Humanizing Chefs: Chef Josh House

Name — Josh House

Where do you Cook? — Pickles and Bones Barbecue, Co-Owner with my wife Nicole

Where are you from originally? — Miamisburg, Ohio

Favorite Food(s) — Barbecue, Fried Chicken, and Pizza

Favorite Chef(s) — Sean Brock, Thomas Keller, Wylie Dufresne

Favorite Cincy Restaurant(s) (Past or Present) — Mazunte, Saint Francis Apizza, Crown Republic Gastropub

Favorite Food Memory or Meal — Walking into Publican in Chicago and feeling awkward because for me I was dressed up and we were the first table walking into the restaurant. Thirty seconds later they started blasting “Big Poppa” through the restaurant and I immediately knew we were in for a great night.

I first knew I wanted to be a chef when — I wanted to skip class just to be at work, not for the money, but because I never felt more at home than I did in the kitchen

If I weren’t a chef, I would be — Honestly I’ve wondered this and really don’t have a good answer

My first job was — Making pizzas at Pappa’s Pizza Palace in Miamisburg

Why I love my job, in three words — Making People Happy

If I could have dinner with anyone, past or present, it would be — My Grandma Edna. She passed away before we opened Pickles and Bones and never got to try it out. She was the kindest and most hospitable person I ever met and always supported my dreams.

Origins and Inspirations:

“Can you share the story behind your journey into the culinary world? Who or what inspired you to become a chef/cook?”

I started making pizzas when I was 15 and although I didn’t realize it at the time I began falling in love with the restaurant business. After going away to college and trying to study business I found myself back in a restaurant immediately and found I enjoyed the kitchen more than I ever enjoyed being in class. I went to culinary school and tried to find the best kitchens I could possibly work in which took me from Cincinnati, to Louisville, and out to Phoenix and back. This was during the pre-smartphone era so I spent hours looking at cookbooks and magazines and trying to learn as much as possible in hopes of becoming a chef. The French Laundry cookbook was, and still is, one of the most inspiring books. For me and many cooks my age it made me see possibilities with food I never knew existed.

“What’s a dish from your that you still think about, and have you ever tried to recreate it in your kitchen?”

My Great-Grandma’s Apple crisp that my Mom made when I was a kid. It’s so simple but I’ve never made a version I am happy with because it is impossible to add in the nostalgia that goes along with it. I feel like we all want to be able to add the feeling that Anton Ego gets when he eats the ratatouille, in the greatest culinary movie ever “Ratatouille,” and is transported back to his childhood. It’s so personal and so magical but it is impossible to manufacture.

“How do you approach creating a new dish? Can you walk us through your thought process from conception to plating?”

When I was younger it often started with looking at such a wide variety of options and trying to wow people with wild flavor combinations and cutting edge technique. Now as a more mature cook it’s really a simple process that draws on inspiration from traveling and past experiences with the end goal being does it meet our standard question, “Is it fucking delicious?” There are no shades of gray in answering that question, it either is or it isn’t. Most often you need to look at what needs to be taken away from the dish to make it better rather than what needs added. Start with a great product and make sure the main ingredient really shines in that dish. It’s really that simple, and that hard.

“What’s the most unconventional ingredient or technique you’ve used in your cooking, and how did it turn out?”

Don’t really have a good one for this

Challenges and Triumphs:

“What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the kitchen, and how did you overcome it?”

I don’t like not being good at things, especially things I enjoy doing. When I first started out as a cook I had to accept that I was learning and I wouldn’t immediately be the best at each new task I was taking on. It was a great motivator to push myself to work on my skills outside of work and really try to be a sponge soaking up as much knowledge as I could. To this day I still spend my time away from work listening to podcasts or watching Youtube trying to become a better person and leader for our business.

“Can you share a memorable story of a time when a dish or service went spectacularly right (or wrong)?”

When I was working in Phoenix we had a VIP table that the Chef was trying to impress on the fly. He put a pot of dry chiles on the stove next to me to rehydrate them for what I assumed he was using for a broth of some kind. After a bit he asked me to strain them for him so I did, saved the chili liquid, and I discarded the solids. When I took it to his station he asked, “Where is the couscous that was in the pot?” My heart sank. I had mistaken the tiny couscous for seeds from the dried chiles and tossed them all. I’m still here to tell the story but he wasn’t too thrilled with me. It also taught me a valuable lesson to not only ask questions no matter how stressful the situation but also to give clear directions to your team.

Your motivational quote for other cooks/chefs -

“Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.” — meaning to be prepared for whatever opportunity is going to come your way and embrace the challenge.

“Do ten things one time, not one thing ten times.” — that came from my first boss, Dale Jennings, when he was teaching me to make multiple pizzas at the same time and I’ve probably told that to my team hundreds of times

My advice to future culinary pros -

Work for the best people you can and focus on learning, not job titles.

Travel as much as you can and eat like a local, a muffaletta in New Orleans hits differently than it does in Cincinnati.

Don’t settle for mediocrity, it’s contagious.

Don’t be an asshole.

What are your 5 most recent songs you streamed?

“You Make My Dreams Come True” — Hall & Oates

“Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar

“Pink Skies” — Zach Bryan

“Dance The Night Away” -Shane Smith & The Saints

“Big Poppa” — Notorious B.I.G.

Something you do on your off time that relaxes you and something that you have a blast doing:

Traveling with my wife and just walking around wherever we are. I find it to truly be the best way to learn about the place you are and all it has to offer. You have to smell the local air and feel the sun beat down on you in Charleston or have the winter wind take your breath away in Chicago to truly experience the place you are. I look forward to seeing more of the world with her and walking around many new places.