Ham also received professional culinary training at the Emerson Culinary School in New York and graduated in 1972. Bolstered by his professional training and the lessons he learned from his father, Ham opened his first restaurants, John’s Diner in Lockport, New York, and J&J Coffee Shop in Middle Brook, New York, before working as a regional director for Specialty Restaurants Corporation for more than 20 years.

Ham moved to Houston in 1990, and eventually found an opportunity to open La Trattoria Tuscano in The Woodlands in 2009. The restaurant features mainstay Italian dishes, and Ham said he is continuously reaching out to customers to help strengthen his dishes.

“Every time [a customer] tells me ‘That is the best dish we have ever eaten here,’ that is when I try and take that dish and improve it,” he said. “Seeing the smiles on the customers’ face when they take a bite of food, that makes me inspired.”

Favorite dish

“I love our meatballs,” Ham said. “We get to eat anything we want, but some of the things I enjoy are the simplest things.”

Mainstay ingredients

“I got the best of the best ingredients,” Ham said. “Whether it is garlic [or] all of our produce, to the meats and fishes, we keep it fresh.”