Small Town Chefs Winner: Jeffrey Hansell

Although he’s worked in plenty of big city restaurants, chef Jeffrey Hansell has a soft spot for small towns.  He’s from Waveland, Mississippi, after all, a Gulf town with somewhere around 6,400 residents. 

Hansell and his partner and wife, Amy, moved to Covington three and a half years ago after spending less than a day in the sleepy Northshore town. On the hunt for a family-friendly place closer to friends and kin, the pair randomly took a drive to the Northshore and bumped into what was going to be the Southern Hotel. “It was sheer luck, and all the stars aligned,” he recalled. 

That’s how he explains how he and Amy wound up in Covington, running not one, but two restaurants.  The heart of the St. Tammany parish culinary scene, Covington boasts a rich history that has enticed New Orleanians to get away from the city to “l’autre côté du lac” (the other side of the lake) for more than a century. 

Hansell and Amy own and operate Oxlot 9, the ritzy, white-tablecloth eatery in the Southern Hotel on East Boston Street. Smartly placed at the intersection of new Southern and classic French cuisine, Oxlot 9 dishes urbane sensibility clearly in league with big-city competition.  Hansell’s unfussy culinary vision and deep regard for locally-sourced ingredients sets a high bar, luring even spoiled New Orleanians for a cross-Causeway pilgrimage.

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In his few short years since relocating from Birmingham, Hansell has risen to the forefront of Covington’s already impressive culinary scene. From his dramatic open kitchen in The Southern Hotel, Hansell offers sophisticated dishes showcasing Gulf seafood, heritage pork, and farm-fresh, local produce. Amy charts a calm and intelligent course front-of-house, leading a service staff as informed and welcoming as any found in the fine-dining establishments in New Orleans.  Last year, the couple expanded their local stake, going down a soulful country road with Smoke, the down-home barbecue joint on North Collins Avenue. The menu offers Texas-style brisket, gorgeously charred and juicy; house-made hot link or German-and-Czech-inspired smoked sausage, accompanied by epic vinegar-spiked collards, a meal that seamlessly straddles high and low Southern palates. 

Hansell’s unfussy culinary vision and deep regard for locally-sourced ingredients sets a high bar, luring even spoiled New Orleanians for a cross-Causeway pilgrimage.

“New Orleans and South Louisiana is such a melting pot of influences,” Hansell said. “With French technique as our foundation, we like to pull from all over the South and all over the world.”  

Raised around the commercial fishing and shrimping industries of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hansell pursued his love of local cuisine at the Culinary School at the University of Southern Mississippi.  After graduating, he moved to New Orleans and took his first job under Chef Tory McPhail at Commander’s Palace. Then it was Birmingham, where he cooked with Thomas Robey as sous chef at Veranda on Highland. Next he traveled to Aspen, taking a position as sous chef at Montagna at Little Nell. The chance to work under John Besh at Luke called him back to New Orleans, then it was back to Veranda on Highland as executive chef for two years, during which he was nominated for Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef 2014.”  Covington’s small-town charm and high quality of family life proved irresistible, and the couple opened Oxlot 9 in 2014. 

At the heart of Hansell’s cuisine is simple elegance and attention to minute detail.  Fried low-country frog legs are bathed in beurre blanc spiked with hot sauce, bits of dill, and pickled celery.  Meaty redfish arrives perfectly grilled with olive oil, lemon, and herbs, each bite a revelation in rustic simplicity.  Seared scallops are perched atop carrots pureed to just the right thickness and scattered with spring peas, just so—artful, without being overwrought. 

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“Jeffrey Hansell may be operating in a small town, but he brought serious city credentials along with him when he moved to Covington,” said Renée Kientz, vice president for communications, marketing and public relations for the St. Tammany Tourist and Convention Commission. “I love that his menus always have an element of surprise, even playfulness. His food is upscale yet accessible, encouraging you to taste, share and rediscover dishes you thought you knew.”

Hansell admits to being particular—very—and he surrounds himself with a staff that is the same.  “I hire and train people that are willing and can do a little better than most,” he said. “My staff is all extremely professional and cross-trained. Something isn’t right, it’s like when you do something wrong as a kid and your dad doesn’t even have to say anything. You knew he was disappointed and it isn’t going to happen again. We have a calm management style and try to lead by example.” Amy is as particular with front of house, setting a tone for the service that is impeccably informed and warmly gracious.  The combination is spot on, delivering a culinary experience that is painstakingly perfect while feeling effortless. 

“I love that his menus always have an element of surprise, even playfulness. His food is upscale yet accessible, encouraging you to taste, share and rediscover dishes you thought you knew.”

Life in Covington is equally harmonious.  “We could not have picked a better place to raise our kids,” Hansell said.  “It’s small, and safe. There’s art, music, and incredible food culture. And we’re close to New Orleans, to the airport, and we love to travel. And close to south Mississippi where I grew up.  We’re on the trails, rivers, lakes, fishing, hiking and canoeing. We really take advantage of where we live. Our kids [son Dax is seven, daughter Charlie is three] love it here. They go to school right up the street.  We get involved with the community, fundraisers, events, all of it. There’s a sense of belonging.”

Putting down roots feels good to Hansell and Amy—feels permanent. The couple is in the process of building a house, hoping to move in sometime early in 2018. Hansell recalls when they impulsively moved to Covington more than three years ago.  “The day we moved into our house, our neighbor who we’d never met greeted us and welcomed us to the neighborhood. A little while later, he came back with a full platter of venison sausage, boudin, and beers. It was like, ‘Welcome to South Louisiana.’  We felt at home.”

Oxlot 9

428 East Boston Street

Covington, La. 

(985) 400-5663

oxlot9.com