NEON PIG

TUPELO – Chef and restaurateur Mitch McCamey talks about food like a man who knows his business. Some might say he’s cocky; most would acknowledge he’s confident. And those who’ve visited The Neon Pig, one of McCamey’s two Tupelo eateries, would tell you his confidence is well-earned.

McCamey, Seth Copeland and Trish McCluney are business partners in The Neon Pig and Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen. The Neon Pig has been making culinary history in Tupelo since it opened in 2012. An Okolona native, McCamey and his family moved around a lot.

“I attended 13 schools in 11 years,” he said.

He’s always cooked — while growing up and in college. When he was 20, he moved to Colorado.

“And I kept cooking,” he said. “I was just trying to find myself.”

McCamey studied architecture for a short time and was a self-proclaimed snowboard bum, too. Truth be told, being a professional chef and owning restaurants were not careers he ever really thought of pursuing. And, yet, McCamey continued to be presented with opportunities to learn from and work with some of the best in the food industry.

“Like Michael Fernandez, who started with a barbecue place on the side of the road,” McCamey said.

“I worked for him. Now he has 35 restaurants coast to coast. He had such an amazing ethic, and integrity. He put me on my path, and I studied every way I could,” he said.

McCamey admits it’s been a long road back home and to The Neon Pig.

“I’ve done a little bit of everything,” he said. “Greasy spoons, mom and pops, corporate restaurants, some James Beard Award-winning restaurants. I’ve learned as much working with the bad as the good.”

BIRTH OF THE PIG

The Neon Pig came to be because McCamey and his partners wanted to be able to source locally.

“Why? Because of the amazing ingredients,” he said. “In Vail, Colorado, we were not surrounded by local farms. But here, there’s a surplus of good farms. I feel like Mississippi has some of the best farms in the world.”

The bottom line at The Neon Pig is the ingredients.

“Our technique may waver at times as a team,” he said. “But our ingredients never waver.”

Dr. Dan Mathews, owner of Mathews Chiropractic & Healthy Living, agrees.

“I’ve had the burgers and tacos there,” he said. “And you can certainly tell a difference in the flavor and freshness.”

An oversized chalkboard quickly makes customers aware of the local folks whose products provide the ingredients for The Neon Pig’s menu. There’s Mayhew Tomato Farm, Zion Family Farm, Native Son, St. Bethany’s, Memory Orchard, Circle W Farm, Brown’s Family Dairy, McKaskle Family.

It’s the whole local thing. I’m convinced it’s due to the organic veggies and other ingredients they have that are locally grown.

Dr. Dan Mathews

And the list changes as more local farms are added.

“Early on, it was somewhat of a struggle getting started local,” McCamey said. “But now, folks bring us stuff.”

PLACE WITH PERSONALITY

On a sunny spring Saturday, The Neon Pig is still packed with patrons at mid-afternoon. It’s a small space, but every inch has a purpose. On one wall, glass-doored refrigerators house cold drinks — mostly cold brews of the craft kind where thirsty customers can help themselves. An open-air cooler holds things as diverse as potatoes and pimento cheese, sauces and spices.

Just in front of the opposite wall is a bar that comfortably seats eight, bringing the total number that can be seated in The Neon Pig to about 25. A large tip jar in front of the cash register offers its own portion of pithy prose: “Money is the root of all evil. Cleanse yourself here.” A nearby black and white photograph shows Elvis and Johnny Cash smiling in approval. And all manner of hungry folks — first-timers and regulars alike — strictly obey one rule that’s prominently displayed: “Y’all come in and make yourself at home.” This friendly atmosphere is one thing that draws repeat customers like Mathews.

“I love the energy in the place,” he said. “You can tell the guys are passionate about what they are doing.”

The Neon Pig’s specialty, Smash and Bash burgers, are grilled to perfection and served with specially matched cheeses, homemade pickles and sauces.

“We sell a lot of burgers and tacos,” McCamey said. “That allows us to use local cows.”

On social media, The Neon Pig’s burger was voted the “Best burger in the universe, or at least in Mississippi.” It’s even touted on T-shirts hanging from a string stretched between the butcher counter and the grill. The popular Smash burger is much more than a hunk of ground beef. It’s made with aged filet, ribeye, New York strip and Benton’s Bacon. You can soak in the cool atmosphere at The Neon Pig while your Smash burger is prepared and brought to your table. Or you can buy several pounds of Smash at the butcher counter and, with advice from McCamey, take it home and cook your own.

But the culinary scope of The Neon Pig goes well beyond burgers.

“Our menu constantly changes,” McCamey said. “We believe there are 52 seasons in a year. We have a basic menu, but some people don’t realize they can come in here and choose a steak and have me cook it for them or ask me to make them fresh sushi.

“We have a really small menu, which allows us not to get stuck or pigeonholed into doing the same thing all the time.”

At the back of the restaurant, McCamey can often be found hard at work discussing cuts of meat and the best methods for cooking them with customers who’ve come in to buy fresh seafood or aged beef or fresh chicken or pork. “You can break down a big pig in a matter of minutes,” he said of the process. “But a cow is complex and can take hours.”

There are probably 100 butcher shops in the country. And we’re one.

Just beyond the bar is where the culinary magic happens.

The Neon Pig not only purchases beef and pork locally, but the cows and pigs are broken down on the premises by McCamey, who calls it a lost art. It’s an art he’s learned by doing.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

McCamey said he sometimes wonders if he and his partners might have misbranded their unique, locally sourced eatery with the moniker The Neon Pig.

“Some people probably hear the name and immediately think it’s barbecue,” he said, with a chuckle and roll of the eyes. “But we liked the idea of something playful. Maybe we should have called it The Local Pig.”

If McCamey has his way, there’ll be plenty more opportunities for other names in the future. But he’s not rushing because he understands it takes time.

“There’s a lot of room to grow,” he said. “There are always things we can do better. And I can’t open more without great people, you know. We have to move forward correctly.

“But I’d love to open 10 or 15 more restaurants in other places. I really want to do that.”

STORY Leslie Criss
PHOTOGRAPHY Lauren Wood