Name to a Face: Joey Grisafe

Joey Grisafe may have been born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, but he is a Montana boy at heart. The second oldest of ten children, Joey's family values have transferred with him to Whitehall.

Joey's love of cooking started at a young age, and he found himself balancing between construction jobs and cooking positions by the time he was in his late teens.

After thirty-three years in New Jersey, a family cabin in New York his father had built years before called his name. For a year he enjoyed the outdoors, fishing, hunting, and trapping his way through the woods around the cabin. However, after a year he found himself moving back to busier areas of New York, this time taking a position as a glazer due to his new interest in glassmaking. But the outdoors kept calling.

Joey's decision to move to Montana was brought on by his limited hunting access in New York; whereas he could hunt turkey and deer in New York, he wanted to venture into larger animals, especially to cook them! With hobbies including hunting, fishing, leatherworking, and knife collecting, Montana seemed to be exactly what he was looking for.

Joey came to Montana seeking nature and found his passion for the small town of Whitehall. He continued his work in the glass industry, while fine tuning his cooking and baking skills, and has worked for Butte Glass since 1994. While Joey has gotten out of the restaurant business, he has thrived as a home cook and is widely known in the Whitehall area for his variety of cheesecakes, sushi, and other delicious treats.

"If you make something not good, but make it look good, it will be good," is one of Joey's favorite rules to live by. He spends his time practicing and perfecting the recipes that he has developed over the years. He loves to cook Cajun dishes, sushi, as well as Italia. And was it mentioned he make the most delicious cheesecakes ever? Friends of Joey on Facebook delight in his daily photos of the creations he has concocted in his own kitchen and there are several lucky individuals who are occasionally gifted samples of his treats as well.

He dedicates much of his success to his experimentation and love of learning new techniques, which always add a flair to his final dishes.

Joey may be well-known for his cheesecakes, but those who aren't into sweets also know Joey for his hot sauce. With several flavors, from sweet to hot to hotter than Hades, his hot sauces are sold at Settings by All Things Montana.

He started his hot sauce creations when a friend's son told him he loved hot sauce but could not take the heat. Joey began creating a hot sauce from the flavor up - he found the best flavor profile, then added spice to ensure its integrity. Now this specific sauce is gaining notoriety around Montana.

Joey is a face widely recognized throughout Whitehall and he loves the peace and quiet of our little town. Say "Hello!" to him the next time you see him - he might just have a tasty morsel for you to try!