Corks & Cleaver Wine Bistro

We have enjoyed the fare at Corks and Cleaver several times and it just gets better each visit. They now have a full service bar with professional staff with great imagination, just enjoy what comes from behind the bar. Additionally, we entertained twenty five hungry friends in the newly opened Banquet Room. The service was spot on, perfect. The food was on time, warm and delicious. Nobody was disappointed. Brice, the waiter, even arrived early to help decorate the hall, a real professional. Needless to say, we will return. Before I sign off, congratulations on the new location opening soon in Long Beach, can’t wait to see what you have made of that place, yummy I’m sure!

When visiting Gulfport, MS, you must dine here! I have had this place bookmarked on Unilocal for months! I am a huge fan of Chef David Dickensauge, so when I found out that he opened up his own spot in Gulfport, MS (not too far from Baton Rouge), I knew I had to try it. My family and I took a weekend trip to Gulfport/​Biloxi area and we are foodies, so we are always up for trying non-​chain restaurants. This restaurant was fantastic and every dish that came out blew my mind! Anytime empanada or lamb appears on a menu, my eyes somehow gravitate towards those items. On this menu, lamb was in the empanadas! They were so tasty that my belly craved more deliciousness. Next came the tempura-​battered Louisiana rock shrimp! Wholly molly guacamolly was that amazing! Perfectly crisped and sauced. The table split a Hearts of Romaine & Kale Caesar Salad that was topped with anchovies… yummm! For an entrée — Porcini Crusted Lamb Chops graced our table, which we were able to share because it was such a huge portion; leftovers was in definite order. Thankfully, were were able to wiggle some room for the dessert and boy were we glad that we did. The Chocolate Icebox Pie was a slice of heavenly decadence! We ended this dining experience with a nice visit with Chef David Dickensauge, who gave us the scoop on his near-​future plans. It’s so awesome to hear his platform for the progression of food in this beach city. I can’t wait to see more from him. He has that drive that always wants to achieve a whole new level of culinary excellence. Thank you for sharing your talents with us and a phenomenal dinner. It was absolutely one to remember! Lastly, don’t forget to visit the Corks & Cleaver bar (below the restaurant) and if you are planning a large-​scale special event, make sure to book it at their events venue (a couple doors down).

We’ve only been once. Interesting menu. We enjoyed the food, but the service was a bit off. We climbed the stairs and took a seat on the balcony and it took a very long time for anyone to attend to us. Apparently the hostess is down on the sidewalk playing with an ipad or something — we thought she was a customer. Once our wait person made contact then things went smoothly.
Hopefully, this is only birth pangs and we’ll return.

You guys get 5 stars! Much thanks to our waiter, Ben! The hummus was great (and those peppers… yes!), the short ribs… awesome, and the pork chops were immaculate! Thank you chef! Keep up the good work!

Must go. Be prepared for an excellent farm to table experience. The chef Dave (I think) talked us through the menu, the history and his joy of being a part of this establishment. If you want a cocktail you have to walk downstairs but they offer local beer and wine that is a perfect combination with the menu. Get the fig Flatbread no matter what. The local light beer is excellent. Try to sit outside upstairs weather permitting. From the street noise and possible train passing you will feel the local, quaint small coastal town you visited.

Wow! Our new favorite restaurant! The cheese and charcuterie plate is the perfect appetizer. Spot-​on cheerful service and a greeting from the owner. It has been a long time since a restaurant made me feel this wanted. A great selection of fine wines and beers, and I’ll dream of the prime rib until I get back here… likely next week!

Wowsers! We had the duck quesadillas, pork belly nachos and spring rolls. Everything, including the service, was nothing short of amazing! We had bloody Mary’s and moscato. We met the owner/​chef and he was very interested in our input of the food and service! If I lived here, I would be a regular for sure!!!

The atmosphere and décor are quite wonderful. The menu selection is very intriguing. The waiter was mildly pretentious but expected in an upscale establishment such as this. He selected a slightly sweet yet dry merlot to pair with my prime rib. The salad was interesting with a tangy dressing and capers. The prime rib was incredible. I would have liked a side of horseradish and au jus.

«Impressive» is the word that comes to mind after this evening’s dining experience.
My wife and I tried this restaurant based on the recommendation from a friend. We are glad we did.
I don’t give five stars often, but this rating is deserved.
1. Atmosphere. Comfortable setting. A button down and khakis will suffice. 5 Stars!
2. Meal. We had the «Special». The special was a succulent three course meal consisting of tempura squash crawfish thing, braised short ribs, and finally pork chops. Perhaps the most flavorful meal I’ve had on the coast. Each course was perfectly paired with a wine offering that even those not accustomed to drinking wine would enjoy. Come hungry, we had a large to go bag. We don’t normally take our restaurant dishes home, but couldn’t help ourselves in this instance. 5 Stars.
3. Wine. The Special was served with three pairings of wine. All three were fine selections that complimented each course. 5 Stars.
4. Service. The servers, (one main server with multiple assists from the staff) were spot on, never leaving you wanting anything without being overbearing or bothersome. A++++ service. Our server’s name was «John» but people called him «Schultzy» (or something similar). 5 Stars. He was extremely knowledgeable about the entire menu to include the wine. Best service on the coast.
5. Selection. We had a selection of various cheeses (6 selections for $ 18) that was simply phenomenal! May seem pricy, but if you love cheese, you would be a fool to pass this up. We are already thinking about out next visit. What can this chef have up his sleeve to top this night’s meal?
6. Great price! For the amount of food, the excellent service, the flavorful selections, and the comfortable atmosphere, this is the place you want to go.
In summation, this is our new favorite spot! Two three course meals, three offerings of wine each, a cheese selection with 6 varieties, and yes, leftovers (placed here as a positive).
Even being critical, I cannot find one negative thing to say about this reatraunt. I am still salivating but can’t eat anything more at the moment!
Kudos Cork and Clever!

This was such a pleasant surprise. We were looking for a place called Gilley’s that had decent reviews on here. Turns out they were bought out by this place when they chose to expand. Glad they did! See, the upstairs part is still the same Wine Bistro, but now they have a downstairs bar. (With what I believe to be a different menu versus the upstairs)
The server was incredibly friendly and kept checking on us throughout our time there. Even took the time to thoroughly explain the menu and joked around with us. Made our visit very pleasant.
The menu is a bit small, but considering how they are in the soft opening stage, this isn’t terribly surprising. Plus, in comparison, the previous place had a small menu. Wish I would of thought to take a picture of the menu, oh well. I’ll try to next time we go in case no one else does.
So, on to the food itself. Duck Confit quesadillas and sweet tea brined chicken tenders is what we ordered. I had never had duck before, but really enjoyed it! My girlfriend has had duck before and thought it was the best duck she ever had! (Big compliment from her) The chicken finders were pretty good along with the French fries that came with them.
Overall, this was a great experience despite not realizing what we were literally walking into! We will for sure come back in the future.

Stumbled upon this new restaurant while looking for a different place. They were so kind and inviting we decided to give it a try. For dinner u had two small plates-​the figs stuffed with home-​made andouille and wrapped with bacon along with the Tempura Shrimp. Both were excellent. Dessert was two of my favorite cheeses from the charcuterie and cheese selections. The service was excellent-​thank you Candice!
It was so good we went back a couple of days later. I had the tasting menu-​the shrimp-​crab bisque with ghost pepper roe may be the best bisque I have ever had-​Wow! My co-​worked had the prime rib which I tasted-​Joe, the owner, told us they cold cook it (108 – 110 degrees F) over night and then finish it on the grill. It was perhaps the most flavorful prime rib I have ever tasted.
Give this place a try and get to know the folks-​they are super nice.
I can now say I have had turtle cracklings!

Dinner with my two boys. Service was good. Presentations fancy with pretty colors and kaleidoscopic swirls with all kinds of neat stuff. But if that’s all you care about then save a buck or two and eat a Christmas tree. That’ll work.
In all fairness, my older boy said his duck was better than what he had in Las Vegas and the younger one said his baby back ribs were excellent. But the lamb and tuna appetizers and Caesar salads were just OK. My greeeeeeen mashed potatoes, not so much.
I, unfortunately, ordered the tenderloin and it was worthy of a public service announcement on the WLOX six o’clock local news. I have no idea what it was. It was cooked to perfection, of course, just like I ordered. I mean, like, how do you screw up a steak? But it was definitely NOT tenderloin. Select sirloin maybe, at best. Actually, it was more like beef-​flavored silly putty. I literally could not chew it enough before I felt it was safe to force-​swallow. If somebody had asked me yesterday if I knew what rhino jewels tasted like I would have been able to say «haven’t a clue,» and I still don’t. But at least now I have a pretty good idea.

Chef David knows what he’s doing! I’ve been here for lunch a few times, and each time I was impressed even more than the previous visit. His dishes are extremely well put together. The soft crab sandwich is to die for!

I got the crab cake (seared new orleans style crab) and shared the charcuterie tray. The crab cake was meal size. It was tasty, you could taste the crab and spices. There were surprise chunk of bacon. The menu said bacon «glass» which I did not understand as a chunk. Quite tasty. The crab cake was comfort food to me. I wanted to eat it and have it hug me at the same time. The wine selection is very nice, there are wines at many price points and for both mature and immature palettes. The service was also great. The chef even came out and was so nice as to answer my questions. The meat and produce come from farms in the state. I am so excited to have come upon this place and want you all to know and will keep telling my friends until they cry uncle and come

Chef David brings 5 star dining to Gulfport! They are even opening an organic market and bakery!

A Gulfport native, Chef David Dickensauge of Corks & Cleaver has worked at highly acclaimed restaurants across the country — from New York to Chicago to Miami — before packing his knives back to his roots to introduce the Deep South to his culinary ingenuity. Sourcing only the freshest ingredients, Corks & Cleaver highlights a creative menu with items that seamlessly fuses cuisines from around the world, including tuna poke over a bed of seaweed and edamame salad with kimchi purée and duck confit beignets with bok choy kimchi, smoked date marmalade, and cayenne powder sugar.

This place has not only an outstanding menu but staff as well. They were clearly happy working there and it showed.
The food was cooked perfectly and what they had on the menu was outstanding and different from ALL the others in the area but still had a southern flair you want.
We started with the hummus. Yum and freshly made.
I had the short ribs which were tender and in a flavorful sauce over course grits. Hubs got the prime rib again perfectly cooked. and very generous portions.
Finished with the cheesecake. Yum again.
Good wine and beer selection.
I seriously can’t wait to go back.

Went to Corks with my family last night. The food is a complicated mess. Not complicated in a fancy way, but complicated in a tasteless, trying too hard way.
The plating was fancy. A beautiful palette of swirls and colors topped with your chosen protein. However, the lack of seasoning and the cuts of meat were unappetizing. I ordered a braised pork butt. Looked lovely, but there was a large layer of gooey fat to get through to get to the meat. A little fat to give flavor or a crisp sear is fine. But, an inch thick of curdling fat that marbles itself through the meat, is not.
This place could really benefit from the KISS concept. Keep it simple. Yes, it’s a bistro. And yes it’s designed to cater to a higher class. But, that does not mean the chef should purée everything on the plate from peas to potatoes in order to stroke the upper middle class ego. We know good food when we see it. We also know good food when we taste it. And, I’ll choose good food over pretty, tasteless food every time.
When asked by the hostess my opinion of the food, I gave nice, constructive criticism. She looked right through me in skepticism. That means the food is going to remain mediocre, which is sad, because the restaurant has promise. I would not return to dine at this restaurant, and I cannot recommend it to others.

Superb service, setting, menu options, presentation, and taste! You cannot get any better than this in Gulfport. Fantastic experience that we would definitely return for!

We Were Face Book stalking their site all day. The pictures showed amazing presentations but we were curious about the most important part which is flavor. We were going to wait till the following week to try this place out. We couldn’t resist so we ended up going that same night!
We showed up on a rainy night and they offered umbrella service and even a elevator ride up to the second floor. The décor was very modern and elegant. The eating area is quint but inviting!
As soon as we sat down and revived the menus we started to dissect the menu. As we were looking @ it I got very excited because everything on the menu was very creative which is what we need on the gulf coast! Rather than the typical menu options. The prices are very reasonable!
The service was very friendly! We were greeted by Joey (part owner) several times to follow up on service and food quality. Chef David also makes it a point to check up on our likings.
The whole experience was Grand! The restaurant has only been open for 9 days. I for see that this restaurant will be a reservation only in the near future because such great quality food. It’s only a matter of time that the word will get out!