foodspin
By Ryne Berthelot
hoppysmith
As the holiday season closes in, two things
are running through the mind of Diamondhead
Golf Pro Hoppy Smith: his golf students, and his
plans for Thanksgiving dinner.
In a past life, Smith went from helping
his grandmother in the kitchen to working
professionally in restaurants. His passion for the
kitchen started at a young age, and it started with
some of the most menial tasks in cooking.
“When I was six or seven years old, she’d
stand me up in front of a gas stove when she was
making a pot of gumbo and have me stir and
stuff like that,” Smith said. “She gradually moved
into cooking more with me, and started letting
me cook in the kitchen. I just absolutely fell in
love with it.”
During his grade school years, Smith found
work at Lil’ Rays po-boy shop. His interest only
grew after school, when he started working at
multiple different steakhouses in the area.
The highlight of his cooking career came
when he landed a kitchen job at an upscale Italian
restaurant in Baton Rouge. However, while the
love for cooking never abstained, his distaste for
the restaurant business was growing.
“It’s a completely different type of business
back there,” Smith said of working as a chef.
“You’re behind the scenes, like a mechanic
back there working. And while you’re trying to
get everything put out for everybody, you don’t
really get to see the people enjoying your food.”
He’s left the restaurant business for the greener
pastures of the golfing world, and it’s proving to
be a good choice. The chef-turned-golf pro now
teaches students of all ages the nuances of golf,
which fulfilled the gratification he wasn’t finding
in the back of restaurants. And, when the holiday
season rolls around, he becomes the master chef
of his family.
“Now I’ve got the best of both worlds,” Smith
said.
His family has made him the turkey chef on
Thanksgiving, and he always adds a little different
spin to the traditional Thanksgiving day bird.
“My family beats me up to do the turkey
every year. I’m thinking about smoking one on
the Big Green Egg this year. I’ll probably do an
oyster dressing with that as well. For Christmas,
I’ll do a boneless ribeye, and for New Year’s, it’ll
be a rack of lamb.”
Whether on the greens or in the kitchen,
Smith can breathe a little easier knowing he’s
home.