Chef Chris Loftis is the executive chef at Number 13 Prime Steak & Seafood. It's located off the northwest tip of Galveston Island, just as you're coming in on I-45 South from Houston. The sunny back porch backs up to a harbor full of boats and the interior features a big rectangular bar and a high alcove that leads to a skylight.

Number 13 has a serious dry-aged steak program and Loftis certainly has had plenty of experience in that area. One of his first jobs was as the original cook at Killen's Steakhouse.

In Part One of this chef chat, we'll learn how Loftis came to the United States with his German family when he was just a toddler, why he got into cooking and the first restaurants he worked in before ultimately moving to Number 13.

EOW: Where were you born?

CL: Wiesbaden, Germany.

EOW: My goodness. OK, why were you born in Germany?

CL: My parents were there.