We recently connected with Ray Sauter and have shared our conversation below.

Ray, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

Yes and No. I first got the opportunity to open a food truck in late 2020. Food trucks were never on my list as I just didn’t have an interest in them. But after what we all know happened in 2020 things changed. I wanted to do smoked meats or pizza. However I was opening this first food truck with a former partner of mine so we decided on Mexican food instead as everyone loves Mexican food.. Fast-forward a year and a half from then things had changed. The Buisiness was fine but our partner relationship was incredibly sour.. The first business was eventually dissolved and Bearded BBQ was born.. although a lot of things went wrong with the first business I am thankful because the amount I learned throughout that journey led me too make way different decisions with setting up the BBQ trailer. Streamline everything without sacrificing anything for food quality.. Simple, simple. Simple

Ray, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into cooking when I was in high-school. At first it was just a job but then I very quickly noticed the importance of all the knowledge that could be learned if I turned cooking into a career.. so when I was old enough I joined the Army in 2003 to get into culinary school. I started at AI international in Minneapolis MN in January 2005. I only got through 2 quarters of school before the Army deployed me too the middle east for 15 months. I returned to school January 2007 knowing that I had enough time left in the Army to get deployed 1 more time so I increased my classes too 20 credit quarters too hopefully graduate before my next deployment. Lol… I missed it by 4 credits. In early 2009 I got deployed back too the Middle East for my second tour. I did 12 more months over seas and returned to AI to finish my last 4 credits and finally move on too other things. My time in the Army and college were both done with in 2 months of eachother so by June 2010 I was free too move onto the next steps in life. A few months later, November 2010 I moved too Perth Australia on a work visa. My goal here was too just cut my ties in everything that was comfortable, move across the world and see what happens… That lasted 8 months lol. Things went OK for me in Australia but it just didn’t line up for me well enough too stay there. So in June of 2011 I was back in the Twin Cities, broke and unemployed. I took a few cash jobs with people I knew until I could find the right restaurant to work at for awhile. During this time I did manage too work on a food truck for a few weeks for some extra cash.. It just wasn’t my thing lol. The Bachelor Farmer opened up very soon after returning so I hopped on board for that. Learning a lot and eventually taking over the whole hog Butchery program there where I learned everything from breaking down a pig, making sausage, separating different cuts from the different parts of the animal, brining/curing those cuts of meats for different preparations. Everything from hams to bacon to cutting pork chops to making pastrami etc. That along with all the cooking techniques learned there, i learned a lot in just under 3 years. Fall of 2013 i decided to make a change in jobs so I went down too 1 day per week at the Bachelor Farmer where all I did was just show up on Fridays, butcher 2 pigs and go home. Taking a job at a different restaurant where a friend had taken over the head chef position. This was only for about 4 months while I waiting for Travail Kitchen and Amusements in Robbinsdale, MN too open their new building. Jan 2014 was supposed to be the opening date for Travails new building but the construction was a little behind so some of us helped them finish that up. From putting the wood flooring in to grouting all the walls, building dining room tables out of railroad ties and the list goes on. I knew what I was getting myself into and I loved the idea of it.. after opening Travails second building in February 2014 I was with the company for 4.5 years. In just the first 10 months at Travail I was a cook, server, food plater, bread baker and dessert maker. Me and 2 friends of mine that I met at Travail also managed too do 3 sausage and beer pop-up diners at Travail during days they were closed for extra cash.. (You can find that video on YouTube under Pork and Pickle: Brats and Brew).
Novemver 2014 a close friend of mine at Travail and I were moved over too manage Pig Ate My Pizza, Travails scratch made pizza restaurant also located in Robbinsdale MN just a few doors down. In the next 2.5 years we flew by the seat of our pants learning, failing and learning some more on how too manage a restaurant, staff, menus, events, hosting pizza and beer parties etc. Ties with venders, farmers and distributors along with their drivers… always take care of your distributor drivers… they will make sure you get what you need when you need it even if they have too make the delivery on their way home from work, off the clock.
Fall 2015 Pig Ate My Pizza hit Food and Wines Best Pizza Places in the country, coming in at #4. WOW!! WE WERE NOT EXPECTING THAT.. Still working about 100 hours/week trying too manage this little pizza place, tired, wore out, hating our lives and all of a sudden we are #4 on the Food and Wine list.. We still had no clue about the article but 2 days later we were flat sat for lunch with 150 people waiting too get in, a camera crew from a local MN News Paper and 15 minutes after opening the Health Inspector walked in… ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!! BANANAS!!! You can’t make this up. Anyways. Fast-forward to Spring 2017. I was moved from the pizza restaurant too one of Travails newest interests to help manage that. I will leave the name out but Meal Preparation… That was short lived for reasons I will not list. Summer 2017 I went back too travail to fill some wholes and help on the bar kitchen. Side. I really had no more goals too move forward anymore with Travail at this point. I managed too achieve pretty much everything I wanted with this place so I was just doing the day too day stuff until I could figure out what was next.. Feb 2018 I flew over too Oahu, HI too meet 2 buddies and visit my cousin for about 7 days. Didnt really think I would make the move but as soon as I got back home we got about 6 feet of snow in the Twin Cities in only a few hours and we had too shovel it after getting home from work around 1am.. thats was the moment I said NOPE!! NO MORE!. I moved to Oahu a few months later in June 2018. Spent 1 year there managing a small and failing wood fired pizza restaurant. Still looking for other opportunities on Oahu I ended up moving too Maui for an Executive Chef position June 2019. That position wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be so I ended up leaving for a sous chef position at another restaurant here on Maui. Then comes the 2020 shutdown and the restaurant got closed for 4 months. That 4 months was a blur as thats the most lime I have every spend without a job so I tried gardening, hooch making and fermenting vegetables etc. I also made a few fermented hot sauces that I would sell on facebook market place and deliver them around the island. Gave me something too do.. Late summer 2020 the restaurant opened back up and 1 month later I was asked if I wanted too get into food trucks?? I said after the last few month why not!
So we opened the Mexican truck Dec 2020, closed in late winter 2022. Then Bearded BBQ Maui opened May 2022. Bearded BBQ has been open just over the 1 year mark at this point. There has been a bunch of ups and downs since opening but all in all its a great concept and the food is really good. Simple smoked meats and pickles… Almost everything made in house.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Cheffing/ Management through fear.. any old school cook or chef will tell you how they got screamed at, plates thrown at them, belittled etc from chefs who were taught this style of management from the chefs they grew up under. It was always a means too motivate people because they are the big dogs, the leaders and the know alls of that kitchen. With my experience in kitchens and being a sergeant in the Army, this came pretty easily for me. Although I was never a bad person, I just more often than not had a higher expectation of others than most. Do everything right or don’t do it at all.. keep yourself and the ones around you accountable. That style of management worked for years but now days not a lot of people are going to take that anymore. You will learn this one way or another if you still use this style of management, that breeds negativity and more negativity will follow.. so cut it out and learn a better way. Respect Above everything is what most people are searching for so remember at respect goes both ways.

Any advice for managing a team?

Tending too each person individually. It will be a lot of work at first but if you put the time in to get to I know your staff and the others around you things will be way smoother. They won’t hold so much from you when issues come up. They will make the effort too tell you sooner than later because there has been a level of respect that was formed along the way. You don’t have too like eachother of hangout on your time off. Its about mutual respect of others and learning how to work with and or around other people. I say work around because there will always be people who don’t necessarily fit but for one reason or another they are not going anywhere either so you need too learn how too work around them when you need too.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Bearded BBQ Maui
• Yelp: Bearded BBQ Maui
• Other: Instagram @beardedbbqmaui [email protected]

Image Credits
Cassandra Renee Malak The Beard