Ever notice how involved in their communities restaurateurs are? It makes sense. The same passion that inspires work in the hospitality industry — making people happy — inspires community involvement. Over time, chefs become more than someone who cooks your food.
When Wes Stepp came to the OBX in the 1980s, he had neither a car nor a place to live. But, he had something that proved more important to his success: a passion to make people happy. Stepp hitchhiked from his West Virginia home to the OBX to take a fry cook job at Kelly’s. Three decades later, Stepp has two restaurants, a catering company, an on-call chef service, a podcast, and a wellness-through-food cooking demo program. Stepp had no plans to create any of these things when he arrived in the OBX at age 22. Instead, each sprang along the way from a passion to make people happy. “Hospitality gave me the fire, the chaos, the creativity, and most of all, the chance to serve something real,” said Stepp.
That passion has inspired Stepp not just to feed the OBX community but to serve it in any way he can. During the pandemic, while Stepp and others in the industry suffered, he knew his community was suffering as well. So, he turned one of his restaurants into a make-shift market to provide access to food. “We’re used to bouncing back, but a hurricane and a pandemic, the difference is a hurricane is more like a sprint,” Stepp explained at the time. “This thing is more like a marathon, but our reaction to it and the community’s reaction has been the same. We all become one.” Through media, philanthropy, and his businesses, Stepp has become a constant advocate for his community’s well-being.
It’s not just making people happy that inspires chefs. It’s doing so through food. “I fell in love with the way food brings people together,” said Stepp. “I wanted to create that feeling for others—comfort, connection, celebration.” The best way to enjoy that, says Stepp, is The Chef’s Board at NC Coast Grill & Bar. After three decades of cooking in the OBX, he says it’s the ultimate manifestation of his desire to serve.
The Chef’s Board is a tapas-style spread of whatever inspires the kitchen at the moment. And, Stepp is right. It promotes guests’ connection far beyond the usual “What are you getting?”. For our group, hovering over the board together, each bite forged a common experience that made our meal and memories of it something they could not have been otherwise.
Links:
- NC Coast Grill & Bar
- Red Sky Casual Dining & Cocktails
- Red Sky Catering
- Tastefully Fit
- Outer Banks Raw Podcast
- OBX Chef