ABOUT THE MISSISSIPPI SEAFOOD COOK-OFF
Mississippi Seafood Marketing created this premier cooking competition to highlight the fresh, sustainable and domestically sourced seafood of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The state’s most talented chefs go head-to-head, crafting their signature seafood dishes live in front of an audience. A panel of expert judges then evaluates each dish based on presentation, creativity, composition, craftsmanship and flavor.
The chef crowned Mississippi Seafood Champion will go on to represent the state at the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans this August, competing against top chefs from across the country for the national title.
AN EVENT YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS
Mississippi Seafood Marketing is once again teaming up with the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce for its annual tasting event, Taste, Rattle & Roll. This year, we’re proud to host the 14th Annual Mississippi Seafood Cook-Off, where top chefs from across the state will compete for the coveted seafood crown. Attendees can savor delicious bites from over 30 of Gulfport’s finest restaurants while enjoying an evening under the stars at Centennial Plaza, surrounded by the lively ambiance of its dancing fountains.
Thursday, May 1, 2025 | 5 – 7:30 p.m.
Centennial Plaza
200 Beach Boulevard | Gulfport, MS
Must be 21 or older to attend.
2024 Queen OF Mississippi Seafood
Chef Erika Lipe, Sola, Oxford, Mississippi
Chef Erika Lipe is the first female to win the Mississippi Seafood Cook-off and represent our great state at the national competition, Great American Seafood Cook-off, in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 3, 2024.
She was born into a family passionate about cuisine and exploring the world through flavor. As a girl, Erika was influenced strongly by traveling and learning about the gulf coast through art, music, and food, and perhaps most applicably as a young line cook in New Orleans. Like many artists, Erika has naturally been drawn to the water, and also spent some time cooking professionally along the Golden Isles of Georgia, including a stint in the Grand Dining Room at The Jekyll Island Club Resort. A native Mississippian, Erika has called Oxford home for the last 17 years, where she is consistently voted “Favorite Chef” and “Best Boss” by her peers and coworkers for the work at her restaurant SoLa, which opened in 2014.
Though her deep-rooted southern charm and reverence for food traditions are based here at home, Erika also enjoys what she refers to as “Third-Culture” cooking: celebrating the bold influence of our immigrant ancestors and neighbors on local cuisine, especially as it relates to the geographic parallels found between the farming and fishing industries of Mississippi and around the world.