A Conversation with John Homrighausen

Well branded!
While there is no doubt about what type of events J-BAR-H Texas Catering creates, where John Homrighausen is concerned, there are always surprises!

By Pauline Parry

In my ongoing series in which I ask industry professionals a few personal and professional questions, I turned my focus on Houston's John Homrighausen. John is smart, sharp and funny and Over the top. He is from Texas after all! I invite your to get to know him here, then really get to know him on Facebook (he doesn't Tweet because 140 characters is not enough characters for John) where he offers daily insights that are both motivational and hilarious, and where he�s brilliantly branded his catering firm and his new Ranch Bakery with his own, big Texas personality!

As home is where the heart is I'm always curious to find out more about where people live? How would you describe where you live?

Our home is what we call �Hill Country Casual.� There is a lot of rough wood and stone in the home and rustic accents throughout. The floors are handscraped pecan and scored, etched and stained concrete. This was one of the first homes in Houston to have these beautiful floors.

What is your favorite object within it and why?

It isn�t so much an object as an element. In a transitional area of the house we had a Texas star scored into the concrete. I always liked the way this came out and it was a prominent element that everyone remarked on as they came through.

What�s your favorite time of day?

As someone who is decidedly not a morning person, it�s ironic that morning is my favorite time of day. The air is cool, the lake is flat, birds are moving around, flowers opening up. It�s quiet and pregnant with all the promise of a new day. Another reason might be that breakfast is my favorite meal...

Do you have a lucky shirt or something you wear when you are going into a big meeting?

I like to wear argyle socks. They are kind of crazy and if anyone sees them it is just a quick flash that tells them there is more to this guy than meets the eye.

What fashion designer do you find you wear the most or what fashion design do you like?

I don�t really focus much on labels, of any sort. Couldn�t even really tell you what brand of jeans I have on today. Now when it comes to shoes I am very specific as to likes and dislikes.

Do you have a design style?

In clothing I am all over the map. Whatever I wear I want it to make sense and fit my earthy nature. Most pictures out there show me in a cowboy hat, but in reality I rarely wear one. It has kind of become my brand though. In events, my style is rich tones, utilitarian elements and Texas flourishes throughout that give the guests a connection to the place and the food they are about to enjoy.

What is your favorite reality show obsession and why?

Most people don�t know that I am a total geek. I love any show that tells me how something works or is made or why. Outside of that genre I enjoy the shows that travel around and talk about food establishments and their terroir. I love seeing food in it�s context being prepared by the people for whom it is just sustenance. Anthony Bourdain does a good job traveling around and giving context to the humble local foodways that we take for granted.

What is one restaurant that we will never find you at?

I don�t enjoy Indian food. The flavors and smells are completely foreign and shocking to my palate and I just don�t appreciate it. I will say that there is an Indo-Pak deli that I stop in next to my Chamber of Commerce and the owner is determined to broaden my horizons.

He already has me loving samosas but it�s a slow row to hoe. Interestingly this relationship has inspired me to create the Brisket Samosas (pictured) that we serve in our higher end events to great acclaim.

What�s your favorite meal after a long event?

I will admit that I am a junk food junkie. For your readers who are not chefs or professional cooks, it seems odd that we don�t just eat the food we prepare for an event. The reality is that after you have been cooking something and working on it for a few days it is the LAST thing you want to eat. So whether we are serving lasagna to 1,200 or lobster and filet to 120, I usually find the greasiest hamburgers or tacos I can find as close as possible to the job.

What is your favorite beverage?

I am kind of a �girl drink drunk.� I have a crazy sweet tooth and prefer my wines on the sweet side as well. If I could only have one thing to drink for the rest of my life it would be sangria. I make it better than anyone I have ever met and I�d drink it at church if they�d let me. As far as spirits go, I love the smoky complexity of small batch bourbons.

When you entertain at home, do you cook?

Potato Salad on a Stick was one of the recipes John taught to an all-male cooking class on BBQ Dating Techniques

Most definitely. When I was in college I used to cook for my dates to �seal the deal.� I am not proud of it, but no sense in wasting natural talent, right? At parties I tend to �hide in plain sight� by manning the grill or the kitchen. I am not much of a mingler and this brings everyone to me. Cooking has always been an expression of art and love to me and in this way I can love on my guests without getting into trouble.

What�s your favorite thing to make?

It doesn�t really matter to me as long as I get to use fire to make it. I saw a guy on a show once whose entire kitchen line was built around these grills he made himself. This guy even cooked CAVIAR over coals. I share this man�s obsession for connecting to his guests through innovative uses of flame and smoke.

In this past year, what was your biggest accomplishment professionally?

Ranch Bakery is also branded with John's signature style.

We opened a bakery this year and it was a pretty big deal. I went from saying �chef�s don�t bake� to anyone that would listen, to owning a bakery and working in it within the year. It has been a huge growth curve and I think when we look back on it that people will say we created something unique out of whole cloth.

What do you consider your biggest personal accomplishment?

Personally my growth as a leader is the most impressive change over the last 40 years. From a self-centered, career-minded young Turk to where I am now is a big change and those who knew me in my '20s can barely recognize me now.

What�s been your favorite event and why of your career?

I don�t think I have done it yet. I have been catering for eight years now and every year brings something new in an area I never thought I�d go. I will say that I enjoy the charity jobs I do during the holidays more than anything we do the rest of the year. I am thankful that I am able to bring comfort food that people can relate to on an emotional level. So when we do a Thanksgiving dinner for 100 ex-cons and they come up in tears because they have never had a traditional family meal like that, I realize why it is that I do what I do.

What do you remember about high school the most?

The angst. All I remember from high school was high highs and low lows. Definitely NOT the glory days when I look back at my whole life. I�d love to relive my �30s again.

What do you wish you had known then that you know now?

I wish I had known what really matters. It took a lot of pain to learn that things can be taken away from us and the pursuit of them is pure vanity. My wife�s battle with cancer taught me that we are given a short time here and we can spend it living for ourselves and disappearing when we die, or living forever in the lives of those we have inspired while we were here.

What would surprise us to learn about you?

That I am an actual genius. Was tested years ago and have an IQ of 142. With that said, the world is scattered with ruins of misused or unrealized genius.

What have you learned from your father?

My father taught me that family is important and you do whatever it takes to protect them and provide for them.

And from your mother?

My mother taught me that it is detrimental to have toxic relationships in your life and to only keep people around you that are not trying to bring you down, regardless of what role they play in your life. Cutting toxic relationships is a hard lesson to learn but once learned, it frees you to grow.

What irritates you the most about modern life?

I think more than anything I get frustrated at the selfishness and lack of ownership today. The only thing we are guaranteed in this life is misery and a promise of something greater when we are gone. It is up to us to hack away the brambles in life and create something meaningful. I just don�t see the drive in people.

What is the one thing you�d like to accomplish in life � big or small?

I don�t think there is one thing I�d like to do or one place I�d like to go. The most important thing to me is that when I am gone and people speak at my funeral, that they speak of the difference I made in their lives. More than accomplishment, I seek to live a life of sublime significance.

Both John and I will be joining thousands of other caterers at Catersource, February 26 - 29, 2012, in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. See you there!

John Homrighausen

John Homrighausen is owner and president of J-BAR-H Texas Catering and Ranch Bakery in Cypress, Texas as well as Americana Catering in Houston. John is a champion of the broad Texas foodways and culture and is sought after internationally for his expertise and benchmarking of these wildly diverse cuisines. John is also a small business consultant and a leader in men�s ministry. One of the things that makes his companies unique is that they each have a mission and a unique community giveback built into the corporate charter. His belief that businesses can have a purpose higher than simply creating wealth make him a standout in a struggling economy. He also is a pioneer in social media marketing and has leveraged this medium into success for himself and his companies. John has been quoted in Ducttape Marketing, Guerrilla Marketing, as well as being written up in numerous industry and style blogs.