Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jake Ziegler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jake , appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I was drawn to the style of central Texas barbecue because of its history and simplicity. Having spent many hours as a kid in my dad’s butcher shop, I already had an interest and familiarity with the process of taking an entire animal from hoof to plate. Historically, many of the well known restaurants that inspired me started as meat markets through the week, and would then take the less desirable cuts and cook and serve them on the weekends. This practice of minimizing waste was really the foundation that defined the style.

Growing up as a farm kid in central Illinois; a place lacking any definitive bbq culture, this style seemed sort of exotic to me. While my dad did have a rotisserie pit and would cook whole hogs for friends on holidays and special occasions, it wasn’t really a common occurrence. This was really the most authentic taste of “bbq” I had until my 20’s when I got my first smoker and started cooking with friends on the weekends.

So in more recent years after moving to southwest Missouri, I took note that while bbq was not uncommon fare in the area, I had a difficult time finding a place that delivered the experience that I was seeking, and I had a feeling that I wasn’t alone in that. By then I had been taking my backyard bbq game pretty seriously and wanted to make the jump from cooking for friends and family to serving the public, and hopefully delivering the same experience that I was chasing after.

Jake , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I think that my interest in food and cooking was a natural byproduct of my upbringing; my father being a farmer and butcher like much of our family before us, and him cooking whole hogs for special occasions. I was fairly young, around ten years old or so when he started teaching me the basics of cooking. In High School I got a job as a dishwasher, mostly as a way to keep myself stocked in guitar strings as I had no realistic aspirations of a career path. Around the same time I took some cooking classes in school, and worked my way up from dish to working prep and various stations until becoming a pretty well rounded line cook by the time I was eighteen.

Over the years I would work in various kitchens, preparing everything from bar and grill fare to fine dining, holding every position from fry cook to head chef. But where I really got my spark for what I do now was when I was hired at Steamboat BBQ in Wheaton, IL through a mutual friend in the Chicagoland BBQ scene. There I would learn the finer points of meat preparation of various cuts up to whole hogs. Through my time there I would acquire my first professional grade smoker and the skills to take my backyard bbq game to the next level. I owe a lot of my knowledge to my time there, and to the owner, John.

Shortly after moving to southwest Missouri in 2022, with a lot of help and support from my partner’s family, I started building the trailer that I operate out of now. The setup is very Spartan, which I believe contributes to my ethos of doing things the old way. My methods of preparation are simple; with my meats and some components of my sides being primarily cooked on a traditional offset smoker, fueled by locally sourced oak. I keep my menu small so I can give each item the respect and attention that it deserves, with each component meant to complement another.

As someone who had limited opportunities to travel when I was younger, it has been my goal to deliver an experience that someone may not have had before. Or to give a central Texas transplant a taste of home, which I very proudly have achieved with one of my regular customers. His return business and words of encouragement have affirmed that I am staying true to the style and my intentions, and I can’t wait to see how this little operation grows in the future.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth and social media, especially Facebook have been the most effective ways to draw in new business. People can be hesitant to try a new brand/product/restaurant, etc, but once a person takes that chance and spreads the word, it’s sure to grow. I’m beyond grateful for my small group of regulars that continue to support me, and their efforts to broaden my audience and customer base.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Kitchen Confidential’ was hugely influential on me as a young cook trying to find my place in the world, and accepting that while a chef’s life is not a glamorous one, it holds just as much relevance in society as any other.

‘Setting the Table’ by Danny Meyer is a great resource for learning how each little detail in a restaurant’s menu and concept impacts the customer experience. The level of thought and research that he and his teams put into something as humble as a hamburger has been very inspirational throughout my career. (Thanks, Chef Joe)

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zieglerbbqco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZieglerCulinary

Image Credits

Mr. Foto