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

John, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I think it all started with my first real restaurant job, it was a 60 seat restaurant and we had a small crew which was a lot like family. We would get into the habit of gathering around one another for holidays and special events and we would all be involved in handling food and drinks. BYOB was usually the case for what you wanted to drink but food was handed off to someone random every week. We would make these intense and elaborate meals and spend hours together joking and laughing and enjoying the time and doing this repeatedly. I spent a lot of years replicating these actions and creating new experiences with crews in different restaurants that I found myself working in. Right before the pandemic I had reached my threshold of working for restaurant groups and giving my life to the monster that is the restaurant industry, which I still love unconditionally. I was close to 10 years in the game and really wanted to change my work life balance as well as my quality of life. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but per usual when I see how the structure of things work I like to take it and make it my own. I wanted to be a private chef but on my terms, I wanted a way out and I wanted a way to recreate those long lived experiences and memories that my restaurant families had created so many times before. I had only been living in Nashville for just under a year and I didn’t really know anyone or where to start. My then fiancé now wife knew some friends whose family members had interest in helping me with a photo shoot that would create a portfolio and lay the frame work for marketing my small business. My first clients were those friends parents who hired me for a wine pairing dinner and from that day forward it became my full time job. Proper Provisions was born from all those shared experiences that I wanted to continue to create for people no matter the occasion. The pandemic did actually create an even bigger market for this type of job, people weren’t going out but they sure wanted those restaurant experiences at home, and once word of mouth traveled through a few neighborhoods in Nashville I was booked 3-4 times weekly through covid. I was offering every service I could including meal prep, drop offs, cooking classes and private dinners with wine and cocktail pairings. I was limitless and people couldn’t wait for me to show up at their house to cook for them. I was cooking the food I wanted to cook, it was all local and seasonal, inspired by all of my experiences in the industry up until that point. I was riding the lightning, networking and creating all sorts of small relationships. It opened doors that I never even thought about before. It helped expand my mind and intrigue me to learn more about business especially anything food related. Here I am 3 years later and still at it looking for the next step in building the business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello, my name is John Abernathy, I am 32 years old, I am from Lincolnton, North Carolina, and I also lived in central Florida for a period of my childhood and ultimately moved back to my hometown to graduate High School. My mother is from Costa Rica and my father was born and raised in North Carolina. I have always loved small town values even when I moved to big cities to learn and grow. I am the youngest of 3 from my mother and have a sister on my Fathers side as well, I guess the rest of the world calls them half siblings but I’ve never felt that way about them we are blood no matter what in my eyes. Growing up with big Southern and Latin families food was always a big deal, we like to eat and we like to eat good. Both of my families are hard working, blue collar people who don’t make a lot of money and had to make due with what they had. Which means we ate at home a lot, if I was with my Mother we would usually go to Grandma’s house after Church and there would usually be a Caldo de Pollo or Chicken soup served with tortillas, avocado, white rice and fried plantains. If I was with my Father we would go to my Maw Maws after Church for Sunday Supper and eat fried chicken with all the classic sides you could handle and those are some of the best memories I could ever ask to have in my mind. We did go out for special occasions and celebrations but we were still frugal and I honestly appreciate being taught this from an early age. I spent a lot of time watching cooking shows from a young age and you could say that was one influence in my interest for cooking. My older brother was a chef for 23 years, you could say the he also played a very big roll in influencing me in my career, at 14 I was given a copy of Kitchen Confidential written by the infamous Anthony Bourdain and I was hooked from there, although I wouldn’t get super serious about it all until I was 23 years old. When I was a younger troubled teen there were a few times I would have to go work with my brother in the kitchen he was a sous chef at, it was an old hotel kitchen and in the early 2000″s it had already seen better days. I was young and intimidated by the classic crew of misfits and bandits all working together to make sure lunch and dinner service go over smoothly. Prepping vegetables, scrubbing pans, taking out the trash and recycling I had never seen or experienced anything quite like it up until that point and I swore I would do anything to never have to work like that in my life. Yet at 20 years old I started waiting tables and learning how to barback, I was hooked into the lifestyle. It turned out the more I worked in restaurants, the more knowledge, experience, excitement and skills I wanted to learn and be a part of. I knew I would have to go through the ringer to get there and I went in with an open mind and willingness to learn and forget about what I knew or thought that I knew at that point. So far it has helped me get into positions I didn’t think I was ready for and excelled in. It helped me to launch my own business, which is small but allows me to live the life I want to live. I’m very lucky and blessed on that end, but I know I went through hell and will still be fighting the good fight the further I go into my business depending on where and how I grow it. I hit a crossroads so at 23 I decided to enroll myself into Culinary School at the Art Institute of Charlotte, I had a short experience at one of those very popular universities at 18 but decided it wasn’t for me. After 1 year in school I was working full time, had a part time job and going to school full time. It all started effecting both school, work load and personal life so something had to give. I had a culinary instructor who saw something in me and pulled me aside one day, asked me what was going on and mentioned he knew a local restaurant that he used to be a sous chef at and it was the real deal. You had to know a lot and it was a small and busy chef owned restaurant, everything and I mean everything was made from scratch. The chef grew 60% of our produce and the other was sourced as local as possible. High quality imported products, fresh seafood from the coast 4 hours away and all the finest quality ingredients you could ask for. We incorporated worldly flavors and techniques into a fine dining intimate setting to create an unforgettable dining experience. The wine and cocktail program was out of this world and it really taught me a lot about the industry and hospitality at its finest, which is the framework of my concept. I like to anticipate the needs of my guests, clients, partners, staff and anyone I come into contact with whether it be business related or not. I’m very big on being genuine and proper in the moment or in the long run, it is a value that can open doors and really allow you to zone in and create and amazing environment and experience for all involved. From all of this Proper Provisions and Tico Gringo are the concepts I have created that truly express my creative vision for food and hospitality. They are homages to my career ,where I come from and who I am as person and chef, and they will always represent the potential that people can achieve and the freedom of creativity we have in this industry and in life in general. I t makes me happy, it makes my family happy and allows an amazing work/life balance. I want for people to be inspired and satisfied all at the same time, I want to make things make sense for people and also allow them to enjoy themselves with out overthinking or worrying about the little things. I’m just a small town kid that went and chased his dreams and I’d like for people to understand that they can also do the same thing. When you work along side me or book my services you will understand where all the care that I put into all of what that I do comes from, the amount of time and years that went into me being able to teach people new things everyday and still learn myself all while making it look “easy”. I truly enjoy the beginning steps of a project, guiding the directions it can go in and seeing it to the very end , and seeing how to solve problems a long the way. I don’t think any award or recognition could top the feeling of creating my own way and making a living doing what I’m passionate about, making others happy and enjoying the lessons taught and learned. Knowing that my family is taken care is a big accomplishment and setting them up for the future is my focus right now. That’s always my biggest motivation and what keeps me growing the business.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think this would be my most recent endeavor and easiest to discuss. I am originally from North Carolina and its where I worked the longest before moving to Nashville. I lived in Charlotte to be specific and I definitely had my fair share of restaurant and kitchen jobs over the years, I had reached a pivotal point as whether to pursue a serious Executive Chef roll in Charlotte or move to Nashville and continue in the Sous Chef world for a little while. This wasn’t my first extreme move in my life but it was the most impactful and meant the most to me, if I could go out and prove myself in Nashville I could prove myself anywhere. When I started working at Butcher and Bee I realized what it would take to work in a city like this and how serious and committed you needed to be. I worked as a line cook for a month and a half and was asked to become a sous chef, without hesitation I jumped on it and didn’t look back. It gave me that final push into realizing I might be able to do something on my own but I was still on the fence about what to do. Taking that leap and then starting my own business has ultimately paid off, and when you start to look back at what you’ve done in life as small investments in yourself you realize none of it was in vein and that they will pay off.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Some of the best advice that I ever received was from my first real chef/mentor and it was show your face. Simply meaning be there, you don’t have to live there if you have a solid team but you still want to be there for them. Make sure that they have what they need, meaning all the supplies they need to be successful, that they are taken care of not just a pizza party here and there. Lead by example, be clean and orderly and give direction without coming off passive or rude. Keep things simple but make it make sense for everyone working for you, and let them know why it’s important to do things a certain way. I think being in the trenches with them a few times will also make them understand where you are coming from and what you would like for them to accomplish even if you weren’t there. I like to let people get creative with a special or a snack every week using what we have on hand, and I also like to let them get creative for family meal, this allows cooks and chefs to express themselves through food and it allows other to be appreciative of the effort that was put into feeding them and their colleagues. Also don’t be afraid to take in some of the feedback your team has to say the good and the bad, it can help you address issues and help prevent future issues from occurring. Keep and open mind and don’t be afraid to learn from others, just make sure you communicate clearly to all persons involved and stay in the loop with them. A lot of people don’t like the saying we are like family here, but its true we are in the restaurant environment we have no choice but to be. We work long hours together, we go through the dinner rush together and no matter what happens in between all that we enjoy a cold brew and a laugh after its all said and done.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.propernash.com www.ticogringonash.com
• Instagram: @proper_provisions @chefjabernathy @t1co_gringo
• Facebook: John Abernathy
• Youtube: Proper Provisions

Image Credits
Rebecca Czarka Journey More Diskin Cider Louis Vuitton