Episode 3938

- [Announcer] Tennessee Crossroads is brought to you in part by.

- [Narrator #1] Some of our biggest checks have also made the biggest difference. The Tennessee Lottery. Proud to have raised more than $7.5 billion for education. Now that's some game changing, life changing fun.

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- [Narrator #3] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at mtsu.edu/cla.

- This time on Tennessee Crossroads, Laura Faber visits a mother-daughter dumpling team. Vicki Yates stops to smell the roses. Joe Elmore finds a taste of the Rockies in White House and Miranda Cohen goes on a hike with some unconventional companions. Well, thanks for coming with us on this journey. I'm Ketch Secor welcoming you to another episode of Tennessee Crossroads. Well, if Chinese dumplings are your love language, have we got a mother daughter duo for you! These two have gained a reputation for making some of the best authentic Taiwanese dumplings in Nashville. Laura Faber and our crew headed to Germantown to put their creations to the Crossroads taste test.

- [Laura] Every week, 6,000 dumplings are folded and filled mostly by hand in this small kitchen and restaurant space.

- Every dish that we present to our customers, every ingredient has a purpose behind it. Also, obviously the history, the traditions.

- [Laura] The dough, made from scratch, is ultra thin and the fillings range from pork and cabbage, chicken and mushroom to a veggie filling. The dumplings and Bao buns are steamed in baskets from Taiwan.

- [Grace] It's very labor intensive when it comes to making everything from scratch.

- [Laura] The hands responsible for it all, those of Mama Yang and her daughter Grace, loyal customers have followed Grace Tsang and Mama for years, ordering online when they cooked out of an incubator kitchen and then lining up at farmer's markets across Middle Tennessee.

- We were sold out within 30 minutes. The market was two to three hours long. And we were like, oh no, what do we do?

- [Laura] They started serving fresh and frozen dumplings that people could heat up at home, always with a bigger dream in mind. Now you can find their small brick and mortar restaurant in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville. It's called Mama Yang and Daughter, though Papa Yang works here too. And they get a little help from a machine to fold more dumplings more quickly.

- We are extremely specialized on our menu. We don't have a big menu. All we have is dumplings, wonton soup, steam bun, and then cucumber salad and some edamame.

- [Laura] Most of the recipes are Mamas, straight from Taiwan.

- She started cooking because it was like almost like a expectation of her being in the kitchen, like the traditional household where my grandma asked her to help out in the kitchen and she fell in love with that and knowing that she like also wants to help out with the family, feeding the family and she developed that interest.

- [Laura] What are we going to eat today or what can people order today that you cooked in Taiwan?

- The pork, the original pork dumplings and wonton soup. Oh, steamed bun.

- [Laura] Okay, so those are all your grandmother's recipes or your recipes?

- My mom, she doesn't know how to do the Bao, dumpling, wonton soup. My mom, she doesn't know.

- So that's all you?

- Yes.

- [Laura] Do you have the recipes written down?

- Yeah.

- [Laura] Ginger and scallions feature heavily in Mama's dumpling fillings. The wrappers made of both wheat and barley flour.

- The wrappers, 'cause we make them from scratch completely. There's a saying in Chinese. The thinner the wrapper, the more filling that it has inside, the better it is.

- [Laura] Mama even created her own soy sauce that you can buy.

- So she come up with a recipe with soy sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, scallion, ginger, a lot of good stuff in there. Sesame oil. So we all like when they dip into it, they also find the vibrant flavors in there.

- [Laura] You can order fresh and eat on site or take a package of frozen dumplings home and Grace also leads dumpling making classes.

- The way that we do ours is our family style. So however yours turn out to be is your style. So what I'm trying to say is there's no ugly dumplings.

- [Laura] In the class, you get to make dough from scratch, assemble the filling and learn how to fold a dumpling.

- You fold it in half like a taco.

- [Laura] It obviously takes practice. Mama can wrap 120 an hour by hand. This is the oldest class she's done. Is that what she said?

- Are we the oldest people you've ever taught? Is that what you said?

- I didn't say that, I didn't say that.

- Oldest and wisest.

- The most experienced.

- The most experienced.

- Seasoned. Thank you Susan. Eating the finished product is worth the wait. Also served at Mama Yangs is boba tea. Grace's creative passion allows her to experiment with flavors. In Taiwan, there are boba shops on every corner.

- Boba itself like the tapioca, the little black round stuff is made of tapioca flowers.

- [Laura] Dumplings are the main attraction here though, the small family business Grace and her Mama have grown makes her emotional and knowing their customers have embraced not only their style of dumplings, but Grace's family too.

- I have no words to even begin how to thank them. And really the more the people who came from when we first started to continue supporting us to this day, I mean I'm speechless because they were able to follow the journey that we had. It's always encouragement and support and I really no words. But to thank them for continuing and believing us.

- Delicious, thanks Laura. I may have to take one of those dumpling making classes myself. Well, whether you're buying flowers for someone or expecting to receive them yourself, you'll appreciate our next story. Vicki Yates has done your homework for you. She spent her Valentine's Day at one of the finest flower shops in town, aptly named Flower Shop.

- [Vicki] If you travel along Dickerson Pike, you might not have noticed this strip mall or maybe not even this building. But once you enter you'll see it's all about the vibe. And the vibe is all about flowers. Let's start in the back of the shop.

- Quinn, you need me to be on phones?

- [Vicki] Quinn Kiso and his partner Alex Vaughn, are the owners of Flower Shop and it appears that everybody here is busy. That's because it's the day before Valentine's Day. All of these floral designers have been working practically nonstop, including Alex and Quinn.

- I was thinking we just hand them the card separately because it's for two kids and a daughter. But all we had left was 250 and 200. I feel like this is a DoorDash moment.

- Can we DoorDash coffee?

- Yes.

- [Vicki] Meanwhile, on the other side of the curtain, shoppers are hoping to impress.

- I think that I'm gonna go this feller right here.

- The hundred dollars one, yeah, this is a good choice. YI have not made a hundred dollar bouquet this big in a long time. I had to check it 'cause I was like, that's.

- No, I think it's perfect.

- It's really pretty.

- [Vicki] In between putting this arrangement together, we were able to arrange for Quinn and Alex to tell us more about Flower Shop, where they've been since the end of 2024.

- We moved here from New York and I was trying to get just like an event business started and it wasn't working. We got pregnant and I think pretty much didn't love our lives. I was home with the baby and that was not for me. And he was working really hard at a job that he hated. And we saw a for lease sign on a shop in Five Points and kind of just decided to go for it.

- Yeah, we had been doing flowers, you know, her for a decade, me on and off for a decade at that point. So we thought East Nashville needed a flower shop. We had the shop in Five Points in East Nashville for four years, and then on March 3rd it was hit by the tornado and completely destroyed. Come on in.

- Sorry.

- You picking up or you just coming to shop?

- Just coming to shop.

- All right, that's cool. We'll take a break.

- You came here from New York?

- Yeah.

- [Vicki] Was that like culture shock? What was it?

- Yeah, yeah, that was culture shock. There was a lot of things that felt very different, just like the size of the city felt very different. One of the things I remember is like not having walls, not sharing walls with people. And just feel that felt super isolating and strange. And like being in the grocery store parking lot and there being like not that many people at night in the grocery store, that felt scary.

- Basically, East Nashville is home. I mean it's a great community here. We have friends here and the business partner friends here and so it's a good spot.

- [Vicki] Now you told me earlier that you kind of both were delving in flowers before, so what made you decide, okay, we're gonna put all of our eggs in this basket?

- I think that there's just a certain kind of person who loves flowers to the point where they can't get away from them. And I think that's just us. Like if you talk to other florists, that's what happened to them too. They started to do some flowers and they loved it so much that they just stayed. And like kept doing it. And I pretty much, I think that that's really what happened.

- It does keep you in there. I have been into entrepreneurship my whole life. I was in entrepreneurship groups in high school. But yeah, flowers has this combination of casual relationships with people. Daily beauty, natural beauty, the social environment is interesting and if you have your own shop, you have your own life. I think that people are surprised to learn that most people that buy flowers are women and they do come in with emotion.

- [Vicki] Why do you think people are comforted or so excited about getting a flower arrangement, a floral arrangement?

- I think part of the beauty of it is that it is temporary, it's natural, naturally occurring and it is temporary. You have to appreciate it for the time that you have it and then it goes away. I think ephemeral beauty is part of the equation. All right, there you go. Yeah, thank you.

- Good luck with all the craziness.

- Yeah, thanks. We tried really hard to create not just a flower shop but like a shopping experience. In today's world, you can get everything either at the grocery store or online and there's not a lot of incentive to go into a store and so we wanted to create something where you wanted to come in and see it for yourself. So we put a lot of effort into making it super original and very detailed in all of its aesthetics.

- Also, we both really love beauty.

- Yeah.

- And that is what our whole brand is all about is beauty.

- [Vicki] The shop is both the old.

- You know, it's all antique really. And so we really just filled it with antiques.

- [Vicki] And the new, as in new and unique floral arrangements that put smiles on those designing them as well as those receiving them. It's been a busy time here at Flower Shop, but normally when you come into the door, you come to this table and you'll see nothing but beautiful flowers, long stem flowers waiting to be taken and made into something special. And that's what as a customer you can do. Flower shop is consistently at the top of best florists lists in Nashville. And if you think you have an eye for design, Flower Shop even has classes on floral arranging.

- Hey, thanks Vicki. Looks like I got a headstart on Valentine's next year. Now we've met numerous couples who operate outstanding, locally owned restaurants around the state and the couple you're about to meet is known for creating crowd pleasing food, supporting their dedicated staff and providing valuable service to their community.

- [Joe] Okay, don't let the name fool you. This place is in Tennessee, White House to be exact. The only thing not from here is this elk named Glen. Inside, there's kind of a warm Western vibe to the place. That's the way Andy and Rosie Rutherford like it.

- Rustic theme, you know, down there. Come as you are pretty much and just come in, have great service and great food. You know, we've always been about as long as you give great service, people don't mind waiting.

- [Joe] Andy and Rosie practically grew up in the restaurant business.

- That's right.

- In fact, that's where they met. Destined to be partners in both marriage and food service.

- Got a grilled chicken sandwich with honey mustard. I'm the pretty much a happy go lucky one, but it's always good to see you gotta go. Absolutely. And she's more of the disciplinarian.

- I got your pot pie right now Miss April.

- She's all about the kitchen, the cleanliness, the recipe adherence and all that.

- No meat, no cheese.

- [Joe] Andy and Rosie took over the Colorado Grill Steakhouse in 2013 with a goal of offering delicious food along with exceptional service. The menu options range from steak of course to seafood, from pasta dishes to burgers, salads, tacos. And as they say, the list goes on. It's all served up in a friendly, almost family-like atmosphere.

- Thank you.

- We don't do reservations because you have no idea when they're gonna leave. You know, it's kinda like a meeting place after church and things of that nature. You may deliver their food and they may be visiting with someone else at another table. So it's almost like that gathering place that everybody kind of comes and meets and you know it. We understand it. It is what it is.

- [Joe] While steak is part of the name, the menu's bestseller comes from the sea instead of a ranch.

- Bourbon Street Salmon, we marinated it up to 12 hours before we serve it. But it serves bourbon street salmon, and our cedar plank salmon. So our salmon is one big hit that's around the community. If he posted on a Friday and we already got the orders in and he posts that on the website or on his Facebook page, we're almost running outta salmon come Sunday.

- [Joe] Now when it comes to burgers, it's pretty much a toss up between beef and bison.

- The bison burger sells very well.

- You get a little bit of tanginess into it.

- Thanks April. You know the menu here is extensive. Everything from seafood to steaks, but for something out of the ordinary, I'm going for the bison burger and a order of fried green beans. Woo-hoo. Those are good. The old saying the customer is always right, maybe obsolete at some places, but according to Andy, it's more relevant than ever in his kitchen.

- It's just taking a lot of pride in doing that. But it's also making sure you're taking care of your kitchen staff to where they know how to season it properly and they're cooking it properly and they're making sure it gets out. Because a lot of times at the end of the day, we can cook a perfect medium steak, but if it's not medium to the person paying for it doesn't really matter what I think or the cook thinks, doesn't really matter. We either need cook it more or cook it less. That's the only thing that matters. Get it back out there to the table 'cause there's somebody not eating.

- [Joe] Pleasing guests with good food and service seven days a week is a full-time job in itself. But along the way, the Colorado Steak Grill has received numerous awards for community service and support of local youngsters. Some who may land their first job in life here.

- There's nothing that upsets me more if I see someone says, you know what? I want a job, I wanna do anything other than fast food or restaurants. You know? And I think fast food and restaurant is a great job. I think you can make a lot of money into it if you apply your effort. But I think if you work in a restaurant, there's no job you can't do.

- [Joe] Well, no doubt, the employees here do their jobs and many have risen through the ranks. To Andy and Rosie, well they're all part of a big happy family and a big reason the Colorado Grill is such a haven for hospitality here in White House.

- You do it for the strive of watching this family grow and them going off and doing something on their own or staying with you, growing with you. We have managers here that started at 16 or coming in as a single mom seven years putting in and now they're managing the restaurant. So it's a pride thing that watching them grow up and take over is just the joy you see out of it.

- Wow, looks great Joe. And if you go, be sure to say hi to Glen for me. Well finally this time I can't think of many things more peaceful than a quiet hike in the woods. Maybe the only thing that could make it better is if you could take that walk with a gentle and sure-footed friend. Miranda Cohen traveled to Greenville, Tennessee to meet a very special lady and her wandering llamas.

- [Miranda] You've heard it said that all who wander are not lost. And that is certainly true of Sandy Cegrillo and the wondering llamas of Greenville, Tennessee. Sandy was born in Connecticut and lived most of her life in Miami, running a very successful limousine business. To relieve the stress of the job, she often vacationed in the beautiful hills of Tennessee. And that is how it all started.

- Well, I loved to hike, but I actually took a llama trek on my own and I was not even into it 30 minutes and I had already fallen in love with the llamas. I just, I'm an animal person. I thought they were so interesting and so sweet and I just fell in love with 'em.

- [Miranda] So in 1999. she traded her limousine for a llama-sine and started her hiking business called The Wondering Llamas, offering her clients a guided stroll through the forest with these gentle, majestic llamas.

- They're sweet, they're kind, they're funny, they're interesting, they're very smart, they have excellent memories and they're very easy to train. So everybody, in order to walk them properly, I like to have them held here and here, just here and here, nice and loose. And they will just follow you and walk very easily. Will you get your own llama to walk? I mean, you can walk 'em, you can pet 'em, you can take pictures with 'em, you can hug 'em, kiss 'em, feed them, give them snacks. They'll eat snacks right out of your mouth.

- [Miranda] These beautiful and gentle creatures will saunter along beside you, peaceful and surefooted on the winding Tennessee trail. And whether you follow them or they follow you, it doesn't really matter. They are tranquil and regal and they inspire just as much all as these beautiful vistas themselves.

- Llamas are so friendly. Like they just, some of them will like cuddle up next to you like they're so, they just walk easily with you. And it was honestly amazing. It was beautiful out here.

- Well, I offer several different hikes. You can go on a two hour day hike. It's very flat, very easy. Anyone can do it. I have little children, I have older folks that do it. It's fun, it's beautiful. The trail is interesting. We have bridges to cross. The trees in the fall are spectacular in spring, it's just all green and beautiful. And even in winter, I have another winter trail that I use, doesn't have any water crossing so we don't have to get our feet wet and it's just magnificent in the snow. I want people to de-stress and unwind and listen to the nature, listen to the creek 'cause I find it so relaxing and it's healthy and you're getting exercise and you're getting out of your home and outta your office and people need it. They're not out in nature enough.

- When they are not wandering, they are nestled down here on Cegrillo's mountaintop home grazing and frolicking with the pack. Sandy gets her very special llamas from all over the world. But as you can guess, when you get llamas together, well you get other llamas. In fact, she is breeding and she will have three more llamas later this year.

- I've got 18 and I've got one due any day that she's pregnant. I've got another one due in spring and another one due in summer. They're addicting, they're like potato chips. You can't just have one llama.

- [Miranda] And if you would like to spend even more time with the llamas, you can stay overnight at one of Sandy Cegrillo's two overnight accommodations here on her farm. A unique tree house with a magnificent view or an itty bitty kitty house where you might just have a bunk mate. Either way, you are guaranteed an up close and personal experience with the llamas.

- They're fun, they're just friendly animals and they're soft. They're like a giant dog to me.

- [Miranda] And though you may not think of llamas as indigenous Tennessee creatures, it turns out they are making themselves quite at home. And we are certainly happy to have them.

- Tennessee is gorgeous, they're very surefooted and they can take on any trail with absolutely no problem at all. They cross water, they cross creeks, they can climb over rocks, they can jump over logs, they can go uphill, downhill. I mean, they can do anything. They're made for this. They're made for Tennessee. This is a way for the whole family to get together and enjoy a nice, quiet, peaceful, relaxing event. They just fall in love with them and everybody falls in love with them. We call it falling in Llama love.

- You'll never get lost in the woods with those hiking guides. Thanks Miranda. Well folks, that'll do it for this journey. But thanks for coming along. Be sure to check out our website, TennesseeCrossroads.org and find us on the PBS app. But most of all, be sure to join us back here next time.

- [Announcer] Tennessee Crossroads is brought to you in part by.

- [Narrator #2] Students across Tennessee have benefited from over seven and a half billion dollars we've raised for education, providing more than two million scholarships and grants. The Tennessee Lottery, game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Narrator #1] Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways, where adventure, cuisine and history come together. With 16 scenic driving trails, you can discover why Tennessee sounds perfect. Trips can be planned at tnvacation.com.