A Winding Path Through Adolescence
My earliest memory of cooking for people was my first restaurant job at 16 years old. I was handed a laminated infographic on how to make chili. I started by slicing open bags of diced frozen peppers and onions and adding them to a pot. Next, I opened cans of diced tomatoes & beans, then tore open bags of spices. Finally, I chopped up leftover burgers from the lunch rush and mixed everything. I still love Wendy’s chili and appreciate their use of unsold beef patties to save on waste, but I can't contribute my culinary prowess to Dave Thomas himself; that honor would be bestowed upon my father and my culinary alma mater.
Growing up outside Montoursville, PA, in the Cascade Township region of Lycoming County, I spent my childhood in the woods riding dirt bikes, building forts, or repelling down any rock face or steep hill I could find. I considered myself relatively artistic and took after my mother in that sense. Crafting, painting, and drawing were activities I enjoyed in school. I took as many art classes in high school as I could. In my junior year, I chose architecture for a paper assignment about my potential career path because of my love for art. Ironically, that was the last time I thought about architecture.
Finding Culinary
In 2002, as my time in high school was ending, I decided to join the Army National Guard to help pay for college. After graduating from Montoursville High School, I was off to Ft. Benning, GA, to become an Army Infantryman. Before basic training, I was accepted to West Chester University, but I had to skip the fall semester to finish my initiation as a US Army Grunt.
I majored in business management and attended WCU for about one and a half years when I learned that my National Guard unit was being deployed to Iraq in early 2005. During deployment, two visions of what my life would look like began to compete. I began to question whether business management was what I wanted to do after returning home.
At the time, Food Network was beginning to grow in popularity. I knew this because it had permanent airtime at my family's household. This was where the second vision of my life began to take shape. Culinary arts was calling my name. My father always had a knack for smoking up the house while blackening chicken in a cast iron pan. And through that love, we both developed an interest in southern-style BBQ. After learning he was a certified Farrier from Penn State and held a certificate in mixology from WACC, I knew Penn College was right for me because of the lineage of the institutions he attended. I applied, was accepted, and got prepared to leap into the culinary world. But first, I had to finish my mission as a gunner in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Ramadi, Iraq.
I started my first years of culinary school in August 2006 and was immediately hooked. Coming from almost two years of full-time Army experience made the transition into the school very easy. The discipline and attention to detail needed to take on 10-hour labs, study, and complete schoolwork was surprisingly in line with my time on deployment. While going to school, I worked in the industry as much as possible, holding jobs at Franco’s Lounge, 33 East, and Orlando’s. As my education progressed, I met a young lady during the spring semester of 2009 who introduced me to Reading, PA, where she was a 1st grade teacher. Things got serious over the next year, leading me to my final cooking internship at Judy’s on Cherry in downtown Reading. There I enjoyed cooking all types of Mediterranean fare in a giant woodfired oven in the middle of their dining room.
Throughout my education at Penn College, my vision for utilizing my culinary degree was to work in fine dining in a big city. But one day, during my final semester, my father approached me with an opportunity to open a southern-style barbecue restaurant in Williamsport. After some thought, we opened Acme Barbecue during the last few months of culinary school. We were the first restaurant in the area to do smoked southern-style barbecue, drawing an immediate following who thankfully kept us very busy. In May of 2010, I had to take a day off from our busy weekend rush to graduate magna cum laude.
Jumping Into the World of Competition
I decided to attend the National BBQ Association conference in Greenville, SC, during the spring of 2011. There, I networked with big-name restaurants and BBQ professionals. As I was standing in the hallway of our hotel, I watched a whole hog being carted past me. I took an interest and followed it. The gentleman pushing the hog told me he was cooking dinner for the awards ceremony later that night and asked if I wanted to help prepare some food. I agreed, and we immediately hit it off. He mentioned that he recently started competing at Memphis in the May World BBQ championship and asked if I wanted to help him that year. Thirteen years, four whole hog championships, and three world grand championships later, I am proud to be a Pitmaster on The Shed Barbecue competition team. I am grateful for the opportunity that whole-hog cart wheeling man, Brad Orrison, gave me.
Personally, I’ve won 1st Place in the Turkey Category and Best Bite at one of the biggest steak cookoff competitions in Mississippi. Through that performance, I was invited to the World Steak Cook-Off in Fort Worth, TX. This exposure led to an appearance on Cooking Channel Fire Masters Show, coming in 2nd place during an episode in 2018.
As a team, we continue to compete in the annual Memphis in May’s World Championship. Through the years, our team has earned:
- 1st Place in the Wings Category
- 1st Place in the Turkey Category
- 1st Place in the Beef Category
- 7-time 1st Place in the Kingsford Tour of Champions
Where I Am Today
In 2014, my father and I purchased a 1700s stone barn in Montoursville to capitalize on barn weddings' growing popularity and have a venue to cater from. We turned the property into Herman & Luther’s and hosted our first wedding in May 2015. Since then, we have hosted more than 250 weddings and countless other parties, celebrations, and corporate events. We also serve lunch throughout the week in our deli. After my mother's passing in 2016, I decided to leave Acme BBQ and focus on Herman & Luther’s.
Outside work, I enjoy spending time with my wife and three daughters. We enjoy camping with friends, ATV rides & swimming. I love snowboarding, Philadelphia sports, fantasy football with my buddies, woodworking, tinkering, and putzing around the shop with my dad. I recently joined the American Legion, where I am the current Post 104 Chili Cook-off Champion. I promise I didn't get the recipe from the Wendy’s infographic.
