Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Grisby.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
This journey that I’m on started in 2005. It was my sophomore year of college, and I decided not to continue my college basketball career after an underwhelming Freshman season, so of course, like most struggling college students I decided to earn money while I continued my education. I come from a family of good cooks, my mom owned a catering business as side hustle growing up, and my grandmother owned a small bar and restaurant in East Texas when my dad was a child, so I decided to go into the restaurant business although I actually had no experience myself. I got a job at a Chinese restaurant as a dishwasher and prep cook, and it was a struggle starting out. I was the only American born employee that worked at this particular restaurant, and these ladies that I worked with were very strict and hard working. After a couple of months of working here I really picked up on the speed and work ethic of working in a professional kitchen. There was only one other male that worked in that restaurant, and we called in ‘Papa”. Papa (Allen) was an older Asian man who was the head cook at this restaurant. One day he pulled me to the side and told me he was going on vacation for a week, and he wanted me to fill in for him although I had never actually worked on the kitchen line, my job was just to clean in the back. I accepted his offer, and the week prior to his vacation, he trained me on how to open and close the kitchen, all the recipes, cleaning duties ect. The week that he went on vacation was the week that I found out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life at the age of 19. I was just naturally good at the art of serving and cooking, and I had the same passion about it, just like I had for the sport of basketball. So that year, while being a full-time student, I really engulfed myself with every piece of information of being a professional chef.
Of course, my favorite cuisine is Creole & Cajun, and I developed this love during this time as well. I grew up in Texas, but Grandfather was from Southern Louisiana so every New Years Day my mom would cook a big pot of Seafood Gumbo and Jambalaya as our holiday meal and that’s really all I knew about Southern Louisiana besides Cash Money and No Limit Records. A true blessing from God was that I had a roommate from New Orleans, and soon as the semester started that year, Hurricane Katrina happened. We really became more than roommates and more like brothers at that time. After going through the uncertainty of not knowing where his family was and seeing the place that he grew up totally displaced was a touching moment for me. During this time, my roommate just gave me so much information about the city of New Orleans and the culture I couldn’t help but fall in love. So I’m discovering my love for food and the restaurant industry and hearing all these stories about Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Daiquiris Shops, Poboys, and music I just wanted to recreate that culture that was endangered of being extinct during this great tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, I had a lot of evening classes that semester so I would cook at work all day go to class come home and watch Emeril Live on Food Network at 6 pm and I would also try recipes from this New Orleans Cookbook my roommate bought.
After the 1st semester of my junior year of college, I decided to move back to Houston and enroll in Culinary school. I started working as a server at a steakhouse, and I got hired as a cook for one of the best fine dining restaurants in the city after culinary school. I decided to go into management at that Steakhouse. I spent 5 years with that company, later to move on to managing a sushi concept where I actually got to live in New Orleans for a year which was one of the best years of my life but for as professionally I was unfulfilled because my vision for food, music, and service wasn’t being executed at the concepts that I managed and that’s where I am today working on my vision of serving the very best Creole Cajun food paired with great service live music and cocktails
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My career has not been a smooth road along the way, being an entrepreneur is already a task on top of being in a career not known for producing a lot of top financial earners is another duty. I’ve been through a lot of financial hardship, broken relationships, depression from failing at my business. There was a time when I literally sat in my room for 30 days in the dark feeling helpless because I spent every dollar I had on my catering business, and it didn’t pay off. Something that turned things around for me was watching “Breaking Bad” series during that time. I know its just a TV series, but if Walter White could be diagnosed with cancer and start a million dollar business from scratch, sure enough, I could patch up my scars, dust my shoulders off and get back to work. I got back on my feet with the help of my best friends and family that helped me and spoke life in me through these difficult times.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My company is named “Grisbys – Creole Cajun Seafood Steaks.”
I specialize in Pop Up restaurants and catering.
I rent out small intimate venues and sell tickets for people to come to experience my restaurant concept. I’m a huge fan of music, soul, jazz, and r&b, so that plays a huge part in of my concept and service.
My job is to make sure that my guests are enjoying each and every minute at my events. Food, music, and conversation are like my personal Holy Trinity I don’t think a single soul or community can survive without it.
A few of my most popular dishes are my Sweet Potato Praline Cheesecake (this dessert is how I met my wife, she ordered one of these from me, and the rest is history) , Palermo Lasagna is a dish served with a creole tomato sauce layered with a white wine cream sauce shrimp crawfish and spicy Italian sausage and last is my Catfish Beurre. I grew up on catfish and fried chicken every Friday because thats why my grandmother cook so this is my version of fried catfish.
I’m proud of the food and the menu that I produce. Learning about Creole & Cajun cuisine excites me it’s an education in history learning about the who’s what when and hows of it. Starting as a dishwasher 14 years ago to what my career has become now, I’m truly proud of the process and grateful for the experience and people that came into my life during this journey.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I didn’t have much of a personality, and I only had a one track mind, and that was basketball. I had friends of course through playing team sports, but I was never the most popular guy in school or anything like that. My parents were very strict about curfew and hanging out so I spent most of my time watching movies, shooting basketball in the front yard and playing video games.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.grisbys.com
- Phone: 7133226436
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Justine Tremaine @iamjtgallery
Geralda Baugh @wemadeitstudios
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