Special to Wesson News

The old Victorian house on Highway 51 in Wesson, where Porches restaurant served Southern cooking with a special twist to food lovers from throughout the world for more than 25 years is coming back to life in a new chapter of the landmark eaterie’s history.
Chris McSweyn, who has kept the old Porches restaurant menu alive at Co-Lin where he is Executive Chef for Aladdin Campus Dining and also continues his own food service business as Porches Catering, is supporting an initiative of his two daughters, Carrie and Katie, that will expand what he has been doing under the Porches banner at the college back to the old house on Highway 51.
Carrie and Katie are refurbishing the site of the old restaurant to make it suitable for renting out as a special events venue.
“As we welcome a new year, we're brimming with excitement and anticipation for the fresh starts that await us,” says McSweyn. “Although our news may not be what everyone was hoping for, it's undoubtedly thrilling.”
McSweyn expects his daughters to have the old house ready as a party venue for rent starting in April, with Porches Catering providing the food and service for weddings, wedding receptions, bridal showers, birthday bashes, corporate events, and other celebrations.
“We'll also host special dining in the Porches tradition at the old house,” says McSweyn. The plans call for cooking classes, live dinner theatre, holiday festivities, tasting parties, among other innovative possibilities, which, he says, “are truly endless.”
“I'm incredibly proud of my daughters for bringing this cherished house back to life with their innovative spirit.” says McSwyn. “Having grown up in the restaurant, they've always had a passion for creating unforgettable experiences, and I have no doubt they'll excel in this new venture.”
For more than 25 years, McSweyn was the primary chef at Porches Restaurant, helping to start it with his parents when he was a culinary arts student at Co-Lin. “I needed to intern at a restaurant," he recounts. "I got a job, but not enough working hours at the Inez Hotel restaurant in Brookhaven. So dad suggested I start my own restaurant in my parents' home to meet the course requirements, and Co-Lin agreed."
McSweyn and his mom and dad brought their love of cooking and Chris's Co-Lin studies to what they anticipated would be a four-month project, but a food columnist from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger heard about their small luncheon restaurant in Wesson called "Porches," which served small plates and daily specials featuring southern cooking with an imaginative flare. He visited the eaterie, liked what he tasted there, and wrote a column about the experience. "Business boomed," McSweyn recounts. "We were generating 40 to 50 customers for our daily lunches, and traffic tripled. My parents and I said to each other: "Let's make it go.'"
Porches became known nationally, consistently ranked by travel and tourist guides among Mississippi's top ten restaurants, and drawing customers from throughout the South, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and as far away as Florida.
COVID-19 forced Porches to start serving its meals on a takeout only basis, and McSweyn decided to shut it down so his parents could finally enjoy the retirement they had anticipated in the old Wesson house they bought in the 1990s.
At Co-Lin, McSweyn has continued to cook the dishes he perfected at Porches, and now his daughters are beginning a new chapter in the Porches story in a familiar place.
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