Chef Hunter still recalls the day nearly 45 years ago-when he started experimenting in the kitchen, hoping to find a barbeque sauce that would meet his high standards of taste.

"I was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," he laughs, flashing a toothy grin. "I'd wrestle with different combinations all day long. I'd try a touch of this and a touch of that, trying to find a sauce where you'd never have to add anything.

" Finally," he says, " I hit the right taste." Unbeknownst to him at the time, that "right" taste would dramatically alter the future for this likable Southern man.
Today with every bottle offering a blend of "27 herbs and ingredients," the Lay Row Catch A Mellow barbecue sauce has become one of Chattanooga's thriving small businesses, as well as one of its most charitable.

Thirty years ago Mr. Hunter began bottling his product at Southern Recipe Foods, 2020 Crutchfield Street, home of the best barbecue sauce in the world."

When pressed for details, the then 57 year old reverend sounded like a carnival barker hawking his wares, promising "original ingredients, no substitutes, no fillers, original spices and juices...the best tastin' sauce money can buy."

Don't mistake his claims for idle boasting, however, if sales are any indication, thousands of followers believe the same. Lay Row Catch A Mellow is on the shelves in stores in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.

•Indeed, downtown workers turn out in forces at Miller Park in Chattanooga whenever the reverend hosts a barbecue for Orange Grove or another charity. At different times, the event for the Orange Grove Center, a charity that helps the mental challenged, raised 10.000 dollars.

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•Southern Recipe Foods, Inc., where Charles and Latoya Hunter oversees the day to day operation, is a beehive of activity. Mr Hunter' says the company is now accepting first time start up companies that want to bottle their own line of sauce. To get in touch with us, for coaching you and your company go to contact and let us know! southernrecipes@foodtimeusa.com