We caught up with Sean Wimberly, aka Chef Wimbo, who participated in the Food & Craft Beer Festival held Feb. 8-9 at Aaron Bessant Park in Panama City Beach.
News Herald: How is your food different?
Chef Wimbo: Yes, our food is different in all aspects. We really put a lot of love behind the product, but as a certified local celebrity chef, the food that my wife and my team give, it touches your soul.
News Herald: What do you offer?
Chef Wimbo: We’re a food truck that’s putting out gourmet dishes. We got cilantro lime lamb chops. We got our loaded turkey leg that comes with an additional protein: either our bang bang chicken, our bang bang shrimp, smoked shredded brisket. And it’s all topped with our award-winning smoked Gouda mac and cheese.
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We got our award winning wings with several different flavors. We got our authentic sauces. All of our sauces we made from scratch. All of our products we put work behind it to provide to the customers, to give them the best quality that we can.
You know, even though we traveled 15 hours to get down here … when these people taste this food, their palates are going to be like Fourth for July in February! I kid you not.
News Herald: Do you define your dishes as soul food?
Chef Wimbo: No. I’m more infused because … yeah, soul food is the base because that’s my background. I got my culinary from my grandparents.
When I was young I was always in trouble, so my mom would send me over to their house and I got it from there. But then going to culinary school, graduating from culinary school, and being in the military … traveling around the world, you know, 21 years of service and retire, I got to see so many things.
So, I took all of those things that I’ve seen and I incorporate it into our food. So, by that being said, my award-winning bang bang is an Asian cuisine. But I put my flair behind it to elevate the level.
I got some island stuff as well: Sweet jerk barbecue sauce; our Asian five-spice chili sauce; our teriyaki barbecue sauce; our Hennessy barbecue sauce; our award-winning garlic lemon pepper.
So, it’s infused and that’s what I love about food and being creative, because all of these places I’ve seen, I can incorporate that and give that to a customer. So, it’s just not one thing. It’s like you’re touching and tasting different origins in one spot.
News Herald: Do you remember the first plate you served out of your truck?
Chef Wimbo: The first dish was bang bang shrimp and the smoked Gouda mac and cheese. That was back in 2021. And, man, I remembered the person’s face when they bit into it. Man, it’s like they just lit up like I was Santa Claus, and I gave them everything they wanted for Christmas.
News Herald: So, take me back to the Navy. You’re a year or two away from retiring … were you already talking about a food truck at that time?
Chef Wimbo: You know what, I was. Everything happens for a reason in my mindset. I was stationed here. So, I’m familiar with the PCB area. I was at the dive unit and I was here for Hurricane Michael.
So, we lost everything in that hurricane. And then behind that I went ahead and retired and went through a divorce. So, I was mentally messed up for a year.
But seven years later, you know, I’m engaged now. I got an amazing woman. Her name is Jihan. She’s Lebanese.
But once I was in the process of that, I already knew I was going to be doing something, because after my 15 years, one of my mentors said, ‘You know the Navy is going to come to an end. You need to find something you love to do.’ And at that point, that’s when I started working on my culinary, and I started to grow rapidly.
News Herald: So, at that 15-year marker in the Navy, were you thinking about your grandparents’ recipes?
Chef Wimbo: Oh, absolutely. It’s in the food. My collards are A1. And the reason I say they’re A1 is because I take some of the techniques that my grandma taught me. But they’re vegan 100%. No butter. No animal proteins or whatever. And the flavor of these collard greens is just like ‘Wow!’
So when people hear vegan, they kind of run from it like a scary monster. But it’s all about how you put together the flavors and you layer for the palate. A lot of people don’t understand. It’s so difficult to be a chef because you have to give each and every person that has different backgrounds and experience with food to like it.
And man, a lot of people call me Kobe. Like, I don’t miss. I don’t miss. So, yeah, I remember all of that. I take all of those things that I have incorporated from my family, my travel, my journey, from my life, and I put it all into my food to make every person have a memorable experience when they try our food.
News Herald: So, you were in the Navy and travelled the world. You ate all sorts of food. What was the country, or culture, that made you say, ‘I want to make this for everyone.’
Chef Wimbo: I was in the Mediterranean, Jordan, and Abu Dhabi. I even went to Africa, Egypt, and down into the Bahamas. I have not touched the Asian continent. That’s the Seventh Fleet. But I’m inspired by the freshness of their product. No artificial stuff. You got to have the natural ingredients.
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News Herald: How did you get the moniker ‘Chef Wimbo?’
Chef Wimbo: When I was deployed, we were doing a lot of hauling and logistics and cargo was coming in. And with my work ethic, he’s like, “Yo! Man, you’re like Rambo but, but with ‘Bo!’” And it just stuck. ‘Wimbo!’
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