Chef Katie J. Brown

KATIE

“Why Katie Sold Her Soul to the Culinary Devil...”

I hold my mother responsible for inspiring me to become a chef. In the summers, my four siblings and I would grow bored easily, and call my mother to complain. “Make something!” she always said. So, I did. It started with desserts, but I quickly learned that if I wanted to make my mom very happy, I could do so by cooking dinner. There is nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes with making your mother pleased with you. I accepted my first job in the restaurant business with Orange Julius at age sixteen, and later got a job at the local country club — which was about as far up the culinary ladder as one could go in the small town where I was raised. After hearing a speaker from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at a church event with my family, I became interested in the possibility of becoming a chef. During my first year at community college, “Government 101” sealed the deal — college life was not for me.

George and I met after I began attending classes at CIA. Following graduation, I grew in my career as a pastry chef at Baby Routh, Cafe Maxx, Sipango, Hotel Crescent Court, Ritz Carlton Houston, and 1717 Restaurant at the Dallas Museum of Art. Later, George and I began catering for clients we knew from our professional jobs. In 1999, we realized the huge demand for quality catering in Dallas; and that’s when we created GEORGE Catering. Looking back on those early days, I don’t know how we made it through. We had one sales person, one dishwasher and the two of us — it’s a miracle that we’re still married and in business! Now, with triplets at home and a busy catering company in full swing, my life is consumed with raising kids and maintaining sanity — and, of course, with food.