created with business partner and USM roommate Brian Kelley. These have included Bin 612, Rock Bottom and his latest — Zorba’s Greek Tavern.
Zorba’s is located above Restaurant Tyler and shares a kitchen downstairs. This means that the same chefs who cook Restaurant Tyler’s fine dining also make the Tavern’s student-friendly food upstairs. They take Greek food to another level creating fusions with Spanish, Italian and of course Southern.
Like its downstairs counterpart, Zorba’s offers a visually stimulating atmosphere complete with live bands, a balcony and plenty of televisions to watch the State game. Students can often be found in Zorbas sharing a greek pizza, catering to their sweet tooth with a dessert from downstairs, such as the sweet potato crème brulee, listening to up-and-coming local music, and washing it all down with an ice-cold draft.
Restaurant Tyler, Zorba’s Greek tavern, and all of Thames creations have made their mark on Starkville and offer an escape from the preservative-packed, chemical-pumped food that has come to be part of college life. The cuisine at these establishments is not only good for your taste buds, it is good for your health and the economy of local Mississippi farmers.