Note: Soul Sessions is produced as a podcast first and designed to be listened to. If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes the emotion and inflection meant to be conveyed by human voice. Our transcripts are created using AI and human transcribers, but may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting.

PAUL:

Fourth-generation pig ear sandwiches meeting fifteen-year-old farm-to-table dreams—that's what happens when you put Jackson's past and future in the same room. Hey, it's Paul Wolf with a front-row seat to conversations on culture from Jackson, Mississippi. We call our podcast Soul Sessions. it's the people, places, and events that make the City With Soul shine. On today’s show, I stepped back and let two incredible chefs talk shop. Geno Lee, the fourth-generation owner of the Big Apple Inn on Farish Street, sits down with Simms Powell, a 15-year-old culinary and artistic prodigy who's been cooking since he was nine. Both are featured on the cover of our 2026 tour guide, and this conversation about Filipino food, fusion cuisine, and what it really takes to make people feel at home through food is exactly why Jackson's culinary scene is second to none.

GENO

When I think about you, you're good at art, you're good at, I was just joking a little while ago about singing, but you probably can sing.

SIMMS

I don't know if I got those Filipino genetics. I got the cooking ones.

GENO

Uh oh. So out of all the things you do well, which, from what I hear, I mean, you're almost, like, you're a ninth-grade legend in this town. What is your favorite thing you like to do out of all the things you do?

SIMMS

Cooking, probably. Cooking. I mean, but the whole, probably combining a lot of those in, like, fishing and then being able to, you know, take those fish that I catch and include that in my cooking or going out foraging in the woods and finding ingredients, and including that in my cooking, like, cooking, I think, brings together a lot of the passions I really enjoy.

GENO

Oh, wow. So you're taking farm to table a whole to a whole new level. You can go pond to table, you can go wood to table, do that. That is so cool.

SIMMS

Yeah, and, um, like, Uncle Geral, he'll bring, uh, deer sometimes will, uh, hunt for deer. He'll bring him home. And I mean, I love butchering them. I love like breaking them down into the separate pieces of meat. I think that's a really cool process.

GENO

See, that's amazing. I won't even try that. You know, somebody has given me a deer before, but I take it straight to a processor. I wouldn't know what to do.

SIMMS

Yeah, I mean, you know, you really get to see where your food comes from, like, from the source, and I really think that's something neat that you, you know, you can't do that just buying food at the grocery store.

GENO

Where'd you learn that? You learn that in culinary school?

SIMMS

I learned that from family, and I learned from, I mean, just online, you can learn so much. If you take the time.

GENO

Right, I guess so. You can Google anything these days and find it on YouTube. You know, I tell you, I think that the closest I get to farm table or pond to table or wood to table is Kroger. That's about it, you know? Where people say, Geno, do you fish? Not be on the seafood section at the grocery store. You know, but that's about it. That is so cool. So out of all those things, out of all the cool things, you... I mean, do you even have a favorite dish you'd love to cook, or favorite genre of food, or favorite ethnicity of food?

SIMMS

I think that's one of the questions I get asked most, and it's one of the questions I answer the least. Uh, I don't, I think probably Asian food because of my grandparents, but... I think probably the best answer I could get for that is just the food that brings me nostalgia, the food that reminds me of home, like, Lola’s cooking, like, the dishes shield me.

GENO

Oh wow. So what does Lola make?

SIMMS

Well, like some of the adobo I brought you today, that's one of her recipes.

GENO

Oh man. which that do is, man, that's fantastic. I haven't had adobo in... Oh, my goodness. In about six years, I was in this cool little Filipino restaurant in Vegas, which they're all over Vegas. And, man, that was some good adobe. I think yours might have them beat, though, man. That is awesome.

SIMMS

I think that is, um, I mean, well, I have a question for you. What do you think is going to be the next up and coming cuisine from like a country or specific cuisine?

GENO

Man. Dude, you're asking, you came out with a, you know, guns blazing. Um, let's see here. I don't know. I'm kind of like you. You know, um, I love everything Asian, and everybody in my family loves everything Asian, so that's pretty much what we follow. We follow all the street foods and all that. So, um... I mean, I really, I really don't know. I do see some people experimenting out with a little bit of Russian foods, you notice that? You know, like, you know, the borsts and that kind of things, you know, you're starting to see a little bit of the more of that in the menus in New Orleans. I was in Dallas last weekend, and I saw some Russian cuisine kind of added to that. So, I don't know, you know?

SIMMS

That's really interesting.

GENO

Yeah, it is. But I do know this. I know that fusion cuisine is just taking over everywhere. You know, just, I mean, that's the hottest trend right now. We were in Dallas this weekend, and we went to this taquiero, and, am I saying that right? Taquira? You know, a taco place?

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

And, um, but when you order it, you order an Indian taco or a Vietnamese taco.

SIMMS

Oh, wow.

GENO

And so it had, like, a taco that had fo flavor, or it had a taco with it, and it was incredible. Every one of them, it looked like a taco, but it had its indigenous flavor for whatever country, you know, like a bending masala taco, you know, like, man, this is just, it was really neat.

SIMMS

Well, I think that's something we gotta try here with, like, fusion with maybe using some of the Filipino food or Filipino flavors, like that adobo and put it in one of the sandwiches.

GENO

There you go.

SIMMS

It would be really interesting.

GENO

Adobo smoke.

GENO

There we go. I think so. You know?

SIMMS

Have to try it.

GENO

Have you ever tried, since we're on Filipino food right now? Have you ever tried, um, ballute?

SIMMS

I have not. I had the chance in the Philippines, but I was, I think, 9 years old, and I was not ready for it. But I'd love to try it now. That's on my bucket list.

GENO

For our listeners, explains what ballute is.

SIMMS

It is a fertilized duck egg that's been boiled and salted, and the traditional way of eating is you crack the top open and drink a little bit of the like liquid soup on top and then you just you eat the egg with the fertilized duck inside.

GENO

Oh, man, my grandmother used to love ballute. And when I remember seeing her eating, I was like, you, when I saw her eating it, I was young. So I was afraid to try it. And there were different stages, she would explain to me, like, some of them, I mean, you could actually see the chicken and the feathers and all that, and you just, she just popped the whole thing in her mouth. Some of them, I mean, you could tell it was just, like, a fetus, you know, like a little embryo thing, and she said, That was her favorite way of eating, you know, when they were really, really underdeveloped, and she drank that... guts and joy.

SIMMS

Yeah, I remember in the Philippines, one of the things that kind of, uh, pushed me away from that first with one of our family members, uh, was eating a piece of ballute. They put it in their mouth, and then they pulled a feather out of their mouth right after.

GENO

I know, right? Oh, my goodness. So, the Jackson scene, you think Jackson's ready for a Filipino restaurant?

SIMMS

I think so.

GENO

I think we can handle it.

SIMMS

Yeah, I mean, I think it's... I haven't met anyone who has had Filipino food and hasn't liked it.

GENO

Right. You know, there was some kind of Filipino pop up sometime a while back...

SIMMS

Yeah, a couple years ago.

GENO

Yeah, did you go?

SIMMS

I did.

GENO

Did you? Yeah. How was that?

SIMMS

It was good. It was, I think, if Filipino food, that was kind of, I leveled. It was kind of like how Elvie’s would do something, like, you know, kind of leveled up, but so it wasn't quite Filipino home cooking, but it still was really good and captured the essence of what Filipino food is.

GENO

Wow, fancy Filipino food.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

Fancy spell with a PH. Fancy Filipino.

SIMMS

But I would, yeah, I think Jackson needs a Filipino place. Um, we keep joking with my Lola that that's what I need to do when I get out of high school and she can come out of retirement, we can start a little Filipino food truck.

GENO

Hey, I think that'll be neat. I think, you know, I think that's one thing that we don't have here. You know, something really different like that, you know?

SIMMS

Yeah. And you know, Halo-Halo, like, the shaved ice?

GENO

Yeah, yeah.

SIMMS

I mean, I think that in the hot Mississippi summers, I think that would just fly off the shelves.

GENO

Oh, man. Let me ask, you ever been to, um, golly, what's that? It's Filipino fast food.

SIMMS

Jolly Bee

GENO

Have you been to Jolly Bee?

SIMMS

I have.

GENO

Have you?

SIMMS

Yeah, I wish we'd have one here. I mean, it's I'll put that up there with my favorite fried chicken places.

GENO

I love their fried chicken. The spiciness of it, man, that is so good. How about the spaghetti?

SIMMS

The rice? You ever had

GENO

The sweet spaghetti, right? The spaghetti with sugar all over it?!

SIMMS

Yeah. That one always... That was an interesting one. I had some yesterday at a Filipino party, actually.

GENO

Really?

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

At the Filipino Club that meets once a month, or when it will be?

SIMMS

At a potluck birthday party.

GENO

Really?

SIMMS

Right down the road, actually. There was a big tray of sweet spaghetti.

GENO

Oh, man. So, Simmss, what is your ethnicity? Your Filipino and...

SIMMS

Quarter Filipino, quarter Indian, half white.

GENO

Gotcha, gotcha. So you're kind of like me. I'm Filipino, Black and Mexican.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

You know, so kind of, like, a little, we're fusions ourselves. So that's kind of cool. So I guess that's what's... When did you start loving food?

SIMMS

I mean, I think probably, from a really young age, that, like, four, I'd walk through the grocery stores, and I'd want to touch every fruit on the shell.

GENO

Really?

SIMMS

I'd want to try, you know, raw oysters at, like, five. I’ve loved them since.

GENO

Wow.

SIMMS

One of my favorite foods. And I'd always just want to help in the kitchen, like whenever my parents were in there, I'd ask to just help chop cucumbers for salad or whatever.

GENO

Yeah. You know, I'm trying to think... You started at such a young age. I don't think that I was... as excited about food until I got to probably junior high.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

You know, we were living in Europe, and we'd go to all these different countries, and that's when I became just so just encapsulated by food and all the different cuisines that were out there. What was wild is, my brother and sister never, you know, got a taste for it all. You know, no pun intended. But, um, you know, whenever we go places, they wouldn't, they wouldn't try the different foods.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

And I think that's when I fell in love with food. You know, more so eating, in fact, we're so serious about food in my family, dude, we plan vacations around food.

SIMMS

Oh, we do, as well.

GENO

Do y'all, you know, and people look at us, like, man, y'all are just so weird, you know? You know, the whole saying, ‘Some people eat to live, we live to eat,’ you know?

SIMMS

Yeah, totally.

GENO

Man, that is so cool.

SIMMS

You said you were in, when you were in, uh, living in Germany yet? Did that affect any of your cooking at all? Like, what did you learn from being there?

GENO

Well, first of all, I learned how to cook German food. And we had to because we were civilian in Germany. We weren't on the army base. So we had to live on the German economy. So all of my friends were German, all my parents' friends were German, and so we learned how to cook their food, you know, um, you know, um, sour bratten, and Spetzle, and Wiernerschnitzel, and all that. So we learned how to, in fact, my kids, to this day, we have to have German food at least once a month. They want German food.

SIMMS

That's incredible. So you retained those recipes?

GENO

Yeah, yeah.

GENO

And nothing written down. We're raised with it over there. You know, we lived there for 10 years. You know, so I was just, we ate it all the time. You know, in fact, my sister, she was born there, and she went to a German school. She was bilingual when she first started out. She spoke German and English. You know, and that's the thing. It's so funny, when people look at me, and, you know, I have a little bit of, and you can tell that I'm not 100% Black or 100% Asian. I got a little mixed up, and people don't know what to expect when I open my mouth. They say, ‘Okay, is you gonna speak Spanish, or is he gonna speak, um, you know, have a Black dialect, or is he gonna speak some kind of Asian dialect?’ And they say, ‘Well, do you speak any foreign language?’ Yeah, I speak German of all things.

SIMMS

So you shock them with that one?

GENO

That's right, that's right. So, um, you know, and I think that that helped me, um, get an appreciation for the world, you know? And the different cuisines and different food throughout the world. You know, that's why I love the question that you asked a while ago. What do I think is gonna be the next, you know, food that just breaks, breaks the world open, you know? I don't know, what do you think it might be?

SIMMS

I mean, I think, and I'm starting to see this, I think it's gonna be Filipino food. I mean, we're seeing, you know, some big cities like DC and LA, like Filipino restaurants, they're popping up everywhere.

GENO

They are.

SIMMS

They are? I think it's gonna be, and I hope there'll be something kind of like, you know, Thai food is just such a normal in every city. Everywhere you go, you're gonna find Thai food. I think Filipino food might be just like that.

GENO

I'm hoping so because I don't know if you remember this, but before you were born, we had one Thai restaurant in town. That's all we had. It was down South Jackson, and, you know, a handful of people knew about it. Now we have, you know, a lot of Thai restaurants. So I'm hoping the Filipino cuisine takes off like that. Now, LA, you know, it's different. Yeah, in California, there's a very big Filipino population.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

So, of course, there's gonna be a lot of Filipino restaurants and Filipino cuisine, just like in Vegas, you know, a lot of, a lot of Filipino restaurants, because of the population. But I didn't know about D.C.

SIMMS

Yeah, I think, and I hope that starts spreading in more than just our big coastal cities.

GENO

Right. SIMMS: And I think it will, because I think, you know, there's even there's one in DC that I think 2 years ago when a James Beard Award is like one of the best restaurants in DC.

GENO

Oh, wow.

SIMMS

Got a lot of attention for that. So.

GENO

Hey, speaking of James Beard Award, what do you feel about those Michelin guys? You know, we've got two, um, gourmands here now in Jackson.

SIMMS

It's incredible.

GENO

And isn't that great?

SIMMS

Yeah, something Jackson should be proud of. I think so.

GENO

I think so. You know, I think we're long overdue.

SIMMS

I agree. I think for such a city, with so much amazing culture and food, sometimes it's just overlooked.

GENO

Right. I think so.I think so, too. You know, which I don't understand how Elvey's just got a Gourmand award, 'cause they, I think, say that, you know, has to hit a certain price point. I always hit that price point whenever I go there, you know? I've never, you know, they say it's supposed to be, like, for comfort food, and I don't think it's just, um, it's just comfort food. I'm excited. I think that we're gonna have a few more that's we're gonna see throughout the state, you know?

SIMMS

Yeah, I'm excited. I hope that it just brings more attention and more people are gonna see what our Mississippi chefs and restaurants are capable of.

GENO

Right, I think we're a hidden gem. That's why I'm excited about the JXN Food & Wine Festival. You know, when we have the JXN Food & Wine Festival, we get to showcase some of our wares, you know? And if you get a chance, start going to all of them. Meridian has a great food & wine festival. Natchez has a great food & wine festival, the coast, you know, but I think, you know, they all pale compared to Jackson. Jackson's Food & Wine Festival is second to none. You know, I've been to a lot of them out of the state, and I will say, well, we rank right up there with some of the top cities in the United States, as far as food and wine festivals.

SIMMS

Yeah, that's incredible. I mean, and I'm real excited to go this year, because I've never gone to experience that, but I know a lot of chefs that do chefs that go there, and I mean, they're so talented with their cooking.

GENO

Right, right. Well, we can always use your help, and I'm gonna go on record to say that we could always use your help if you want to help us out at the JXN Food & Wine Festival. Last year, we did tamales, and we did with a pico de gallo, mango, pico de gallo on top. Had a little spice to a little heat. It was really neat. Year before that, I actually did smokes. This year, I'm gonna do a pig ear. But at my restaurant, we do pig ear sandwiches. I'm going to do it the Asian way, and just cook it, you know, for, like, 15 minutes, and then slice it up really, really fine, and with fresh peppers, and then top it with cilantro, and just serve it in a spoon. And serve it cold.

SIMMS

Wow. That is really neat.

GENO

You ever had that?

SIMMS

Uh, I think one time I've had it at a dim sum place.

GENO

Okay, yeah, right.

SIMMS

Yeah, it's so much different from the pig ears you serve here. I mean, it's like the texture is completely different. 100% different.

GENO

In fact, they have some, if you ever been to Mr. Chen's.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

And it's so good, and they dice it up so fine, and the cartilage almost tastes like a vermicelli that's kind of, you know, a little cooked, a little under al dente.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

And so man it’s so neat. I said, we're gonna try that this year. And try something different.

SIMMS

Yes, it's really interesting how the cooking process completely changes the pig ear.

GENO

Yeah, right?

SIMMS

I don't think there are many things that have as drastic of a change just from the amount of time you cook it, as like pig ears do.

GENO

Right, right. Because in order to get it tender enough, like we do in our sandwich, you know, we have to pressure cook it. If we were to just boil it, it would take days to boil together that tender. But the Asians, they just want to do theirs 15 minutes, because they want the crunch, and they want the texture to be a little tougher, you know? So, yeah, it is different. I think that's kind of cool.

SIMMS

Yeah, I agree.

GENO

Simms, one thing I've learned about you since I've met you, and speaking with other people who know you, you do so many things, and you do so many things well. But out of all the things you do, you said that you really love cooking. That's the thing you love the most.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

Do you want to cook for your vocation, or do you want to cook for your... What do you want to do when you get older?

SIMMS

I would love to open a restaurant. I mean, that'd be a dream, is to have my own restaurant. Um, be, you know, something... something in the same style as Elvie's, like, you know, a smaller, like a seasonal restaurant, very farm to table-ish.

GENO

But any certain kind of cuisine or just everything?

SIMMS

I think, I think it would probably be everything. But it would definitely, I definitely show a lot of my roots in my restaurant.

GENO

Right. And that's kind of that's cool, you know, because some of the best restaurants I've been to, not in Jackson, but out of the state, have been seasonal type restaurants. Is that what you're talking about? Something like that?

SIMMS

Yeah. I mean, just, you know, take advantage of the freshest ingredients and of the local farmers, like, use what the best ingredients and the best local ingredients we have to make the best food.

GENO

Wow. And Hunter is pro with that. You mentioned Elvis, you know, he's a pro with that. He'll take whatever's, you know, available to the time and put it on the plate.

SIMMS

Yeah, it's incredible. I've brought him forged ingredients before, and then two days later, I'll see it as a special on the menu.

GENO

Oh, wow.

SIMMS

Yeah. I mean, he's so good with just using the freshest ingredients, even if it's just for a week. And I think that's something I really would love to do as well in my restaurant.

GENO

That's neat that is so cool. You know, I was at, um, um, for New Year's, I went to eat with, um, Chaz over there at Pulito's.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

And he was able to get his hands on some white truffles.

SIMMS

Wow.

GENO

And he did a white truffle spaghetti. And it was the vermicelli style noodle, and then he just… not really sauce, but just shredded the truffle on top, and that was it. That was the most amazing bite that I have ever had. Just the simpleness of the freshness of the ingredients is, I think that's so cool that you want to... That's what comes out, or you're talking about, what's gonna come out in your food by doing the seasonal ingredients, you know, coming?

SIMMS

Totally.

GENO

Yeah. So, with an Asian twist, everything, huh? I love that.

SIMMS

Do you have any tips for when I do open a restaurant, like, the Big Apple N has been around forever? How have you just kept it here and kept it strong for so long?

GENO

Well, I tell you, um, I think the secret to our restaurant is, um, we have something different.

GENO

Yeah. You know, it's just something different. We have pig ears and smokes. Those are our main two ingredients. And you're not gonna go anywhere else and get it. You know, you might have to be a little copy that, you know, but, um, we have something that's different, but I think the thing that makes the difference, and, in fact, I know the thing that makes the difference, and if you talk to any chef or any restaurant owner, the deciding factor for being successful is loving it. If you love it, and if you love every single person who walks in the door, that's the game changer.

SIMMS

You know, um... I totally see that here. I mean, there's every time I come in, there's so much heart, and there's so much... just emotion that put into the food. incredible.

GENO

Right.

SIMMS

And everyone in here just feels like a community when you come in.

GENO

Right, right. And when that happens, stories start to evolve. And when stories start to evolve, it's amazing how, you know, if you ever want to, sometimes, just come in here and just stop anybody who walks in the door and just say, Give me your Big Apple Inn story. It will have one. Everybody who walks in here has a Big Apple Inn story. I've been eating for 30 years. I've been eating for two years. I've been eating for a month, you know, whatever it is, they always have a story on what got them here and what keeps them here. And I think that's, that's kind of atmosphere you want to just keep, yeah.

SIMMS

Yeah, right?

GENO

So, I mean, you're just so full of personality. Man, it's coming out of your ears. So I have no question whether you're gonna just do great in the restaurant scene. You know, one thing I do love about, think about some of these restaurants around here. Some of your favorites, and as you think about your favorite restaurants, you probably know all the chefs.

SIMMS

Yeah.

GENO

You know? And the reason why is because they made themselves available, and they come out, and they shake hands, and they talk to people, and let you know what they're cooking, and, you know, and...

SIMMS

Yep, that's why they're...

GENO

Yeah, think about it. Yeah.

SIMMS

That's one of my favorite things is when, you know, a chef will come out and just talk about the dish, even just the dish of the night or whatever. I think that's incredible. builds community with the people who come to eat there.

GENO

It does. And that's what keeps people coming back. You know, I remember this when my wife used to belong to this little, little, bitty Baptist church when she was a little kid. She lives in the country. And they had this little Black Baptist church. Once a year, this old white couple would come and give them, like, a vacation Bible school for a week. And they would look so forward to this vacation Bible school happening every year. So I asked my wife, I said, ‘baby, what did you learn doing this during these weeks of Bible school, all these years coming up?’ And she said, ‘Geno, I have no idea what I learned. But I do know how they made me feel.’ And I think that, you know, sometimes, your cousin ain't gonna be good, but sometimes, even leaves a better taste in people's mouth, is how you make people feel.

SIMMS

Definitely. That's so true.

GENO

Yeah.

SIMMS

One of the things I think I want to capture in my restaurant is kind of how I feel just in how people feel. My grandparents, Lola and Dada, they would they'd invite everyone to their house for meals. I mean, it just, you know, just the neighbor down the street, it'd be like, we should have him over for dinner this week. And I want people to feel connected in that same way of just a community and food isn't just there to look good and to taste good, but it's there to bring people together.

GENO

It is. Food is commitment, man. That is so good. And I could see that you creating that in your restaurant. It's almost like, I'm going to Simms’ restaurant because it was like going home.

SIMMS

Yeah. You know, that's kind of cool. if I open one. I want them to not just think of it as a place with good food.

GENO

Right, right. Oh, that is so good. That is so good. Well, you could create that atmosphere, you know? That is so good. And that's what I tell my employees all the time. You know, when people come in, you know, they have to reflect you.

GENO

Yeah.

SIMMS

You know? So they have, you know, my employees, when they see them, I want them to be able to see me. You know? Because, um... you're the reason why they come to the restaurant. You know, yeah, your employees may be great, but they come, they're coming to see Simms, so if they're coming to see Gino.

GENO

You know, um, so that is neat.

SIMMS

That's incredible.

GENO

Yeah. I love it, man. Well, I think you're gonna do great. I'm excited for your journey, and, um, I can't wait to eat some of your, some more of your food.

SIMMS

Me, either.

GENO

I can't wait.

SIMMS

There's so much for you to try.

PAUL:

Sometimes you just know when to take a step back and let your guests take the mic. What a gift it was to be in the room for that conversation. Jackson's food scene isn't just about what's on the plate—it's about the stories we tell, the heritage we honor, and the community we create. From Big Apple Inn's nearly century-long legacy to Simms' dreams of a seasonal restaurant that honors his Filipino, Indian, and American roots, this is what cooking across generations looks like. And whether it's adobo smokes, pig ears prepared two different ways, or just loving every person who walks through your door, the best food always comes from the heart. We'll have links in our show notes at visitjackson.com/soulsessions.

This podcast is produced by Visit Jackson, the destination organization for Mississippi's capital city. Our executive producers are Jonathan Pettus and Dr. Rickey Thigpen, and I'm our managing editor. Learn more about us at visitjackson.com.

I'm Paul Wolf, and you've been listening to Soul Sessions.

Listen to previous episodes of Soul Sessions