Homegrown minor league umpire says “SAFE!” in becoming a chef!  Chef Joe Rackley was born and raised in the Clear Lake area. He began cooking at a young age while in the kitchen with his mother. Prior to embarking on his cooking career, Rackley was an umpire in the minor leagues. Traveling around the country began to lose its zest, so he returned to his hometown. Rackley turned to something he has always enjoyed and the 30-something chef began his career in the restaurant industry at Bakkhus Taverna in Kemah four years ago.

A visionary in Skallywag’s kitchen:  Skallywag offers daily “food truck-esque” styled food like in-house smoked pulled pork sandwiches, buffalo burgers with bacon marmalade, wings, and several different Cole slaws are in menu rotation. “Think Southern fusion pub food,” said Rackley. Coming up in the kitchen will be made-from-scratch wild boar sausage on a pretzel hoagie. “We use Slow Dough Bakery for our bread and choose to use local farms and ranches.” Recipes “outside of the box” are Rackley’s specialty. Skallywag will be offering homemade ice cream for beer floats. Rather than use a simple vanilla flavor, the creative chef came up with an original burnt sugar and espresso flavor to complement Skallywag’s unique beer line-up.

A saucemaster…  Rackley is a saucier. “It’s the French word for sauce master,” he said. (You have to really pay attention to figure out if Rackley is joking or not.) Semantics aside, he IS able to create some amazing sauces from a béarnaise to a not-so-basic barbeque sauce.

Cooking tip:  “Season at every step,” said Rackley. “Salt and pepper is really all you need… And always taste before serving.”

Famous clientele:  During the basketball All-Star weekend this year, he served hamburgers to Doctor J, Adrian Petersen, and Clyde Drexler. Former Houston Rocket and Hall of Famer Drexler told Chef Rackley that his culinary creation was the “best burger he has ever had!”

Up close and personal:  At home, Chef Rackley likes to grill and eat healthy, but is known to make a mean cheesecake. He tells us he is engaged to his beautiful fiancée Mercedes and has an equally beautiful four month-old baby girl named Addison Jewel.

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