About
The Legend of the “Gator Guy”
Being raised in the South stirs images of eating fried, fatty foods with vegetables being boiled to nutritional oblivion. At least, that's the way it was in the 70's, in most every person's home in the South. Salt n' pepper and fatback was your flavor profile. . . and I, was labeled a "picky eater." Upon my exodus from South Carolina to California in '81, a new food pantry swung wide open for my untrained taste buds. I soon learned that I wasn't a picky eater, rather, the choices formerly offered to me were simply "bland and uninteresting." This new found love of food and spices also led me to become a craft beer fanatic, brewer and judge. My passion for it still runs deep today and for rich, flavorful sauces. In my early 20's, I became disillusioned with many nicer restaurant's subpar entrees, not to mention the hefty bill. I usually found myself liking the wine better than the meal and this is where it all turned around for me. "I can make this at home and do it better." Goodbye restaurant budget...hello, Lake Tahoe ski fund. Through the years, ethnic food became of great fascination and merging it with nouveau West Coast and NW food trends was a culinary playground of depth and flavor for my kitchen. It became obvious fusion cuisine and sauce creations were the beginnings of every great meal. Relocating to Bethesda, Maryland in '93, one the highest concentrations of multi-ethnic restaurants in the country was the backdrop for J.T. Pappy's Gator Sauces. I had become bored with one-dimensional hot sauces so I gathered southern, high-quality ingredients and Pappy's was born. Contrary to popular belief, it was not made in a bathtub. Though it's been a long-running joke among fans. Once the recipe was established it was handed out for free at a party and everyone craved it. The next time there were price tags...the real test. Would people pay for it? They did, and I proceeded to buy bottles filling them with sauce and gluing black & white computer labels on them.
Friends in the Bethesda Discovery building sold a few cases. At weeks end I collected the money at the former Montgomery's Grille and bought drinks thanking them for this important research. Each week the office orders doubled and Pappy's was formally launched. J.T. Pappy's was a hugely popular retailed sauce in the former Total Beverage stores in the mid 90's. I figured it was time to see if restaurants would benefit from it. The Original Pancake House first used the sauce on their menu and since I was a regular fan of California Tortilla, a fast casual Mexican chain headquartered in MD, it only seemed fitting to take it to my favorite burrito joint. The original California Tortilla in Bethesda, MD bought six bottles of mild and six bottles of medium. It soon became a fan favorite of CalTort customers who demanded that the sauce continue to be available to complement their burritos, tacos and fajitas. The customer base swelled and J.T. Pappy's found its happy home with a fanatical following of Cal-Torties. The five varieties of Gator sauce is a staple of California Tortilla's Wall of Flame in each of their 40+ locations.
The rest is history and production in a facility a little larger than my bathtub was set into motion. My moniker around town was the "gator guy." Since then, I've met people coast to coast who have enjoyed the five flavors and heat levels. Hundreds of handwritten letters were received from parents and their "picky eater" children who are in love with it.
Another generation of fans is upon us, so, we will get back to doing what we do best. Making sauces that are great on everything.