In the beginning, Clarksdale was known as the home of cotton and blues
music. Now, it will also be known as home to one of the finest restaurants
in the South thanks to one of that town's ardent promoters, attorney Bill
Luckett.
Called Madidi, the upscale restaurant will open shortly in the old 8000
square foot Landry's building located at 164 Delta Avenue in downtown
Clarksdale. The menu will  boast of speciality items that will be prepared
by Chef David Krog who Luckett recruited from the well-known Memphis
restaurant La Tourelle.  In short, Madidi will be like nothing Clarksdale
has every seen.  What makes this restaurant even more interesting is that
one of Hollywood's best actors and one of  Mississippi's most notable
residents, Morgan Freeman, is Luckett's partner in the venture.
"We're looking forward to our opening," says Luckett. "A lot of planning has
taken place to ensure that Madidi will offer that right mix of food and
fun."
Freeman, known for his roles in "Driving Miss Daisy," "Kiss the Girls,"
"Shawshank Redemption," Seven, and many others, is as excited about the
opening of Madidi as he is during the opening of one of his films.
"I'm very excited about this venture," says Freeman "I'm also very excited
about being here in the Delta and having this restaurant in Clarksdale."
Like many Delta towns, Clarksdale has had its up and downs during the past
decade and many say that the future of Clarksdale is bleak. However, there
are many more that disagree with this assertion.  Because of the early forms
of blues music that were created around Clarksdale by blues greats Muddy
Waters, John Lee Hooker, and others, the town has become a major tourist
destination point for blues enthusiasts in recent years. Luckett and many
other Clarksdale residents feel that the town is on the way up again due to
the worldwide attention the town has been receiving because of its place in
the history of blues music. National Geographic, Rolling Stone Magazine, The
New York Times, Time magazine, and other national publications have written
articles about Clarksdale during the past year alone. President Clinton's
trip to Clarksdale last year also brought attention to the town. However,
Luckett's entry into the restaurant business is not just about making money
from the residents and tourists, his mission is far more reaching.  It's
about adding to the town where he grew up and adding to the town he loves so
much. Freeman also has the same desires. How these two have become close
friends and have ended up together in the restaurant business is a story in
itself.
 

A Brief history
A lifelong resident of Clarksdale, Luckett has always had a large attachment
for the town, its history, and its future.
Growing up in Clarksdale, Luckett went to Clarksdale High School and during
that time he became interested in construction , architecture, and design.
"Beginning in the ninth grade, I starting working with house painter Walter
Howell and worked in many of the nicest homes in the Delta," says Luckett .
"I have always had an interest in architecture, construction, and design."
 After graduating from high school in 1966, Luckett attended the University
of Virginia working during the holidays and summers painting houses. At Ole
Miss law school, during his breaks, Luckett's interest in building graduated
from just painting houses to full blown construction.
"Between college and law school, I had a year of active duty in the army and
was the commander of a construction unit in Charleston, MS," says Luckett
adding that that experience was very valuable to him in learning how to plan
and build. Upon graduating from law school in 1973, Luckett joined his
father's law firm in Clarksdale and settled in. Besides practicing law,
Luckett continued to be just as passionate about building and construction
and on the weekends he dabbled in this extensively. Eight years ago things
got serious when he purchased a small house on Maple Avenue and remolded it
using it as a rental property. Beginning with that first rental house, his
"hobby" has now turned into a large business as Luckett currently owns some
40 rental houses. He has also renovated five old buildings in downtown
Clarksdale, among these the newly remolded five story Hotel Clarksdale which
he has turned into eight apartments. Luckett has also refurbished the old
Bank of Lyon building in nearby Lyon, converting it into eight  apartments.
Additionally, he is a partner in a 101-unit apartment complex. Luckett has a
big interest in the future of Clarksdale and serves on its Beautification
Committee and airport board. All of this has led him to Madidi.

The great beyond
Freeman met Luckett several years ago. In search of an attorney to represent
him locally, Luckett was contacted initially by Freeman's wife, Myrna
Colley-Lee. Luckett helped the Freemans solve several problems during the
construction of their home just outside of Charleston. Freeman, who had been
away from Mississippi for some 20 years, grew up in the Greenwood area and
decided to move back to his ancestral home about 12 years ago. Freeman says
moving back home to Mississippi is one of the best decisions he has ever
made.
"I have been to a lot of nice places. However, when I have come back home
there is this feeling of letting your breath out," says Freeman. "To me, I
find that it's just a safe haven here in the Delta. It's a wonderful place."
 Even at an early age, Freeman was attracted to the big screen.
"I spent many Saturday afternoons at the picture show in Greenwood," says
Freeman. "If it was a movie about cowboys, I tried not to miss it."
 Freeman left Mississippi when he joined the Air Force at age 18 in the
Fifties and was shipped out to California.  After his honorable discharge in
San Bernardino, and with Hollywood not very far away, Freeman knew that he
was in the right place in order to pursue an acting career.
 Freeman says those early years in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with a
couple of periods in New York in between, were very tough times.  However,
as one acting job lead to another, Freeman ended up in New York where he
tried out for play after play, getting a few small parts in off-Broadway
plays and regional theater. Although he wasn't known then, the small parts
he got were learning experiences and he was also able to watch other actors
and learn from them as well. As Freeman's parts increased, he began to be
noted by the press and soon was recognized as one of the top actors in New
York during the Seventies winning Obie awards and Tony nominations for his
work on stage.  In 1982, Freeman auditioned for a part in a movie that Paul
Newman was producing.  Although Freeman wasn't selected for the particular
role he was auditioning for, Newman cast Freeman in another role in his
movie: "Harry and Son."  In 1987, the movie "Street Smart"  helped launch
Freeman's movie career for which he received his first Oscar nomination.

Miss Daisy
 "Street Smart"  helped begin a buzz about Freeman in Hollywood. However, it
was Freeman's role in the hit movie, "Driving Miss Daisy" that demonstrated
to Hollywood and the world that he had arrived.
The week "Street Smart"  was released, "Driving Miss Daisy"  opened as a
play in New York with Freeman playing his famous role. From the start, the
play received a lot of attention from the press and a buzz began circulating
through the industry that the play would be turned into a film. Night after
night, name actors went to see the play many of whom  campaigned hard for
the part that Jessica Tandy played in the film. Although the producers had
not decided on that particular part, they were sure that Freeman should play
his stage role in the film version. However, they had to sell Freeman to the
studio as the studio was interested in trying to land a name actor like
Sidney Portier.  The producers prevailed and Freeman was selected to play
his stage role in the film. Freeman's role in "Driving Miss Daisy"  landed
him another academy award nomination and  after "Driving Miss Daisy,"
offers to appear in other films with large roles came in droves.  After many
years of struggle, Freeman had truly arrived.

Coming Home
Freeman says that after he had the opportunity to see the world and live in
many places, he began coming back to Mississippi mainly to visit his
parents. At a certain point, he began thinking about moving back home.
"I was spending more and more time coming back to see my parents around
1984," says Freeman who married that year in Charleston. "By 1986, we came
to the conclusion that we wanted to live here."
By 1990, everything fell into place and Freeman moved back home.
 Today, Freeman's work schedule is very hectic. One week he may be in
Mississippi and the next six months he may be somewhere in the U.S., Europe
or Africa working on a new film. Besides making movies, Freeman is an
accomplished sailor and keeps his boat docked in the Caribbean. Freeman and
his wife have sailed their boat from Rhode Island to the Caribbean before.
Sailing is one Freeman's great pastimes.
"You can almost equate sailing to mountain climbing, back packing, or just
about any recreation that challenges you without having anything to back you
up except yourself. It's just you against nature," says Freeman.
Freeman says that for him, sailing is a good way to clear his mind and in
his industry it's a good way for him to reattach himself to reality.  And,
when he is Mississippi, Freeman enjoys riding any one of his five horses on
his ranch.
"To me, I equate riding horses to dancing in the woods," laughs Freeman.

Creating Madidi
Two years ago, the owner of a corner building in downtown Clarksdale
approached Luckett about buying it.  Several others had looked at the
building known locally as the Landry's building. However, renovations were
needed and no one really saw what the building could be used for. One of
Luckett's properties, the old Hotel Clarksdale, is located near the building
and Luckett had originally thought that if he purchased the building he
would convert it into apartments just as he had done with the old Hotel
Clarksdale.
"I knew that it could probably be purchased at a fair price and, as always
with any old building in downtown Clarksdale, I was somewhat interested,"
says Luckett. "I looked at it and considered converting it into apartments.
However, I began thinking that particular property had other possibilities.
I had also been thinking for some time about trying to participate in, or
help be, the instigator of putting together an upscale restaurant here in
Clarksdale. In the back of my mind, I felt that the Landry's building would
be the perfect place to house a restaurant of this caliber."
The restaurant idea and the purchase of the building wouldn't leave Luckett.
He purchased the building and began reading and investigating all he could
about how to put together a restaurant. He also began to make notes as he
dined at restaurants in Memphis and in other places around the country. One
night while reading the March, 2000 issue of the National Geographic, he ran
across an article about a national park in Bolivia called Madidi. The name
stayed with Luckett and he felt it would be a good name for a restaurant.
Luckett's back-of-mind idea soon became a top-of-mind idea and he made the
decision to move forward with the venture.
One day while Freeman was visiting Luckett, Luckett took Freeman to see "a
shell of a building"  according to Freeman. As Luckett walked Freeman
through the building giving him his ideas of "what would go here and what
would go there", Freeman said to Luckett, "How would you feel about me
getting in on this?"
Luckett and Freeman had eaten at restaurants together in Memphis, Oxford,
Greenwood and Cleveland, always enjoying a good dining experience and a good
conversation. So, the idea of getting into the restaurant business together
was very exciting to both of them.
"From where we live, both of us are faced with a long drive to go out and
have a good dinner, an hour or so to Memphis or an hour or so to Oxford,"
says Luckett. "The idea of having a nice place to eat right here at home was
very alluring. I think that others in our area feel the same way."
Luckett and Freeman have done their best to make sure Madidi is top quality
in every aspect from the ambience to the staff.  Sheila Burnett of Pinecrest
Designs in Charleston collaborated with Myrna Collie-Lee, who is also a
professional theater set and costume designer, and Luckett's wife, Francine
for the interior decorations.  Working together, the trio chose the color
schemes, fabrics, and furniture giving the restaurant a unique look.
A great chef is also the heart and soul of any fine restaurant and in order
to find one, Luckett looked to Memphis.
"One of Morgan's favorite places to eat in Memphis is a restaurant called,
La Tourelle," says Luckett. "The interesting aspect of this is that Morgan
didn't know who did the cooking at  La Tourelle. However, most of the time
it would be their sous chef, David Krog. whom we have now hired to be our
head chef. It was just a perfect match when all of this fell into place."
Krog entered the picture after Luckett called the Memphis Culinary Institute
in search of a chef. Through the Memphis Culinary Institute, Krog was
contacted and became interested especially after talking with Luckett over
the phone. Clarksdale native Bill Lewis, will be the general manager for
Madidi and Anden Hamilton, former pastry chef at La Tourelle, will be
Madidi's salad/pastry chef.  Dennis McNeal, formally of the Sheraton Casino,
will serve as sous chef.
"We have hired a number of area people who have ties with Coahoma Community
College," says Luckett. "We also have some Delta State students who will be
working here as well. All of these are full and part-time employees."
Luckett says that the last thing that he would have ever thought of was
entering the restaurant business.
"There is high risk in the restaurant business," says Luckett. "I'm trying
to enter into this as cautiously as I can. It's a complex business. I run a
law practice with a lot of employees. However, this is totally different."
Because of his law practice with offices in Clarksdale and Memphis, Luckett
says that his role in Madidi will be limited.
Luckett's concentration of law is in litigation. Some of his largest clients
are Wal-Mart, John Deere, and Kroger.
"First of all, I'm going to be a good customer," laughs Luckett. "Bill Lewis
and Dave Krog will run this restaurant on a daily basis and I'll definitely
have some input because I want to make sure that the quality and the service
is as Morgan and I expect it to be. We'll not only be good customers, we'll
also be good critics in order to keep it on a high plane."
Luckett says that Madidi will eventually be open for lunch and that for
dinner private dinning rooms are offered upstairs. Moreover there is a large
room for cocktail parties, receptions, or banquet styled dinners.
"A lot of people like to go out with their friends and enjoy a good meal
with some privacy," says Luckett. "We have several rooms upstairs that will
be available for this and in fact, we have a special room upstairs with a
bar that we'll provide to businesses and for those who want to have private
parties and receptions.
"My goal with Madidi is to have a fun, lively but sophisticated place where
you can celebrate a meal," says Luckett. "Not stilted or stuffy, but just
the right mix of formality and fun. Clarksdale Press Register writer Rebecca
Hood-Adams used the term Œcelebratory cuisine' and that's a good description
of what Madidi will be." DBJ
(For more information, contact Madidi at 662-627-7770 or 662-627-7724.)