In his younger years, Steven bounced around the world as a military kid before landing in Georgia where every meal was made from scratch. He grew a love for cooking ever since he could stand on a stool to reach the cookie dough.

Elissa, on the other hand, considered food merely fuel for an active sports life style and had zero interest in the culinary world until she met Steven, who she immediately learned, found immense joy in all aspects of food.

For their second date, he cooked her an unforgettable meal of spaghetti and meatballs from scratch with a salad and southern sweet tea and the story started from there.

Merging two different lives together is always an adventure and immersing Elissa into Steven’s love for the kitchen was quite the feat. After feigning experience and faking ability, Elissa rapidly dove into all things cooking from books to shows to tutorials all while keeping Steven “in the dark” about her lacking skills and history in the kitchen. To this day, he says he loved her too much to notice.

Shortly after getting married, Elissa’s parents gifted them a Traeger smoker grill and their love for BBQ began there.

First came the dinners with family friends. Then came the team pre-game day meals. Then came the holiday parties. Then the school events. And now, together, they navigated the road to creating the Tiger Mountain BBQ business where food, community, and Christ are the heart and soul of their work.