Publisher’s Note – America’s Next Great Culinary Destination

This note appears in the Spring 2018 Edition of the Food & Wine Guide for South Walton.

Welcome back to the latest edition of the Food & Wine Guide for South Walton. Our inaugural year in 2017 was met with rave reviews from readers both near and far. We hope you are ready for a fabulous 2018, exploring America’s next great culinary destination: South Walton.

Since our first issue last spring, not one but two James Beard Award-winning chefs have opened restaurants here in paradise. Chef Emeril Lagasse launched his 12th restaurant, Emeril’s Coastal Italian, at Grand Boulevard at Sandestin in August. Chef John Currence, of City Grocery fame in Oxford, Miss., opened Big Bad Breakfast in Inlet Beach over the summer as well. And we can’t go without mentioning one of our very own Southern boys, Jim Shirley. Chef Shirley and his team returned once again to the James Beard House in New York City to present a dinner titled “Taste of Seaside Florida.”

We have a number of new spots and dishes to try in South Walton this year. My hope is that this guide will once again serve as a roadmap to all the world-class culinary offerings of South Walton.

Special thanks go to the talented writers, photographers and graphic designers who helped to bring this publication to life. I would like to personally thank all our restaurant and retail partners who have helped make this magazine a reality. Without them this guide wouldn’t be possible.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you out and about enjoying our area.

Bon appétit,

Phil Heppding
Publisher | phil@30afoodandwine.com