Second annual Farm-to-Table Dinner to benefit NAHS culinary program

NEW ALBANY, MISS. – Online ticket sales will begin on sale Saturday, June 4th at 10:00 am for New Albany’s second annual “Farm to Table Dinner”  which will take place on Thursday, June 23 on the footbridge across the Tallahatchie River in the Park Along the River in the heart of downtown. The fine dining inspired dinner for eighty guests will be prepared using only fresh local ingredients by Chef Mitchell  McCamey of the Neon Pig and Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen in Tupelo and Pastry Chef Samantha Allen of Sugaree’s Bakery.

Chef Mitchell McCamey has evolved and expanded  Neon Pig, an old-school butcher shop and cafe,  in the four years since creating the unique concept.  Chef McCamey and his team have worked hard to grow special working relationships with local farmers.  By breaking down cows, pigs, lambs, and chickens from local farms in his own butcher shop, and

Chef Mitch McCamey

innovating a curing process all his own (think Benton’s Bacon fat,) McCamey has become a household name in North Mississippi.  All of Neon Pig’s hard work in the butcher shop, fresh never frozen seafood case, local veggies, homemade sauces, dry rubs, pickled vegetables, and sausage can be purchased in the grocery section and are also used in the café and on the Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen menu.  People literally drive hundreds of miles for the Smash Burger, which won “Best Burger in the United States” from thrilllist.com.  This chef’s special event dinners always sell out before the menu is announced.  What’s even more exciting  is that Chef McCamey is just getting started.  Chef McCamey has plans to open more restaurants, which he intends to bring to fruition in the near future.

Chef Samantha Allen

While the full menu has not yet been created, and cannot be created until the chef knows specifically what can be sourced based on the current growing season, all the items on the multi-course menu will have been grown and raised on local and regional farms. The Biscuits and Jam Farmers’ Market growers will help provide the produce.  Wines chosen by Chef McCamey  will be served with dinner and fresh bread and a dessert using locally grown fruit will be prepared by New Albany’s own Sugaree’s Bakery pastry chef, Samantha Allen.

Mary Jennifer Russell and Susan Hickman are the organizers of this year’s event.  Susan says,  “As a former caterer and food professional I love the excitement when a culinary team gets together and produces an event as satisfying and successful as last year’s “Farm to Table Dinner.”

This year’s event is a fundraiser for Anita Alef’s New Albany High School culinary program to purchase a rotisserie that they can begin using to create ongoing fundraising opportunities for their program by selling rotisserie chickens at the Biscuits and Jam Farmers’ Market.

“Sugaree’s is excited to be involved with the planning and to be providing dessert for the dinner again this year as well as fresh bread!  This is exactly the type of cultural programming that we get very excited about leading in New Albany.  I feel like these types of events are changing the brand perception of our town.  This is what thoughtful and intentional progress in a small town can look and feel like.”  says Russell.

Exactly eighty tickets to the event will go on sale Saturday, June 4th at 10:00 am online only at BrownPaperTickets.com/event/2553774 for $65 each.  Links to the ticket sales site can also be found on Face Book pages:  I Love NA, Sugaree’s  Bakery, and Biscuits and Jam Farmers’ Market.  For more information, call Mary Jennifer Russell at 662-538-9379.