Both tell stories of people from all over the world stopping by to eat their specialties. The senator has had visitors from Chicago, St. Louis, Australia. As Simmons spoke, Taylor Rollins of Chicago sat two tables away, chowing down on black-eyed peas. “We don’t have anything like this in Chicago. I come here every time I come here to see my grandmother. You can eat here and you can eat at The Country Platter, and you don’t have to eat again until the next morning,” he grinned.
Shooting for consistency Simmons and Williams are very hands-on. When not dealing with legislation in Jackson, Simmons is at the restaurant, mingling and speaking to anyone who comes in. He’ll observe the spaghetti, barbequed baked chicken, fried catfish, turnip greens, green beans, and everything else on the serving line. Simmons can tell by sheer eyesight whether it has been cooked correctly. “When I look at it, I’m going to the kitchen and I want to know, ‘What did you do to that batter?’” he says, cackling. He strives for consistency. Customers know when something doesn’t taste the same. They know when a new cook is in the kitchen or when too much pepper is being added. “It may be Mary cooking today, and Sally tomorrow. But we want Sally food to taste just like Mary food,” he said. “We want The Senator’s Place signature on all our food.” The Senator’s Place has a policy: “If you don’t like the food, we’ll pay for it.” In the 10 years the restaurant has been here, it has paid only three times. One day, two ladies ate several plates of
Soul food has long been the dominant force in the little eateries scattered across the Delta. photo by thomas graning
food, but then told the waitress they didn’t enjoy it. So the manager, Simmons’ daughter, called and told him of the situation. His response: “What is our policy? So pay for it.” The ladies then took two to-go plates home for their husbands. Williams is more involved in the everyday operation of his restaurant. “I’m here every morning by 3 a.m. Depends on what I got to do, really. But I’m usually in bed by 6:30 p.m.,” he said, chuckling. “I have a prep crew that comes in and preps. So when I come in the morning all I have to do is start cooking.” Unlike the senator, The Country Platter serves “a real country breakfast” with country ham, biscuits, grits, hash browns and the like. Mindful of the Delta’s statistics on obesity, both restaurants try to be health-conscious. The senator uses turkey necks or drumsticks to season his vegetables instead of the more common fat back. Williams doesn’t use a lot of grease or salt and peels his own sweet potatoes. Both try to use fresh foods when available. They use some frozen food, but try not to use canned foods. “Peaches and green beans are the only things we use out of the can,” Williams said. “That’s the problem with a lot of these schools — the obesity problem — because they are just dumping all this crap out the can.” Simmons hired one of the cooks from a previous owner’s staff. She told Simmons’ wife that she was working much harder than under the previous owner because back then, “she didn’t have to do all that cooking of vegetables.” The senator offers healthy alternatives to traditional soul food dishes, such as smoked or baked chicken. There are always at least four different vegetables on the line every day. “You can come in here and choose a non-fattening menu to put on your plate. It’s up to you.”
State Senator Willie Simmons says at The Senator’s Place, “if you don’t like the food, we pay for it.” photo by katie williamson
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