Meet Chris. As the owner of Daughters’ Southern, Chris has a passion for serving the community great food straight out of his food truck at local breweries, bars, and even catering weddings. Inspired by numerous trips to New Orleans, Chris finally decided to chase his dream of starting his own business back in 2016. Despite starting out as pop-up service working under a tent, word of mouth quickly helped Chris become a town favorite for many. His truck, a Frito Lay’s delivery truck in its past life, has been flipped into a restaurant on wheels with a fully functional kitchen serving a variety of menu items that rotate each weekend. You may be shocked to learn that despite the name being Daughters’ Southern, you won’t find any of his 4 daughters working in the truck. “People are often confused because they get to the window to just find a bunch of guys working inside. I named it after them because I figured if I do this right, it will eventually be theirs someday and I can sit back and relax.”
Thanks, Chris, for bringing a uniqueness to Lexington with your food menu and we look forward to seeing you around the city!
Be sure to check out Daughters’ Southern on Facebook and Instagram to see where they’ll be set up at next.
Questions:
How long have you lived or worked in Lexington?
I was born and raised in Lexington. I have worked in the food industry in Lexington since I was 14 years old. I’m a second generation chef. My dad was a chef and my mother was a waitress. They actually met in an old restaurant here in Lexington called the Little Inn. In its heyday, it was the place to be apparently.
What led to your current career?
I worked full-time at UK for almost 9 years and was the chef for the basketball team for a while and also worked in the catering departments. My wife and I go to New Orleans at least once a year and during our trip in 2016 I tried some food that just inspired me to go my own way own. I started doing pop-ups and catering in a tent with folding tables, a couple of grills and an electrical fryer and it just took off. I just got the food truck back in February after starting the process back in December and then finishing it up at the end of January. I had just done my first food truck event in March at The Garage on Leestown Rd… and then COVID hit and we shut down for bit. I kinda made the choice on my own to shut it down since we were in a good spot of not having a staff or inventory like other restaurants in town. The biggest thing we lost is the momentum but luckily it’s picked right back up.
What is your most popular food?
We do southern food but I also like to include a little BBQ whenever I can. One thing that’s pretty popular is our chicken & waffle dish. We also have a PBLT (smoked pork belly, lettuce, and fresh tomatoes). One of our biggest sellers by far is our Buffalo Cauliflower. When we were doing the tent service, I always liked to have at least one vegetarian option on the menu. Now I have a guy that comes out at least once or twice a month and gets 3 or 4 orders at a time. We make it crispy with a sweet hot sauce and some fresh ranch. Cauliflower isn’t exactly the most sought after vegetable by people. I have a friend that absolutely hates cauliflower and he says it’s amazing.
Q: What is your favorite restaurant and what is your go to order?
I have a few. I like Minglewood and Middle Fork a lot. Anything by Ouita Michel so Smithtown, Holly Hills, and all of those are my favorites. My wife and I really like Bella Notte a lot too. When we go there I always order whatever is on their seasonal menu. Summer or winter, it’s always something really good.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: Texas. Any part of Texas. I would litteraly just get in the car drive around the state eating BBQ for a month.
Q: What is your favorite thing about Lexington?
A: I like how it doesn’t feel like a big city but has a lot of the features of a big city without some of the hustle and traffic. It has all the comforts with plenty of restaurants and shops. For example, I live on the edge of the city and it’s almost like I live in the country but I’m still about 5 minutes from anything.
Q: When you have family or friends visit, where do you take them?
A: I really like the Distillery District down Manchester St. I’m a little partial to it because when I was doing most of my tent set ups, they were outside of Ethereal. There’s so much to do and great places to eat with Middle Fork, Ethereal, Goodfellas, and Crank & Boom. I think Goodfellas has one of the best cocktail programs in town.
Q: Have you picked up any new hobbies or skills during the pandemic?
A: I tried to start a garden. I built the garden boxes but then never bought the dirt. I have 4 kids so I became a teacher for a while. Luckily my kids did really well with it even though I have heard some horror stories from other parents.
Q: If you could have lunch with any living person (non-relative), who would you choose?
A: Danny Meyer, Aaron Franklin, or Rodney Scott. Danny Meyer is a restaurateur who started Shake Shack. Aaron Franklin is BBQ chef from Texas and Rodney Scott is a BBQ chef from South Carolina. Mainly people that do the same thing I do.
Q: Are you more of a Texas BBQ or Carolina BBQ kinda guy?
A: Traditionally I lean more Texas. I don’t use a lot of sugar. Texas BBQ is mainly just salt and pepper. A lot of BBQ places use a lot of sugar with their rubs and stuff. The only one I use sugar on is the pork belly because it gives it a brown sugar bacon flavor.
Q: What can we find you doing on your day off?
A: If it’s a weekend we go to the farmers market and have brunch at Winchell’s or just hang out. If it’s been a rough week I just want to sit on the couch and sit still.
Q: What is something that most people may not know about you?
A: I’m a huge Marvel fan. Me and my children go see all of the movies when they come out. I’ve became somewhat of a closeted wrestling fan over the last couple of months. That’s kind of embarrassing but I started watching with a kids about a year and a half ago. They watched it for a little while and they got bored with it and now I kinda watch it just to laugh at it. It’s ridiculous, beyond ridiculous really. Other than that, that’s really it.
Q: What is a topic or subject that you wish you knew more about?
A: Politics. I don’t know a lot about it. That sounds bad but I just don’t. I learn stuff about it as I go and I always vote and encourage other folks to vote. Sometimes the more I learn about it, the less I want to know about it.
Q: What is a show you’ve currently been binge watching?
A: Treme. Tremé is a historical black neighborhood in New Orleans, the oldest one in the country. It’s about how the folks in that area dealt with everything post Hurricane Katrina.
Q: What do you feel is an essential part of your routine that contributes to your overall well being or mental health?
A: I usually take a day or so ever once and a while and just unplug from everything. I like to just relax and hang out with my wife, go to dinner, come home and watch TV and then get up the next day go have brunch of something. I also feel very strongly about people going to speak with a therapist. I have a therapist I speak to once every couple of months just to make sure I’m good. Mental health is overlooked a lot in this world.
Q: If you were cast in a movie, who would you choose as your co-star?
A: Probably Robert DeNiro. He’s my favorite actor. Anyone that can play a priest and still be a tough guy is pretty talented.
Q: Who’s your go-to band or artist when you can’t decide on something to listen to?
A: I’m a big Jay-Z fan, but I’ve been listening to a lot of Jazz stuff recently since I’ve been watching Treme and it’s got so much music in it. I’ve been going back and listening to some of the soundtrack from that show.
Q: If you could give advice to a random group of people, what would it be?
A: Make sure you enjoy what you do. I tell my kids all the time that we don’t care if you work at Starbucks, work in construction, or if you want to be a doctor or lawyer, just enjoy it and make sure you can support yourself. Even when I’m tired and down, I still enjoy serving people good food.
