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Who’s doing this Port Aransas Cookbook thing?
Chris Jordan is a restaurateur, chef, and sommelier. His first job was bussing tables at The Grey Moss Inn. He would soon move to Port Aransas and open his first restaurant, Tacorama. Chris opened, worked at, or helped create the following establishments: El Jarro de Arturo, The Cadillac Bar, Nacho Mama’s, Kerbey Lane Cafe, Meri’s Malibu, Beulah’s at the Tarpon Inn, Pelican’s Landing, Shrimp House, The Flats Lounge, Henry J’s Cafe, River’s Edge Tuscan Grille, and The Rum and Wine Bar at Hotel St. Croix. Chris has completed both an intensive stage with Sushi Chef Toshi Sugiura at Bar Hayama (Los Angeles, CA) and the Introductory Course and Examination of the Court of Master Sommeliers (West Palm Beach, FL).
Here’s some press:
Rib Cook-off Spices-up North Shore
Chris Jordan, representing Hotel St. Croix, was crowned St. Croix’s king of pork Sunday at the annual Krewe de Croix rib cook-off at Above the Wall.
A sizable crowd gathered on the North Shore to sample the island’s best rubs and sauces. Chefs from eight restaurants worked feverishly at their grills, flipping fat racks of meat over smoking coals. With every juicy plate of ribs, the chefs served up stories as well, telling the curious where they came across their prized recipes.
For Jordan, his ribs were the culmination of a quest.
He said that as a young man he had sampled ribs from barbecue joints all over Texas, but none compared to the City Market Barbeque in the little town of Luling. The taste stuck with him.
“I’ve been trying to replicate the dry rub and the sauces they serve there most of my adult life,” he said.
Jordan said he thought his current recipe, a 14-ingredient dry rub, was pretty close.
“This is the final and hopefully award winning incarnation,” he said.
At the end of the cook-off, Jordan got his wish. The votes were tallied and his ribs won the day by a comfortable margin.