{"id":158908,"date":"2026-05-14T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=158908"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:34:22","slug":"oliver-hospitality-appoints-derrek-long-as-executive-chef-of-the-oliver-hotel-of-oxford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/oliver-hospitality-appoints-derrek-long-as-executive-chef-of-the-oliver-hotel-of-oxford\/","title":{"rendered":"Oliver Hospitality Appoints Derrek Long as Executive Chef of the Oliver Hotel of Oxford\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Long to lead menu redevelopment at Kingswood, the hotel\u2019s newly refreshed signature restaurant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Oliver Hospitality<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0welcomed Derrek Long<\/strong>\u00a0as the chef to helm a newly remodeled\u00a0Kingswood<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0inside\u00a0The Oliver Hotel, Oxford<\/a>,\u00a0plus all food and beverage operations within the hotel, including Nightbird<\/strong><\/a>, the\u00a0speakeasy-inspired concept that nods\u00a0to the city\u2019s rich literary history, featuring craft cocktails and small bites.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A native of Guthrie, Oklahoma<\/strong>, Long hails from a family of chefs, getting his start in his father\u2019s\u00a0steakhouse\u00a0at 16.\u00a0He went off to earn a degree from Platt College, afterwards becoming the youngest instructor hired\u00a0at the school, only 21.\u00a0Having run the gamut of leading culinary programs across restaurants, country clubs, hotels,\u00a0resorts,\u00a0and event spaces \u2014 including the Kentucky Derby, where he worked alongside chefs handling VIP events \u2014 Long has since settled into the hotel space, most recently at FLINT in Oklahoma City.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At The Oliver Hotel, Oxford, Long will lead the creation of farm-driven seasonal menus, training and development of culinary procedures, developing property relations with local purveyors, and fostering a hospitable environment. Long\u2019s background is a natural fit, as he considers career highlights \u201cthe programs I\u2019ve built to help create sustainable farm-to-table concepts that support local communities, as well as initiatives to help feed those who need it most.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Menus at Kingswood will evolve with inspiration drawn from the surrounding region. \u201cI look at the seasonality of the local landscape,\u201d Long said. \u201cI find the best dishes are those steeped in history and culture \u2014 finding the soul of those ingredients.\u201d He added that the evolving menu will seek to \u201cinvestigate the soul of Mississippi\u2019s culinary culture.\u201d Long is a proponent of elegance in simplicity, often drawing out maximum flavor from each dish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example, with the goal of establishing the restaurant as a premier dining destination in Oxford, is a\u00a0new\u00a0seasonal dish inspired by local produce: \u201cUsing watermelon from the region inspired a salad that has completely stolen my heart.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0named it Watermelon Fresco \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0refreshing, light, and perfect for rising temperatures.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0excited to see guest responses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long is particularly excited to work with local purveyors including Native Son Farm,\u00a0HalleluYAH\u00a0Gardens, and Copper Creek.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long also has a strong interest in hunger awareness and prevention within his community. He noted that he \u201chopes to create an event that brings together local chefs to raise awareness around hunger in the state and generate funds to help address it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a recent brand refresh, Kingswood continues to build momentum. Looking ahead, Long envisions deeper community integration over the next five years, sharing that he hopes to see the restaurant \u201cheavily involved in the local food and beverage community,” with the goal of establishing the restaurant as a premier dining destination in Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about the Oliver Hotel, Oxford, its dining concepts, and Oliver Hospitality, visit theoliverhotel.com\/oxford<\/a> and oliverhospitality.com<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long to lead menu redevelopment at Kingswood, the hotel\u2019s newly refreshed signature restaurant Oliver Hospitality\u00a0has\u00a0welcomed Derrek Long\u00a0as the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":158910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26750],"tags":[34651,34654,34655,34652,4,30149],"class_list":["post-158908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-dining","tag-derrek-long","tag-kingswood","tag-nightbird","tag-oliver-hospitality","tag-oxford","tag-the-oliver-hotel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/oliver-hotel.jpeg?fit=275%2C183&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158908"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159012,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158908\/revisions\/159012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}