Bob McClaren’s resume reads like a little boy’s fantasy: He’s worked as a sports executive (namely as the former president of the Houston Astros), sports agent and, ultimately, a real-life cowboy.

His family’s ancestral farm, 44 Farms – located in Cameron, TX — is now considered one of the premiere Black Angus producers in the country. Beef from the 3,000-acre ranch is sold online to household consumers and is also served in 45 restaurants across Texas.

Recently McClaren was the special guest at a cooking demo and dinner at Haven where chef Randy Evans paid homage to McClaren’s beef, a staple on the Haven menu. The 44 Farms-centered meal included more than just steaks. Carpaccio of heart, slow-roasted beef belly, braised oxtails, prime filet and even a kolache appetizer made with all-beef hot dogs each found a place on the menu. The gathering provided an opportunity to sit with the man who is regarded as one of the leading campaigners who succeeded in getting Minute Maid Park built and hear how he made the transition from baseball to steak. It was then that we got nosy.

Your great-grandfather founded the original ranch, a 40-acre tract, in 1904, and it has remained in your family ever since. Did you grow up knowing you’d run the ranch?

Well, I had the ranching family on my dad’s side, and then my mom’s side of the family owned a grocery store in Cameron, where I worked as a teenager. I enjoyed working at the store so much and really I liked parts of both of those businesses. I loved the customer interaction and really understanding what people needed and wanted on a daily basis at the store. I was also fascinated by the cattle aspect and agricultural production that my family was involved in. We’re doing more and more with less land than we were even 20 years ago. But no, I didn’t realize at the time how it would all come together for me later in life.

You had a dream job with the Houston Astros. At what point did you decide that you’d had enough of baseball games and needed to return to the land?

The land was always in the back of my mind, and when my grandmother passed away in 1990 it made me think what would happen to the land and the legacy. She had continued to ranch it and take care of it. I didn’t know who would continue doing that after she was gone. My sister and I each inherited a little piece of the land, as did many other family members. We eventually acquired 199 acres from the others who were scattered all over. It was more about putting the land back together again and then deciding what we would do with it. There was a lot of research and development while I was still involved with baseball-related things.

What experience from your role in leadership of the Astros translates into what you’re doing with 44 Farms?

Once we  got enough land together to do something meaningful, I had begun to research the cattle industry. I learned what breeds were really productive and provided a great product. I’ve always been fanatical about providing quality. We tried to do that when we built Minute Maid Park, and I still feel like it’s one of the great ballparks in the country. We determined that the Black Angus breed was what would provide the greatest opportunity – this was in the mid-1990’s and the breed was almost non-existent in Texas. We wanted to be one of the first to make a stand for the Angus breed in Texas. We acquired the very best Angus genetics and take great care of the cattle so that we could ensure that it would taste good – and that has been the mission that we’ve accomplished.

What does “all natural” mean to you?

We use natural feedstuff, no hormones, no antibiotics, clean, fresh well water and take care of the cattle in a very wholesome and ethical way. Combined with good genetics to get the kind of marbling we wanted, my hope was that we’d be selling only USDA Prime and USDA Choice Angus beef.

You began marketing directly to consumers online two years ago. How were Houston’s local chefs introduced to 44 Farms?

We didn’t start out marketing to chefs at all. We were marketing directly to consumers. The chefs found us because they were looking for the local quality product we were producing. They really wanted a local rancher to partner with. Now we’ve found that the chefs are leading the way for consumers to find us. Here in Houston chefs like Randy Evans, Chris Shepherd (Underbelly), Peter Laufer (Royal Sonesta), Gianfranco Percovich (Tango & Malbec) and the boys over at Liberty Kitchen, among others, have all embraced our product. These chefs and others have come to our farm and even brought along members of their staff. We love for people to come see us – not just chefs – everyone is welcome. Our tagline is Know Your Rancher, and we mean it.

What’s next for 44 Farms?

We have our own jerky line that’s about to launch, and it’s not like any jerky you’ve ever had. The quality is incredible – trimmings off of USDA Prime and Choice cuts. We develop  ed the recipe in-house with lots of testing to get it right, and we worked with a smokehouse in Johnson City. It’s not a chemical-smoke process; it’s the real thing from a true Texas smokehouse. Then there’s our [new] hot dog line. Being in baseball, I’ve eaten a million hot dogs, and I really wanted a good hot dog.

For more information about 44 Farms, visit their website at 44Farms.com