By Liz Swaine

The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate

Published Aug. 19, 2024

Those who follow Shreveport chef Blake Jackson have known for a while that something was up.

There have been hints, yes, but it is a fact that Jackson is always up to something. The Louisiana Food Prize winning competitor in Bake You Rich on the Food Network and in a statewide seafood contest has owned, been chef at, or consulted for “about 10 different entities” over the years — from Maxwell’s Market to the Whisk dessert bar to most recently, Frank’s Louisiana Kitchen.

Jackson is not one to sit around.

At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, his new Mae & Co will open at 1023 Provenance Place Blvd., Suite 200, the former location of Frank’s Louisiana Kitchen. Mae & Co is small, seating about 58 inside and another 28 on the patio, but the feel of it, Jackson says, will range from comfortable to “electric, with energy that bounces off the walls.”

The menu, which he laughingly calls “comfort food plus,” will feature items such as Oyster Bao Buns, fried oysters tucked in fluffy steamed Vietnamese buns and topped with a Napa cabbage Green Goddess slaw.

There will be a limited number of servings each day of fried chicken with a side of mustard greens and jalapeno honey cornbread or diners can choose an Akaushi (a cousin of Wagyu) beef debris sandwich in which the beef has simmered for six to seven hours. The entire menu is, he says, a mix “of old and new and staples and creative off the wall.” To compete, he says, the food must be great and the service spectacular.

“Our whole ethos is that we want to make this such a memorable experience that it’s not that people leave saying, ‘It was good, we’ll come back,’ but that, ‘It was SO good we need to make sure we have reservations to come back.'”

Beverages will play a big role, too. Bartender Hannah Roundtree brought out an Old Forester bourbon with honey simple syrup, mint and sweet tea “and just a touch of lemon bitter to pull that citrus in,” she said. “We’re calling it Name Pending,” she said.

“I think we’re going to go with that,” Jackson said with a laugh.

For Jackson, the restaurant has already been a personal and emotional journey. “I would say it’s a passion, a blessing and curse. I love what I do, feeding people is a unique thing. It’s somewhat a spiritual cathartic experience to feed someone.”

The name of the restaurant was chosen to honor someone special. “This place is named for someone who made me feel so cared and loved for.” The someone is Mae Mae Reliford, a woman who was once a short order cook who helped raise Jackson and played a big role in teaching him to cook.” One of Mae’s recipes, a pound cake that he says is the best he has ever tasted, will be used in the restaurant’s pound cake gelato dessert.

Mae’s will be open 11 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday “until it’s done” the sign reads. “The kitchen will shut at 9,” Jackson said, “but we’ll let the stragglers straggle.”

One restaurant is a lot, but it’s not enough

In October, Jackson will be launching Heron, a white tablecloth, fine dining concept next door to Mae’s, which will allow them to share the kitchen. “It will be more of a seafood restaurant, generally southern fine dining or nouveau Louisiane, if you want to go down that rabbit hole.”

Heron will be open Tuesday through Saturday.

It has been an interesting run for Jackson, who has mastered the fine art of telling a fascinating story. He has been a pepper importer, consulting with some of the largest food makers in the U.S. Though not a huge sweets lover, he opened a popular business — Whisk — that was sweets only. He has owned a meal prep company, a catering company, a valet parking company, been an owner and an employee.

He is an artist, too. Some of his paintings will hang in Mae & Co. and he says there will be nights when music will break out because he “still rocks the harmonica pretty hard.”

He knows the restaurant life he has chosen is long hours and low-profit, a crowded and challenging space. “Yes, the popularity (of restaurants) definitely waxes and wanes,” Jackson said. “I’d rather spend my energy making this the next landmark that lasts 50 to 60 years than trying to hunt down something somewhere else that’s just for the bottom line.”

Follow Mae & Co on Facebook & Instagram @eatmaeco