RJ Yoakum grew up in Orange County, California, where he first developed a love for food through his aunt. “She was the matriarch of our family, a very good cook, and she brought everybody together with food,” Yoakum recalls. Initially planning to play collegiate basketball, he made a sudden shift to the culinary world, becoming a dishwasher at 19.
Within months, Yoakum’s talent and determination stood out, earning him a recommendation to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York. “I had never been to New York, but I knew it was the epicenter of culinary,” he says. “I just had to throw myself in there and see how far I could go.”
Yoakum’s hunger to learn took him from staging in Michelin-starred restaurants like The Clove Club in London to immersing himself in global culinary traditions. “I wanted to either go to Europe or Asia,” he explains, and his studies brought him to Italy, France, and Japan. He fondly recalls traveling through Champagne and Southern Italy, saying, “I just wanted to immerse myself in something I didn’t really know a lot about, like wine.”
After graduating in 2018, Yoakum joined Angler in San Francisco, where he refined his craft under Joshua Skenes, and then The French Laundry in Napa Valley, where he honed his creativity and discipline. “The French Laundry was incredibly competitive,” he says. “You weren’t there to make friends, but to get the job done.”
In 2023, Yoakum took the helm at Georgie in Dallas. Despite challenges, he transformed the restaurant into a New American gem, working closely with local farmers and ranchers to highlight Texas ingredients in innovative ways. “I’ve had to manipulate and play with food a lot more here because it’s not California,” he explains. “But I think that’s one of my strengths—it’s working so far.”
