The Legacy of Joe Boer: Lake Of The Ozarks Restauranteur & Trailblazer

Joseph H. Boer, owner of The Blue Heron and The Potted Steer restaurants who passed away June 21, leaves behind successful pupils at the Lake and a legacy in the restaurant industry.

Boer was born in Holland and went to a culinary school where he mastered his craft, according to his obituary. He arrived in America in 1956 and drove to Kansas City after earning enough money for a car. After working at multiple restaurants, he opened his first joint at the Lake called The Top Deck at Mai Tai. In the years to follow, Boer also created the Lefty’s Little Chef Steak House, The Potted Steer, and The Blue Heron. His signature dish was a perfected batter-fried lobster tail.

“He was kind of one of the founding fathers of the Lake area,” said Jeff Super, owner of Jeffrey’s Prime Rib & Lobster in Osage Beach, who worked for Boer for 27 years. “He made a name for himself down here.”

Super first met Boer at age 21, getting ready to graduate from culinary school in Kansas City. He was hired as a chef, where he learned about the restaurant industry from Boer until he started his own place.

“Mr. Boer taught me a lot of the restaurant [business]... how to treat the customers and how to be particular,” Super said. “One of the things he told me was, ‘Every dish you put out, you must think of it going to your mother or your father. So make sure it’s perfect.’"

Boer was indeed a perfectionist who also loved serving the community, Super said. Some of Super’s fond memories include an outdoor cooking event for young kids and a gourmet Thanksgiving old-folks dinner.

Michael Atwell, who works part-time at Jeffrey’s, also worked for Boer. Atwell started as a busboy for him in the 60s, and followed Boer at all of his restaurants. They became close friends.

“He was a great man to work for,” Atwell said. “Everything about the restaurant business that I know, I learned from Joe.”

Michael Castle, owner of On The Rise Bakery & Bistro in Osage Beach, had a similar journey from busboy to manager under Boer. Castle went to culinary school in New York, and came back to the Lake as a sous chef at the Blue Heron.

“My first interaction, I was 14 years old and he hired me as a busboy, and he asked me to come down to where he was cutting steaks for the day,” Castle said. “It was a cold chill room. He just told me to write my name, phone number and address on the card. He looked at it and said, ‘You're hired,’ which I thought was odd. He was just checking my penmanship. And if I wrote very clean and neatly, that means I would work very clean and neatly that's all he needed to know.”

Boer was a gregarious and outgoing man who had a finite way of running his restaurant, Castle said. Even after Castle opened his own place, Boer would visit and give advice. Boer’s personality and hard work will be remembered.

“He didn’t cut corners,” Castle said. “‘If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right,’ (Boer would say). That pretty much applies to everything.”

Originally from Illinois, Chris Bond relocated to the Lake after attending culinary school in Italy. After three years as head chef at The Blue Heron, he joined Tucker’s Shuckers Oysters and Tap, as head chef, in 2018. “The Blue Heron featured fine-dining in a formal atmosphere,” Bond said. He says the atmosphere at Tucker’s may be more casual, but kitchen staff still prepares every dish with the same emphasis on quality that Bond was accustomed to seeing, day-in and day-out, at The Blue Heron.

For those who worked for Boer, they walked away with lessons about life and the industry. The epitome of living the American dream, he leaves behind a legacy at the Lake. Joe Boer brought fine wining and dining and a spirit of perfection, and shaped the next generation of restauranteurs in the heart of Missouri.