Gene Potts always loved cooking; he went to Culinary Institute to become a chef. He learned all kinds of culinary skills and his favorite was desserts he excelled at making desserts and got to use his creativity. He was over 6ft so seeing him making small detailed desserts was interesting and delicious.
Geno started grilling and did BBQ cookoffs and steak. Steak cookoffs became his favorite pastime and he won several 1st places. The first year he competed in 2016 he was 10th in the nation and in 2017 he was 4th. He traveled all over Texas to compete in steak cook offs he met some amazing people and cooked some tasty steaks. He was always helping others at cook offs he was always happy for the ones that beat him he would shake their hand and congratulate them and if they didn’t do well, he was right there giving encouragement and advice on cooking that everyone has a bad cooking day and you just needed to keep cooking.
If you knew Geno you knew he was quiet and once you got passed that rough exterior you knew you had a friend, he kept to himself he didn’t have much to say but when he did, he always made you feel like you could do anything. So, at competitions he would set up his tent in a spot by himself and cook his steak and people would stop by and visit so when he was diagnosed in 2019 with colon cancer, he couldn’t believe how much support and friendships he made along the steak trail. Those friendships helped more than anyone knew as he battled cancer.
He started talking about teaching kids how to grill all kind of food, sportsmanship and to teach the love of competing and a place for kids to just have fun cooking. He didn’t get to make that happen. He asked for two things to happen after he passed 1. To have a steak cook off in his name which we have had one every year. 2. To teach kids the love of cooking which we have Get Kids Cooking. Both of these will continue Geno’s legacy and honor his wishes.