NATCHEZ &8212; The Isle of Capri Casino will take a spotlight Saturday at &8220;Dining in Dixie,&8221; a food extravaganza at the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration at the Natchez Convention Center.

For chef Ron Banks and food and beverage manager John Moran, the timing is perfect. Both are new to the casino and like the opportunity to share some of the Isle&8217;s best fare with the 500-plus people expected at the event.

&8220;This weekend gives us the opportunity to share what we can do,&8221; said Moran, a New York native who has fallen in love with the South.

Banks, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., considers himself a native of Natchez, though he traveled while growing up in a military family.

He will preside at one of a dozen tables that center on a particular Southern food, each table overseen by top chefs from Mississippi restaurants.

Jack Sours, vice president and general manager at Isle of Capri since early December, said the company likes to take part in community events.

&8220;We&8217;re happy to get out in the community,&8221; he said. &8220;It sounds like a good event, and we look forward to it.&8221;

Banks will have grits as his main food. &8220;We&8217;ll work with a lot of grits, a Southern favorite,&8221; he said. &8220;We&8217;ll prepare it in many ways, and it will be presented extremely well. Southerners like a lot of greens and sausages. We&8217;ll arrange around some of those foods, also.&8221;

Moran said the food fest will &8220;showcase the wonderful talents of our chef as well as the wonderful foods we can provide.&8221;

His path to food services came through part-time jobs during college, Moran said. &8220;I was going to school for psychology at St. John&8217;s University,&8221; he said. &8220;I realized I really enjoyed food service.&8221;

Intercontinental Hotels brought Moran south to New Orleans. He has worked other places since then and has been with Isle of Capri less than six months. He and his wife, Mim, have four children, 24, 22, 16 and 14.

&8220;Our goal here is to bring a quality of food and beverage to rival any casino in the state,&8221; he said. &8220;And we can do it. Ron is a consummate professional.

&8220;I&8217;ve worked in many five-star properties, and the team here is a good solid crew, really interested in learning how to update some of the old-style Southern cuisine.&8221;

For Banks, the memory of his Natchez grandmothers, Schewedia Banks and Fannie Butler, remains strong. &8220;They really impressed me. They raised their own farm animals and vegetables,&8221; he said.

Now, he takes the old-time Southern foods and puts new twists on them. &8220;I want to put this place on the Natchez food map,&8221; he said of the restaurant at the Natchez Under-the-Hill site. &8220;I want this to be the place where people come to get real Natchez food.&8221;

Banks and his wife, Ava, have three children, Victoria, 9, Savion, 8, and Tyler, 6.