>> Southern Dish is brought to you by these sponsors: Atmos Energy.

Proud to support the flavors and the stories that make Mississippi a one of a kind culinary destination.

Mississippi Beverage Association >> This program proudly brought to you by Mississippi's own Foundation Gaming and Entertainment, owner and operator of Fitz Casino Hotel in Tunica and Waterview Casino Hotel in Vicksburg.

Foundation Gaming and Entertainm Mississippians proudly supporting Mississippi.

>> In this episode of Southern Dish, we'll travel with former restaurant owner Lydia Chassaniol, to two Mississippi restaurants that tell the story of who we are.

One of these reflects our long history and the other shines a light on our future.

Two kitchens, two stories.

One Mississippi.

Southern Dish.

>> Founded in 1870.

Weidmann's in Meridian is Mississippi's oldest restaurant.

During our visit, we met Charles Frazier, owner of Weidmann's for over 10 years.

Hello, I'm Lydia.

Lydia, Charles Frazier.

Welcome to Weidmann's.

Thank you so very much.

You're Welcome.

Come on in.

Alright.

This is more sort of our casual, uh, dining area and it's kind of has a more modern feel.

We have live music up here on the weekends.

So tell me about the history of Weidmann's and how it came to be such an institution in Meridian.

Well, the history is that in 1870, a Swiss immigrant named Felix Weidmann started a four counter lunch stand across from the train station.

This has been obviously the early years of Meridian.

It located at several different places downtown.

Um, and then we came here in 1923.

Are those some of the original owners?

That is Felix.

Philip and Henry.

So that would be the original, the son and the grandson.

The son grandson.

That's And then Shorty Is shorty, That's Shorty Mac up there.

Okay.

Shorty McWilliams took over the restaurant.

Now Shorty Mac is a famous, uh, football player.

Right.

Played at State, played at West Point, and uh, had a brief professional career as well.

And then his daughter took it over and they sold to a group of investors in 1999, Charles Young was one of the, uh, original investors and, uh, he was a Civil Rights pioneer and was actually excluded from the restaurant in the sixties.

So I think that the group investors thought it was very important that he was part of that group that then owned the restaurant that he wasn't allowed in To show that.

It kind Of an interesting Yeah.

Every, everybody's restaurant that And to show the progress that we made as a city as well.

Yes.

I'd like to show you some pictures that we have here.

Just a lot of, uh, people who've eaten here or people who are famous from Meridian.

Um, some old football teams.

Just all manner of history is on our walls.

Wow.

This is just so impressive.

It's almost like a time capsule.

It is.

Of all the people here, how is it that you came to be the owner of Weidmann's?

I was in New Orleans for about 10 years and then Katrina moved us up here and some of the investors approached me and said, you need to be at Weidmann's.

Really, they just wanted somebody to come in and revive Weidmann's in the way that it was.

And I bet Meridian was so happy to have it over Here.

They were, they, they really have appreciated what we've done and the community's been very supportive of us and, and I don't think we could have done it without that support.

This is our main dining room and we've got a lot of, uh, artwork on the walls, all done by local artists and we do sell the pieces here.

We give a hundred percent of the commission to the artists.

Good.

So our a hundred percent proceeds.

So you Not only feed people well, you're supporting the arts and Along.

Exactly.

We're doing our best to do.

So.

Is this the original sign that's outside the restaurant?

It is.

Originally it wasn't here when we came in in, uh, 2010 and, uh, it was actually in somebody's garage and, uh, they called me.

You Had a garage sale and got a sign.

Pretty much they called me and said, do you want this?

And I said, I would love to have it.

So, uh, we we got it, put it back up and then people really have just responded to it and said, thank you so much for putting that sign up, that it's really a part of Meridian and it needs to Be there.

Amazing how simple things like that mean so much to people when they come back home to visit.

I noticed that there was a John Grisham star outside the restaurant.

It's our walk of fame for all Mississippi artists, which relates to the M.A.X.

And that is the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment experience.

So all Mississippi artists, whether they're musicians or writers, some potters over there, visual arts, and I think that's a big driver of downtown, uh, as far as bringing people here.

Great tie in.

Well, food and the arts are all exactly closely kin to one another.

Mm-hmm.

Ooh, look at this.

Tell me what these are.

Well, these are three of our pies that we make here and we've probably got about four or five more that we make, but I think these are three of the best and the ones that we're most known for.

Now, this one in the middle is our black bottom pie.

Oh, isn't that gorgeous?

And that is a process.

It is a ginger snapped crust with a dark, a layer of dark chocolate ganache, a layer of bourbon-infused custard.

Yo.

Then we put a meringue on top that has custard infused in that as well.

Oh, homemade with cream dark chocolate shavings.

That's nice.

But it takes about three days to make 'em, because you've gotta make the ganache and then let that set, then the custard let it set.

So, so it really is a process.

It it is our most popular pie.

That's so wonderful that you have these great traditional pies and it carries on the, the story of Weidmann's.

Sure.

Also, that lets everybody finish their meal on a very happy note.

That some people start with that.

Yeah.

Oh, well That's fine too.

We don't Judge first.

That's right.

When we came back in, a lot of people said, Hey, we want the peanut butter back on the tables.

And I thought, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Peanut butter on the tables and come to find out that we were putting peanut butter in handmade crocs on the tables.

Um, and that started in World War II when there was a butter shortage.

Right.

So that was a tradition that went on for 50 years And it's a popular thing today.

Oh, it's incredibly popular.

People come in and say, I'm so happy to see the peanut butter on the tables.

And, and a lot of people come in who maybe don't know our history and they think, what is this peanut butter doing here?

And then they start eating and they think, oh, this is great.

You know, peanut butter and crackers.

It's a good way to start a meal.

You wanna go meet the chef?

I'd love to go meet the chef.

Come on, let's go.

My name is Joe Pribelsky.

I originally started at this restaurant about 13, 14 years ago.

Just saute cook.

I just started culinary school and I was trying to get some experience.

So I cooked here for about a year and a half and then decided Mississippi was a little bit too small for me and needed to go get some experience.

So I went off to South Carolina Hill and Head Island for about 12 years and then, uh, I decided that, uh, I just had to come back home.

Has Weidmann's changed much since your first time here?

And, uh, if so, how?

It, it has it, uh, I feel there, there's more people, more people want to come, you know, see what Weidmann's is about.

A lot of regulars that have been coming here for years that, uh, sometimes they have, you know, they want a little special something that, that was on the menu years ago.

They don't have it now.

I try to make it work for 'em, but we also have a huge influx of new clientele coming in just from the Riley Center, the M.A.X., and with everything that's going on in Meridian, the kitchen smell smelled just like my first day as I came.

And it was almost like going into your grandmother's house as as a kid you're like, you know, this is, this is where I belong.

You just felt like you were coming back home, didn't you?

Yes.

Chef, you've got a great kitchen set up here.

You've got a big staff.

I can see.

How many on the line?

Yes, ma'am.

Alright.

Right.

I have, uh, four on the line.

And then, uh, we're, we're about to walk back here to go to our prep area.

Oh.

And look what you've got set up here.

Now.

This is everything for, uh, what we're about to prepare, right?

Yes, ma'am.

We're gonna make, uh, red fish Hannah, with the, uh, sweet potato boudan hash.

Oh, that sounds so good.

Yes, ma'am.

Which that dish has been here since Charles Frazier took over.

I'm just gonna throw my own little spin on it.

Alright, Well let's get cooking.

All right.

Well first we got some, uh, we got some great red fish.

Gulf Coast seafood.

Always the best.

Okay, so what are we seasoning our, our red fish with?

Uh, we're gonna do a blackening season.

We go Good old, uh, Paul Perone Uhhuh.

You can't, can't mix it.

You know the man, man, got it right the first time.

Yeah.

Well, Why mess with what's good, huh?

Yes ma'am.

So then, uh, when we're gonna start this and we're talk you through, through the sauce.

Okay.

So that goes right in the skillet.

Yes, ma'am.

Always lay it away.

Little blackened seasoning.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

Make sure she does a stick.

Shake it up a little bit there.

So who inspired you from your family connections?

Uh, Both my, both my grandmothers and, uh, my grandfathers.

Really?

Yes.

My grandfather on my Polish side Uh, uh, Pappy Joe.

He was big into Curie meat.

Sausage all everything from the old country.

So you're probably named for him, huh?

Yes.

That's great.

You said you'd have what different nationalities?

Um, I'm Polish and Italian is where I came from.

So that makes for interesting food culture, doesn't It?

Yes, it does.

A lot of, uh, a lot of time spent in kitchens, which I think that's really what I got my love for kitchens, because that's where everybody hung out and no matter what side of the family.

Yeah.

I got, uh, learned how to cook.

Old recipes that have been passed down, were forgotten.

So really just trying to take all these older recipes, put a new new spin on them.

All right.

So while this is reducing and get down, we're gonna start with my little play on our dish.

All righty.

Which is the, uh, sweet potato, uh, boudan and hash.

Uh, Tell me how you came up with this side.

So we, uh, it was, it was one day we were trying to figure out, I was trying to figure out something different to do that maybe, maybe somebody hasn't seen before.

And, uh, we had an influx of sweet potatoes and we had an influx of boudan, so gotta use them.

So you gotta gotta use it somehow.

So, uh, it's just one of the things that I, I started doing and, uh, people around here seem, seem to really love it.

Well, I can't wait to see what you do with boudan and sweet potatoes.

All right.

So we're gonna add, we're gonna go with a little unsalted butter.

Start With butter.

Great.

Make sure your pan is nice and good.

We're gonna add our boudan straight away.

And as you said, this is locally sourced, made right here in Lauderdale County.

Yes, ma'am.

So we got our sweet potatoes that are Mississippi sweet potatoes already been roasted off in the oven field, roasted off roasted.

That's Good.

Every now and then I like to sneak a little piece and eat with a cracker.

Make sure Right.

Quality check, right?

Yes.

Quality check.

We're gonna add a little bit more color into our boudan so we see all this nice little crunchy bits.

That's the best part right there.

Oh.

So I try not to flip it too much after everything's heated up.

So I want that nice, nice crust on there.

Crust on it.

That's wonderful.

Just in case you get a little check, you never know what fits.

Probably looks perfect.

A nice little pearl on the outside.

Oh, lovely.

Look that rest.

So let's go ahead and, uh, let's bring some of this over.

Beautiful boudan hash goes on first.

Yes.

And then one of my, uh, my culinary instructors told me height is flavor, so I always like to bring everything up.

So make sure nice, nice crispy bottom.

Nice tender, middle.

Oh, perfect.

Well layer right there on the plate.

That Looks great.

And now got these beautiful gulf shrimp.

I like to let the food fall naturally so it doesn't look, you know, it tells the story a little bit.

Don't love the tribe, let it.

Exactly.

Chef, may I taste your delicious Dish?

Yes, that would be my pleasure.

Oh, this is so beautiful.

I want to get a taste of this beautiful red fish that's been blackened and also a bite of the boudan and a touch of this cream sauce with the shrimp.

Let's see how it is.

Hmm.

I don't know if you have any royalty that comes to Meridian, but this is fit for our king.

It's so delicious.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate being with you so much today.

What a pleasure.

It's been a pleasure talking to you.

And thank you for the things you're doing for the state of Mississippi.

And thank you for what you're doing for Meridian.

Yes, ma'am.

If Weidmann's is the story of where we've been, then our next restaurant may tell us a little bit about where we're headed next.

Over 150 miles south, the Gulf Coast of Mississippi balances its roots with a longing for adventure.

At the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs.

We met executive director Maddie Coddling to learn a little bit about the man behind one of Mississippi's newest restaurant attractions.

This is the Ocean Springs Community Center.

Walter Anderson painted this over 1950 and 1951 for the city of Ocean Springs.

He was paid $1 for his efforts.

Artists are underpaid, aren't they?

They Are, yeah.

So Walter Anderson, he was a painter working in the mid 20th century.

He was classically trained in New York and Philadelphia and then returned to Ocean Springs to work at his brother's pottery, which is Shearwater Pottery.

Often taking these big trips out to some of our barrier islands called Horn Island.

Anderson was always thinking about art and its connection to the environment and really humanity's connection to the natural world.

Walter Anderson really has become this identifier for the state of Mississippi.

So the way that the building is designed, this is the most public space of Walter Anderson's artwork.

And then you walk through a very long narrow hallway and you reach the most private space that Anderson created, which is The Little Room that was taken from his cottage at Shearwater and then built into the museum.

Yeah, I had heard once that his family didn't even know about The Little Room until after he'd passed away.

Can you tell something about that?

So, during the, the time period that Walter Anderson was going out to Horn Island, he's uh, he's separated from his family.

So his family is living in one house on Shearwater property, and then Walter's living by himself in the little cottage.

And uh, so that's for about the last 15 years of his life, he's living essentially in isolation.

And then after Anderson's death, when his wife, uh, came in to start cleaning out the cottage, then she found a room that had a lock on it.

She broke the lock off with a hammer and went inside and found The Little Room murals.

And they are murals on all four walls, the ceiling, and even on the back of the chimney, uh, depicting a perfect Gulf Coast Day.

I understand we'll be going over to The Traveler shortly and, and seeing that this is the newest edition to the Walter Anderson complex.

Tell us about The Traveler.

It is housed actually in a 1900s cottage, coastal cottage that's located just behind the museum.

So it came into the museum's possession in 2023, and we were kind of wrestling with what this space would be, and we thought it was really important for us to be able to preserve this little slice of Ocean Springs history.

So one of our favorite things to do here is really find new ways for the community to engage with, uh, the storyline of Walter Anderson.

So here we are in The Traveler.

We have over a dozen local artists featured in The Traveler itself.

So one piece that I'd like to show you is by Adele Lawton.

And, uh, she is one of Mac Anderson's daughters.

Wonderful.

And so Mac was Walter's youngest brother.

And, uh, Adele is following in her father's footsteps and created these beautiful tile murals for us, uh, for The Traveler.

Uh, these two barn doors on either side were created by Leaf Anderson and she's Walter Anderson's youngest daughter and also a classically trained dancer.

I've Actually seen her dance.

Have you?

Yes.

It's so fantastic.

So it's, it's earth and air and, uh, and these doors are actually based off of the barn doors that are in Anderson's cottage.

So we always wanted it to have a tie to the original object, especially in The Traveler.

Super.

So this is the, the cow mural that was painted by Julia Reyes, who's a local artist in Biloxi.

The story behind it is that Walter Anderson, when he's, uh, bicycling through Texas.

So he's laying down in this ditch and uh, and cooling off in the water and all of a sudden he feels a tickle on his face.

And he opens his eyes and there's a cow staring down at him.

And so he sits up in the water and looks around him and all of these cows have come to see what the strange man in the water is doing.

And he was so enchanted by that experience that when he got back to his cottage at Shearwater, he painted the mural of the cows all around him, around his bathtub.

Wow.

So he could recreate the experience again and again.

So we've done that here with the mural and, uh, sofa and then our, our couch sofa, which Is made from a bathtub.

And what we've found is that this Traveler has become really a community hub.

They'll come in daily, they're getting their coffee, they're getting their biscuits.

And then, uh, bringing in our chef Danny Landry, he has created a spectacular menu of local favorites with just a wonderful little twist.

My name is Daniel Landry.

I've worked in restaurants my whole life since I was about 17.

I felt a lot of inspiration, uh, with my grandmother and I grew up with her cooking in the kitchen and having family meals around the kitchen table was a normal thing for us.

It's how we talked about our day, it's how we bonded.

And that kind of community is something that I have always looked for.

And I think that feeding people is a way to bring people together.

So the dish that we're making today is my Delta Tang, which is a chow chow.

Uh, chow chow is similar to a relish.

The chow chow is in many ways a piece of art.

It, it brushstrokes it's marshland from the green tomatoes, it's waves.

It kind of is a melding of flavors that's a little sweet, but also, uh, has a little kick.

It's a little tart and it accents most southern cuisine very nicely.

So chef, I'm looking at these beautiful ingredients in your chow chow and it occurs to me that you could have grown them all right here in your backyard.

Some things that I do like to use from our garden is we have, uh, green tomatoes.

I've got some shredded green cabbage, white and yellow onion, uh, yellow, green and red bell pepper.

Uh, some quick pickled okra.

And then here I have some poblano peppers and some corn, uh, kernels that I've roasted.

So we're going to, we're gonna start the simmering liquid.

Start the simmering liquid.

I'm gonna add both vinegars, which is apple cider and white.

And then we're gonna add our lovely array spice, beautiful Array of spices.

I can see why this is Delta Tang.

It's gonna have a lot of spice in it.

So chef, tell us about The Traveler.

This is such a unique place.

Well, The Traveler is a very unique place.

This was kind of inspired by the bicycle logs, uh, of Walter Anderson.

Walter Anderson rode his bicycle everywhere throughout the bicycle logs, there's letters of from him to his wife, to his family.

Um, and it really goes into, uh, depth about the type of person that Walter Anderson was.

He was very eclectic, but he was also very humble.

Uh, the last couple months I've been really diving into my heritage and trying to really connect with, you know, my Creole Italian soul and my southern heritage and figuring out where that happy medium is.

So tell me, Creole and Italian, how do you blend those two uh, heritages into one restaurant?

Well, they're actually not as different as, as you would imagine, the rustic vibe of Italy.

Uh, and then you get the flare of the Creole New Orleans atmosphere and those seasonings pair very well together.

Alright, well I usually like to start with the cabbage.

The Cabbage that's raw, Just shredded raw cabbage.

Shredded raw cabbage.

Alright.

And then we have our small diced green tomatoes.

Sounds good.

And then we have our bell pepper onion blends.

Yes.

And then with the, I like to add the corn in here.

And what's that with poblano pepper.

Poblano pepper.

And then I just like to add even a liquid Yeah.

To with the okra.

'cause you don't have a whole lot of simmering liquid Going on.

No, there's not.

And then we're just gonna give this a little, make it juicy.

Yeah.

And then I'm gonna go ahead and here comes the mustard.

Add in the mustard.

Everybody in the pool colors are great.

I mean, artistically it's so appealing.

It's my plating techniques.

I'm usually inspired by a piece of his artwork or I can, if I'm trying to think, I'll just go through the museum and just look at some of his pieces for color inspiration or for plating designs.

I want to make everything fresh, uh, inspired by, you know, his love of the wilderness.

I've always heard it said that food is edible art.

It sounds as if you're taking that to another level with the plating that you're, that you're doing.

First we eat with our eyes.

Is that correct?

That's Right.

Uh, you do first eat with your eyes, uh, and then everything else in the stomach.

That's right.

Now chef, how long will this simmer after you've add all your vegetables into your simmering liquid that that's prepared?

Well, I usually like to simmer it for about, uh, low and slow for about 25 minutes.

But you can do it far less to maintain the crispness of the vegetables.

So I think with this particular batch, I'm gonna let just simmer for about five minutes.

Okay.

Alright.

And then we'll taste it.

Right?

And Then we will taste it.

Looking forward to that.

And I see myself being here for a long time because I really enjoy what we stand for and how supportive we are in the arts community and how much we love on each other.

And really appreciate the hard work that goes into everything that we do here, both at the Walter Anderson Museum and at The Traveler.

Chef, this looks like it's all coming together.

I think your chow chow has started to marry up and the flavors with the, it smells wonderful in here.

I'm sorry.

We don't have the smell o vision.

Smell o vision.

And someone looks said, because this looks great.

Now we're going to cut her off.

Um, and then I, we will let it cool.

And then we will give it a taste with some, uh, chicken salad.

Fabulous.

Do you recommend serving it on a cracker?

I do.

And you get on the cracker or even the cucumber pairs really nicely.

And the chow chow gives it a little kick.

It does.

This has been such a wonderful afternoon.

Thank you so very much for letting me come into your kitchen and to taste your delicious chow chow recipe.

Well, It was a pleasure to meet you, Lydia, and thank you for taking the time outta your day to spend with me.

>> Today, we tasted two sides of Mississippi.

At Weidmanns, we found our roots and recipes passed down through the generations.

And at The Traveler, we found a place unafraid to travel to new horizons.

Our food tells us about who we are, where we came from, and where we're going.

Because here in the South, every dish tells a story.

>> Southern Dish is brought to you by these sponsors: Atmos Energy.

Proud to support the flavors and the stories that make Mississippi a one of a kind culinary destination.

Mississippi Beverage Association >> This program proudly brought to you by Mississippi's own Foundation Gaming and Entertainment, owner and operator of Fitz Casino Hotel in Tunica and Waterview Casino Hotel in Vicksburg.

Foundation Gaming and Entertainm Mississippians proudly supporting Mississippi.