Meet T. Robert Hicks of City Catering in Compton

Today we’d like to introduce you to T. Robert Hicks.

Robert, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Pat and I are the owners. We are inner city missionaries. Pat is from Wisconsin, and I am from the Bay Area. Six years ago, he was led to start a church in Compton. A year later I joined him. But it wasn’t just another church he was interested in starting. He and his wife Julie wanted to be a part of the community. Live as the people lived. Shop where they shop. Eat where they eat. Rejoice when they rejoice. Cry when they cry. Typically, folks drive into the neighborhood where they “attend” church. We didn’t want that for City Church so we began to speak and be neighborly to the people on Peck Street. What a concept, right?! Conversation by conversation, story by story and life by life, we are seeing a transformation take place. One of the ways we wanted to contribute to our community is by creating jobs for youth and others that were looking for honest work. We call it business on mission. We have also created training and monetary funding for first-time Compton entrepreneurs. Pat loves to smoke meats, and it’s just in my bones to always be creating something out of nothing in the kitchen. From intimate moments with my mother and grandmothers, I was inspired to make people feel good by preparing the food they eat. Pat and I both say, “We want to be the second best thing at the party if the first thing is the gathering of the people.” And like a good bottle of wine, we like to take our time smoking the meats for hours upon hours. To solidify the idea we originally had, we knew we would need to invest in a smoker on wheels. Thus, City Catering was born when we purchased a 20-foot smoking trailer and retired the smaller smokers on which we began our journey. Since Thanksgiving 2016, we have been catering birthday parties, weddings, office events, retreats, church outings, you name it; we are there. Mostly, our success has been due to word of mouth; however, we are hoping that our down-home Southern recipes will make their way into some local food fairs and eventually a restaurant where we can set up shop. Cause just about errrbody loves smoked meat, sides and sweets (and we even have some vegetarian and vegan options as well).

Has it been a smooth road?
The challenge is time and money, but mostly time. Because we both have many roles for which we are responsible on a daily basis, it is most times difficult to commit the amount of time we would really like to invest in growing our dream. A real struggle is the permit process for Los Angeles County. In order to take our smoking trailer anywhere, we are required to get it inspected (which is not a problem) and house it at a commissary. The problem is that the housing costs anywhere from $800 to $1K a month. As a start-up catering service, that is an exorbitant overhead cost. So for right now, we only do private events and one-time permit events.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with City Catering – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
2 chefs. 1 mission. To create great food and employ the local community. Every time you support City Catering, you partner with us to end the cycle of poverty in Compton by investing in local entrepreneurs that create jobs for themselves and others. Yes, we love to cook. We use only quality ingredients and recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. But it’s more than great food that gets us up every day. We have an awesome opportunity and responsibility to invest in the future of our city…and whatever the city wants, the city gets!

We specialize in smoked meats, savory sides and Sunday sweets. We can pretty much smoke any meat. Town favs are the ribs, pulled pork, brisket, tri-tip and chicken. Everybody keeps asking about the Cheesy Potatoes, Da People’s Potato Salad, Bangin’ Baked Beans and Mama’s Mac n Cheese. If you got a sweet tooth, then you want the Sweet Potato Pie (vegan by request), Pound Cake (G-Free by request) and the ole time favorite Lemon Jello Cake.

We are most proud of our customer reviews that we receive on Yelp and Facebook; we consistently get 5 out of 5. That’s encouraging and humbling at the same time. I believe what sets us apart from others is the use of quality ingredients and the love that goes into making the food. It has never been solely about the dollar for us. Yes, we desire to make a profit but not at the expense of customer satisfaction and joyful bellies.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Los Angeles is full of people on a mission to make a life for themselves and that gives a lot of folk hope– the possibility for better. However, we believe that it’s a two-edged sword. The same drive that people have in this heavy entrepreneurial city can be the divide that separates us. City Catering’s desire is for more partnerships, more sharing, more risking together for the benefit of the whole and not just the individual parts. The city gets what the city wants.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1104 E. Peck Street
  Compton, CA 90221
• Website: www.citycateringcpt.com
• Phone: 562.888.2271
• Email: sales@citycateringcpt.com