Renaissance Man of ReikiNa By Kelli Colaco HEF/OWNER THOMAS STACY of ReikiNa (‘Snacks to pair with Divine Energy,) in Houston, TX, has the sort of ‘come up’ story that has one say, ‘You did WHAT?! HOW?’
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A lifelong visual artist and musician, not to mention vinyl collector, art curator, plus--he made his own damn tables for his restaurant, Chef Thomas Stacy entered his chef / restaurateur career through an unconventional creative side door. Thomas shares, ‘ People are like, ‘Did you go to culinary school?’ And I say, ‘No, I went to the internet.’ I waited tables during college and staged at my favorite restaurant, Uchi (Houston TX) for almost a year, but mostly I browse the internet, read cookbooks, watch videos and cram ideas together.
Don’t let Stacy’s unabashed modesty fool you, his culinary narrative harks back to his early childhood making eighthgeneration buttermilk biscuits with his grandfather and watching his Dad, a proper Francophile from Louisiana, flambé fancy French sauces. Further evidence of Stacy’s ‘natural born ‘culinarian’ gave way when in middle school, he and his brother bought their own smoker and smoked pork shoulders and fruit. In high school, Thomas found himself obsessed with making apple pies with his best friend’s mom. Thomas shared, ‘I now realize now how formative these things were. They were cool but super nerdy and something other kids were not doing, like, at all.’ Graduating University of Houston with a degree in Supply Chain Management, Thomas wound up in Seattle, running an Amazon fulfillment center. After three years the realization that ‘fulfillment’ was exactly what his life was lacking became very loud. Thomas bravely chopped and changed. He moved back home to Houston and committed himself to finding a career in one of his three passions, painting, music, or cooking. Cooking being ‘the lowest barrier to success,’ Thomas set his intention and sallied forth accordingly. ‘I had to start somewhere’ Thomas offered, so I took my resume, and went to my favorite restaurant in Houston, Uchi, with Chef/ Owner Tyson Cole. Fortunately, they hired me for short stage. ‘Uchi was
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