Rick Bayless Timeline

From 1950 to 1987, The Hickory House was the Bayless Family Restaurant where Chef Rick did everything from sweeping floors and washing dishes to serving customers and organizing catering orders.

A young Chef Rick smiling for the camera in his hometown of Oklahoma City, OK.

The monkey's name was Ponkey.

Before embarking on their first major adventure to Mexico together, Rick Bayless and Deann Groen get married -- little would they know that in 1987 they would open Frontera Grill ten years later.

Rick and Deann begin what will be five years living in Mexico. While there, they will travel to all of the Mexican states and cook with many chefs and abuelas, soaking up as much as possible in preparation for the release of their first cookbook: Authentic Mexican.

Pictured is a nervous Rick Bayless, soon to be the owner and proprietor of Frontera Grill, which, in this photograph, is still very much in progress of being built.

Chef Richard (right) and Chef Rick (left) may not be wearing the outrageous outfits they have on for this edition of ChefwearUSA, but they are both still at the helm at Frontera Grill all these years later.

There's a new addition to the Bayless family!

The first of many staff trips to Mexico led by Rick and Deann.

Frontera goes national, offering high-quality ingredients prepared with authentic techniques for use at home anywhere in the U.S.

Xoco—pronounced “SHO-ko”—is the Aztec word for “little sister.” But there’s nothing little about Xoco’s bold Mexican marketplace flavors. Open early and closing late, this quick-service café from Rick and Deann Bayless proffers contemporary expressions of Mexico’s most beloved street food and snacks: flaky empanadas, hot-from-the-fryer churros, frothy Mexican hot chocolate, crusty tortas and meal-in-a-bowl caldos.