Business, Media and Culture 2017
Mississippi's Top 50 Most Influential
Mississippians love great food. One of the leading restaurateurs in the state is Robert St. John.
Robert St. John has spent almost four decades in the restaurant business. Thirty of those years have been as the owner of the Purple Parrot, Crescent City Grill, Mahogany Bar, Branch, Tabella, and Ed’s Burger Joint in Hattiesburg, MS. He has been named the state’s top chef three consecutive years and was honored as Mississippi Restaurateur of the Year.
St. John is a restaurateur, chef, columnist, and author. For 19 years he has written a weekly syndicated newspaper column.
He is also the author of ten books, including three previous collaborations with watercolorist Wyatt Waters. Their book, An Italian Palate, was written in Europe while St. John, his wife, and his two children traveled through 17 countries on two continents for six months. His 11th book, A Mississippi Palate, another collaboration with Waters is due later in 2017. St. John is also the creator, producer, and host of the Public Broadcasting series Palate to Palette with Robert St. John and Wyatt Waters which begins airing in late 2017.
In 2009, St. John founded Extra Table, a non-profit organization that purchases healthy foods to soup kitchens and mission pantries throughout Mississippi.