The Food Does The Talking For Ms. Yalonda
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B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Kitchen Manager Yalonda Ramsey (center) stands beside the menu that features many of her family favorites. The menu includes the Big Nate Po’Boy, named for her son, Nate Murphy (left). The Little Jon Po’Boy is named for Ramsey’s younger son, Jonkevin Shipp. Ramsey’s daily offerings also includes the Blue Devil Slap-Yo-Mama plate.
WATER VALLEY – When Yalonda Ramsey started work at the B.T.C. Old Fashioned Grocery in March, neither she nor her food needed an introduction. A Water Valley native, Yalonda has notched over two decades serving some of the finest meals in the South – a stint that includes running the kitchen at the former White Star Restaurant back in the day to working at some of Oxford’s finest dining establishments.
During the last three months at the BTC, Yalonda has created a Southern-style menu that includes salads, po-boy sandwiches, hamburgers, desserts, French fries and, of course, a plate lunch. The Blue Devil Slap-Your-Mama Plate is a direct link to Yalonda’s roots in her mother’s kitchen. In fact, the entire menu continues the tradition of her aunts’ legendary dishes, her mom’s expertise and her sons’ favorites.
“I grew up watching my momma cook fried chicken, that is where that comes from,” Yalonda explains about Yo’s Fried Chicken, a plate lunch favorite. The “Little Jon Po’Boy” is named for her youngest son, Jonkevin Shipp, and the “Big Nate Po’Boy” for her older son, Nate Murphy. The Little Jon is shrimp and the Big Nate is catfish, and both are on the menu during regular lunch hours (11 a.m. until 2 p.m.) Wednesday through Saturday. Yalonda explains that some days her sons will count the tickets after the lunch rush to see which po-boy was most popular. But it’s more than a namesake for the sons, it turns out they are her toughest critics. Nate and Jon have pulled up to the table at many a family gathering – they know first-hand about the delicious meals, their granny’s greens, mom’s fried chicken and all the favorites from their aunts.
“When we went to family gatherings, granny brought the greens. Aunt Delle brought the banana pudding. Every auntie had a certain thing they brought to the family gathering. You knew who cooked it and how it was cooked,” Nate explained.
This is where the story about their critiquing surfaces. Yalonda has worked from Jackson Avenue to Lamar, as well as on campus at the University of Mississippi. Her time in Oxford included regular visits from Ole Miss standout football players – Laquon Treadwell, Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil, Chad Kelly and others.
Nate Murphy thinks hard before settling on his mom’s salad as his favorite. He said the salad includes grilled chicken, shrimp and lots of other goodies.
“When I would see those players, they knew all about my momma’s cooking,” Nate shared.
Yalonda recalled one particular day when she cooked greens, and all her customers who came in loved them.
“This one,” she adds, pointing to Nate with a grin, “came in and he had the nerve to ask ‘Did granny not teach you how to cook those greens?’ He just shut me down, and the customers had been bragging on them all day.”
“She said a prayer and called and asked my granny for help,” Nate added.
Let The Food Do The Talking
Yalonda started work at the BTC after learning about an opening at the restaurant from Raymond Hawkins.
“He told my cousin, and she was like ‘you might want to contact the BTC’, she is looking for a good cook,” Yalonda explained. “I came down and talked to Alexe and it’s been rolling from there. I think I surprised her, I had some pretty big shoes to fill,” she noted. “I am a Water Valley native, so I kind of know what everybody wants, what they are looking for, I just gave it to them.”
Customers have responded well to the Mississippi fried catfish, her meatloaf, and especially the fried chicken.
Her sons explains that the secret for her fried chicken is the seasoning and her constant attention.
“It’s that left arm, she keeps stirring it. When you take a bite out of that chicken, you are going back for more,” Nate adds.
Other customer favorites are the house-made sauces and dressing.
“All the sauces are made in house, I make all my sauces – the comeback, the ranch, Creole honey mustard, the Thai Yum Yum, that is actually something we sat here and created at the BTC. The Yo-Yo sauce, it is all made from the flip of the wrist,” Yalonda added.
Equally important to good food is fast service for customers on a tight lunch schedule, and Yalonda reports the Blue Devil plate is typically out within a few minutes. It can take a little longer if it is one of those days when customers are lined up inside the restaurant. In Water Valley, Yalonda explains it is hard to predict what the lunch rush will look like.
“But our crew can handle it. Everybody has a job and everybody does their job,” she reports about her crew that includes kitchen assistant Crystal Terry, expo runner Dean Tidwell, and dishwasher and general keeper of order Missy Carr.
“We have a great staff. I can’t do it without Crystal. Dean is our expo, I told him he is the boss because he barks orders at us. Ms. Missy is the dishwasher, and I told her I can’t do what I do without her. Everybody is equally important,” Yalonda said.
Alexe van Beuren, owner of the BTC, cheerfully agrees with Yalonda’s assessment. “We have an outstanding team,” she said. “And Yalonda is doing an amazing job running the kitchen. Kagan and I are extremely happy to have her here.”
Jonkevin Shipp shares that his mom’s chicken Alfredo is his favorite.
As well as lunch, Yalonda and her team put out a variety of take-home options, from hand-pulled chicken salad to chocolate chip banana bread to Debra Lou’s pimento cheese (the recipe is from Yalonda’s mother.) Slap Your Mama Slaw has turned into another take-home favorite: “Cole slaw was the first thing my mom had me make. I had to stand there and grate the cabbage. I think I make pretty good cole slaw,” Yalonda added. Beyond that assessment, she is careful not to tout her food.
“I am not a bragger on my food, I like to let my food talk. That’s what happened. Customers came back and I was in awe of people who were just loving the food. That is what I was grateful for. I am truly thankful that everyone is happy. I am humbled. The kitchen talks for me. Period,” Yalonda said.
