George Micheaux, owner of Micheaux’s Diner and Catering, has been cooking since he was 3 years old. Reared in Palestine, Texas, Micheaux often helped his grandmother in the kitchen, rolling dough and performing other tasks for her.

“She’s the one who got me interested in cooking,” Micheaux said. “The first thing she taught me to make was peach cobbler.”

Micheaux said his grandmother’s recipe for peach cobbler is the same one he uses in his diner.

Micheaux said his grandmother ran a Mexican restaurant in Palestine, but her specialty was soul food. Micheaux uses his grandmother’s recipes in the soul food dishes he serves at his Missouri City diner at Cartwright and Murphy roads.

Micheaux opened the diner last year, but he has been catering events for the past 28 years. While the diner focuses on soul food, Micheaux cooks a broad array of cuisines as part of his catering services, including barbecue, Italian, Mexican and Creole among other varieties. And of course, soul food.

Micheaux moved from Palestine to Houston in 1989 to attend college after winning a scholarship. He majored in biology, intending to go on to medical school. To make money he continued catering, supplying food for parties thrown by friends.

After his first year, however, Micheaux said he decided to pursue his first love of cooking. He dropped out of college and enrolled in culinary school. After finishing culinary school, Micheaux went back to college and got his bachelor’s degree in business management.

“I knew I would need to know the business side of a restaurant,” he said.

Micheaux said he has lived in Missouri City for the past 15 years, and he knows 80 to 90 percent of his customers by name. Micheaux said his favorite things to cook are pastries and desserts.

“You start off with these very simple ingredients that don’t look in any way like what the final product is going to be,” he said.