Williams’ restaurant, The Country Platter, celebrated its 20th anniversary in July. But it’s not only their food that Cleveland relishes. They have an impact on the community apart from their role as soul food restaurateurs. “Being in the restaurant business and serving in the Senate, they kind of supplement each other. We look at it and say we are serving in both situations,” the 20-year senator said. Nowell chooses The Senator’s Place not only for “outstanding food,” but for his friendship with Simmons and, of course, for political networking. “He and I talk a couple of times a week about current events, things happening around here, what we can do for the best of everybody,” Nowell said of Simmons. “He said that the more we can communicate, the better off we will be.” And then there is Jimmy Williams, who in 2010 became the first African-American elected king of the Junior Auxiliary’s Children’s Benefit Ball, Cleveland’s premier charity fundraiser. Williams regularly uses his restaurant, The Country Platter, to help those in need. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas,
he cooks meals for the needy and senior citizen homes. “This past Christmas we did about 600,” Williams said. “I do the bulk of the cooking. And they get a hot meal. They don’t just get something left over.” He also gives away toys, clothes, and window fans during sweltering summer months. “I enjoy doing it. Feeding people. If it was the money, man, I’d be gone a long time ago.” Williams was born and raised in rural Bolivar County. “Had very little. And I’ve always said that if I ever got in the position to give back, I would, because I know what it is not to have,” he said. Coming from a family of 14, Williams was taught that hard work pays off. “I’ve been working since I was six years old. Mom taught me that growing up when we had to get up and go to the fields to chop and pick cotton. That’s just stayed with me,” said the towering man with huge, steely hands, the kind that have known manual labor. It was at home that Williams and Simmons both learned to cook. Simmons, raised on a farm in Utica alongside 11 siblings, loved to watch his mama cook in the kitchen.
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