At age 54, John Cassimus has lived a life that someone twice his age might envy.
Just a few of the highlights: Played football for the University Alabama; helped start and then sold the hugely successful Zoe’s Kitchen restaurants; bought and built Sawtooth, a South Alabama hunting destination that’s a favorite of country star Luke Bryan, among others; and started the Crazy Cazboy’s liquidation store chain that’s already growing rapidly in its first year.
But John Cassimus doesn’t like to stand still, and he has yet another new venture — a cooking series called “Darn Hungry” that’s being produced by SpyPoint Cameras.
“I’m a bowhunter and heavily involved in the hunting industry, and I was at a trade show last year and met a guy with this camera company,” Cassimus says. “He contacted me this fall and said they were looking to film a cooking series and asked if I’d be interested in doing it.”
Cassimus said yes, and the result is “Darn Hungry.” Two episodes — an introduction and one about how to cook the perfect steak — are out now (via SpyPoint Cameras at spypoint.com), and 10 more are on the way. On the monthly episodes, Cassimus will tackle homemade corndogs, homemade chicken soup, baked Greek chicken and the famed Zoe’s chicken roll-up (which he created for the restaurant), among other recipes.
“I really like to cook, and I think I’m natural at cooking,” he says. “I like to cook simple things that taste great. They wanted recipes that anybody could go and create.”
Cassimus says he’s always had a love for food and a knack for it.
“I look at it like people who can paint and people who can just sit down and play music,” he says. “I don’t have that in me, but I have certain design things I’m good at, and I’m good with food.”
He savors dinners with family and friends.
“Ultimately, I feel cheated if I can’t have a good dinner,” Cassimus says. “If I’m stuck somewhere where I can’t get a good meal or I have to go through a drive-through or something, I feel like I’ve been cheated out of a day in my life.”
