Mississippi Author and Restaurateur Robert St. John Visits Black Jack Ranch

The smash burger coming off our food truck is cooked about 200 feet from the pasture that raised it — and that’s exactly what caught the attention of award-winning restaurateur Robert St. John. After visiting Black Jack Ranch in Wiggins, MS, he wrote about our grass-fed, grain-finished Wagyu and Angus, our science-backed breeding program, and why buying Prime Wagyu and Angus beef in Mississippi no longer means settling for a cut shipped in from somewhere else.

“What is happening at Black Jack Ranch has changed how I think about local.” — Robert St. John

A Hattiesburg native, Robert St. John has spent more than four decades in the restaurant business and is one of Mississippi’s most respected voices on Southern food. He owns a collection of restaurants across Hattiesburg and the Jackson area — including the Crescent City Grill, which has championed local sourcing since 1987 — and has authored more than a dozen books along with a syndicated newspaper column he’s written for over 25 years. Named Mississippi Restaurateur of the Year and a regional Emmy winner for his documentary work, St. John also founded the nonprofit Extra Table, which supplies healthy food to pantries and soup kitchens across the state.