Photo by Tom Ramsey

When I got this assignment, I thought, "No problem. Food diversity sounds pretty simple. I'll hit some soul-food joints, some fish houses, a taqueria or two and put on a few extra pounds of delightful goodness-inspired bulk." But when you scratch the surface, there are a few problems with this simple idea. First of all, what on Earth does "food diversity" mean?

Does it mean diversity in the types of food we eat? A plate with meatloaf, green beans and mashed potatoes is pretty diverse (food wise) with a protein, a starch and a vegetable represented on the plate, but it isn't very diverse culturally. Fusion cuisine that draws on different techniques and ingredients from different cultures and traditions fits the bill as cultural diversity, but has its own set of problems with importing exotic ingredients from across the world and going against the whole locavore thing.

Does it mean having a diverse choice of restaurants in the community? We have that in spades. Having an adventurous palate can certainly expose us to a more diverse selection of foods, but is this just culinary tourism and not true "food diversity"? Like most questions worth asking, the answer is not always apparent and not always what you might expect. And sometimes, the answer is right there staring you in the face when you are too distracted to see it.

Let's start this off with some SAT-style questions where you have to choose the "best" answer.

1. Which is the more "diverse" dining experience?
a) Eating tacos at Taqueria La Morena.
b) Ordering the daily pasta special at Bravo!.

Taquerias serve authentic Latin-American food, and they are generally staffed by folks from south of the border. So "a" is the correct answer, right? Perhaps, unless you are of Latino descent. And what is "diverse" about eating in a place where you are pretty much guaranteed to be the only non-Latino in sight. "A" definitely has a more "ethnic" feel, but is it diverse? Not really. It is super delicious, but not exactly diverse, if diversity is defined as moving away from uniformity and sameness.

What about "b"? Is eating at Bravo! being "diverse"? I would argue that it might be more diverse than eating at the taqueria. If diversity is the coming together of different cultures for a single purpose, then, yes, eating a Bravo! pasta special is more diverse than grabbing a taco at La Morena. Bravo! is owned by a Jew and a Christian so there's some religious diversity. The dining room certainly draws a diverse crowd.

At a recent Wednesday lunch, I spotted patrons with Indian, European, Asian, African and Latin American ethnicities. The staff looks like a U.N. School roll call with folks either emigrating or descending from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Central America, South America and Asia. And what kind of food does this melting pot serve? Italian. Now that is diversity. I asked executive chef and co-owner Dan Blumenthal about his thoughts on diversity in dining.

"I haven't really thought about it, but now that you mention it, our staff comes from all over the world, or at least their parents do. Hungary, Sudan, Mexico, Guatemala, India, Canada ... and that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. There's bound to be more. But it wasn't a conscious decision on our part; we just hired the people we thought were best for the job," Blumenthal said.

2. At which restaurant would you find more diversity?
a) Bully's Soul Food on Livingston Road in Jackson.
b) Les Halles Bistro in New York City's Flatiron District.

You would also think that choosing "a" in this question would land you square in the diversity column, but I would argue for "b." Although Bully's serves up the best smothered pork chop in the history of smothered pork chops, I would pose that it's not a very diverse place. The staff, the owners and most of the patrons are mostly African American, whereas the clientele of Les Halles (since it is in NYC) likely would be very diverse. And the exquisite French food coming out of the kitchen would be prepared almost exclusively by people who have never been to France and few of whom have ever met a Frenchman. Chances are those cooks learned how to make those very French dishes from someone who spoke Spanish.

When I talked to owner Tyrone Bully about the diversity of Bully's customers, he said: "After we got a write-up in the paper, we've had a lot more white customers coming in. I guess they tell their white friends about it, but mostly we just draw from the neighborhood. We're not trying to draw any particular race; we just want to build a better mousetrap and let the world beat a path to our door."

His mousetrap-building skills are evident. The food is exemplary. On the surface, the staff doesn't look diverse (they're all African American), but when you look a little deeper you find that things aren't quite what they seem. Bully's dad was born in Gluckstadt, into a mixed-race family with a German father and African American mother. Most of his staff grew up in the north Jackson neighborhood where the restaurant is located, but one of his employees, Remi Oladipo, is from Nigeria.

3. Which restaurant better represents diversity in dining?
a) Saigon Vietnamese restaurant in Flowood.
b) Aladdin Mediterranean Grill in Jackson.

This third question gets a little trickier. On the one hand, you have an authentic, family-owned Vietnamese soup joint sending out steaming hot bowls of photo a diverse crowd of hungry diners. On the other hand, you have a Mediterranean restaurant owned by a guy from Africa and staffed by Persians, Brits, Americans and Latinos serving a fairly diverse room of people.

Let's call that one a draw. But you can see where I'm going with this. Diversity is all around us if we take the time to look for it.

I'm getting a feeling that my ruby slippers might be more functional than fashionable. Maybe the diversity has been with us all along, and we just haven't had a wizard behind a curtain to point it out. I think the spirit of the story that the JFP was looking for may be found in the potential for even greater diversity in our dining rooms, both at home and when eating out, but how do we get there?

Since the days of the lunch-counter sit-in, restaurants haven't really concerned themselves with the racial makeup of their customers. "It's not about the black and white. It's all about the green," Bully said.

The cash register is a mighty leveler. I can't think of a single restaurateur who goes out of his or her way to attract diners of one race or another. They just want the chairs filled with people who will order food and drinks and treat their staff well.

The room for growth is within the hearts and minds of the customers. People tend to make dining decisions based on familiarity, comfort and convenience. They eat like they live: safely. Personally, I would brave the "rough" neighborhoods and drive clear across the state for a great meal, but I realize I'm in the minority here. Restaurant owners can't be faulted for the racial, ethnic and social makeup of their patrons unless they are doing something to deter the "other" customers from coming in the door, and that is something I haven't witnessed.

Instead, restaurateurs like the safety of taking good care of their regulars and hope that through word of mouth and advertising, they can grow their loyal following. And these doors are far from closed to people who are "different" from the regulars. La Morena is a great example.

I recently discovered this little taqueria through a loose network of dedicated foodies who love to spread the word about new discoveries. From the first time I darkened the door at this inconspicuous taco shop behind Sal & Phil's, they made me feel welcome and almost like family. They took the time to explain the differences in the cooking styles of their employees and how the towns they grew up in determine how they make certain dishes (like how they don't put egg in the Albondigas in Laredo).

Now I am like a wandering billboard for them, proclaiming to anyone who will listen the virtues of their fresh tortillas and the warmth of their welcome. I've even posted to Facebook photos of me holding the owners' brand new baby, Danny. And the result of all this proselytizing? I got a call from the owner this week, and he said his business has really picked up with lots of "new customers."

This just goes to show that we the consumers can have a greater impact on the diversity of dining rooms if we spread the word. As the palates of the community expands, so will the food quality and choices. It's like a positive feedback loop where the more we explore, the better things we find, the more we demand of our regular haunts and the better they have to get to keep us.

This should be welcome news to restaurateurs and patrons alike. Drawing a more diverse crowd means reaching further into the community and expanding the universe of potential customers. If the quality is there and the service is there to match the food, the growth can be exponential. All this, from just making better food and serving it with a welcome smile.

At one new restaurant, diversity is part of the design. From the menu to the staff to the patrons, chef and owner Craig Noone of Parlor Market has diversity as part of his business mantra.

"I want to take all of the immigrant influences in Mississippi and create Mississippi dishes that reflect what a diverse population we really are. When you say ‘Mississippi' and ‘diversity' in the same sentence, people think black and white, but this state is so much more ... Lebanese, Greek, Italian, African, Vietnamese, Caribbean, Mexican and more. It's all in this little, rural state. And it all tastes great," Noone said.

You can see this philosophy reflected in a menu that has dishes as varied as a salad with boiled peanuts and grilled peaches to Wagyu beef with a Brussels sprout kimchee. But for Noone, the diversity isn't just about the food. "We intentionally hired a diverse staff. Every culture brings something to the table and that helps the restaurant develop a unique feel and taste," he said.

Starting this article was like heading out on a journey with no map, and the further I went, the more lost I became. When I felt myself veer off on a tangent, I called my friend and priest, the Rev. Dr. Bryan Owen at St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral, to gut check my ideas about diversity and get me back on track. We started our conversation with me asking him to give me the liturgical textbook definition of diversity.

"It's really pretty simple," he said. "Diversity is just a state of being where all groups—whether they are racial, ethnic, class, socioeconomic, educational or cultural—are represented without tension. If you are a white person living in Jackson, you might think that diversity somehow means black, but it's deeper than that. Diversity means more than ‘different,' it also implies inclusion."

I can always count on Bryan to make me scratch my head, but he was right. When I asked him about the "a" and "b" questions above, he gave it a lot of thought and agreed with me that sometimes diversity can be found where you least expect it and can be hidden in places where you think it would be apparent.

Perhaps we will only know that we have succeeded when we stop noticing who is in the dining room with us. If I'm the only white diner in a soul-food kitchen, I notice it, and people notice me. Maybe success will be when no one notices anything out of the ordinary when three Asians go into a west Jackson restaurant and sit at a table with two African Americans and a Dutch guy while they order Greek food cooked by a Columbian. Whatever that success is, it will be delicious.

Tom's Diverse Dining Trail

If you want to exercise your taste buds and expand your palate, here are 10 of my favorite places to find diverse dining, both in the kitchen and on the plate. For a Google map showing the restaurants listed below, go to http://www.tinyurl.com/2f56dy7.

Bully's (3118 Livingston Road, 601-362-0484)
Kim's Seafood (1675 Terry Road, 601-353-0102)
Spice Avenue (4711 Interstate 55 N., 601-982-0890)
Aladdin Mediterranean (730 Lakeland Drive, 601-366-6033)
Parlor Market (115 W. Capitol St., 601-360-0090)
La Morena (6610 Old Canton Road, Suite J, 601-899-8821)
BRAVO! Italian Restaurant and Bar (4500 Interstate 55 N., Suite 244, 601-982-8111)
Saigon Restaurant (2640 Lakeland Drive, 601-420-4848)
Taste of the Island (436 E. Capitol St., 601-360-5900)
Olga's Fine Dining (4760 Interstate 55 N., Suite D, 601-366-1366)

For these and other mouth-watering tales, chow down over at the JFP Food Blog and read a mouth-full.

Previous Comments

ID

160324

Comment

Yum! Excellent article! Lots of new (to me) places to try. I love places that are local and represent someone's personal vision. My favorites include Fat Tuesday's, Sal and Phil's, Cool Al's, Aladin's, Jeruselam Cafe, Pizza Shack, Keifer's, Amerigo's, Thai House, Spice Avenue, Mimi's and Julep.

Author

KendallVarnell

Date

2010-10-13T17:26:22-06:00

ID

160334

Comment

Tom great article, I'm an official Yelper and I try to give props to our mom and pop eateries no matter what their ethnicity may be. I just want Jackson to get on the map and places like La Morena, La Guadalupe, Beatty Street, Stamps, Cool Al's, Saigon and Chitoe's are helping us get there. Great article, I enjoyed reading it. Keep me informed on any new eateries in the future.

Author

Duan C.

Date

2010-10-14T10:07:27-06:00