We started Backstage Steakhouse 5 years ago. It was time we settled down after a life on "the road," but more about that a little bit further down the page. For now, we'd proudly like to introduce you to our head chef, Raymond Tatum.
Raymond, a native Austinite, has been demonstrating his talents in some of Austin's finest restaurants for over 22 years. Patrons of Jeffrey's, 612 W and Brio have enjoyed his unique Southwestern dishes with an Asian influence. At Jeffrey's, Raymond earned the Texas Monthly "Star" rating and maintained that rating during his 12-year association with them. He opened Brio on 6th Street, and in 1995 was voted Best Chef in Austin by the Austin Chronicle's Reader's Poll. Raymond has also been featured on the PBS series Great Chefs of the West. We know you will enjoy your dining experience as Raymond continues his cooking career at Backstage.
So now we move on to the name of our restaurant and a little about us
While this may be our first restaurant, we are not strangers to the restaurant business. For nearly 25 years, we toured across the United States and Canada with Rock & Roll bands working as their backstage caterers. To many, that sounds glamorous. But true backstage life is far from glamorous. Road crews travel in 12-person sleeper buses to a different city every night. Once in the new city, the road crew is joined by local stagehands who together unload the 4-6 "semis," empty the road cases, build the stage, rig the building, hang the points, position the lights, tune the instruments, pray for the dry ice delivery and perform sound check - all before 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Crews have to be fed, and since Beth had been feeding some of the them since college, it seemed a simple thing to do.
Back in 1979, crews consisted of 25 people (which was a couple buses) carrying 6-10 truckloads of lights, sound, band gear, etc. Local support required 30-40 people; if video was needed, that was an extra 25-30. Oh, don't forget the back-up singers, dancers, wardrobe and make-up people, merchandisers and security. Your dinner requirements could easily reach 150-200 people.
In the beginning, everything was either fried or grilled. Popular lunch meals were burgers off the grill and we usually served charbroiled steaks for dinner. Side dishes consisted of fried potatoes, fried onion rings, fried okra, corn on the cob and pinto beans. (Try explaining fried okra to AC/DC.) By our retirement, we had mastered vegetarian cooking, learned to cook soy burgers, and quit questioning why the British wanted sandwiches for breakfast.
The music business has been good to us. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest musicians and bands in the world. We've traveled the entire United States and a good portion of Canada, loaded up in grocery stores and truck stops along the way, met many fascinating people and developed lasting relationships with some. Stories...yes, we have stories. Some we can share and others are best left untold. So, if you have a favorite touring Rock & Roll band and you see one of us, don't hesitate to ask; we may have an anecdote to share. (And let's not forget the Country bands - we have stories about them, too.) But, like I said in the beginning, true backstage life is really not glamorous. It's mostly long hours and demanding work. But it's only Rock & Roll and we like it, like it, yes we do!
