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People on the Move: Barry Mohr
05/06/2008 - By Gayle Davis
King of the Castles
What started out as a lark in 2001 has certainly earned Holmdel resident Barry Mohr more than his 15 minutes of fame...
What started out as a lark in 2001 has certainly earned Holmdel resident Barry Mohr more than his 15 minutes of fame. Friends, family, and co-workers urged the one-time Edy’s Ice Cream recipe finalist to enter a White Castle recipe contest 7 years ago. Barry said he basically just sat at his trading desk and wrote a formula that simply came to him: “Casa Castles” – sort of a play on a nacho platter, called for the use of crumbled White Castle burgers with special seasonings and broken pieces of buns. Evidently, it was a big hit, as Mohr beat out some 13,000 entrants and was proclaimed the winner! The company flew Barry out to Columbus, Ohio, on a corporate jet and treated him like a king. He toured the “Porcelain Palace” headquarters, learned about the inner workings of the company, had lunch in the White Castle Café with the president of the mini-burger giant; he was even featured on the Fox News station out there. Mohr says that contrary to what people may think, the company is not a franchise; it’s been a family-owned business for more than 80 years.
Barry proudly displays his White Castle souvenirs in his home, and he says that to this day his winning recipe legacy lives on. “Any time I walk into a White Castle and mention my name the employees always know who I am…it’s really amazing.” And here’s the catch – he never even tested out the recipe before he sent it in!
When this father of four isn’t conjuring up some sort of creation, he stays active in the community where he grew up. Barry graduated from Holmdel High School and remembers working for the Luccarelli family at Dearborn Farms during his teenage years. In fact, the former lineman for the Holmdel Hornets never imagined moving back to the same street, just three doors down from the home he lived in as a child. One of his favorite childhood memories, in fact, is of the “Down on the Farm” program at Holmdel Park. “I was always drawn to Holmdel Park and farming. My maternal grandparents were dairy farmers, so I think that somewhere in my genes I’ve certainly got farming instincts. I think probably at some point, someday, I will hopefully go back to that in some way.”
Barry and his wife of 12 years, Melissa, chose to move back to Holmdel for the excellent schools, and thought it was an obvious choice. “We thought we owed it to our children to choose a town with an excellent school system, talented people, and where it was ethnically diverse,” he said. “We couldn’t necessarily find all of that in the immediate area where we were looking. So we moved in and never looked back, and we don’t have any plans of leaving!”
Barry runs a trading desk for Cohen & Company in Manhattan, and feels fortunate to be able to give back to the community. “I try to do what I can. I run a Cub Scout den, which I have been doing for several years now. I’ve also been on the Traffic Safety Action Committee since we live in a very large neighborhood, with speeding and public safety issues for the children. We are also involved in the Neighborhood Watch program as well, for general safety.”
The Mohrs actively contribute to the Holmdel Foundation for Educational Excellence, a charitable organization that helps with children’s programs within town. “We both try and take a very philanthropic approach to life. I think there is a need, and a must, to give back to the community. We donated an entire playground to a church in the area. We’re also involved in another charity in Rumson and a few other bigger charities.”
Mohr has a “thing” for collecting watches and going fishing. His greatest passion, however, is his family. “My biggest thing is to just spend quality time with the kids. We love to take them down to the beach and to New England in the summers. We always travel as a group! I look forward to that Friday afternoon…being able to spend time with the kids. I’m a big kid at heart – I like to do kid things.”
To get a copy of Barry Mohr’s “Casa Castle” winning recipe, log onto www.whitecastle.com. Go to the FUN tab and click on COOK–OFF, then 2001. Enjoy!
STATS
Favorite restaurant: Hunan House in Middletown
Favorite musical GROUP: Coldplay
Favorite Movie: The Last King of Scotland
Pet peeve: air pollution
Three people you would like to have dinner with: philanthropists Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, my maternal grandparents (who died before I was born), and Mother Teresa
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