Review: Chef Jim Shirley and Great Southern Café

By Susan Benton, 30AEats.com

One of the most beloved restaurants in Seaside is Great Southern Café. Known for their fresh local seafood and produce, fun loving staff, and a happy hour that is perfect for people watching on the side deck, the chef and owner is Jim Shirley.

As a member of the state board of directors of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA), vice president of the Northwest Florida Chapter of FRLA, founder and president of the Society of Great Southern Chefs, and a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, Chef Shirley knows what it takes to be a leading force behind our local food movement, and how to take action. As a community leader, he dedicates time to many charities, including the Children’s Home Society of Florida (a board member of the Western Division), and is a board member of the Autism Society of the Panhandle.

Shirley opened his first restaurant, Madison’s Diner, in Pensacola in 1995, followed by the Screaming Coyote in 1997, and the Fish House in 1998. In 2006 he opened Great Southern Café in the heart of Seaside and said, “I have always loved Seaside. The wine festivals introduced me to this area, and Dr. Ken Ford of the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Pensacola introduced me to Robert Davis, Seaside’s developer, whose passion and interest is about all aspects of sustainability.”

Shirley had been working with farmers in the Panhandle to get them to grow local specialty food items, and when he found there was a Seaside Institute trip planned to Pienza, Italy to study the theme “agricultural edge”, he jumped at the chance to attend, and said, ” In Italy, you look outside of the town you are in and really see the food that you will be eating. Robert Davis had brought along a group of city planners, architects, a few chefs and the people that had put together Alice Waters farm-to-table program. We discussed what was happening in Italy, how we could learn from the Italians, and bring that sustainability home to interject into our community and lives on the Gulf Coast.”

Modern Southern cuisine is what Shirley likes to call his style of cooking, as he grew to learn about many food cultures traveling as the young son of a Navy pilot who was often stationed internationally. When he would reflect on his flavor choices, he found he would always go back to his roots; his grandmothers’ traditional Southern cooking.

Shirley’s expertise lies in combining unique flavors from the area’s region with his culinary travels abroad, to create new and enticing recipes. Though, his famed Grits A Ya Ya is always a coveted menu favorite. With shrimp that is blackened and nestled on a bed of smoked Gouda cheese grits, smothered in a sauté of applewood-smoked bacon, spinach, Portobello mushrooms and cream, then topped with sweet potato hay, it is a dish that is not for the faint of heart. The Soul Rolls stuffed with local collard greens are always on my radar.

Sourcing his ingredients from local purveyors, Shirley enjoys shopping at The Seaside Farmers Market each weekend with his young family. You will see Twin Oaks Farms eggs on his menu, and the incorporation of Ocheesee Creamery dairy products in many of his dishes. Shirley said. “In the last few years, local farmers have really stepped up their game and are providing us with high quality products. When used in my recipes at Great Southern Café, we’ve got a home run!”

Though Shirley travels far and wide to absorb the newest culinary ideas while selecting fine wines for his restaurants menu, when at home he said, “We grill out a lot. Mainly local caught fish, tons of grilled vegetables, and we eat a lot of grits!”

Great Southern Café is located at 83 Central Square and serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch Monday through Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Shirley’s sister restaurants are 45 Central Wine & Sushi Bar, and The Meltdown on 30A, The Bay, Farm & Fire, and North Beach Social. He is also the co-owner of Great Southern Restaurants, which owns The Fish House, The Atlas Oyster House, and The Fish House Deck Bar in Pensacola, Florida.