On August 1, we announced the nominees for My Table magazine’s 2016 Houston Culinary Awards. Within that announcement, we also shared that our honorary Legends of Houston Restaurants Award recipient was to be Felix Florez of Black Hill Meats. He is a restaurateur-turned-sommelier-turned-rancher who has been supplying Houston restaurants (and now homes) with heritage livestock since 2010 .
You may have passed Florez on Highway 290, as he hauls trailers of animals in all weather conditions, at all hours. He may have been delivering whole hogs to be butchered through the kitchen delivery entry while you’ve had lunch at your favorite Houston restaurant. He’s the man behind the meat at many of Houston’s culinary fundraisers, throw-downs and competitions. You may have eaten a meal or two next to him at Ritual, a Heights restaurant where he is a partner.
We thought readers would want to know who is feeding and delivering some of the best locally-raised livestock, so naturally we got nosy.
“I can’t remember if I was watching a case of frozen Berkshire shanks being unpacked in a restaurant kitchen, or if I was skinning a wild boar on my family’s ranch, but I decided during one of those moments that my family and I were going to make a difference in the culinary world. I started raising pigs when I was a sommelier at Brennan’s in Houston. I got tired of watching chefs order products from out of state. Whenever someone would open a meat product, it would always either be from Sonoma, or New Zealand, or Colorado. It was really irritating, there was no reason it should be that way.” – Felix Flores, from blackhillmeats.com
What were family meals like when you were growing up?
Dad was gone a lot (doing work on other continents), so I learned to do a lot of the cooking when he was gone. When he was home, mom made the meals and they were on point – I’m talkin’ fresh homemade flour tortillas every night, too – served in the same olive-green Tupperware container, and it was great.
All meat aside, what is your favorite vegetable? How do you like it prepared?
I love vegetables, mainly because it was “your ass” if you didn’t finish your veggies. I love mushrooms, except they are fungi. So cauliflower (butter poached) I guess? There’s a lot you can do with it.
What exactly is your “strict, all-natural protocol” for raising pigs?
No antibiotics for pigs [that are] intended for meat, no concrete pens, plenty of pasture to graze, no hormones, no meat-based feeds.
Photo from Black Hill Meats Facebook page
Where do you want to take your business over the next five years?
I would like to expand into some more types of meats, currently we do pork, lamb, beef and goat … there’s still a lot more we could be doing.
What is the most common misconception people have about ranching?
Most people think ranching is hard. It isn’t. It’s ridiculously hard and hot and cold and wet and dirty and frustrating, and finding good help is almost impossible.
If you’re not hauling hogs and delivering the goods, you’re ____.
At Ritual or with my wife and sons for a few minutes.
Last meal on earth:
Ten courses at Paul Bocuse’s restaurant in Lyon.