Hidden Gem: Oxford's Augusta Restaurant

By Matt Nelson, Photojournalist

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By Daren Sukhram

Story Created: Nov 20, 2009 at 5:52 PM CST

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2009 at 6:20 PM CST

OXFORD - In at least one small Eastern Iowa town you can have New Orleans Style Shrimp or the traditional New Orleans sandwich, the "Po-Boy."

The chef who makes it is receiving high praise.

Chef Ben Halperin is one of "40 chefs under 40" according to the Mother Nature Network.

Here's what the chef had to say:

"What I'm offering is, comfort food with a Cajun twist, I've got some of the basics I learned down in New Orleans, like chicken gumbo.

And I also do steaks here too, steaks and burgers that we freshly grind.

Well, my name is Ben Halperin, I opened up this restaurant with my wife Jeri two years ago.

We did our work down in New Orleans, and when Katrina hit we sort of got blown back home toward Chicago.

We said, what the heck, let's give it a try, and we came out and opened a restaurant.

Last year we won Iowa's Best Tenderloin, and it's been kind of crazy. It's from Mother Nature Network. A few months back they did a story called 40 farmers under 40 and they felt this was a natural follow-up to do 40 chefs under 40 just to show how food goes from the farm to the table.

I think it's a great honor.

I'm in really good company with those other 40 chefs, some of 'em are, have a lot of recognition.

Maybe it was a bit slow with some of the seafood items at first, but then I think people learned to trust us and we found that people are willing to try."

Halperin is the only Iowa chef named to the "40 under 40" list. The Augusta restaurant is named for the downtown Oxford street where it is located.

Augusta Restaurant online.

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