If you trace City Pork Hospitality Group back to its roots, you’ll find a deer hunter with a burgeoning interest in cured meats and a book called Charcuterie.
“It was the first really Americanized book that was written about the art of charcuterie,” Trey Williams tells Business Report in the new entrepreneur feature. Williams picked up a copy of the book after seeing a recommendation on Amazon.
The next thing he knew, Williams was drying his own meats at home in a curing chamber built out of an old refrigerator.
In late 2013, he teamed up with deli pioneer Chase Lyons to launch City Pork Deli & Charcuterie near the Perkins Road overpass.
City Pork was an immediate hit, but Lyons left the hospitality group soon after to pursue other opportunities. The restaurant was just two months old when Stephen Hightower joined in a consulting role, eventually becoming an instrumental partner in the business.
From managing restaurants such as Ruth’s Chris Steak House and the Bocage Racquet Club to owning and operating Frankie’s Dawg House, Hightower brought a wealth of restaurant experience to City Pork Hospitality Group.
“The heartbeat of these restaurants is unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of,” he says of the three distinct City Pork restaurant concepts in Baton Rouge and the new Southfin Southern Poké concept that opened in March. “I knew this was something I could always hang my hat on.”
Hightower credits Williams with “setting the pace” of the company by introducing new concepts to Baton Rouge. “When you talk about strategy, the heartbeat of our company is introducing new things to the city, and I think that’s what we all stand for,” Hightower says. Along with the four restaurants under the group’s umbrella, City Pork Hospitality Group has also successfully launched a catering businesses. And last year it also broke into the stadium food services businesses with a concession stand in Tiger Stadium.
As Williams and Hightower continue advancing the culinary palate of Baton Rouge foodies, they’re focused on developing the top talent and best practices necessary to support even greater growth.
“We are trying to build a culture where people want to work here and people want to invite their friends to come work here,” says Williams. City Pork Hospitality Group currently employs 150 people and is looking to grow.
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