- The theme of the restaurant comes from Brian Isonhood’s passion for upland bird hunting.
Like a finely choreographed dance, Brian Isonhood, Jonathan Carlin (“JC”), “Big Mike” Haralson, and others tend the bar at The Briar Patch in the Livingston community. The small space is surrounded on three sides by barstools filled with thirsty patrons, and the banter is exactly what you’d expect – friendly and upbeat as finely crafted cocktails are created and served. Other customers sit at tables, or they’ve settled in on overstuffed chairs and sofas. It’s a comfortable environment, and one owner Brian Isonhood worked hard to design.
“My goal was to create a place where people could gather in a relaxed, yet refined environment,” says Brian. “My mother Laurie Guion, designed the interior. Our biggest compliment is to hear that it feels like an old New Orleans bar that has been here for fifty years.”
A self-professed “wild child” growing up, Brian was born in Memphis but lived in Benton, Mississippi from the fourth grade on. He attended Hinds in Raymond before moving out west to work for his cousin’s construction business the summer of 1992.
“It was outside Portland, Oregon, and I realized after a summer of digging ditches in the rain six or seven days a week that I wanted more out of life.”
He started school in Oregon and worked as a busboy before getting into bartending.
“I learned real quick that I could make the same or more in one night that I used to in a week.”
While in Oregon, Brian met a girl from Vermont. In the summer of 1995, they traveled to Vermont to spend time with her family, to Mississippi, and ultimately Anna Maria Island where Brian worked at the Beachhouse Restaurant, owned by Ed Chiles, son of then Florida governor, Lawton Chiles. From there he went to Burlington, Vermont where he worked at a restaurant with CIA-trained chefs, and chefs who graduated form the prestigious Northeast Culinary School.
“I was fortunate to work for some top notch folks,” Brian says.
He worked at Bourbon Street Grill on Lake Champlaine, for restaurant owners who had honeymooned in New Orleans and fell in love with food and culture. Brian also worked at supper club style restaurant where he honed his culinary craft.
“That was where I learned a lot about the industry.”
Despite a breakup, Brian stayed in the area and worked at a bar called Nectar’s, where the band Phish got their start.
Growing tired of the winters in the Northeast, Brian headed back south, where he worked at New Orleans Cafe on County Line Road in Ridgeland for a few years before taking a job in the furniture industry in Memphis in 2009.
But the hospitality industry had a hold on Brian, and he began dreaming of what he would like to see in a business.
“In the last decade I saw a decline in hospitality. At one time restaurants would roll out a red carpet to everyone who walked in the door.”
Determined to reverse the trend, Brian began making plans while working in Jackson venues including The Auditorium (now Duling Hall) with Nathan Glen, private events at Hal & Mal’s, and serving as bar manager when Jesse Houston opened Saltine in Fondren.
It was when he took a job at a new restaurant in Livingston in Madison County that Brian’s plans began to solidify.
“I was the bar manager at County Seat, and I was impressed with the Livingston development,” he says. In 2014 he started a catering company and did side gigs bartending for private events.
By 2018 he was ready to launch The Briar Patch. “We opened in July of that year.”
By February of 2019, Garden and Gun magazine named The Briar Patch as one of the South’s Best New Bars, describing it as “a beguiling spot with the vibe of an Edwardian bird hunting club (see: painting of a pointer over the bar), a fine selection of cocktails in elegant glassware, and punch by the bowl. Need ballast? The charcuterie and shared plates can turn a brief stop into a long, pleasing afternoon.”
The theme of the restaurant comes from Brian’s passion for upland bird hunting.
“My grandfather on my mother’s side wrote many articles for Outdoor Life and American Sportsman. When I was growing up, I would go hunting at the Magnolia Field Trial Club, on land that is now the Lake Caroline neighborhood. Due to Livingston’s proximity to that area, I felt this was a natural nod to those times.”
Livingston is quaint, with buildings that replicate the ones that once lined the community’s streets back when it was Madison’s county seat. When you step inside The Briar Patch, the vibe is elegant yet casual. It is anything but stuffy.
“We want it to feel warm and welcoming.”
Brian has worked to make the cocktails on the menu with “defined flavors, yet approachable. The fun part of The Briar Patch is serving someone who may never have had a craft cocktail.”
The food at The Briar Patch is not to be slept on. From creative charcuterie boards to flatbreads and diner-style burgers, Brian says he never planned to sell as much food as they do.
“We also have wonderful tacos made with barbeque brisket, ahi tuna, and smoked salmon.”
Joining Brian, J.C.. and “Big Mike” at The Briar Patch are Lindsey Kellum and Loran Lawson.
“We have a good core group,” says Brian.
And that behind-the-bar choreography?
“We actually call it ‘the dance,’ and it’s something we have rehearsed. Everyone behind the bar must know when and how to move, and when to get out of the way. I’ve studied that at other bars for years. It’s fun to watch people who are good at what they do.”
You can watch the bartenders at The Briar Patch, who are all good at what they do, every Thursday and Friday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 11 p.m.
Brian Isonhood’s Cypress Frost
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Glenmorangie
1/4 oz Pimento Dram
3 Dashes Tiki Bitters
1/8 oz Homeade Cinnamon/Star Anise syrup
2oz Grapefruit Juice
3/4 Oz Lemon Juice
Shake with ice, strain into a glass.
Susan Marquez
