Jesse Jones grew up eating the classic Southern cooking his mother and grandmother made in the small town of Snow Hill, North Carolina.

Chicken smothered in creamy gravy. Slow-roasted ribs. Cornbread.

He loved it so much he wanted to become a professional chef even though, he says “most of the African-American chefs I knew were short-order cooks.”

Still, he moved to New Jersey to work with some of the state’s culinary stars like David Drake  at the old Stage House in Scotch Plains (Drake’s restaurant is now in Rahway) and Dennis Foy when he owned  Townsquare in Chatham.

He learned New American and French techniques along the way, and applied them to the foods of his childhood. He calls it the New Carolina Cuisine.

For instance, Jones says, his grandmother would make collard greens boiled in ham hocks. He does that too, but instead of plain water to start he uses the classic stock basic to French sauces, then ads the ham hocks and boils the veggies for 45 minutes instead of two hours for more flavor, crunchiness and fiber.

OK, so it’s an update on tradition, and it’s healthier. But does it taste good?

Last weekend at a barbecue and cooking class Jones gave at the Mona Lisa art gallery and framing shop in Maplewood, the answer was a resounding yes. He served shrimp sautéed in not-lard, with a little spicy kick from what Jones calls “my essence,” which includes cayenne pepper and jalepeños. The winning dish, though, had to be the ribs. The meat literally fell off the bone with the lightest nudge from a fork, yet remained moist and smoky, and flavored with a sauce of molasses and cider vinegar that married sweetness with acidity.

One secret is slow smoking, Jones said, until juices run clear. Easy to say, harder to judge without the “built-in-thermometer” Jones says he has in his head from all those years “on the line” at some of the state’s most highly regarded stoves. Undercooking or undercooking was simply not done, he recalls.

Jones is a big teddy bear of a man whose demeanor shows his gentle nature and passion for food. He closed his restaurant Heart and Soul in South Orange two years ago because, he says, it was “undercapitalized and out of the way.”

His dream is to be a celebrity chef on television. He also caters private parties, from big affairs to intimate dinners in someone’s home. You can check out his menu and his prices, and see if his New Carolina suits your table and your budget.