Today we’d like to introduce you to Aidan Owens.
Hi Aidan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I spent a couple of years after high school as a line cook at Taco Cabana then Torchy’s Tacos, where I met my wife and learned the basics of cooking. I then went on to work as a line cook for Richard knight at Hunky Dory, Ryan Pera at Coltivare, and Jason Vaughan at Nancy’s Hustle. I took those years and learned techniques and philosophies about food and cooking. These are also the places that taught me about fire management. I would take time on my days off and work on my bbq figuring out what works and what doesn’t for different smokers. After working at Nancy’s, I spent a few years away from kitchens and worked at Sprouts Farmers Market in the deli and store management. It was near the end of my time there that I started to focus on bbq again. I smoked brisket every week because I wanted to get better and every week I improved a bit more. I left Sprouts at the beginning of 2022 and it took me a couple of months to figure things out, but then we had a friend introduce us to Eddie and Micheal, the owners of D&T Drive Inn, a sweet little bar with a great staff and 50 beer taps. We started off cooking one day a week there and one a week at Johnny’s gold brick and slowly we began to pick up more days and friends at D&T and now we are there a few days every week. I can say how much we appreciate the community at D&T.
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?
This past year has been… interesting. Regardless of what we knew, there is always more to learn. There are also the many hours put into cooking not just the meat but the sides and sauces that go with it. We have had to create new dishes, processes and pick-ups as we go which is always fun but can take some trial and error to get right. There’s also the mental game of if you’re making the best decisions or if you’re doing enough and this makes some days harder than others. And there’s always the struggle of finding a balance with work and family.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are Mortuary BBQ, and we believe in the idea that we should respect and appreciate our food and the life it had before reaching it final place with us. I’d say people know us best for our Belly Melt, a grilled cheese with two slices of seared pork belly. The pork belly itself is seasoned and rolled, smoked, cooled and cut to size. It’s a beast of a Sandwich but it’s so good. If I think about what I’m most proud of it’s would be the fact that we’re still going. It may not be what most would say but when you put together all the things that could have happened to end this dream, I’m proud and grateful. We’ve had help from loads of people in many different ways so to be able to keep making good food week after week, I am proud.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love the way Houston feels like a town instead of a city. There are great little pockets within different communities where you can find the coolest people. Just have a conversation with a stranger and find out their version of Houston and find that most the time you were never to far from meeting them. What I’m not a fan of is the massive amount of townhomes going up throughout the city and historic neighborhoods. There’s a lot that changed since I was a kid and not all of it good.
Pricing:
- Belly Melt $10
- Wings $10/lb
- Brisket $35/lb
- Elote $3
- Potato salad $3
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mortuary_bbq
- Facebook: Mortuary bbq
Image Credits:
Andy Hemingway
