Oxford, Mississippi's Saint Leo

When Emily Rome Blount was searching for a name for the Italian restaurant she opened off the square in Oxford, Mississippi, last summer, Saint Leo resonated. Revered for protecting Rome against the infidel Huns in the fifth century, the papal saint’s moniker just felt right. “We can all use a little protection now and then,” said the Northern California native and former actress.

Blount met her Mississippi-born husband in New York when she was performing in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, working eight shows a week for five years in the role of Madeline Monroe, Tony Sr.’s stripper girlfriend. “When I got pregnant with our first son, it was obviously time to take a break,” recalled Blount, 36.

Her husband missed his hometown and family, and the couple didn’t want to raise kids in Manhattan. “I’d never been to the South until we started dating and had never lived in a small town,” she said. Blount moved on the condition that if Oxford wasn’t a fit—“if I hated it after a few years”—the family would move.

[Read: Oxford, Done Up Right]

Instead, Blount finds herself at the heart of a bold and inspired Italian restaurant, a passionate valentine to locally and seasonally sourced fresh Italian fare with the emphasis on crusty Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizza. Blount, who received her culinary education at Verace Pizza Napoletana, spent thirteen years working at legendary restaurants Raoul’s in SoHo and Scarpetta in the Meatpacking District. “I could never open this kind of place in New York or San Francisco, there’s just too much competition,” she said. “Oxford provided an awesome opportunity because I saw an opening in the market for what we are doing.”

Local to Oxford since 2012, Blount partnered with her sister-in-law and best friend Joie Blount, first running a pizza pop-up and catering business and then opening Saint Leo in June 2016. Like Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, Saint Leo is an ensemble showstopper. Joie Blount helps with catering and is the restaurant’s pastry chef, daily baking fresh crostata, a rustic tumble of sweet dough and seasonal fruit that is the stuff of dreams.  In the hands of Italian-born artisan pizzaiolo Marco D’Emidio, wood-fired pizza is raised to ethereal heights using techniques he learned from his family in Italy. Until taking over the oven full time at Saint Leo, D’Emidio worked at Ole’ Miss using his other skill as a geospatial analyst. D.C. native Taariq David, who is married to a local artist, is general manager, with a résumé that includes kitchens and dining rooms from Massachusetts to St. Croix.

Formerly Wiley’s Shoe Shop, the space—exposed brick walls, brass sconces and bartop lamps, a curved marble bar and dark wood chairs and tabletops, with a wood-burning, Pavesi oven towards the back—is long, narrow, and well lit from banks of windows facing the street. The menu, which Blount designed in collaboration with Dan Latham of L&M’s Kitchen and Salumeria fame, spotlights local farms including The Peeples Farm for chicken and eggs, Native Son Farm, Mudline Farms, Woodson Ridge Farms, and Brown Family Dairy. 

Although salads, paninis, and pasta are on the menu, it’s the pizza that really shines. Besides the traditional margherita, chef D’Emidio tops his perfectly scorched dough with burrata and soppressata; pork belly, kale, and ricotta; and a visionary mix of sweet butternut squash, salty pork jowl, and Sicilian red pesto (made from garlic, olive oil, and sun dried tomatoes).

Other offerings include antipasti, housemade bread, cheeses, and charcuterie. A craft cocktail list offers fresh, seasonal libations along with local craft beers and an eclectic wine list.

[Read: Suire's Grocery & Restaurant: Serving locals, roadtrippers, and duck hunters too.]

“Product integrity is everything to us,” said Blount, a hands-on owner who does everything from make small-batch ice cream to manage the floor a few days a week. Closed on Tuesday, Saint Leo serves lunch and dinner every other day and brunch both Saturday and Sunday. “Nobody was serving Saturday brunch,” she said. “With all the parents in town to visit, it was a natural addition to our week.” Brunch favorites include the breakfast pizza with roasted pork jowl and egg; avocado toast with two sunny-side-up eggs, radish greens, and chili paste; and spaghetti carbonara.

Now that Blount has lived in Oxford going on five years, her view of the city has evolved. “There’s an amazing vibe here,” she said. “Thanks to the university there’s diversity, amazing artists, and literary people—just a very cool cultural fabric.” Her sons, Bo and Rye, are thriving; and the beauty of life in a small town is growing on her. “People are linked to Mississippi in so many ways. Community really matters. Everywhere we go there seems to be somebody my husband grew up with or is related to.” With Saint Leo on her side, Blount now sees Oxford for what it is: simply and charmingly home.