Today we’d like to introduce you to Raul Sanchez
Hi Raul, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My 20 plus work years had been in Sales and Marketing. At my last corporate job, we did a lot of cooking events. The constant joke I would say, “if this doesn’t work out, I’m going into catering.” Be careful what you speak into existence. Getting laid off, I really didn’t want to jump back into the corporate mix again and I had always had a passion for cooking food. I started my first culinary endeavor, creating HOUsalsa. I created a home made salsa company where we would make fresh salsa(s) on a weekly basis and deliver to your home and/or place of business on Fridays so you could enjoy over the weekend. We were Houston’s first ever Salsa delivery service. Things were going really well and then I was in an unfortunate car accident where I suffered severe nerve damage to my right hand. With limited hand mobility, I slowly saw HOUsalsa come to an unfortunate end. As time went on, I started working in various local kitchens. Then, I landed a job working along some great Chefs at Southern Goods in the Heights. It was there where I learned so much about flavor profiles, cooking techniques, food prep, BBQ meats, and the list could go on. An opportunity came about where I started working at an assisted living facility in charge of preparing and cooking dinners for 60-80 people on a daily basis. In my 5 year tenure at the assisted living facility, I slowly worked my way up from being in food prep to line cook to Sous Chef to Chef de Cuisine. While working at the assisted living facility I got asked to cook a private anniversary dinner for a couple. With the help of social media and the couples social media post about how the dinner exceeded all expectations, I started getting more and more requests for small private and large catering opportunities . With the help of my amazing family, I decided to take a leap of faith and RJS Catering was born. We have done everything from your “date night dinner for two” at a couples home to catering my high school alma mater (St. Pius X) senior retreat feeding 300 people. Currently, I hold a residency at Houston’s premier Bingo Hall, Triple Crown Bingo in Northwest Houston. There, I get to showcase my rotating menu on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My other days of the week are providing Brunches to three different independent living apartment complexes around the Houston area.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wouldn’t be taking part of this monumental interview if it was a “smooth road” to get to where I am at currently. Some struggles I faced were consistently rising food costs, customers getting “sticker shock” reviewing their event quotes I would send to them because of the rising food costs to where year number two, I was seriously questioning if this catering business was going to be able to survive. I did food “pop-up drop offs” where I would announce a food item we were featuring that week, customers could pre-order and I would deliver their ordered food to them. There was also random local pop-up live cooking events I would schedule that helped get through year two as well. Once year two finally passed, I slowly started to see more repeat and word of mouth referral business.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently I am working as a private chef while also doing catering events in and around surrounding areas of Houston. I pride myself in working more outside the 610 loop/CyFair area trying my very best to give my customers, what I call… “Outer Loop Flavor.” That translates to giving them the “Inner Loop” 610 food experience without them having to technically travel into to town to get some quality, good tasting food. I’ve also had the opportunity to do private chef work for parties of (2) who want something as small as a “date night” in the comfort of their own home with a menu we designed for their special night. I also hold a weekly residency on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Houston’s biggest and best Bingo Hall, Triple Crown Bingo. It was there the “CyFair Double Smasher” was born. This iconic smash burger is what I’m known for at the Bingo Hall, the various pop-ups I’ve done and private caterings centered around the iconic smash burger. This burger took about three years to perfect with lots of trial and error, trying different ingredient combinations, sauces, cheeses, etc. True story… the final version of this burger was created while I was watching Apollo 13 on the scene where Ken Mattingly was given the task to take a bunch of parts that were on the space shuttle and make an air filtration device for the CO2 levels to keep the astronauts breathing well and alive in space. He went the way of simplicity and it worked for the astronauts. I took the same approach with a solid brioche bun, (2) ground beef patties… smashed, sautéed onions, pickles, American cheese and Smash Sauce. It literally melts in your mouth and the simplicity of the burger is a thing of beauty. Definitely one the food items I’m most proud of and known for. Along with my passion in making amazing tacos. We do LIVE taco events as well.
I would say the one thing that sets me apart from other caterers, chefs, culinary artists, etc is that I make sure my food has the flavor it advertises by the way it’s plated before serving. Some food looks amazing on a plate, but can fail in taste. I’ve had my share of skeptics when they hire me and then to give them that “wow” factor when they finally do taste the food is the greatest reward knowing the flavor matches what they are seeing on the plate. I make sure that every bite has a piece of my heart and soul in it with zero corners cut when it comes to the flavor you’re going to get when eating my food.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I don’t have just “one” favorite childhood memory. It was more of a compilation of my favorite childhood memories growing up in the timeframe of the 1980’s with the amazing music, movies, tv shows, cartoons, BMX riding, playing outside until dark, no electronic devices, sports teams and players, drinking out of the water hose, riding bikes and walking to school with friends around the neighborhood, going to the roller skating rink all day, skateboarding, recreational sports with my friends I went to school with, toilet paper wrapping friends houses, music concerts, birthday parties, family holidays, going to the mall, playing video games at the arcade, buying records, tapes and CD’s and above all things were less complicated back then growing up.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rjscateringhtx?igsh=MWs2czB6MGxlY2E5dA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJSCateringHTX?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
N/A
