Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason and Veronique Howard. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Steaks 2 Crepes is a merger of both the journeys of Jason and Veronique Howard, a mother and son duo. Veronique, a French native, started her family with her first child Jason in the 1980’s. Veronique climbed the corporate ladders of mega corporations in the travel industry, starting her career with Continental Airlines and concluding as the global travel manager for Schlumberger.
Jason’s path started and continues in the foodservice industry, starting his career at iconic fine dining Tony’s Restaurant, then opening his first brick and mortars – Jaxton’s Bistro and Five Central.
Their exits in their respective fields mark the beginning of what would eventually lead to the birth and rise of Steaks 2 Crepes.
Since leaving Tony’s, Jason has been dedicated to a life of entrepreneurship. His first venture was an upscale casual European concept called Jaxton’s in an anchor lakefront space at the premier dining and shopping attraction in Cypress – The Boardwalk at Towne Lake. He eventually moved Jaxton’s to his next project Five Central – a “mini mixed use” in the former Brownstone/Corner Table space in River Oaks which consisted of a dinner theatre, a wine and jazz lounge, a cigar club, a craft cocktail bar, and Jaxton’s as the anchor dining.
Veronique, after leaving Schlumberger, embarked on her own entrepreneurial journey with the mission of sharing an authentic, unfiltered experience of her French culture with her community here in Houston. Arts & Crepes is the brand she created to accomplish just that – providing a turnkey French experience. Centered around crepes authentic in style and composition using generations old recipes, and accompanied with nuances of the experience such as ambiance, décor, furnishings, music, and her warm French embrace, greeting each guest with a big “bonjour!”
Jason and Vero joined forces at the end of 2019, when Jason joined Arts & Crepes and created a catering company combining all of the team’s various cultures and backgrounds. Backgrounds including Vero’s French heritage and crepes of course, Jason’s being married to a Hispanic family and experience in Italian and fine dining, Executive chef Elias Ishida’s Swedish and Japanese background, and much more. They called the company Steaks 2 Crepes Catering, a nod to their tremendous versatility in being able to execute such broad scope of food, from steaks, to crepes, and everything in between.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I believe every entrepreneurial road is paved with trials and tribulations. Jason and Vero certainly endured their fair share of struggles individually and jointly, and will surely continue to face and overcome challenges as they come. Not only are the lessons and tools required to be successful in business and in life architected into these various obstacles, often times the business or product itself would not exist if it weren’t for those challenges.
Before Arts & Crepes, Vero first started a French DIY party studio called “Mes Petits Atheliers” where she would host groups and lead various French themed DIY workshops such as sewing, baking, and the like. The concept was well received by those who had a chance to experience it, but the infrequency of special occasions without a robust marketing budget it required educate and promote to break into the special events industry made for significant struggle. She came to a crossroads of either shutting down the business, or pivoting, this is how and when the idea for Arts & Crepes was born. Vero remodeled the spaced and built a small kitchen in the back, and Arts & Crepes was a hit out the gate.
In a somewhat reversed experience, Jason and his Jaxton’s project experienced immediate success out the gate, then was later hit with financial hardships in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The community having been significantly impacted economically, expendable luxuries such as high end dining, which Jaxton’s certainly qualified as, were immediately cut. This forced Jason to relocate and redesign the concept to the Five Central location, where he fell in love with the idea of offering multiple experiences under one roof – the foundation on which the Steaks 2 Crepes Catering concept was built.
Shortly after teaming up, the COVID pandemic hit, significantly impacting the dining and events segments of the economy. Vero and Jason responded by building a food truck in hopes of going to find business in the absence of business being able to come to them. It was the food truck that landed them an opportunity to serve lunch in a corporate campus cafeteria, which birthed the corporate facing version of Steaks to Crepes: Integrated Food Concepts.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Steaks 2 Crepes?
Steaks 2 Crepes Catering is the umbrella under which nearly two dozen different concepts and cuisines are offered for any type of catering event. Each concept is its own brand – carrying its own name and brand feel. Each brand is available for any type of event and any type of service including: drop off/delivery, full service seated meals, standing receptions, buffets, corporate luncheons, corporate foodservice (under the Integrated Food Concepts umbrella), and more.
Some brands include:
– Arts & Crepes: crepes & french pastries
– Jaxton’s Catering: fine dining
– Casa Reyna Tacos: Tex Mex
– Get Me Greek: Mediterranean
– Fire Crust Pizza Co.
– Uncle Pino’s: Italian and pasta
– :The Burger Atlas
– and more; visit https://www.steaks2crepes.com/our-cuisines/ for more concepts
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to support any small business is referrals. So if you or anyone you know is planning to have an event of any kind, please think of us!
We also love to collaborate with event planners and venues. Our current partners in those fields love to use us as a one stop shop for all of their events, and we’d love to do the same for you!
Lastly, if you aren’t crazy about the food being served at your office, hospital, or other corporate setting, please recommend us! We work hand-in-hand with some of the big commercial foodservice companies to help bring variety and excitement to their cafeterias, or we could come in and run a new commercial foodservice program for your cafeteria.
Contact Info:
- Email: letsconnect@steaks2crepes.com
- Website: www.steaks2crepes.com
