Episode 3325

- This time on "Tennessee Crossroads" we'll visit a Nashville restaurant specializing in, believe it or not, vegan soul food. Then, for something sweet, a trip to a Memphis donut destination. Finally, back in Nashville with the mission of getting old 576 back on track. Hi everyone, I'm Joe Elmore. You're just in time for the latest edition of "Tennessee Crossroads". On this show we've sampled some of the state's best barbecue, catfish and fried chicken and maybe it's time we tried something a little more on the healthy side. In fact, we're gonna meet a Nashville couple who opened a restaurant a few years ago that specializes in a version of wholesome southern cooking, a place that's attracting customers from all walks of life with all kinds of routine eating habits. If the word vegan conjures up images of raw vegetables with lots of kale, well, you haven't been to the Southern V. The menu in this north Nashville restaurant has been described as southern soul food.

- It's so good, I've been craving something that's crunchy and as a vegetarian you don't really get that, unless it's a vegetable, so this is perfect.

- And I've definitely seen an improvement in my blood pressure, I've seen an improvement in my energy level, so I really enjoy it.

- [Joe] Owners Clifton and Tiffany Hancock went vegan themselves years ago after discovering one of their daughters' food allergies.

- From that point I started cooking a lot at home and I said, well, where are we gonna find this stuff? And we couldn't find anything. So we decided we should make something where everybody can find something to eat.

- [Joe] In less than three years they went from a farmer's market pop-up, selling donuts, to this modern, free-standing site. And to them it's as much about teamwork as it is food finesse.

- With her personality and my personality and our own individual skill sets that we bring to the table, I think that's what's kind of helped the Southern V do as well as it's been doing.

- [Joe] Make no mistake, the culinary magic happens on Tiffany's side of the house. She's the mastermind behind all the recipes designed to make dishes taste as close to Grandma's as possible.

- I have like these memory taste buds. It's like I can go back to childhood dishes and just remember how it tasted to me. And I remember exactly how it's supposed to taste so I know I can mirror exactly how I need it to taste in a vegan form. So I just throw my spices in and I just kind of know when enough is enough and I get that same flavor and I get that same feeling and I know it's right.

- [Joe] Clif is in charge of the business side of the operation and everything that happens in the front of the house.

- We don't cross the line. We try not to.

- We try not to.

- Sometimes we both step over each other's line, but I am known as the back of house and he is known as front of house.

- Correct.

- [Joe] While many vegan chefs use soy as a meat substitute...

- And that's what it looks like.

- [Joe] ...at the Southern V it's a high protein foodstuff called Seitan.

- Seitan is a vital wheat-based gluten and we basically use it for a lot of our meat substitutes, if you will. So that is used for our chicken, of course we make that in-house, and a lot of places do make it with soy and so because of my background with my children and them having that allergy to soy, I decided to make it without that. So that other people, other moms, it doesn't matter who you are, but other people who have that soy allergy, they could still enjoy the chicken.

- [Joe] With the right seasoning and TLC, Seitan can be transformed into any faux fried chicken dish imaginable. In fact, Clifton says theirs is the first vegan version of Nashville hot chicken. Seitan is also the foundation for the V's version of America's favorite sandwich. You know, I always thought it was impossible to make a vegan burger taste like, well, you know, the real deal. I guess that's why they call it the Impossible Burger. Add a side of mac and cheese and you've got an impossibly good lunch, I say. They also use a lesser-known meat alternative called jackfruit, which looks like this on the tree before it undergoes a creative conversion in the kitchen.

- [Tiffany] What we do is we cook it down really slowly, simmer it, add our spices and seasonings and just makes it, give it a smoky flavor.

- [Clifton] Smoky flavor, so we imagine it like, almost like a pulled pork.

- [Tiffany] Like a pulled pork and then we pull that apart and chop that up so that it gives that, course look of the pulled pork, which is our jackfruit sliders and we also do a barbecue jackfruit nacho.

- [Joe] The sweeter treats are a big draw here too. Tiffany's home baked cookies sell like hotcakes, as well as her version of an old time childhood treat, Rice Crispy candy. And there are milkless milkshakes. Well, Clifton carefully guards the exact recipe but he's proud of the results and for good reason. Tastes like a good milkshake to me.

- There you go. A non-milk milkshake.

- [Joe] The Hancock's are duly proud of how their commitment to plant-based nutrition evolved into a unique dining attraction. A place where vegans and non-vegans alike can enjoy a friendly vibe and flavorsome food together.

- And a lot of times it just opens up conversation. Or at least starting to look at your lifestyle and how you eat and maybe how you can make some better choices here and there, you know, just living a little bit healthier lifestyle and helping the environment and the animals as well.

- [Joe] Of course, you don't have to go all-in to enjoy a frequent visit to the world of guiltless southern cooking. Clifton and Tiffany just hope that you'll come here when you're up for a healthy fix.

- You know, we want people to have the experience of coming in, just actually relaxing and talking to one another. We have a little light music but we don't have t.v.s and distractions, we just want people to come in, take a break, sit down, eat, be comfortable and then leave out with a smile.

- That's it.

- Well, this is it, the final week of our Keep Crossroads Traveling campaign. I'm joined by Will Pedigo again who's gonna give us a little update on where we stand.

- You know, that's right, Joe, we've set a goal of 350 contributions at any amount to keep Crossroads traveling throughout 2020. Reaching that goal means we'll keep "Tennessee Crossroads" on the air during Nashville Public Television's March pledge drive. Right now we've heard from 242 viewers who have made the leap to becoming supporters.

- Well, that's pretty good, but I think we can make that 350 mark this week.

- Absolutely, you know any contribution, any amount, will help us reach that goal.

- Yeah, we wanna thank those of you who have called in or clicked their support. Now we wanna hear from the rest of you. We still have time to make our goal. Any contribution that comes in by Monday, February 10th, will count. I know we can get there, with your support, of course, all we need is 108 people, is that correct?

- Yeah, that's good math, yeah, you got it.

- All right, 108 people to call the number on the screen right now or pledge online at tennesseecrossroads.org/donate.

- You know we are deeply proud that "Tennessee Crossroads" remains one of the most watched locally produced programs in the entire PBS system. If you're a loyal viewer and enjoy having the Crossroads crew take you to some of the best experiences in our state, join the Crossroads family with your financial support. And we have some great ways to say thanks when you make a pledge; hats, shirts, and a "Tennessee Crossroads" pint glass. Call the number on your screen or pledge online any time at tennesseecrossroads.org/donate, whatever is most convenient for you. Now Joe, why don't you share all of the gifts that we have to say thanks to folks for contributing and helping to keep Crossroads traveling in 2020 and beyond.

- Hey, let's do it. You could help keep Crossroads traveling with a financial gift that's just right for you. Donate at any amount and you'll receive a "Tennessee Crossroads" official travel sticker. At $60 a year, or $5 a month, we'll thank you with this brand new "Tennessee Crossroads" baseball cap. At the $72 level, or $6 per month, you can show your support and keep Crossroads traveling with this polyester blend, short-sleeved tee-shirt. A new way we have of saying thanks for an $84 annual gift, or $7 per month, is this 16 ounce glass tumbler with the Crossroads logo. You can choose both the "Tennessee Crossroads" tee-shirt and the pint glass for an annual gift of $144. That's $12 monthly. Or you don't have to choose at all. You can get all three of our "Tennessee Crossroads" thank you gifts at the $204 level, or $17 a month.

- These gifts are our way of saying thanks to you all for watching and making "Tennessee Crossroads" what it is today, with your story ideas, your willingness to join Joe and the "Tennessee Crossroads" crew on new adventures each week. Your contribution to this station makes it all happen here at Nashville Public Television, and that includes making Crossroads available to viewers in a variety of ways online.

- And we have something really special planned for the end of our campaign. You see, on Sunday, February 16th, Will and I will be raising those Crossroads pint glasses celebrating everything you love on Nashville Public Television. Join us from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. for NPT Day at the Ranch Taproom of Jackalope Brewing Company. We will both be there, as well as hosts from "Volunteer Gardener" and others to celebrate with NPT and have some fun.

- Well, you know, it's gonna be a really great event. Let folks know at the door that you are coming to support NPT when you get to the Jackalope Brewing Company's Ranch Taproom and 20% of all purchases made during the event will go to NPT, the station that produces "Tennessee Crossroads" and all of the local shows that you love. You know, "Tennessee Crossroads" isn't only available on your television on Thursdays and Sundays.

- Oh, that's right. "Tennessee Crossroads" is also available online at our website, tennesseecrossroads.org. We have episodes, stories available and we'll be constantly adding new segments so you can find that story, you know, you might have missed last week or whatever. Also, feel free to reach out to us on our Facebook page at tncrossroads. That's become a great way for us to hear story ideas from our viewers and learn about your adventures exploring places that we feature on the show. We can't make the show without the support of our viewers. Call the number on your screen or visit us online, any time, at tennesseecrossroads.org/donate.

- You know Nashville Public Television is the home of "Tennessee Crossroads" and we know how much this show means to the fans because we see the loyalty of viewers who watch each week. We don't expect everyone to contribute, but those that do make this service possible for everyone in our community. You're a huge part of what we do and we need to hear from you now. So make a gift to your community by supporting the work of NPT, Joe and the "Tennessee Crossroads" crew and call the number on your screen or pledge online at tennesseecrossroads.org/donate. And, you know, become one of those 350 contributions that keeps us traveling in 2020.

- You know, one easy way to contribute is to become a sustaining member of NPT. Will, remind the folks how this works.

- All right, so, sustaining membership is about picking a monthly gift at an amount that is comfortable for your budget. That might be $5 or $10 a month, whatever works for you, and then you keep contributing that monthly amount for as long as you see fit. Sustaining membership means you don't have to worry about whether you've renewed your contribution each year and it gives NPT a firm foundation to produce shows like "Tennessee Crossroads". And remember, any pledge over $60, or just $5 a month, gets you the NPT Passport Member benefit. NPT Passport grants deeper online access to local NPT shows as well as all of your PBS favorites, so give us a call, make a pledge, and gain a deeper connection to "Tennessee Crossroads" online.

- All right, so to recap, this is it. It's the last week of our Keep Crossroads Traveling campaign and we need to hear from at least 108 folks to meet our goal of 350 contributions at any amount. Now if we hit that goal we'll keep Crossroads on the air during March pledge drive and if you haven't pitched in, well, now is the time. Call the number on your screen or pledge online at tennesseecrossroads.org/donate.

- You know, and don't forget, you can join Joe and I on Sunday, February 16th, from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Ranch Taproom of Jackalope Brewing Company. Let the folks at the door know that you're there to support Nashville Public Television and 20% of all purchases made will go to NPT. We look forward to celebrating another year of "Tennessee Crossroads" and all the program that you know and love on Nashville Public Television, so join the fun, it'll be great.

- Well, we hope to see you there and, well...

- I have to say, Joe, I'm really, I'm gonna miss our time together.

- I know it, but why don't you just come join me any time, I don't care, you know. It's been good to remind folks that this show only happens with the support of all of our viewing family.

- And, it's gonna be a great 2020 on "Tennessee Crossroads". But, I guess we're gonna do what we always do and take it one week at a time and one story at a time. Which leads me to my last question.

- Which is?

- Where are we heading next?

- Thought you'd never ask. You know, Memphis, Tennessee has its iconic places like Graceland, Peabody Hotel, the Memphis Zoo is really famous, but there's also a donut shop that's pretty near and dear to the hearts of Memphians and famous food critics as well, who consider Gibson's Donuts among the best in the country. Here's Danielle Allen.

- I want the chocolate with the sprinkles.

- [Danielle] When you want a donut you go to a bakery.

- [Don] You want white sprinkles or chocolate sprinkles?

- [Danielle] But when you want a donut and a memorable experience you go to Gibson's in Memphis.

- How y'all doin', what can I get for ya?

- Chocolate cream.

- First timers, here ya go, first timers. Here you go, first timers.

- How fun is it to work here?

- [Danielle] Gibson's Donuts is a place where everyone knows your name and if they don't, they will before you leave.

- I work across the street from it, over there on 25, and they said I spent more time over here than I did over there workin'.

- [Danielle] This is a fast paced store where the employees are friendly, the coffee is hot, and the donuts keep people coming back for more.

- I like their fluffiness. They always are the same. Some donuts you buy, they don't have the same consistency, but they always seem to be the same, no matter what time of the day.

- [Danielle] Gibson has been voted one of the best donuts in the country, so we asked the owner, what makes you stand out in a crowd?

- We let 'em rise three times where most donut shops'll let 'em rise once. Some will let 'em rise twice, but we let 'em rise three times. That's the biggest key that we do. We might spill a little yeast in there every once in a while, maybe just a little bit of sugar, but it's just, we give it the tender loving care.

- [Danielle] Don DeWeese has owned Gibson's Donuts for 22 years, but the place has actually been around since 1967. Although he's in charge now, that was not Don's original plan.

- We bought it as an investment for our oldest son Blair who graduated in engineering at Mississippi State. He ran it for two years and moved to Italy. My wife took it over and ran it for five years and then she had enough stress and so I took it over, started running it there, and then my son Britton came back about eight years ago and it takes both of us. It takes both Britton and I now. Try that.

- [Danielle] His son will one day take over, but for now, Don is here every day, greeting everyone who comes in. When he's not doing that, he's working on the large inventory for the store.

- We're probably the largest single, privately owned, one location donut shop in the country. Donald Food Products, which is the number one bakery product in the world, says nobody buys the amount of mix we buy per week, than we do right here.

- [Danielle] That mix is used to make a wide variety of flavors, everything from glazed to chocolate, to chocolate with sprinkles, you name it. And every few weeks they do a little cooking outside of the box for their donuts of the month.

- [Don] This is something that we started and one of the people at Donald Food Products told us about the red velvet with cream cheese icing on it. We said, cream cheese? So, we did that for a month and we took it off and people started fussin'. So we put it back as an everyday item and we still have. We did the same thing with maple bacon, my son invented this maple bacon donut and we used a very, very high, high, expensive product of bacon and we did that for a month. We stopped that and people started complaining so now we do that every day. Same thing with the Oreo, same thing with the lemon drop.

- [Danielle] And if you crave these delicious confections long after the sun goes down, don't worry, the doors at Gibson's Donuts are always open.

- [Don] We have to put the old stuff away, we have to put the new product out, so if we're makin' donuts in the middle of the night and putting the new out, anybody that walks in, we might as well sell 'em something. And some nights we'll do over $1,000 at night, between 10:00 at night and 6:00 in the morning. A lot of that's done right after 10:00 o'clock, when we put the donuts on sale, lot of it's done early in the morning, right before 6:00. But it's just easier to stay open than to close.

- [Danielle] Now if you think this place is busy during the week, you should see it on the weekend. The crowd could include anyone from the singer Al Green to the regular who's been coming here for 40 years. And of course, lots of children.

- [Don] Well, I've got eight and a half grandchildren and when you get old like me, your grandchildren, it's the best thing in life. So this is a kid's store, we have sprinkles and we cater to the kids and if a lady and a six or seven-year-old comes up, I'm gonna ask the kid what they want instead of the mama. A red velvet? Okay, get it. The parents appreciate that, the kids too, and if you make that kid have a fun time, next Saturday they're gonna say, Daddy, let's go to the donut shop.

- [Danielle] For more than 50 years Gibson's Donuts has been a staple in Memphis. Now, with the help of social media, they're bringing their treats to an even larger crowd. Which means more people are hearing about a little shop with big flavors.

- [Don] It's like a jigsaw puzzle why we're so famous. We don't know how many pieces is in that puzzle and we don't know which piece is the biggest, but I think social media is probably gonna be that second-biggest piece, because the absolute biggest pieces is the quality of our donuts. Thank you, we appreciate it, my friend.

- You know, there's something magical about trains. The raw power, the immense size and the sound of that lonesome whistle far off in the distance. Well the Nashville Steam Preservation Society is working to breathe some magic back into a steam locomotive that was collecting dust for decades in Centennial Park. Here's Cindy Carter with the story of the old 576.

- [Cindy] In the northwest corner of Nashville's Centennial Park, silently she stands. Her glory days long gone. But oh how glorious they were, back when she was powerful, purposeful, flashing with fire and smoke.

- [Joey] To see a steam locomotive in action, it's really a sensory experience. It really speaks to the soul.

- [Cindy] But old 576 hasn't been in action for more than 60 years. Instead, she's a photographic backdrop, a playground, haven for birds.

- We're gonna have to more than likely break this flange, or this union right here, so that we can get the pipe out.

- [Cindy] But for these volunteers, and countless others, this steam engine remains a source of endless fascination and passion.

- [Joey] When you see it sitting here you're only getting a fraction of the story. To truly understand how this machine works, it's best to see it in operation.

- [Cindy] That's exactly what Joey Bryant and members of the Nashville Steam Preservation Society want, to see this locomotive once again thundering across Tennessee.

- Here we go.

- [Cindy] These faithful volunteers spend every other weekend repairing and restoring the old 576.

- [Joey] So we formed in 2015 to come to an agreement with the city to lease the locomotive, take it out of the park, keep it in Nashville, restore it so people can come and visit throughout the restoration process and then turn it into an excursion locomotive so people can have the chance to ride behind a piece of Nashville history.

- [Cindy] The Society's ambitious plan begins with a $500,000 fund raising goal which covers the cost of moving this giant out of the park and over to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. Then, an additional $2 to $3 million is needed to restore the steam engine so it meets current operational standards.

- Do we have anything to touch that up?

- [Cindy] So, they gotta get her ready.

- [Joey] Currently we are working on the braking system, getting the locomotive's braking system working again, fixing some other appliances on the locomotive, doing some restoration projects on the tinder. Basically just preparing the locomotive to be relocated out of the park.

- That's an awesome sound to it.

- [Cindy] It just doesn't feel like work for volunteers like Bill Webster, who drives all the way from West Memphis, Arkansas to lend a hand.

- My dad used to bring me to this park when I was very young and he would sit on a park bench and read the paper and I'd just be all over this locomotive, playing with the controls and just running around and looking at all the huge pieces and just really enjoying myself.

- [Cindy] A childhood memory shared by many.

- I remember coming out here, as many people did, and playing on this as a kid and just being so fascinated with its size.

- [Cindy] It seems Nashville has been fascinated with this steam engine since it first roared to life.

- [Joey] So the locomotive was built in 1942 for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. It was built to haul both passenger and freight trains over the mountains from Nashville to Chattanooga. It arrived just in time for World War II and the mobilization, so it hauled both troop and supply trains to and from Memphis and on down to Atlanta.

- [Cindy] But when railroad companies began exchanging steam power for diesel, old 576 was retired and donated to the people of Nashville in 1953. Out of commission, and yet she still ignited the imaginations of dreamers and artists. Like Johnny Cash, who shared the spotlight with old 576 for his 1969 "Life Magazine" cover shoot. After decades of just sitting, volunteers say it's time for a comeback.

- It's a good fit, isn't it?

- Once Number 576 is on the move it will carry up to 450 passengers from Nashville to Cookeville to Monterey and many points in between. Hopefully by the year 2021, 2022. And so they work.

- We need to keep on it just a little bit more.

- [Cindy] To free this beloved locomotive from her silent sentence, to once again hear that mournful cry and watch the smoke plumes drifting across the horizon.

- It'll definitely be a dream come true for me.

- Tears will be shed, I am sure.

- I think it's gonna blow everybody away with just how cool that we can transform this thing into what it can be.

- Thanks Cindy. By the way, for the past year the locomotive has been under restoration at the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. And we'll bring you an update once old, or should I say, new, 576 takes to the rails again. Well that's it for "Tennessee Crossroads". Please join us on our website, tennesseecrossroads.org, follow us on Facebook and we'll see you next time.