Josh Huckaby
Title: Chef/owner of The Green Beetle
Age: 37
Hometown: Memphis
Who or what was your first cooking influence? My grandmother. She cooked all Italian dishes, lasagnas we feature on the menu here. I used to watch her. Mary Liberto. She passed away last January. She had a little green chair. I used to get up on the green chair and I could watch her make the sauce. Italians, when they traditionally cook, all the food has to sit for a couple of days and kind of mesh together, get all the flavors in. She was always in the kitchen.
What made you decide to become a chef and when was that? I've been working in restaurants most of my life. It's just a passion for food. I love to cook. ... I did odds-and-ends jobs. I did construction for a little while. Air conditioning. Just some other stuff. And I always seemed to gravitate back to the restaurant. It was just kind of a very comfortable feeling in the kitchen, being able to cook.
What was your first food-related job? Side Porch Steak House. Wash dishes, made salads, just whatever they needed. I was 16.
What was something important that a fellow chef taught you? Be true to what you want to cook.
What is the Josh Huckaby style? Casual American with a Southern flair.
Describe a dish you created. I'll do some stuff that's off the wall I think. I do some Capt. Crunch French toast on Sunday brunch. It's just battered in (crushed) regular Capt. Crunch and then topped with whipped cream.
What do you cook or bake at home, if anything? I'm a grill guy at home. Man, I do a beef tenderloin. I roll it in coffee grounds and I cut it into silver dollars. Then I take a Kahlua cream sauce and whisk it and top it with it. It's real simple. It takes 10 minutes to make the sauce. It takes a few minutes to grill.
What's your favorite food? Pizza.
What's your least favorite food? Brussels sprouts.
The Green Beetle is at 325 South Main; (901) 527-7337.
Michael Donahue: (901) 529-2797; donahue@commercialappeal.com
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