Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Hooton and Matt Mobley.
Sarah and Matt, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We worked together 10 years ago at Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas as culinary instructors. I (Sarah) moved to Fort Worth in 2009 and Matt continued with LCB. We kept in touch, I made Matt’s wedding cake years later. About 2 years ago, I approached Matt with the idea for Hot Box, not quite sure what exactly it was just yet. He loved the idea of biscuits, house made bacon, fried chicken, pies and the good Southern comfort food we both grew up with. We have a mutual friend, Juan Rodriguez of Magdalena’s, who generously offered up his space for us to try a pop-up brunch. So in November of 2016 we did our first pop-up. We sold mostly to our friends and family and slowly began developing ideas for how to do another one. The next month, we announced on Social Media and sold out the pop-up in about 3-4 days. By our 3rd pop-up, we had sold out within 24 hours. And by our 4th pop-up, we literally sold out within 5-10 minutes and I had to turn down over 200 emails of people wanting to get in. We were so incredibly humbled by the interest. From that point, and with a lot of help from our community and friends and family, we set out to increase the pop-ups. Juan and his wife Paige, let us use Magdalena’s and mentored us through each one. Mary and Jarry Ho and Kevin Martinez of Tokyo Cafe also generously offered up their restaurant for us to use on a Sunday. As did Hans Peter Muller of Swiss Pastry Shop. Fort Worth is such an amazing city of people that want to help each other succeed. We now do our pop-up in a warehouse of family friends David and Tracey Bell. It’s very difficult to put into words what generosity like this means to us. It literally would not be possible without these people. We now focus on doing 3-6 pop-ups a month and we’re having an incredible time!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well… we’ve learned a lot that’s for sure. Between Matt and I, we have about 35 years of industry experience, which has served us very well. But we’ve both learned a lot of juggling our time and interacting with our customers. It’s incredibly humbling that so many people want to come and experience our food and pop-ups. It’s difficult to have to say no to people when we don’t have enough room. So we work really, really hard to get as many people in as we can. And we have incredible customers that are so understanding and supportive of us. We’re very lucky.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Hot Box Biscuit Club – what should we know?
We do a monthly brunch pop-up. We focus on biscuits, house-made bacon called Notorious P.I.G., homemade jams, Vernon’s pimento cheese (sometimes spicy pimento cheese called Pimpmento Cheese), deviled eggs, fried green tomatoes, awesome biscuit sandwiches like: The Paris Hilton…that’s hot (buttermilk biscuit, sugarcane-brined fried chicken with our #tastydust spice blend, drowning in hot sauce and topped with a scoop of honey butter that’s melting a river onto your plate by the time it arrives). Killer sides like Mac & Cheese (winner of Fort Worth’s Mac Attack contest), Miso Corny (corn with miso butter, green onions & our bacon), homemade jams like TX Whiskey Peach, Apple Butter with Apple Cider Vinegar Caramel. And pies! Anything from Mary’s Chocolate Cream (named after my grandmother Mary Hooton), Sarah’s Buttermilk pie with a passionfruit caramel, and One for My Homies Pie (our play on a Kentucky Derby Pie with pecans, bourbon & chocolate).
I’d say we’re most proud of the quality of our food. When we taste something and get excited about it… then we get real excited to share it. Another aspect of our pop-ups that we’re extremely proud of are the people. At any given pop-up you could have our parents, spouses, aunts, uncles, cousins, best friends and big name business-owners in town serving you, bussing your table, serving you a drink or seating you. When we started, we sat everyone family-style at long tables (really because we had to) – and that has become a huge part of why the pop-ups are so fun! By the end of brunch, people are sharing drinks, trading phone numbers and making plans with each other. In a time where people prefer to text over calling, no one really drops by for visits anymore, it’s heart-warming to see people making such neat connections and creating experiences. At any given pop-up you could be sitting next to the most prominent plastic surgeon in town, the owner of the largest brewery in Fort Worth, an uber-talented chef, a NFL football player, a famous FW musician or even the mayor! It’s one of the many reasons we LOVE Fort Worth!!!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
If you could call this a characteristic – I’d say having a heart for this. As chefs, we have an inherent desire to serve people and give back. Cooking for someone and sharing something you love is a powerful thing. It makes everything worth it at the end of the day. All the hard work, planning, hiccups, etc. all seem to make sense when you are able to share something with someone and make such a personal connection with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: hotboxbiscuitco.com
- Email: hotboxbiscuitcofw@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hotboxbiscuitclub/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hotboxbiscuit/?ref=bookmarks
Image Credit:
Crystal Vastine of FW Foodie
Amber & BJ Caldwell of Anchor Marketing (they designed our logo and all graphics too)
FW Weekly
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
