Saturday Sweets: Jenny Hales of Grateful Hospitality

As the very outdated saying goes, “Behind every great man is a great woman”, or some version of that, yet, Chef Richard Hales( Grateful Hospitality, Blackbrick Chinese, Sakaya Kitchen, Bird & Bone, Society BBQ, Din Ssäm a Go-Go) would be the first to say that his wife, Jenny, has been his rock through the many ups and downs. A home baker on her own, Wife Hales as she is known, has recently stepped into the spotlight with her delicious desserts at many of Richards restaurants.

Tell me about how you and Richard met?

Jenny: Richard and I met at Purdy Lounge! In 2002. I had just turned 22 and he was 32. I was with my two best friends and he was with his two coworkers and one of his outgoing coworkers saw the three of us pointed out that we were three and three, so we came over to meet them. We all paired off to chat and get to know each other and at one point Richard said he looked over at me and thought to himself "she’s way too pretty for my friend". So he grabbed me like a Neanderthal and moved me over to him. The rest is history. =)

He recently started Grateful Hospitality Group- how did that come about?

Jenny: Well, life throws a lot of curveballs at you and in 2018 and 2019 we had a hell of a couple of years dealing with back to back major surgeries for Richard including thyroid cancer And two brain surgeries followed by the recoveries of the surgeries. It was a very stressful and tough time for our little family but the best part was that Richard came out of it all stronger than ever, and so we are more grateful than ever. I’m grateful for his health and we’re grateful for the life that we’ve created and that we’ve been blessed with. And that translates to every aspect of our life including our businesses. Grateful is a word that personifies our personal, public and business lives. It has become our credo.

How have you seen being a chef/owner/wife change over the last few years?

Jenny: I’ve always been involved to an extent in the businesses. It was more difficult for me when I was pregnant and when the girls were babies as I was at home taking care of them. It took up a lot of my time. But as the girls have grown I’ve been able to become more involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. From all of the admin work to all of the HR, to bookkeeping, to creating desserts at each location, and even working the register, I’m very much involved in every aspect and whatever Richard needs me to do. We both do it all and I feel we truly make a great team. We do make sure to carve out time for ourselves and for us as a couple because without that foundation we have nothing.

We have heard about your singing at Blackbrick and other of Richard’s restaurants, that is a story of its own… Any upcoming dates we can share?

Jenny: Yes! It’s my passion and what I love to do! I sang all throughout high school and college in choirs. I even got to sing at the Three Tenors concert in 1997! After college I focused on my business career, getting my MBA, getting married, having kids, etc., so I put it on the back burner. But I am always singing throughout the day. The nights I perform at Blackbrick came as a result of Richard pushing me and saying you've got to just make it happen and sing because that’s what you love. I was lucky to find some great bands who I perform with. They are a group of super talented UM students and graduates (Justine Garcia's Quintet, The Dutchies, and Ben Beal & The Boys). I'm excited to announce that we have a performance (Ben Beal & The Boys featuring Me) coming up on May 2 at the Citadel. It’s a Saturday night from 7:30 to 10:30 PM.

When did you and Richard decide to begin featuring your creations? I love personally the cheddar cheese biscuits and your strawberry jam at Bird & Bone, and the Bourbon Bread Pudding at Society BBQ at the Citadel Food Hall. Others? Coming soon?

Jenny: My desserts started from the beginning. I’ve always been a home baker and have a good knack for making desserts. When we opened up Sakaya Kitchen in 2009 Richard said "well we need to figure something out for the desserts. Why don’t you make the cookies you always make for your coworkers?" And that’s how Wife Hales desserts began. With each restaurant, Richard has been the creative force always giving me the ideas, and I executing them.

It’s an ideal collaboration. The cheddar biscuits from Bird & Bone came actually from Richard’s childhood; he loves the biscuits from red lobster that you get at the table. He suggested I create a strawberry jam; together the combination is heavenly. The bread pudding at Society BBQ is absolutely on fire! It’s a fan favorite for sure. Again we thought to incorporate the smoker combination of smoked and bourbony is just so decadent. We have others on the horizon. I am happy to say that I finally nailed a banana pudding recipe worth drooling for! We started selling it this week at Society BBQ.

I'll be experimenting with a dirt cup recipe soon, and I have a great vegan cookie that we’re going to roll out as well.

Food shows on Reality TV: Good or bad? We know you are friends with Guy Fieri, any fun scoops on him?

Jenny: I do like the food shows on reality TV I think they’ve created tremendous popularity for the cooking industry globally. Since I'm lucky enough to have the inside scoop on some of the behind-the-scenes aspects, I've learned that a lot of it is not really reality, but it does make for entertaining TV. Yes, we’re good friends with Guy and his family; we've become closer over the years. We go out to California at least a couple of times a year and get together with them and vice versa.

The Fieris host the best parties with awesome food of course. It’s always a blast. A fun tidbit is that Guy and Lori are our daughters' honorary Godparents. They joined us in Sonoma at the Church where Richard and I got married. We had always planned on going back one day to get our girls blessed there and by our same pastor who married us. That's just what we did. It was a very special moment for us.

Your favorite restaurant other than your own (naturally)?

Jenny: I have nothing but love for our local chefs, like La Camaronera, Kush Hospitality restaurants, and Sea Spice (where Chef Angel Leon works, the guy responsible for introducing us). Joe's is always a special time when we finally get to go. And Houston's/Hillstone is one of Richard's and my all-time go-to's.

You are mom to two adorable girls, do they want to be chefs? Do they help out in the kitchen? I saw them with you when Richard was given a Chef Recognition award by the City of Miami Beach.

Jenny: Our oldest, Lily, a few years ago seemed to be interested in cooking. She's then switched gears and has become our techie girl, loving robotics and engineering. However, in the past couple of years, our youngest, Violet, has really shown a strong interest in it. She takes cooking classes at school (in addition to cooking with us), and she absolutely loves to help at the restaurants. She could easily spend the entire day there with us. She's already told us she wants to take over the restaurants when she's older.

What piece of advice would you give to wife/partner of a busy chef.

Jenny: My advice would be to hang on tightly - it's a wild ride! In all seriousness, it's such an all-consuming career, it's truly not for the weak or not passionate. The upside is that it's so gratifying to be able to run a successful restaurant group where you know you're making a difference in your community. There's a deep sense of pride I feel every day of my Chef-restaurateur husband and everything he's accomplished. For me, it's important to remember to take everything day-by-day. No day or moment is alike in our busy lives, and I just try to do the best that I can each moment of my time both at work and at home. I think Richard would agree with that too.

You can follow Jenny on Instagram at @wifehales1