Power couple cooks for Houston's top athletes

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - What the Texans put in their bodies is just as important as their work out. A local couple helping to perfect athletes’ diets says cooking for the Texans requires more than just knowing your way around the kitchen.

You could say Chef Myrna Sloan-Gober’s plate is full.  

“I think pressure makes diamonds.  Not to be cheesy, but I do believe that,” she said.

She and her husband have two kids and run Silver Whisk. 

“Originally, I saw Silver Whisk doing cooking classes, an occasional event and some catering,” said Sloan-Gober.

But now she and Jake also cook for some of Houston’s top athletes, including the Texans.  We met up with her at Sub Zero Wolf and Cove showroom.  

“Without giving too many details, I will say we were sought out. I don't think cooking for an athlete or celebrity is something you can necessarily say, ‘I just want to cook for that person' and go for that.”

She’s never been to a football game in her life, but Myrna cooks for arguably the NFL’s best wide receiver, Deandre Hopkins.

“He is vegetarian, and he is very conscious,” said Sloan-Gober.

Hopkins is an investor in “Beyond Meat,” the plant based meat substitute.

“He’s very different. I think he breaks the mold in so many different regards. He is very conscious of how food is raised and the effect it has on the environment and food as medicine. He reads a lot. He wants to educate himself a lot.”

She says they work together to come up with new meals that stick to his diet, are colorful and taste good.  

“It works.  There's a certain level of comfort I have with him that I’ve never had with a client.  I don't even feel like he's a client.  He's like family, just a genuine person.”

Hopkins has played catch with her son Ari, and Ari helps with the grocery shopping for Deandre. 

“I am making a Beyond Meat Buddha bowl. this is something he really enjoys and that I’d typically make for him.”

It includes quinoa and lentils mixed with avocado oil and cilantro, plus sliced veggies, kale salad, Beyond Meat sausage and plantains. 

“Do you feel like you have time to eat yourself?”

“No, I don’t.  I don't even have to think about it,” said Sloan-Gober.

Silver Whisk will soon open a cooking school in Austin, but Myrna still makes sure she cooks for her own family three to four times a week.  

“To me we’ve made it because we’re happy.  We’re doing what we love.  He’s my best friend,” said Myrna.