- 4 months ago
Texas-born chef Tiffany Derry is taking the food world by storm. Raised in Beaumont, Texas, with deep family ties to Louisiana, Tiffany grew up surrounded by the Southern traditions of big family gatherings and potluck meals. Now, Tiffany runs a growing restaurant empire—including Radici Wood Fired Grill—where she blends her Southern roots with global flavors. In this episode of Biscuits & Jam, Sid Evans talks to Tiffany about her legendary fried chicken recipe, the challenges of judging young chefs, and her upcoming role as a presenter at Southern Living’s Illumination Charleston.
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00:00Well, Tiffany Derry, welcome to Biscuits and Jam.
00:03Thank you. Thanks for having me.
00:04So where am I reaching you right now?
00:06I am at home. So in Dallas, Texas, I am glad to be home and in the restaurants this week, for sure.
00:14Have you been traveling a bunch?
00:15I do. I travel a lot. I probably travel every other week for sure.
00:20But this is like an actual 10 days home, which is not as much as rare.
00:28It's rare now. So now I want more of those days.
00:31I'm fixing my schedule to be able to be a little home a little more.
00:34Well, you seem relaxed and in a good place. So that's good.
00:38That's what home feels like.
00:41Tiffany, I want to say just, you know, at the top that we're excited to have you come into Illumination Charleston this year.
00:49Which is Southern Living's kind of kickoff to the holidays.
00:53And we do it in Charleston, South Carolina.
00:56And it's going to be a fun weekend and a fun lineup.
01:01And we're just we're so excited to have you on board.
01:04No, thanks for having me. I'm excited, too.
01:06I love South Carolina. So it's going to be a good time.
01:09It's a great place to be.
01:10And but you never know whether it's going to be 30 degrees or 80 degrees.
01:14So be ready.
01:16Well, it's not 120. So I'm OK with that.
01:19That's true. That is true.
01:21So you're in Texas. You're in Dallas now.
01:24But you grew up in Beaumont, right?
01:27That's correct.
01:27And Beaumont, I've never been to Beaumont, but it's it's way south.
01:33And I mean, it's almost all the way to Louisiana.
01:35And and when I think of Beaumont, I think of a lot of like marsh and water close to the water and and a lot of birds and maybe even some alligators.
01:47And, you know, it's really it's kind of, you know, right down there at the bottom of Texas.
01:53Tell me a little bit about the about the house in the neighborhood where you grew up.
01:57Yeah. So Beaumont, Texas is is like my love.
02:01Everything I love about my childhood.
02:04I mean, really stems from Beaumont and Port Outland, Louisiana.
02:08But Beaumont, you know, we I grew up in sort of the family home, if you would.
02:14One my grandmother had that my mom stayed in and then my mom took over that one.
02:19And then, you know, then we moved on.
02:20Eventually, I ended up getting our own home.
02:23Not a lot of water in my particular area.
02:25There's a port, obviously.
02:27And it's funny that like now as an older person, I'm looking at sort of the map and I can definitely see that there's there's water near Beaumont.
02:37We never did anything in the water.
02:39One, it was more again, it was only the port.
02:43And it it definitely feels more Houston than like South Louisiana, just because we're sort of the the larger of the city surrounding the smaller cities, which really means not much.
03:00But it does if you're there.
03:03Your family's from, you said, Port Allen.
03:06That's correct.
03:07Which is not that far, right?
03:09I mean, probably an hour away or something.
03:11Yeah, it's a little a little over an hour.
03:13Yep, exactly.
03:14So my family, my mother grew up.
03:16She had 10 other brothers and sisters and they grew up for the most part in Port Allen.
03:24And we've always had our homes there.
03:27And they ended up moving to Beaumont, Texas.
03:30And we spent every summer and every holiday.
03:34It felt like going back to Louisiana, but we lived in Texas.
03:37So they always say they have this saying in Beaumont.
03:39They're like, you wish you were in Beaumont, you know, in Louisiana, but you're really Texas.
03:43But everyone from everyone who's living in Beaumont pretty much came from Louisiana and moved over.
03:50But it was great.
03:51I loved my town.
03:52It was small.
03:53Everyone knew everyone.
03:55I remember even like missing the bus.
03:59And I missed the bus one morning and our neighbor was like, okay, I'll take you, you know, because my parents were going on to work.
04:05And so it was just that kind of city for sure.
04:08What was it that brought your folks from from Port Allen over to Beaumont or how did they kind of land there?
04:15They were looking for work, more, more work than where they were.
04:19Spindletop, which was known in Beaumont, you know, gas, oil and gas.
04:23And there was a lot of work in Beaumont at that time.
04:27And so my grandmother came over and that was that was.
04:32And then after that, eventually my grandfather ended up falling her.
04:36And all the children grew up in Beaumont.
04:39Yeah.
04:39After that.
04:40So talk to me about the food culture there.
04:44I mean, you know, it's so close to Louisiana.
04:48Is it a lot of I mean, did you kind of grow up on a lot of like seafood and, you know, shrimp and oysters and crabs and that kind of thing?
04:58Or does it skew a little bit more, you know, Texas?
05:01Probably more Louisiana in my particular house because one, my it's the way my grandmother cooked.
05:07So it's how my mother ended up cooking as well.
05:12You know, gumbo.
05:13I laugh when you talk to my mom today.
05:15She'll say, you know, I haven't had gumbo in like seven days.
05:18I think I'll make some like it's just it's like they whip it up.
05:23And it has to be something it's it's a for sure twice a month that you're cooking at home.
05:31And it's funny because outside of really Louisiana, where do you really get that much?
05:36Right. Like, I mean, my mom wants it every week.
05:40Okra, she'll make it right now.
05:41There's a garden and her garden's grown really well.
05:44And she's like, oh, if I have enough okra for the year, I'm going to bring you a few bags.
05:48And so it's definitely a lot of like heavy rice, very much of rice like many other areas.
05:56Almost almost feel like we went overboard with rice because of how many family members I have.
06:02My mom, again, has all brothers and sister, which means that I have 50 cousins.
06:07And so we all would get together and you would have some in the garage, in the front room, all over the house.
06:16I mean, that's just a normal get together.
06:19A normal midweek get together would be tons of people.
06:23And my grandmother would say, you have to put more rice on your plate.
06:26And that was her way of making sure that we all had enough of the other things.
06:30So you had to put rice.
06:32Rice was important.
06:33And now I just can't go without rice.
06:34I love rice.
06:35I mean, that's amazing.
06:36So this wasn't just like a it wasn't just a holiday thing.
06:40I mean, it was almost like a weekly party was happening with everybody.
06:45Yeah.
06:46Yes.
06:46Because so many of my aunts and uncles worked and you would just meet, you know, the bus would drop us off at my grandmother house.
06:55And that would be kind of where you would go or someone would pick you up and bring you over there.
07:01And we would all be together.
07:02So, I mean, I grew up around my cousins.
07:04My cousins were my first friends.
07:07Absolutely.
07:08That's so cool.
07:08You know, not everybody gets to do that.
07:12I mean, what a great thing.
07:13You know, maybe at the time you might have thought, you know, these guys are really getting in my business.
07:18But, you know, but looking back, what an incredible thing.
07:25You know, I know that your mom is an incredible cook and I think a baker, right?
07:31Yes, that's correct.
07:32Yeah.
07:32But your grandmother as well.
07:34I mean, did your grandmother really kind of, you know, did she take the lead on the cooking in the family or did she really teach her mom a lot about kind of how to cook?
07:47I mean, most of what my mom learned, she learned from my grandmother.
07:50But what made my mother's food different was my mom did hair.
07:54And so she would go to work and someone would bring her some food and she would ask them, you know, how did they prepare it?
08:01I remember her coming home after having my noodle for the first time and making it at home.
08:07And we don't know what we're eating.
08:09We're like, it's good, you know.
08:10And so, I mean, she was very, very adventurous from an early age that I can remember.
08:16But the way it kind of worked was all of my family cooks.
08:20So it's not just my mom.
08:21My mom is probably the most different and probably she does the most non-Southern cooking.
08:27But everyone else cooks because my grandmother worked.
08:30And so everybody had to pick up.
08:32I mean, the guys bake.
08:34They make rolls.
08:35There's no specific rolls in who does what.
08:38Your dad is a musician.
08:39Is that right?
08:40That's correct.
08:41Yeah, he plays saxophone.
08:42And so, and what about his role on the cooking side of things?
08:47He's really more of a talker.
08:54Somebody's got to do the talking.
08:55Yeah.
08:56You know, it's funny, Sid.
08:57You would love it.
08:58So my dad plays saxophone.
09:00And kid you not, every holiday that saxophone's coming out in our garage, it is set up.
09:06He has microphones.
09:08He has speakers.
09:09He was part of a band.
09:10And so they would come practice.
09:12And you would, like, there is some entertainment aspect to a family get-together.
09:18You know, people sing.
09:19I'm not the singer.
09:20But, you know, there are other members who do.
09:22And so it just turns into fun somehow.
09:24There's going to always be a saxophone and a mic, though.
09:27That is so cool.
09:28Well, you know, I mean, this is, you're on Biscuits and Jam here.
09:31So we might need to have your dad on Biscuits and Jam.
09:34He would love it.
09:37Well, you know, and it's so much of what we talk about on this podcast is food and music and how they go together, particularly in the South.
09:49And, you know, I love hearing, you know, a firsthand account of that.
09:53Yeah, it's always been a big part of who we are as a family, even at home.
09:59You know, if I'm at home, I'm going to turn on some music, right?
10:02I'm just going to be doing cooking, enjoying myself, singing, dancing.
10:07That singing is only meant for bathroom and kitchen.
10:11That's just the only place it'll be, though.
10:12Nobody else needs to hear it.
10:14No one else wants to hear it.
10:16So, Tiffany, you know, just thinking about food and music also, I've heard you mention that the church was a big part of your life.
10:25And I'm curious, what did that look like for you and particularly on the food front?
10:35You know, was that kind of a scene for big, you know, I don't know, Sunday dinners or that kind of thing?
10:42Or was there a lot of overlap between, you know, between the worship and the food?
10:48It's funny, so I, my grandfather was the pastor and built the church that we, that we went to.
10:55Then my dad became the pastor of that church many, many years later.
11:00So my dad, mom and dad are both still at the church and co-pastor at the church.
11:06So I have always been in church.
11:12Yeah, I guess so.
11:13We, we, we have always been the family there.
11:18And that meant that we went for Bible study, for, you know, choir practice, for women ministry.
11:27We were, we were always there.
11:29In fact, there were play areas that we, we have within that only, I feel like the family really knows.
11:35And so there would always be some type of food simply because one, we're probably going to be there for a while.
11:41So, but one of the things I've always loved and I still love is, is just like a church plate, you know?
11:46You know, there's nothing like that good old church plate where the ladies of the church have gone back and fried the chicken and the meat, got the ribs going and the brisket.
11:57And there's always some mac and cheese and peach cobb.
12:00I mean, it feels like more Thanksgiving, but it's just a church plate, you know?
12:06During the week, it'll be like fried fish, potato salad, green beans, a little slice of bread.
12:10I mean, those were the best.
12:12I miss those moments.
12:15Those were great.
12:16You're not seeing that as much in Dallas where you are now, no.
12:19No, I don't see any of that.
12:21In fact, they're like, why are we cooking in the kitchen?
12:24But my church, people are like, well, maybe we don't have to cook in the kitchen anymore.
12:30Let's do something else.
12:31And for me, it was the time, it wasn't just being in there.
12:35At the time, I was younger too, but being in the kitchen, you would see how everyone just kind of worked with each other, right?
12:42You know, there were all these conversations that were had.
12:44It was catch up times to see how your kids doing, how your cousins doing, who you know over here.
12:51And it was, it was just, it was good times.
12:53It wasn't just about food, but it was also providing meals for people within the church that didn't have food, you know, that came and maybe they, you know, didn't have a lot for their own family, but they were pressing away and it gave them a place to feel secure and knew they would be taken care of.
13:13So always loved those moments.
13:15And your grandfather built this church.
13:17He did, yeah.
13:18I mean, that's, that's amazing.
13:21Yeah, yeah.
13:22And crazy, this too, look, now that we're going far, my dad was, he, he did construction.
13:30So he actually helped build the church, which is how he met my mom at church.
13:37I know, I know, I can't make this up.
13:39Wow.
13:41Wow.
13:41So this is what, like, give me a timeframe of when this was happening.
13:46It had to be probably 85, 84, maybe.
13:54I don't know what specific year they met or how many years they kind of played that game.
14:02But their first date, my dad picked my mom up.
14:07He was a musician and he picked her up and they thought they were going on a date and he took her, she took him to church.
14:14So that was.
14:17Oh boy.
14:18That's what a great story.
14:20Um, well, he knew what he was getting into, didn't he?
14:24He did.
14:24He did.
14:25He got the best.
14:27But I can say so myself.
14:31Oh, that's great.
14:32That is great.
14:33Well, so I want to talk to you about, um, hospitality a little bit.
14:37You know, you, you're in the hospitality business.
14:40Um, in a big way.
14:44And you, um, I mean, you have these restaurants and, um, you cook for people, um, all the time in different ways, sometimes on TV.
14:54Um, but in your restaurants in particular, you're taking care of people and you're, you're, you're making them feel welcome.
15:00Um, and I think about your mom and your grandmother, um, cooking for these huge groups of people.
15:10Um, you must've taken some things away from that.
15:13I mean, you know, learning how to, how to host a crowd and how to, you know, have people, um, in your home and how to make them feel comfortable.
15:23Um, what are some things that you kind of picked up on, um, from, from them?
15:28I mean, really what I, what I gather from, um, my own home growing up was there was never a closed door.
15:36I mean, anytime someone needed something, um, they would find their way to our home and they were always met with great food, you know, something to drink.
15:46You're not going to walk into my grandmother's house and not have something to eat and drink.
15:50Like that was just it.
15:51And even our just regular meals, whether it's holiday or whether we would celebrate once a month, we would celebrate everyone's birthday within that month.
16:02And we sing happy birthday and all this good stuff and have some cake for you and you and you.
16:07Uh, and so that kind of became our tradition.
16:09And it's funny, as large as our family was, we still continue to grow.
16:14You would count at least probably 12 of them who weren't really our family, who became our family, who, who are always there.
16:22I mean, I still have an aunt who's no longer married to my uncle, uh, who continues to still be at everything.
16:28And she is our family.
16:30Like there's no problem with that.
16:32And so that's just kind of how, how I grew up thinking that we can always make something spread.
16:38So it's like, oh, we don't have enough food.
16:39Oh, we have enough, you know, we'll, we'll figure it out.
16:42Um, but at the root of that, that's hospitality.
16:45But the root of it is making someone feel great.
16:48Um, they should at that moment, forget about everything else they have going on and enjoy that moment.
16:54And I think about when I go home to my mother's house and when I am on that couch,
17:01and you know what?
17:02Tim's not doing too much.
17:05My kid, I get some cake.
17:06You know, I'm not doing too much.
17:09I get to sit back.
17:11I get to relax.
17:12I get to be loved.
17:13I get to be fed.
17:15Um, we're going to have great stories, great laughter.
17:18And that's something that, um, I hope that people feel when they come to not only my, my home,
17:24but my home in the restaurant.
17:26And I, and I tell my cooks, I tell my chefs, it's not about me.
17:30It has to be about you.
17:31You know, I'm not here every day.
17:33So how do you make them feel when you see, you know, John come through?
17:37Do you go to him and say, hi, welcome.
17:39Great to see you.
17:40Do you, you wave when they're walking in the door, you know, just make people feel good.
17:45Um, and that's why we also have the open kitchen.
17:48Every restaurant has a very open, very open.
17:51Um, but people come right up.
17:52They say hello the moment they walk in the door and that's, that's hospitality.
17:56You said, I think you say on your website, um, that you think hospitality is more important
18:03than service.
18:04Mm.
18:05Mm.
18:05Yeah.
18:06Yeah.
18:06I think it's such a, you know, which is so true and such a cool, you know, thing to put
18:13out there.
18:14I mean, service obviously really matters.
18:16I mean, that's so important.
18:19Yeah.
18:19But it's that feeling that you give people.
18:22It's all about it.
18:23You know, service is steps.
18:25Service is, you know, serve from the right, pick up from the left, do the things that matter.
18:29Or I got that back.
18:30But, um, it's just, there's this procedure in, in service, right?
18:37It's, this is how it should be.
18:41When, um, things don't go according to plan.
18:45That is kind of when you get out of that and you have to say, all right, I want to
18:49make sure that how that person walks out of this building is great.
18:54I don't care how, what, what happened along the way.
18:57I don't care how they, you know, husband and wife might've had an argument before they
19:00walked into the door, but when they get in this door, we're going to make them feel
19:03good.
19:04We're going to make them feel like Kings and Queens.
19:06We're going to hopefully, uh, give them great service.
19:09We're going to give them something great, uh, to eat and drink.
19:12But at the end of the day, they're going to walk out of here, remembering how we make
19:16them feel.
19:17And so that right there is what we concentrate for.
19:21I want to ask you about another place where I think you probably learned a few things about
19:26hospitality and service.
19:28And that is IHOP.
19:32You worked at, uh, international house of pancakes, which I think was your first job or one of
19:37your first, first restaurant jobs.
19:39Um, and you've did it for a while.
19:41Um, and you know, that is such an institution.
19:46Um, and you must've just seen, you know, all walks of life.
19:50I mean, everybody goes to IHOP at some point, um, tell me about that experience and you know,
19:57what some of your takeaways were from, from that.
20:00Yeah, I was very young.
20:01I was 15 years old when I started working at IHOP and I originally went in and I told
20:06them that I wanted to be a cook and they told me that no women were allowed in their kitchen.
20:11And I said, well, okay, well, what do you have?
20:14And they said, you can be a server.
20:15And, um, I started serving tables and soon after, um, the cooks there, you know, I would
20:22go in and talk to them and they would teach me little things of like, you know, how to
20:26flip eggs and how to, you know, use my risk and other things.
20:30And so it was always great.
20:31So one day someone called out and they said, Tiffany, can you come help?
20:36And I threw that apron off and I went back and my first position was expo and, um, expediter,
20:43but from the back and for IHOP at the time, the way that that worked was you actually cooked
20:50and you yelled on all the tickets for everyone.
20:54Uh, that is a very hard thing for most people to do.
20:58So I learned one of the hardest, uh, areas of the restaurant first.
21:02I also love to talk as you could tell.
21:04Uh, so this was sort of the moment that I would be that in between to wait staff, to
21:10our cooks and keep everybody on course.
21:13And at that time they only had one ticket machine.
21:16So the only person who got the ticket was me.
21:19Uh, and so I had to make sure that the timing from the fry and the grill cook and the egg
21:25cook all came up at the same time.
21:27So it was really a skill that, that I learned, um, really at IHOP and I loved it.
21:33I loved being there.
21:34I loved learning procedures and processes.
21:37Um, really what I took from it was, I just became a really fast cook and a very independent
21:44cook because I would work graveyard shifts the older I got.
21:47And so I did that really, I did that through culinary school too.
21:51So I would work from eight at night to six in the morning.
21:53Once I moved to Houston, I found another IHOP and I did the same thing.
21:57And it just, it allowed me one, um, to go into management at a really young age.
22:03And then from there, I just feel like I learned how to work with people.
22:07I learned how to talk to guests.
22:09Um, I had already grew up in a place where my age didn't really change how I talk to people,
22:17right?
22:18Like growing up in a church, you're always put on a spot when your dad's the pastor.
22:23Um, you know, you can be in the back and he would say, come on up and help and pray
22:26us out, you know, or do something.
22:28So you're, you're always, um, learning to kind of pivot and do whatever is asked of
22:33you.
22:34And I think going into IHOP at such a young age and managing at 17 years old, I learned
22:40to talk to people.
22:41I learned to be clear in my expectations and what we wanted or what I needed from them.
22:46Um, and they were all, you know, 40, 50 years old at the time.
22:51And it was great.
22:52You know, I worked with people who were recently had just got out of jail or prison in certain
22:58times.
22:58And so, you know, you just, you learned quickly how to, how to work in that everyone's motivation
23:05needs to be a little bit different.
23:06So though we may manage in, in one way, but the way that comes out needs to be a little
23:12bit different.
23:13And so I learned that early on.
23:14I mean, it sounds like incredible training for what you do now, even though it's just at
23:20a, you know, completely different level, but just to, you know, so much of it is, and I
23:27think so much of the restaurant business and life is just dealing with people.
23:31Um, and, you know, to be thrown into that at, at, at 15 or 16 and have to learn that,
23:36um, on the fly, uh, you know, really had to be quite an experience.
23:42Yeah.
23:42But at that time, you know, it feels, you know, when you're young, you're very adaptable.
23:47Um, and so I feel like it was the perfect time because putting a 30 year old in that,
23:52that had life experiences and maybe has done things a certain way, sometimes they're not
23:57quite as open, but, you know, being, being able to, to see it different ways at a young
24:02age, I think it's great.
24:03I want to talk about your, your restaurants now and, um, some of the things that you're
24:09doing there.
24:10And, um, you know, you've got a really interesting approach to, to Southern food.
24:17Um, I mean, you know, you, you come from this really just such a rich background, um, surrounded
24:25by cooks, you know, all these, you know, um, what sound like, you know, amazing meals, um,
24:32with gosh knows how many, you know, different dishes flying around.
24:36Also that the, you know, coming from, uh, that Louisiana background and all the flavors
24:42there.
24:43Um, but then you've also traveled a ton, um, and brought back, uh, flavors from, and ideas
24:50from your travels into your cooking.
24:53And, um, I'm just curious about that process and, you know, what you've kind of learned through,
25:01through some of your travels and how you've, how you've brought that into your cooking.
25:06Yeah, no, I, when I was in culinary school, they were taking this trip to, um, France at
25:14the time and I didn't know where I wanted to live, but, you know, as you read all the
25:18books at, at that time, it was all about French cooking and everyone had a story of, of really
25:24working their way through in France and, and not knowing the language and hard life in it
25:30out, you know?
25:30And so I thought, you know, maybe that's what I have to do, but I went and I learned
25:36so much and it sort of put this fire in me to get out of country once a year.
25:43And as I was sitting there in France, I said, I want to do this once a year for myself and
25:47I want to travel the world.
25:49Um, and I would work two jobs to be able to go, um, I've kept that up since I was 19 years
25:55old.
25:56Um, and I always go somewhere.
25:58I learned the food, the culture, um, ingredients.
26:02And what my travel has shown me is that we're so much more alike.
26:07You know, kimchi looks so different.
26:10Um, but if you really pull that back, it's fermentation and it's preserving and it reminds
26:17me.
26:17It's pickling.
26:18Yeah, right.
26:19Exactly.
26:19So I'm like, okay, this is familiar to me, just a little bit different.
26:23Maybe, you know, flavors may be a little different for different things, but, um, I just love
26:29the, I mean, even like the idea of like rice, right?
26:32Rice and Asia and rice and like all of these things that I see in correlation to how I grew
26:37up, um, I just started loving it.
26:40And it became this thing.
26:41I had to, had to go, had to see somewhere else.
26:43I had to, and then it gets hard because I love places and I want to go back.
26:47It's like Thailand.
26:47I've been six times like, gosh, and then I want to go again this year.
26:50I'm like, okay, Tiffany, relax.
26:53Um, basically I needed a place.
26:55I felt because I grew up on Southern cuisine and then I traveled all over the world and I
27:02would work for these different companies.
27:03I just felt like I didn't have a true outlet to cook the foods that I wanted to cook.
27:10I don't cook straight Southern.
27:13I have a lot of other profiles to the food that I like.
27:18And so to me, I needed a place to do that.
27:23And I wanted to do it for myself and mine.
27:25So that's why Root Southern Table feels a little different.
27:29Our story isn't straight.
27:30Our story isn't only, you know, in between the lines.
27:34When you think about the African diaspora of like where people went and how they cooked
27:39and why they cooked the way they cook.
27:41Um, I wanted to tell that story, not just the one little story.
27:46Right.
27:47And so that's, that's how Roots was created.
27:51You know, when you look over them and you, yeah, you see cornbread, hot water, cornbread and
27:56greens and you see gumbo, but you also see the beautiful produce of Texas and what that
28:03has to do and what the Gulf that we have, whether it's, you know, we do, um, a flounder
28:08dish now that has an epi spice seasoning with the tamarind sauce feels a little Asian, feels
28:14a little Caribbean, you know?
28:15Um, but that's the thing I learned is like, there's so much correlation between Asia and
28:21the Caribbeans with coconut milk and scotch bonnets and tamarind and like the herbs and
28:26like all of that.
28:27And so I always tell my chef, just make sure it makes sense.
28:32Know the story you're telling through the food before you put it out on the menu.
28:36Is there a place that you've been that really, um, reminds you in a strong way of, um, of the
28:43South or even of, of Texas or, or Beaumont?
28:47There's nowhere like home.
28:48No, there's no way.
28:49There's nowhere like home.
28:50I think there are pieces of things, right?
28:53So, um, I took a trip to Vietnam.
28:56I took a group to Vietnam a couple of years ago and, um, we were in this really small town.
29:03I don't know why this town just took my heart.
29:06And I was like, I'm, I'm, you know, walking down the street and the people are sitting like
29:10on the porch kind of area and they're waving at me.
29:13I'm waving at them.
29:14I don't know them.
29:15They don't know me.
29:16And, um, you know, and we're, we walk into the restaurant and we're just greeted with such
29:21great hospitality.
29:22And it's like those kinds of moments remind me of home, um, in a very different place.
29:28And so, um, yeah, it's always like, you know, pieces of something, but I, I walked away and
29:33I was like, I could stay here for months.
29:35I like this place, you know?
29:37Well, I, I want to bring it back home for a second and, and ask you about something very
29:42Southern and that's fried chicken.
29:44Um, so you've got a, you've got a place called Roots Chicken Shack.
29:49I'm wondering if you can just tell me the kind of the origin story for your fried chicken
29:52recipe.
29:54I mean, that's such a, you know, there's a lot of competition out there on the fried
30:00chicken front.
30:00So if you're going to, if you're going to do that, and especially someone who's as much
30:05of a perfectionist as you, you got to, you know, you got to do it right when you got
30:09to do it a little bit different and you got to make yours the best.
30:11So how do you, how did you kind of land on, um, on that, uh, that signature recipe?
30:18I mean, so many years without ever putting a fried chicken on the menu.
30:23I knew that if I put this chicken on, it has to be the best.
30:27I can't come half step in it.
30:30It has to be consistent.
30:31And it can't be too far away from the chicken I grew up with and loved.
30:36Um, and there's so many different ways of doing fried chicken.
30:41And I just wanted to, one, just honor the way we cook chicken, which is a very simple, uh,
30:48chicken recipe more so with the flavors and the brining and just making sure you buy a great
30:53chicken.
30:53And then that trip to France, the duck fat French fries, it never left me.
30:59Like all of those years, it never left me.
31:02And I went, huh, what happens if I put chicken and duck fat?
31:08And my God, my God, um, it was delicious.
31:13It turned into a whole concept around duck fat fried chicken.
31:18Um, but the duck fat, so we have duck fat fries, duck fat fried chicken.
31:22I laugh, even our salads get a little duck fat with them breadcrumbs.
31:26Um, but you know, it's just, it's, it's delicious.
31:29It's so familiar, but it's still something different.
31:33Like people can't put their, their finger on why it's a little different, but yet it tastes
31:38like home.
31:38And it's because it is home just fried and duck fat.
31:41I mean, I just hearing you talk about it and makes me feel like I need to go down there
31:47right now.
31:48Let's go.
31:49Well, um, I'm sure it, it is very popular and you better not take it off the menu anytime
31:56soon.
31:56Well, no, because we have actually franchises that are going up for our root chicken shack
32:01right now.
32:02So it's, it may be coming to a place near you soon.
32:05Oh, I hope so.
32:06Yeah.
32:06Bring it to Birmingham.
32:07Tiffany, let's talk about the, the competition, uh, circuit for a second and, and just the,
32:14um, some of the shows that you're on and, um, and specifically, uh, MasterChef.
32:22Um, so you're, it's 2025.
32:25You're the first black full-time judge on MasterChef.
32:29Is that right?
32:30That's correct.
32:31Yeah, that's crazy.
32:33It is crazy.
32:34Um, but you know, it's got to have resonated with people in a really big way.
32:42And, you know, I'm wondering what kind of reaction you've gotten from your friends and
32:47your, your fans and your followers and, um, people that you, that you hear from, because
32:53I'm sure it has inspired some people, um, some young people who are probably dreaming
32:59of doing the same thing that, that you're doing one day.
33:02Yeah, no, it, honestly, I didn't even think about it until one day it came out in an article
33:07and it hit me and I was like, oh my goodness.
33:11Like, you know, wow.
33:14Uh, and then it felt heavy.
33:16Um, and it was beautiful to see the outpour of love from everyone else.
33:21But what has sparked the most is the amount of young people in the industry who reach
33:29out constantly on social, um, you know, you go through life just working, doing your thing
33:36and you don't often think in every moment.
33:40There are times when I do think that, hey, you know, they're watching, someone's watching,
33:43someone's being inspired, someone's doing, but you do it because it's really what you want
33:48to do in the beginning, right?
33:50Because they can see me doing what I'm doing.
33:52It reminds you how important representation is.
33:57And it's not, it's not just one category of people.
34:03Um, I mean, women who are constantly telling me all the time, you would think it would be
34:10more of the younger, but it's even older as well saying, reminding them that it's never
34:16too late to start and to do what they want to do.
34:18And also those who are saying, you know, my drive inspires them to keep going.
34:24Um, and also to know that it doesn't have to be done one way, right?
34:28You know, I'm very big on be who you want to be.
34:31You don't have to be the chef that people feel like they're supposed to see, right?
34:37Crazy tattoos, drinking, doing drugs.
34:40Don't be any of those things.
34:42Be who you want to be.
34:44Be kind in the kitchen.
34:45Change what that looks like in your establishment.
34:49You know, we work four day work weeks.
34:50That's important to me.
34:52And so I just think, you know, it's, it's important that people see that things can be done differently,
34:57but it's also great for them to see the representation, um, on this TV screen.
35:04You know, we can have it in restaurants.
35:06We can have it in many different places, but, you know, a lot of people look at TV and they're
35:12like, wow, if I don't see it there, then maybe it's not possible.
35:16Um, and a lot of, a lot of people now, I feel like they do and it makes me happy, but it
35:23also reminds me that, uh, I have to always remember that, you know, along the way.
35:29You're clearly doing a great job at it and, um, it's, uh, it's, it doesn't look easy and
35:38it also, it's, you know, you're in a position now that, um, is very different from being
35:45a competitor.
35:45I mean, you know, now you're in the judge's chair.
35:49Um, so you've been through these cooking competitions and excelled at them and, um, and you've been
35:55on the firing line and now you're sitting in the judge's seat and, um, you know, you, as
36:02someone who's done it, you know, what these people are going through.
36:05And a lot of them are, um, they're younger cooks and you're evaluating them, uh, on,
36:15their future in some ways, there's a lot at stake.
36:19Um, so what's going through your mind, you know, when you're, when you're evaluating the
36:24work of some of these young cooks who are trying to make a career out of this?
36:29One, I'm always fair.
36:30Um, but I always want them to walk away with more than what they had.
36:35So I want them to understand one, where we feel the mistake was made, um, and what to
36:41do to correct that.
36:42Um, so to me, it's how you leave it.
36:45It always has to be like, if I'm going to be thrown in my opinion and in my critique,
36:51I need you to understand why this holds more weight.
36:55And if I am saying it, that means that everyone is really saying it as well.
37:01And so often I'm giving them advice that they just listen.
37:04It's hard because we're emotional people half the time.
37:07Some of them are all the time.
37:09Um, but you know, if you could just listen and get past that, I'm not, I'm not attacking
37:14you.
37:15I'm telling you where the dish went wrong and I want you to do better so that you have another
37:20chance to stay and to be the actual winner of the competition.
37:24And so sometimes people can't get past that.
37:28Um, the others who do, who pivot along the way and improve, I'm telling you, I clap so
37:36loud for every last one of them.
37:38I all get so excited.
37:41If, if ever there's a camera and someone else, like whether Gordon's doing a top and this person
37:48has improved from the week before, um, if they just glance at me, you're going to see
37:53me smile and probably halfway about the cry, but like, it's just so beautiful.
37:58I love to see people win.
38:01Um, even when I get to announce the person who won that episode, I'm just so happy for
38:05them.
38:06Uh, and I just feel, I feel it because I know how hard they work to get there.
38:10I know each of those challenges, how difficult they can be.
38:15And, um, I'm, I'm just ruining it.
38:18And we were, there was an interview someone was doing into one of the people at MasterChef
38:22and they said that they felt like I, I was like the one cheerleading alongside.
38:28And it is so true.
38:30Um, I don't always have to say it, but I feel like if you look at my eyes, you know it.
38:35That's just something I love.
38:36I love being able to influence that.
38:38I love being able to judge.
38:40I like eating, I like talking, I like all those things.
38:42So it feels like a perfect job for me.
38:44Uh, but I just think there is, sometimes we need a little something different.
38:48Sometimes it's tough love.
38:49Sometimes it's understanding.
38:51Sometimes I go over and I say, Hey, you need to get it together.
38:54You're on your way out.
38:55You need to pull it together today.
38:57And they pull it together.
38:59And I think if I wouldn't have said it that way, maybe they would have kept doing the same
39:03thing they were doing.
39:04So I just think, you know, um, it's just great.
39:06And it's great to have a female, um, you know, chef speaking and talking because sometimes
39:12we notice things a little bit different as well.
39:14Yeah, sure.
39:16Well, it's, it's not, it's not, you make it sound like not so much being a judge as being
39:21a teacher.
39:21It is.
39:22Another of your spinning plates, um, is that you've got this food festival.
39:28Um, you have so many things going on.
39:31Um, this one is, uh, is coming up.
39:35It's called the chef, um, food, food and wine festival.
39:39Um, I think, is this your second year?
39:41It's my second year, second year, bigger and better.
39:45And the first was incredible.
39:47It was coming back to Dallas or Grand Prairie.
39:49It's in Grand Prairie, which is a suburb of Dallas, correct?
39:53Yeah, it's, um, it's a three-day festival.
39:55We're bringing in about 20 different chefs from all over the country and they are there
40:01to help celebrate the, the Dallas food scene.
40:04So many of them had never even been to Dallas.
40:06And so I feel like I wanted to shine a light on what we're doing here in DFW.
40:12I also wanted to encourage some of the, the younger cooks and chefs that are working within
40:17our industry.
40:18Um, and I wanted to shine a light on the ladies in the industry, the chef, S-H-E-S, um, in,
40:26in the industry.
40:27And I felt like it's something that we can celebrate together.
40:31Um, we, I just love the fact that if you look at the roster of chefs, there's so much
40:38intentionality within it from all different types of cuisines, um, to men and women.
40:45And it was meant to be that so that everyone feels like they have a true seat at the table
40:51and we are celebrating all, um, versus, you know, feeling like this is this very exclusive
40:58event.
40:59Um, this is also one of those where you're walking around and people, you're going to see
41:03the chefs going to be able to talk to them.
41:05We have pickleball tournaments going on.
41:07We have wine tastings and cocktail making classes and dinners and let everything happens
41:13in one place.
41:13So you park, there's two hotels, there's all of this, there's my restaurant there.
41:18And then there's the festival at the same location.
41:22It's, it's just a good time.
41:23And it felt great.
41:25Is there a barbecue component to it?
41:26There's no barbecue.
41:27There's no barbecue, but there are, there are pit masters.
41:31Uh, Kevin Bledsoe will be there and there is, um, there's some barbecue in it, but there's
41:37no specific event for barbecue.
41:39Well, I know you're a fan of that live fire cooking and, and, uh, and barbecue and, and
41:46I mean, I think, didn't y'all have a family restaurant or something?
41:49We did.
41:49Yeah, we did for a long time called the pit.
41:52Yep.
41:53The pit.
41:54I mean, it doesn't get any better than that.
41:57The festival sounds amazing and, you know, and you're certainly a veteran of plenty of,
42:04of food festivals.
42:05So, um, I'm guessing you've, you've been able to see, you know, kind of what works the
42:12best and, you know, and also, um, create an experience, not just for the, for the people
42:19buying tickets, but for the chefs who are participating.
42:21Exactly.
42:22I mean, that, that right there, I wanted, I wanted the chefs to come to the festival
42:27and be like, oh my God, I can't wait to go to that.
42:31I'm going to spread the word about coming.
42:34And it's exactly what's happening.
42:36Um, I got personal letters from so many of my friends saying it was what they needed in
42:44the moment and that it felt right.
42:46And I mean, when I looked at the pictures, there were more pictures of hugging and kissing
42:50than anything I've seen.
42:52I'm like, where's the food?
42:53Uh, we were just so happy to cook together and celebrate together.
43:01And, uh, even just the, even the pickleball was a very different energy, right?
43:05Like the chefs are playing, you hear chefs and fans playing and it was like a DJ and it
43:10was just fun.
43:11And so it, it definitely, it felt like something we all needed and everyone said, I want to
43:17be there next year, which is why I've continued to struggle with what, who else in, in the
43:23lineup.
43:23And there's a lot of no's and I, I didn't expect to have to turn folks down really.
43:28So that is never fun.
43:29Yeah.
43:30But a good problem to have.
43:33So they keep saying.
43:35Well, Tiffany, I just have one more question for you.
43:38What does it mean to you to be Southern?
43:41Oh, that's a good one.
43:47I just had like five things pop in my head.
43:50Southern feels true, authentic.
43:55Um, and I take that in a few different ways.
43:59You know, I think about the true first cuisine of America is Southern if you ask me.
44:06And I think about hospitality and true hospitality.
44:10I think about who we are as people, um, who are from the South is something we're so proud
44:16of.
44:16It's, it's, I'm, I'm Southern, I'm South, I'm from the South, you know, and, uh, it feels,
44:21it feels true and authentic.
44:23That's what it means to me.
44:24Well, that sounds true to me.
44:26Tiffany, Derry, thanks so much for being on Biscuits and Jam.
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