Fried chicken. The imagery evokes a sense of comfort, and with words like dredged, coated, crispy, crunchy, and brined, this time-honored family staple brings nostalgia, however, you opt to fry it. One Beaumont-born and raised chef veered from her family's traditional recipe and chartered a path, elevating the southern staple with her duck-fat fried chicken rendition, complete with a bottle of handmade hot sauce and a plate of biscuits.
Beaumont-born and raised, Tiffany Derry lights up a room with her entrance, and her passion for food and hospitality shines through. She is no stranger to the bright lights and big cities. Dallas' award-winning local chef and TV mega-cooking competitor have anchored her roots in Texas' culinary scene with her signature Roots Chicken Shak inside Plano's Legacy Food Hall, and an Austin location, before opening their highly anticipated full-service restaurant, Roots Southern Table.
Having inherited a love of cooking from her family at age 15, Tiffany thrived in her high school's culinary career training center in Beaumont. Family gatherings always seemed to center around food, and everyone cooked; her mom is one of 11 kids, and Tiffany has more than 50 cousins between Beaumont and Houston. One could only imagine the holidays around her table growing up. Before formalizing her education with a culinary degree from The Art Institute of Houston, she simultaneously worked her way up as a short-order cook at IHOP.
Rooted in Southern hospitality, Houston's renowned chef, Mark Holley, sharpened Tiffany's world-class cuisine skills. After she interned, cut her teeth on fine dining, and kicked off her culinary career at Holley's notorious Pesce, her job at Landry's eventually sent her to Dallas to open a location.
After that, the kitchen doors were wide open, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Roots Southern Table and chef Tiffany Derry have buttoned up two James Beard nominations as finalists for Best New Restaurant and Best Chef, Texas, and hold one of the ten national spots as a finalist for Best New Restaurants and The New York Times "50 Most Vibrant and Delicious Restaurants", all that to say; they are on the proverbial foodie map. The menu is an ode to some treasured family recipes.
Tiffany codified her recipe for success after she reached out to Tom Foley to gain his insight on restaurant investor relations and business structure. She was introduced to him because he knew a "little bit about restaurants and a little bit about law."
"We bonded over our shared passion for driving social change and creating opportunities for women and minorities," says Tiffany.
In 2016, Tom and Tiffany joined forces to create Tiffany Derry Concepts, aka T2D Concepts, a purpose-driven hospitality group committed to bridging the gender and racial wealth gap in the industry. T2D Concepts—which operates Roots Southern Table and Roots Chicken Shak — was founded on Tom's mantra: Passion, Principle, Purpose, and Profit (in that order).
"Much like cooking, our approach to business combines purpose with intent. When preparing an entrée, you must be purposeful – from sourcing the right ingredients to the final plating," says Tom. "The process demands thoughtful planning and flawless execution. We apply this throughout our restaurants. We hope our planning and execution results in unparalleled hospitality and can truly be felt when walking into each T2D restaurant."
Tiffany is passionate about redefining Southern food. Roots Southern Table is an homage to her culinary upbringing in the South, with modern influences and global flavors. She aims to show people that Southern food is much more than down-home comfort food, like mac and cheese.
"Southern cuisine is about land, about the water, about the people who live in the South and what they contribute to Southern cuisine – it's about who's stirring the pot," exclaims Tiffany.
She is most known for her infamous duck-fat fried chicken. It was such a hit on her menu at the former Dallas venue, Private|Social; they created their fast-casual concept Roots Chicken Shak around this dish and served it in a variety of ways, from whole birds to sandwiches and robust salads. Tiffany credits her trip to France at age 18, where she first ate duck-fat fries, as inspiration. She also recalls her grandmother's version of a whole duck baked on top of a bed of cornbread dressing, where the flavorful duck fat drips down on the decadent entrée.
Tom shares that culture is the keystone to their success. They work diligently to live their core values and rely on them to steer their decisions. They impress upon their team the importance of embracing their values every day. "Indeed, we weave this through all of our team interactions," he says. "As a mission-driven business, it is also vital that our team understands our "why," from striving to drive social justice to more simple decisions as to why we implement different policies and procedures."
Speaking to that, as fierce advocates for social justice and equity across gender, race, and food access, Tom and Tiffany founded T2D Concepts with purpose and impact at the core. Their mission is to provide great food, great service, great conversation, and great impact through its concepts. They believe time spent around the table with good food serves as an opportunity to discuss and address critical social topics.
Their vision for T2D expands beyond the restaurants' doors to create lasting change in the communities they serve. They are developing an innovative funding and strategic business model to expand the Roots Chicken Shak footprint and provide incentives and opportunities for females and people of color to operate their franchises.
Have Apron, Will Travel
If you are a fan of mega-hit cooking competitions on TV, you'll surely recognize chef Tiffany Derry. In 2010, Tiffany appeared on season seven of Top Chef, where she snagged the fan favorite award. Then, she was a finalist again for Top Chef: All-Stars the following year. After working at Private|Social in 2013, she started doing more TV, like Bar Rescue and Cutthroat Kitchen, traveling between New York and Los Angeles. Recently, Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions III, the PBS show Great American Recipe- where they tasted over 20 plates a day—and Bobby's Triple Threat [with Bobby Flay].
"Of course, the opportunity for guests to see Tiffany on TV creates interest in visiting our locations," shares Tom. "What I love most, though, is that the Tiffany you see on TV – fun-loving, great spirit – is the same Tiffany you will see in our restaurants. It's great when fans meet Tiffany and can feel her energy and warmth."
Chef Tiffany's name is all over at the moment, in September, she was selected among top chefs to participate in the Inaugural Louisiana Food & Wine Festival,. North Texas headlines anxiously await her new Italian concept, Radici, as she brings her culinary prowess into the Italian arena. Besides TV cooking competition stints, Tiffany returned from her annual Fourth of July tradition in Los Cabos at the Hilton's Golf and Beach Resort, where she curated nightly menus with their chef, sourcing local ingredients. She has also served as an American cooking ambassador for the U.S. Embassy for groups in Mumbai, Paris, and Albania. It should be no surprise that Oprah requests her soulful cuisine concoctions, and Tiffany and her team pack up their kitchen knives and have traveled to Hawaii on a few occasions.
Dining at Root Southern Table was a kicked-up cajun epicurean delight. I started with "My Mother's Gumbo," with the cast iron cornbread served with Steen's Syrup, Sweet Potato Butter, and Cranberry Apple Preserves was incredible. My Duck and Foie Gras Boudin left me full, only to sample the Texas Wagyu Braised Oxtails last. At $56, the family-style platter of duck-fat fried chicken was already sold out for the evening, so plan ahead; reservations are tight and fill up quickly.
One song lyric keeps playing in my head on the ride home after dining at Roots Southern Table, "The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas."
"Southern cuisine is about land, about the water, about the people who live in the South and what they contribute to Southern cuisine – it's about who's stirring the pot,"
"Of course, the opportunity for guests to see Tiffany on TV creates interest in visiting our locations," shares Tom. "What I love most, though, is that the Tiffany you see on TV – fun-loving, great spirit – is the same Tiffany you will see in our restaurants."