Chef Raymond
"Ray" Calloway

Ray's philosophy begins before the fire is lit. It starts at dawn, at the butcher's loading dock, where he personally inspects every cut delivered to Porky's Place. "The wood and the heat, those I can control," he says. "But everything starts with the quality of the animal. Respect that, and the rest follows."

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and working under legendary pitmaster Bobby "Smoke" Jenkins in Austin, Ray spent three years traveling through Louisiana, the Carolinas, and Kansas City — studying how each region's geography, culture, and wood availability shaped its unique BBQ identity.

What emerged from those years of immersion was a deeply personal style that Ray describes as "Southern Convergence" — a fusion that honors all traditions without being enslaved to any single one.

"Every great pitmaster I've ever known has the same quality: they listen. The smoke tells you when to pull. The crust tells you when to wrap. The fire tells you when to add wood. BBQ is a conversation, not a monologue."

— Chef Raymond Calloway