JR

chef | owner | crafter

“I grew up with home cooking and being in touch with the whole process of the meal. I have vivid memories of various family members bringing home freshly caught fish or game, and we would prepare it and go out into the garden and pick fresh fruits and vegetables to cook along with it. It wasn’t just the food or the cooking I fell in love with, it was the whole spectrum - the interconnection of everything and all it truly takes to put that plate in front of you.”

Having grown up always working for family and family friends doing the ‘rancher/farmer’ life thing, his first ‘real job’ was as a dishwasher at an iconic local seafood restaurant while still in high school. “That place was many people’s first job for generations, it was an absolute institution and the owner’s were such an incredible family who knew what small town culture was about, and who wanted to give students (and any one else) a chance to build work history at a decent place when no one else would give you a chance. You truly were a part of the family there.” Although he had cooked from an early age, and learned a great deal on his own, he fell in love with the rush of working in a restaurant on his first shift washing dishes, and it solidified his vision of committing his life to this career.

“To this day I still love being in the dish pit, it’s my zen zone. Any restaurant professional worth their salt should have experience in, and be willing to work there”

After graduating high school, JR spent a few years gaining experience working in other restaurants before eventually attending culinary school - gradually climbing his way from dishwasher to prep cook to line cook; with some cashier and order taking thrown in for good measure. “It’s not like I planned it out, I just kind of explored new facets and tried to experience different positions. I think it is critical, however, to gain real world experience if you are at all considering going to culinary school to have a career in restaurant or hospitality work. Of course, if you’re just going to learn techniques and technical information for other reasons, like Alton Brown who enrolled with plans of starting his TV show, then this is less applicable.” In 2008 JR moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Le Cordon Bleu, and graduated in 2010 with a degree in Culinary Arts. As part of the final completion of the program, he interned for Chef Chris Israel, an award winning pioneer of the Portland food scene, at Chef Israel’s newly opened Gruner - an Alpine cuisine inspired high end restaurant which was twice nominated for a James Beard Award.

“This was where I really learned about professional cooking at the level which I wanted to be. I learned how important technique was - slow is smooth, smooth is fast- and how a recipe was really just a guideline, that each dish was truly one-of-a-kind, tailor made with the cook’s best tools - their tongue and their hands.”

Once his formal culinary education was completed (he reminds us that “You’re never really done learning, I still try to learn something about food or cooking every day!”) JR moved around for a while to new cities and cooked in a variety of types of restaurants to try to gain as broad of an experience as possible in the culinary world. Eventually he found his way back to the Central Coast and continued to work in various restaurants throughout San Luis Obispo County as Line Cook, Sous Chef and Executive Chef, even gaining some Front of House experience as Busser and Server, again focusing on experiencing as wide a range as possible of restaurant and cuisine types. He was involved with the startup of a couple of restaurants as well, assisting the owners in kitchen design, menu design and costing, and operations management; all the while formulating plans to open and run his own dream restaurant.

Finally, in 2018, an opportunity arose for JR to venture forth on his own, and he opened his first business Sweet Habits Creations, starting as a Cottage Food enterprise and then landing a storefront in Cayucos, California; creating an array of confections ranging from Chocolate Truffles to Brittles, Caramel and even Marshmallows, all handmade in small batches with an artisan hand. After only six months, JR had to close down much to his own chagrin and the disappointment of many locals who had already become regulars at his short lived sweet shop.

“I was devastated, I didn’t know what was going on, all I knew was that I was sick all the time.”

some of Sweet Habits Creations offerings - Chocolate covered Caramel Easter Egg with gold leaf, Truffle Trio (Irish Cream in White, Aged Balsamic + Dark in Cocoa, Plain Dark), Sea Salt Caramel with Chocolate

With many months of doctor’s visits and medical tests, it was finally discovered that JR had contracted Lyme Disease, and with some discussion it became apparent that the infection had been wreaking havoc for at least five years. Due to this delay, he continued to experience symptoms well after the treatment of antibiotics, these symptoms still occur occasionally to this day. “I learned that about 10% of patients who don’t get treated fairly quickly end up with what’s known as ‘Post Treatment Lyme Disease’ or colloquially ‘Chronic Lyme’, and due to this I ended up being quite unhealthy in several other ways too, including weight gain, decrease of energy and stamina, and limited physicality, not to mention the mental effects.” The adversity, unpredictability and severity of these symptoms meant that his time in professional kitchens was likely over, he had to say goodbye to his restaurant dreams.

“In some ways, I think it was actually a blessing in disguise. It’s funny how things in life work out sometimes.”

Despite being unable to continue professionally, JR continued cooking at home, for himself, for friends, for family. “Cooking and being cooked for are some of the greatest expressions of love, it helps keep me sane and keep life’s demons at bay.” Taking a step back from restaurant work allowed him to take a hard look at the retail market, and he noticed a glaring hole in the availability of quality flavored seasoning blends in local stores. With this, he realized he could not only solve a problem for home cooks, but could do so in a way that worked with his ailments by allowing the flexibility that was needed. He began working on unique and tasty seasoning blends, pairing flavors with that professional kitchen mindset.

“The first few I came up with - two were based on family recipes: ‘Cow’ which is the top seller and most unique, and ‘Prime Rib’ which will be a seasonal blend; and the other one is a local staple, ‘Santa Maria BBQ’. Things just grew from there, I thought of what I would season certain things with in a professional setting, and got to work figuring out how to turn those flavors into a seasoning blend that was well balanced and ready to go for people at home.”

“And with that, No Name Spice Co. was born. We aim to bring restaurant flavors into your home kitchen, and encourage people not only to cook more, but to experiment and have fun with their food!”

- JR