About the chef
I started cooking at age three, dragging a chair to the counter, opening the cabinet, and dumping spices out to mix spices on the counter. That’s mom’s favorite story to tell at least. In all reality, being raised as a latch-key kid, I was put into a position where I needed to get dinner ready for the family. It wasn’t very glorious back then, mac and cheese, the basics for a family with a single parent. Over a few years one of the first real recipes that I developed was for fried rice. Simple but intoxicatingly delicious, so much so that friends would request it in large batches.
“Finally... Meat Candy BBQ... the best thing to happen to brisket since fire! Josh is an amazing chef and an equally amazing fella. His food is bursting with bold flavors and lots of love!”
The First Venture
After graduating from college, I was able to partner with a student organization. During this time I was offered the opportunity to expand my creative genius, learn portion size, budgeting, hone my skill set.
As one season transitions to the next so the opportunity to help open Talenti Gelato presented itself. This was a wonderful challenge to also further master the art of relating to the customer and understand what they truly want. Not just a great restaurant but also the opportunity to push their flavor palate. (An interesting note, my first job working in the kitchen came to a crashing halt when I swapped out pickled jalapenos for habaneros, the manager quickly taught me the first lesson in food service, give the customer what they ask for.)
“I mean the BBQ was good. Really good. But when he put on the sauce,
I was addicted.”
A New Challenge
Over the years I had always loved great BBQ. Starting in 2006 with the smallest grill Weber makes, I was able to start perfecting my brisket. It was so well received that friends would continually request it. The special sauce would eventually lead to the name Meat Candy. Nothing else would adequately describe the experience. Amazing.