Today we’d like to introduce you to ERIC WESTOVER
Hi ERIC, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Technically I was a cahsier at my parents sandwich shop when I Was 12 but I really began in restaurants as a busser at age 18 at the Painted pony in St. George Utah. I quickly became a server and usually would work in construction during the day then serve tables in the evenings, My dad was a general contractor and had taught me rough carpentry. When I was in my twenties I moved to Layton Utah to be closer to my daughter who lived with her mother and worked at Outback Steakhouse where I met my wife Alexandria, she had gotten a job there as hostess shortly after high school, and we decided to get married. She wanted me to get a degree in something and suggested that I attend Culinary school. I had talked about wanting to go to the Art Institutes in Seattle and she found they had opened a school here in Salt Lake. As a high school drop out I wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of going back to school but when I saw the cooking classes I knew I had to go. I completed my Bachelors Degree in 2 years, 9 months and graduated Suma Cum Laude and on the Deans list, had been the culinary club president and Speaker of the house for the Student advisory council. I had also established a scholarship competition for students that continued until the campus closed in 2019. As I worked through several jobs as a GM, Banquet Manager, Multi Unit Director, etc. I always did side jobs as a private chef and catering. In 2016 we decided to build a food truck calling on my previous skills in construction. I catered half time and worked on building the truck the other half for 2 years finally launching it in 2018. It broke down multiple times that year and we struggled, 2019 went well, it only broke down once, then 2020 hit. After a few months of struggling to pay the bills with Covid lockdowns keeping everyone at home we decided to close it down for the year and on the drive to park it until next year the motor blew and cracked the head. So I went back to work, saving up, paid for the new motor, replaced the stolen generator, and was preparing to re-launch in 2024. I met with another chef to discuss a concept that she was looking for a partner on and bumped into the owners of the space were in. They said they wanted out, they were tired of the restaurant industry and would give me a good deal on buying the place if I was serious. The stars aligned and Huckleberry Grill gained a brick and mortar location. Which is good because the food truck decided to start in with some electrical problems and is currently out of operation. So here we are, 5 months in and all steam ahead!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Define smooth! I have never waivered in my determination to succeed. That has been the only smooth part about this journey. My wife has supported me every step of the way, that has been smooth. Every other aspect has been like pulling a handcart across a rocky path while it was filled with water your trying to keep from spilling out. Caterings where you forgot the dessert and someone has to race it to you in park city so you can use the money to buy a generator for the truck only to have it stolen 3 months later. Staying up all night preparing hundreds of snack bags ready to go for a group only to realize the costco employee that helped you take your three carts out missed one and you now have to figure out how to include 600 pieces of prepackaged beef jerky and 600 individual bags of trail mix at midnight when the bags have to be delivered at 6am right before you begin cooking lunch for 100 firefighters. Having a metal plate I’m attaching to the food truck spin and shatter the last digit of the bone in my pointer finger and split the whole finger in half the day before I have to go park the truck in the desert to provide a military drone recon group breakfast, lunch, and dinner, by myself for 6 days and have to figure out how to hold a knife and cut with a bandage and destroyed finger. Having promoters tell you there will be 30k people in attendance so you hire extra temp help and buy thousands of dollars in products only to have about 600 people actually come to the festival. The worst times are stuff like having to go to work for someone else who then refuses to pay you $10k in very clearly earned contractual bonuses because they know that it would allow you to quit and reopen your truck and they don’t want you to go because their sales have risen more than double while you managed their restaurant. That’s just a few that come to mind. If I reviewed the entirety of the last 12 years I could write an encyclopedia of what to do when things go wrong while catering, operating a food truck, running a restaurant, or multiple.
As you know, we’re big fans of Huckleberry Grill. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Huckleberry Grill is Northwestern Comfort Food. We serve real food, scratch made, that makes you feel good when you eat it, and we do it for about the same price as a fast food combo meal. We are fast casual but often get reviews that say the quality is what you would get at a restaurant with white table cloths and snooty waiters. We use real ingredients such as wild picked Huckleberries from Mt. St. Helens, real dark amber maple syrup in our sweet potato mash, wild caught black tiger prawns in our jumbo cocktail shrimp, Ground Bison in our buffalo stuffed mushrooms, etc. We teach our staff that even though it is not expensive and plated in minutes, every plate is worth $500 and must be treated like it. If they think even for a second that a scoop of mac n cheese is less than perfect but “good enough to serve” its not, Throw it out and make it fresh. Because every plate that leaves the kitchen can be the best they ever had, or just another plate of food, and whichever it is is what they will tell 27 other people, so it better be the best! I have been told by other chefs that our menu feels like two people wrote it, the first is someone who understands the simple traditional food from a Sunday family Dinner table, the other an experienced chef with the ability to twist a dish into something unique and special without losing the tradition of the first. I’m proud of that because its exactly what I was going for.
What matters most to you?
I became a chef to serve people. There is something special about giving someone a plate of food and watching the joy they receive from it. When a family or group of friends sit at a table and eat, it gives them a minute to come together, to leave the struggles of daily life, to remember they like/love each other. The magic of food is that we open ourselves up to receive while we eat. That is the reason I became a chef. I love to bring joy to people through food. If I never become wealthy in money, I’ll always be rich because I get to participate in that every day.
Pricing:
- $6.99 apps
- $13.99-$19.99 entrees
- $6.49 desserts
- Family Packs for less than $10 Per person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.HuckleberryGrill.com
- Instagram: @HuckleberryGrill
