Week 47 - Food Week - Our guest Storyteller shares his 30-year journey, following his passion

 Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Chris - Fort Worth, Texas


 My first job at the age of 16 was in the food industry. Although it was as a busboy, I was constantly around the kitchen watching the chefs/cooks do their thing.


I was fascinated by the skill and precision they executed dished with. 


 Later on, I became a cook myself, but for a pizza restaurant. Not quite the level of cook that I had witnessed at 16 years old, but a cook nonetheless.


It taught me important skills such as prepping food, measuring correctly, timing, and plating foods. 


 I worked my tail off in the restaurant industry for 5 years while going to school, vowing that I would get an education and never have to sweat so hard in a kitchen again. 


 I got that education in the form of an electronics and computer engineering degree and bounced around a few jobs until I landed in the Audio Visual field. I still busted my butt starting out as a technician and eventually working my way up to a project manager. 


 I worked in the AV field until I was 43 years old, but grew bored and unsatisfied with my daily routine. The money was great, but I was missing something. 


 I joined a friend one weekend to go to compete in a local BBQ competition and dusted off my old cooking skills. 




I recalled my younger days of become a pretty good cook and put those long-unused techniques to work.


I realized while cooking, that I really missed it. 


 We ended up winning Reserve Grand Champion at that competition and to say I was hooked is a huge understatement. 




 Fast forward 7 years later and that same friend and me who invited me to the BBQ competition are 3 years into ownership of our own award-winning restaurant business. 




 We started off just the two of us in a food truck and now have 9 employees and a brick-and-mortar building. 


 I snicker at the thought of my young self swearing I would get my education to get out of the food industry...more out of stubbornness than anything. 


 It took about 25 years to learn that the kitchen is where I belong. It’s where I thrive.


Sometimes it feels good to go home, sometimes it’s where you belong.

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