About Us
Chef Paul Petersen is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. In the early 90’s he was rocking out in the kitchen to Social Distortion and playing drums in a band in his home town of San Antonio, figuring that if he became a rock star he could afford to buy his own restaurant. In the mid-90’s he and his wife packed up and headed to New York where he attended the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and, immediately after graduation in 1997, migrated to Manhattan to begin cooking at Michael Romano’s celebrated Union Square Café. After moving on to positions with Larry Forgione at An American Place and Jimmy Bradley at The Red Cat, Petersen was quickly gaining notoriety as a rock star, in the kitchen that is.
It wasn’t long before he set his gaze back to Texas. With family in San Antonio, and the thriving, vibrant Austin area nearby, the Petersens settled in the small farming community of Buda, located between the two cities. With a new home and a commercial kitchen to cook in, Petersen crystallized his plans to build his own restaurant, experiment with his 7 BBQ grills, and explore his evolving style.
In August 2002, Little Texas Bistro opened to the delight of locals and nearby city dwellers. As executive chef of the eatery, Petersen applied his French techniques and aesthetic to rustic ingredients. With his matchless imagination, Petersen elevated simple, fresh ingredients to their highest form. Critics took note as well, honoring the young star with accolades: “Best New Chef” from the Austin American Statesman, “Best New Restaurant” and “Rising Kitchen Star” from the Austin Chronicle, and "Best Chef Southwest Nominee 2008 and 2009" from the James Beard Foundation.
Petersen continued to dignify “down-home cuisine” in his leadership position at the Gage Hotel’s Café Cenizo, where he garnered a devoted following as the word spread about his innovative approach to fresh, top-notch ingredients. A true “Johnny Cash of cooking”, he balanced his fine dining act by pushing the limits with his down home BBQ preparation and experimentation in his time away from the restaurant. He also began to compile his favorite recipes, which combined with his rockstar personality, southwest style, cooking videos, photos and other interactive features comprise his recently launched interactive cookbook Keeper of the Flame.
Currently the Executive Chef at Rick’s Chophouse and Sauce on the Square in McKinney, TX, Chef Petersen’s years of fanning the flames of his passion have lead him to make a name for himself in the competitive world of BBQ. His dreams of “being on tour” finally came true, though the drumsticks he’s using are of the chicken and not music kind. Selected to take part in a new reality show following pit masters in major BBQ contests, Chef has been traveling all over the nation this fall competing against some of the masters he’s followed for many years. “I always thought I’d be famous and have roadies carrying my gear around, I just never expected that that gear would be pits and hardwood!”
Stay tuned for news about Chef Petersen's upcoming run on a hot national television series, demonstrating why he is the true Keeper of the Flame! More to come soon!
About Keeper Collection, LLC
In an effort to remain on the cutting edge of the culinary industry, Chef Petersen joined the Keeper® Collection (www.keepercollection.com) family. Together, we set out on this innovative project to shed a new light on modern cooking world through this web-based interactive cookbook, Keeper of the Flame.
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