GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Like many chefs, Jessica Ann Tyson learned to cook at a young age. The adopted twin's love for cooking came from inspiration from her parents.
"My mother who adopted my twin sister and I is an excellent cook and my father is too," Tyson said.
Being in the kitchen, seeing the fog and condensation on the windows, takes Tyson back to her childhood. A time where she knew someone was cooking up something good in the kitchen. "I'd love coming home and my dad would put a pot on," she recalled. "And you'd see the steamy windows so you knew something was really really good."
She's taken that love of cooking from her childhood and turned into The Candied Yam, a soul food restaurant located on 44th Street near the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
I can tell you from personal experience that the food there takes me back to my own mother's kitchen where you can taste the labor of love in every dish. "We want all of our customers to feel that love and the food that is made with love," she said.
Whether you are order the fried chicken, the fried catfish or the meatloaf plate (do it), make sure you've got somewhere to nap afterwards as the food will fill you up and leave you satisfied.
For more information, visit https://thecandiedyamgr.com/ .
PHOTOS: Meals from the Candied Yam
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