Photo by Jill Moore
Two Talented Neighbors. One Magical Evening: Southern charm, antebellum splendor, haute cuisine, and classical music. A night in Natchez like no other.
“She would go over to The Elms to visit her grandmother,” Joe Stone recalls of how he first met Esther Carpenter and of how the long winding road of their lifelong friendship first began.
Joe Stone grew up across the street from Esther’s grandmother. In a billiard hall.
Granted, it’s a circa 1850 billiard hall built in the style of a Greek temple by David Stanton, whose brother built Natchez’ stunning Stanton Hall—and it was once part of the same grand estate as The Elms, where Esther’s grandmother lived. And granted, it has been in the Stone family for over 130 years, but still growing up in a billiard hall had its challenges.
“The front parlor was a bedroom for my sisters. My father’s mother lived in the front. The room that was the original billiard hall for The Elms was a bedroom for my parents. My brother and I lived in a little room in the back corner that is gone now,” notes Joe of how his extended family was shoehorned into every square inch of the building. And he’s not done yet.
“My uncle lived in a cabin behind. At dinner everyday, there was my grandmother, my two parents, four children and my uncle.”
As they grew into adults Joe and Esther’s friendship came to a fork in the road that would take them both away from Natchez, in opposite directions.
Joe moved away to study at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and then on to earn a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. In Manhattan he found his way into corporate life and lived there for many years. Esther left for culinary school followed by some time operating her own restaurant in New Orleans and a stint in France.
“I eventually moved to California to work for Four Seasons Hotels,” she explains. “A year or so later I burned out. I quit cooking. For the last twenty years I’ve been doing decorative painting.”
But eventually they both found themselves called back to Natchez. Six years ago word came that Joe’s mother was seriously ill.
“I thought I was coming back from New York to care for my mother,” he explains. “But she died before I got back.”
And adds Esther in an odd twist of fate and timing, “I came to live at The Elms six years ago after my mother died.”
Both threw themselves into the task of restoring their historic family homes. Esther has made good use of her skills as a decorative painter in the restoration of The Elms, and also installed the kind of full-featured kitchen where she could once again showcase her culinary skills.
Today The Elms’ elegant rooms once again showcase the history that’s been lived out here. For example, there in an antique-filled parlor is a window overlooking the elms for which her beautiful home is named—into which a name has been etched in the glass.
“There’s all kinda people writing in the windows over here,” explains Esther with a chuckle of a phenomenon found in several historic Natchez homes, “I don’t know if they were trying to find out if their diamonds were real or if it was just an early form of graffiti.”
Whether or not it was a profession of love or to test the trust-worthiness of their intended, the tradition of brides-to-be using their engagement rings to etch windowpanes was quite popular in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
When Joe Stone first arrived back home, his family’s historic home had been badly neglected. He spent three years restoring the house, doing much of the priming, plastering, wallpapering and painting himself. He even repaired some of the old locks he found lying about that had been replaced with modern ones, and then put them back in their original place.
Joe and Esther both eventually opened their homes as bed and breakfasts. And that shared pursuit led them to a unique collaboration, using the skill sets each has acquired over the years, to create a one of a kind experience for sixteen lucky people at a time—the Four Seasons Dinners.
“It just seemed like a natural thing,” says Joe of his musical contribution to the experience, “Because I had already been doing the music for my guests. So when Esther started doing her professional catering and cooking we started talking and said we should do this as an event.”
“We pick a topic and someone who is authoritative about it,” Esther chimes in of the components for each of the quarterly dinners. “We only have as many people as can fit around the dining room table which is sixteen.”
“Authorities” have ranged from the mayor of Natchez to a nun who worked with Mother Theresa.
“We have cocktails and hors d’oeuvres seated in the parlor, and the authority gives a brief intro. Then we sit down to dinner and everyone discusses the topic. Not in a question answer mode, but more in a discussion.”
Previous menus have fueled the discussion with fare like Braised Chestnut Soup with Apple Cream & Crispy Duck Confit, Medallions of Veal Loin with Lump Crabmeat Piccata, Sautéed Spinach, Wild Rice & Beluga Lentils. All served on antique china by the way.
Then after the Chocolate French Silk Pie guests stroll across the street to enjoy a musicale in Joe’s parlor.
Southern charm, antebellum splendor, haute cuisine, and classical music. It’s hard to imagine that a more flawless evening could occur anywhere else on earth.
Details. Details. Details.
These formal dinners are first come first served. Everyone’s welcome. Cocktail attire. It costs $75 with a cash bar. In addition to the quarterly event, Joe and Esther will also arrange a similar affair for visiting groups.
The Elms
801 Washington
Natchez, Ms.
(601) 445-5979
J. N. Stone House
804 Washington Street
Natchez, Ms.
(601) 445-7466
