TV CHEF TIFFANY DERRY

Tiffany Derry prepares a meal for Tournament of Champions premiering on Food Network on February 19th at 8 p.m. PHOTO COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK

Farm to Fork, Fame, and Honoring her 'Roots'

By April Neale

The two titans of the Food Network, Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri, have bet heavily on Chef Tiffany Derry. The popular rising culinary star’s upbringing and work ethic—instilled by her large family and farm-to-table lived life—took her from small-town Texas to starring on Top Chef, Top Chef All-Stars, and PBS’s Great American Recipe. Chef Derry is now a vital force and exemplifies the expression “grace under pressure,” appearing on Bobby’s Triple Threat and Fieri’s Tournament of Champions for Food Network in 2022 and 2023.

But back in Texas is where Chef Derry’s restaurant empire reigns. Derry nabbed a prestigious James Beard Award nomination for her Roots Southern Table in Farmers Branch, cited by the Dallas news media as the Best New Restaurant of the year. She was also selected as a semifinalist for the new “Best Chef, Texas” category. Her path to fame was unconventional as she carved her way up through a Beaumont, Texas International House of Pancakes kitchen. Before that, Derry was being trained in the school of home cooking with her grandmother and mother. These two women gave her the fire to get to the finish line.

Chef Tiffany Derry of Food Network’s show Bobby’s Triple Threat

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK

“My grandmother had 11 children, and I have 50-something cousins. So I grew up in an enormous family,” said Derry. “No one had a house that could hold us all. We’d have tables and chairs when we would eat. I grew up with family—seeing cousins every day. We would all go to different people’s houses after school. So I grew up very much family-driven and didn’t quite know how much it was driven by food because whenever you cook for 20 people on a consecutive basis, you cook a lot. There are certain staples and things that I just loved that I didn’t realize [at the time] were so important to me. It was just growing up, watching them cook, always having to shell peas. Plus my uncle had a garden, so we would always pick fresh vegetables.”

Chef Bobby Flay and Chef Tiffany Derry on Bobby’s Triple Threat.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK

At a certain point, Chef Derry wanted her own money and a job. Instead, she found herself at Beaumont’s IHOP, and as timing and luck would have it, she managed to get into the kitchen when one cook called in sick, circumventing a manager who told her she could only serve food. Her family continuously fed her the confidence to achieve her dream of culinary school, and soon, a trip to France changed her worldview. But southern roots run deep, and her successful Roots restaurants in Texas reflect her culinary ethos of honoring fresh ingredients—especially vegetables and simple cooking styles.

...I got a second job, saved and worked, and was able to go on my first trip to France. So that changed my outlook on everything and solidified what I want to do.

“I went to the Arts Institute of Houston,” Derry said. “And they would have these trips that I knew I wanted to go on, yet I didn’t have the money. So I talked to my family, and they gave me their money, a—$50 here, $25-a-year, ‘here’s a hundred.’ And I got a second job, saved and worked, and was able to go on my first trip to France. So that changed my outlook on everything and solidified what I want to do.”

The entire experience influenced her repertoire in the kitchen and menu planning. The excitement of making that trip has stayed with Chef Derry. “This is living. I just thought it was beautiful, and the food was so different from the foods I knew. Everything was mind-blowing to me,” she said. “I wanted to taste it all. I wanted to experience it all, and I thought I would stay. I decided that I wouldn’t return and would live in France. I would train [there] like everyone I had read about, but financially, it didn’t make sense.”

Chef Bobby Flay, Chef Tiffany Derry, and Chef Brooke Wiliamson of Bobby’s Triple Threat for Food Network.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK.

After experiencing the beauty and art of French cuisine, Chef Derry looked at the classic Southern recipes from her family with a new perspective. She decided to perfect her personal technique by updating tried-and-true favorites, like her famous duck fat fried chicken in her first restaurant, Roots Chicken Shak. Today, people fly into Dallas just to eat that bestselling treat.

Chef Derry also learned how to interpret foods and not fear new tastes and dishes through watching her mother. “My first mentor would be my mom, hands down,” said Chef Derry. “She is one of the best cooks that I’ve ever known in my life. Out of all her sisters and brothers, my mom cooks the best and is also the most open-minded. And all of us coming from the south, some of my family are set in traditional ways, like ‘this is how we do it, and it needs to stay this way—and if it’s not done like this, it’s not right.’ My mom, even today, we still go somewhere, and she’s like, ‘let’s get that. Let’s try that.’ Just the cutest thing. My first love of cooking came from her.”

Tiffany Derry from the new season of Tournament of Champions premiering on Food Network on February 19th at 8 pm.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK.

The influencers in Chef Derry’s life continued, notably with one famous chef who taught her the restaurant business’s secret weapon—connecting with your patrons. “After that, Chef Mark Holley was my first professional chef job,” she said. “Mark talked to everyone when you walked into his restaurant. He knew you; he knew your children. And I started recognizing that that’s important. People want to connect in a different way than just making incredible food. So those were lessons that I learned from him. I had mentors from people who didn’t realize they were mentoring me. I picked up things from people I read about, figuring out what kind of chef I wanted to be. What are the lessons I can learn that this person is telling me they went through so that I don’t have to go through that?”

Chef Derry also attributes her success to her time and teachers in front of the camera. “Truthfully, Bobby Flay has been an incredible mentor,” she said. “I’ll always remember what he told me. I was worried about losing; he said, ‘It’s not about losing. It’s how you lose that matters.’ But, he said, ‘You still hold your head up. Be very happy and thankful for it all because, at the end of the day, it’s just not that important. Have fun, enjoy yourself and be happy for the other person. Because for them, this is a really big moment.’ And I said, okay, chef, heard. And that has helped me navigate through those waters.”

SPRING PEA SALAD

with Preserved Lemon Celery Seed Vinaigrette

by Tiffany Derry

PHOTO BY ALYSSA VINCENT

VINAIGRETTE

1 preserved lemon, chopped including rind and meat

1 cup lemon juice

1 Tsp sugar

1 Tbsp celery seed, toasted and grinded

1 Tbsp salt

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2.5 cups olive oil

• Mix everything together and set aside.

SALAD

3 oz. of blanched beans (combination or one of snap peas, snow peas, and fava beans)

1 oz. mixed radishes, sliced thin

1 Tablespoon preserved lemon vinaigrette

2 leaves basil, torn

2 leaves mint, torn

1 Tbsp dill, rough chopped

2oz. burrata cheese

Frisée lettuce

2 Tbsp candied bacon, chopped fine Garnish with olive oil

• In a mixing bowl put blanched beans, radishes, and tablespoon of preserved lemon vinaigrette, salt and pepper. If more dressing is desired add more.

• Add basil, mint, and dill to the bowl.

• Arrange in a circle on a serving plate and make a hole in the center. Lay burrata in the center of the vegetables.

• Garnish with a few strands of frisée and radish.

• Top with candied bacon and drizzle with olive oil.