Community Spotlight: Chef Marcus Williams and the Taste of Belmont
How one chef is preserving Black culinary traditions while feeding a new generation in the heart of Pensacola.
Chef Marcus Williams brings Black culinary tradition to life in the Belmont-DeVilliers district.
Marcus Williams doesn't call himself a celebrity chef. He calls himself a neighborhood chef. And his restaurant, The Taste of Belmont, sits exactly where he wants it, on the corner of Belmont and A Street, in the heart of the neighborhood where he grew up.
"Every dish on this menu has a story," Williams says, wiping down the counter of his 40-seat restaurant. "My grandmother's cornbread recipe. My uncle's smoked mullet. The red beans and rice that every family on this street made on Mondays. This isn't fusion food. This is family food."
From Home Kitchen to Restaurant
Williams spent 15 years cooking in restaurants across the South, from Atlanta to New Orleans, before returning to Pensacola in 2022. He worked in fine dining, learned French technique, and earned a culinary degree. But the food that kept calling him back was the food of his childhood.
"In New Orleans, they celebrate their food culture. In Pensacola, our food culture is just as rich, but nobody was putting it on a plate and saying, 'This is who we are.'" That's what The Taste of Belmont does.
The Menu
The menu changes with the seasons but always features Gulf Coast staples rooted in Black culinary tradition:
- Smoked Mullet Dip served with house-made crackers and pickled okra
- Belmont Red Beans & Rice with andouille sausage, slow-cooked for 8 hours
- Gulf Shrimp & Grits with stone-ground grits from a Black-owned mill in Alabama
- Mama's Cornbread baked in a cast-iron skillet, served with honey butter
- Sweet Potato Pie made from his grandmother's recipe, unchanged since 1962
Feeding the Future
Williams also runs a summer cooking program for teenagers in the neighborhood, teaching culinary skills alongside lessons in food history and business management. Three of his former students are now enrolled in culinary programs.
"If I can show one kid that their grandmother's cooking is worth studying, worth perfecting, worth building a career on, then I've done my job," he says.
The Taste of Belmont is open Wednesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner. No reservations needed. Just bring your appetite and your love for Black Gulf Coast cooking.